World
Maduro sings, dances and threatens to ‘smash the teeth’ of the ‘North American empire’
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Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro warned that his country must “stand like warriors … ready to smash the teeth of the North American empire” Wednesday, a moment that coincided with the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.
Maduro delivered the remarks while holding the sword of Simón Bolívar at a rally where video showed him singing and dancing to a recording of American singer Bobby McFerrin’s late-80s hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Maduro told supporters that Venezuelans must stay alert as tensions with Washington escalate.
“In these times, things have to be different, but we must always stand like warriors, women and men,” he said in a translated interpretation. “With one eye wide open — and the other one too — working, producing, building, keeping everything running, and ready to smash the teeth of the North American empire if necessary, from Bolivar’s homeland.”
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the U.S. had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, sharply escalating tensions with Caracas. The tanker was taken for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
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Maduro issues a fierce warning after the U.S. seizes a tanker near Venezuela, triggering accusations of piracy and intensifying a rapidly escalating standoff. (Reuters and APTN)
Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry condemned the move in an official statement, calling it “a brazen robbery and an act of international piracy” and accusing Trump of openly pursuing a plan to “take Venezuelan oil without paying anything in return.”
The ministry said the action fits into what it described as a longstanding U.S. effort to plunder the country’s natural resources and compared the episode to the loss of Citgo Petroleum Corp., which Caracas claims was seized through “fraudulent judicial mechanisms.”
The statement argued that “the true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela” have nothing to do with migration, drug trafficking, democracy, or human rights, insisting “it has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy.”
MADURO BRANDISHES SWORD AT RALLY AS HE RAILS AGAINST ‘IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION’ AMID RISING TENSIONS WITH US
Maduro issues a fierce warning after the U.S. seizes a tanker near Venezuela, triggering accusations of piracy and intensifying a rapidly escalating standoff. (Reuters and APTN)
It also accused Washington of using the tanker incident to distract from what it described as the failure of political efforts in Oslo by groups seeking Maduro’s removal.
Caracas urged Venezuelans to “remain firm in defense of the homeland” and called on the international community to reject what it described as “vandalistic, illegal and unprecedented aggression.”
The government said it will take its complaint to all available international bodies and vowed to protect the country’s sovereignty and control over its energy assets, declaring that “Venezuela will not allow any foreign power to attempt to seize from the Venezuelan people what belongs to them by historical and constitutional right.”
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Maduro issued a warning after the U.S. seized a tanker near Venezuela, triggering accusations of piracy and intensifying a rapidly escalating standoff. (Reuters and APTN)
Tensions between the two countries have grown following months of U.S. maritime strikes that Washington says targeted vessels used by drug traffickers to transport narcotics.
Reuters has reported that more than 80 people have been killed since September, and a separate Reuters report detailed heightened surveillance and security crackdowns in coastal communities affected by the strikes.
Late last month, Maduro appeared at a mass rally in Caracas holding the sword of Simón Bolívar as he warned supporters to brace for “imperialist aggression,” delivering a defiant address after Trump said the U.S. will “very soon” begin stopping suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers on land.
BONDI SHARES HEART-POUNDING FOOTAGE OF US SEIZING VENEZUELAN OIL TANKER IN RARE ACTION LAST SEEN IN 2014
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was questioned about the U.S. seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. (Planet Labs PBC/Handout via Reuters )
Trump said he had not ruled out sending U.S. troops to Venezuela as part of the administration’s crackdown on criminal networks tied to senior figures in Caracas.
“No, I don’t rule out that. I don’t rule out anything,” he said.
He also left room for potential talks.
“We may be having some conversations with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out. They would like to talk,” Trump told reporters over the weekend.
Since early September, U.S. strikes across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have destroyed dozens of vessels. U.S. officials say many were linked to Venezuelan and Colombian criminal groups.
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Maduro appeared at last month’s rally holding the sword of Simón Bolívar, the 19th-century independence leader regarded as the liberator of much of South America. He told supporters the country was facing a decisive moment.
Fox News’ Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.
World
Netflix Unveils Turkish Slate, Headlined by Series Adaptation of Nobel Prize-Winning Author Orhan Pamuk’s ‘The Museum of Innocence’
Netflix has unveiled its Turkish production slate for 2026, which is headlined by a hotly anticipated series adaptation of Turkish Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk acclaimed book “The Museum Of Innocence” and several other high-end shows with international reach.
The previously announced nine-episode “Museum of Innocence” series – that will drop on Netflix Feb. 13 – starts out in 1970’s Istanbul where a wealthy man named Kemal becomes romantically obsessed with his poor and distant young relative, a shopgirl named Füsun. Their romance unfolds over a decade against the backdrop of the changing city, after which he spends the rest of his life creating a museum in her memory that contains “his beloved’s earrings, her hair clips, and even her discarded cigarette butts,” as the synopsis puts it.
Directed by Zeynep Günay, “Museum of Innocence” is written by Ertan Kurtulan and produced by Turkish TV Powerhouse Ay Yapım known for International Emmy-winning series “Endless Love,” and also “Fatmagul,” “Ezel” and “Forbidden Love,” among other global hit series.
Other standout titles in Netflix’s new Turkish that have not been previously announced comprise:
— “Seni Tanıyorum,” a series written by Tuğba Doğan (“Hepimiz Birimiz Için”), directed by Mert Baykal (“Hot Skull”) and produced by Bonbon Studios. “After taking a break from painting following childbirth, Funda finds the nanny she has been searching for,” reads the synopsis. “But the mystery and unsettling nature of Nazlı begins to change the lives of Funda and her husband İlker forever. What starts as a simple encounter turns into a long-running game in which each of them is tested in their loyalty and desires.”
— “Sonra Gözler Görür,” a series penned by Ece Yörenç (“Fallen Leaves,” “Forbidden Love”), directed by Bertan Başaran (“Shahmaran”) and produced by Ay Yapim. “A quiet coastal town is shaken by the mysterious death of a young girl. When a renowned journalist returns to the place she grew up years later to investigate the case, her search uncovers not only a killer, but long-buried secrets and the truth about her own past,” the synopsis says.
New upcoming 2026 instalments of popular pre-existing Netflix Turkey originals shows include fresh seasons of “Ethos,” “Money Trap,” “Thank You, Next,” “Another Self” and Graveyard.”
World
Iran accused of sex assaults on teenage prisoners, while families charged to recover remains of loved ones
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Reports have emerged from eyewitnesses in Iran alleging sexual assaults on teenagers held in custody, as well as authorities forcing families of those protesters killed to pay as much as 10 billion rials to recover their bodies.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI-US) also told Fox News Digital Wednesday that the “barbarity continues” across the nation, with prison detainees allegedly being killed and their bodies burned.
The reports came as Iran’s government claimed it had successfully crushed weeks of unrest that swept the country.
Beginning Dec. 28, the protests erupted amid deep public anger over political repression, economic hardship and state violence before rapidly expanding nationwide.
LINDSEY GRAHAM SPEAKS AGAINST PENDING EXECUTION OF 26-YEAR-OLD IRANIAN PROTESTER: ‘THIS REGIME MUST FALL’
Iranian demonstrators gather in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency’s value, in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2026. (Stringer/WANA/Reuters)
“The sedition is over now,” Iran’s prosecutor general Mohammad Movahedi said, according to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency.
“And we must be grateful, as always, to the people who extinguished this sedition by being in the field in a timely manner,” he added, according to the New York Times.
The regime’s claims emerged on day 25 of the protests with the number of confirmed fatalities reaching 4,902, and the number of deaths still under review standing at 9,387.
The total number of arrests has risen to 26,541, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said.
IRAN STATE TV HACKED TO SHOW EXILED CROWN PRINCE PAHLAVI
Demonstrators burn a poster depicting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, in Holon, Israel Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
The France-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) also said it received information indicating that some families were forced to pay sums of up to 10 billion rials to recover the bodies of their relatives.
In many cases, funeral ceremonies were held under heavy security control in the hometowns of those killed.
Some families were reportedly subjected to threats and pressure to falsely attribute responsibility for the killings to protesters.
KHRN further said that two protesters, including a 16-year-old, said they were sexually assaulted by Iranian security forces who detained them in Kermanshah, according to reports.
G7 THREATENS IRAN WITH NEW SANCTIONS OVER NATIONWIDE PROTEST CRACKDOWN KILLING THOUSANDS
Iranian security forces allegedly killed detainees and burned bodies during protests, with clashes continuing in Kermanshah, Rasht and Mashhad despite government claims. (NCRI)
Meanwhile, NCRI’s Ali Safavi said eyewitnesses reported that “several young women and men were forced to undress, so the military could see whether they had pellet wounds.”
“There has been barbarity with people who were detained. When they were killed, their bodies were burned,” he added.
Safavi also said clashes continued in multiple cities Tuesday night, including “Kermanshah where protesters and armed units of the IRGC fought in parts of the city.”
“There was the same in Rasht and Mashhad where the people and the regime will not return to the status quo even if the uprisings have slowed down. This is because of the blood of thousands of martyrs on their hands.”
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“The regime is still in power, and it won’t abandon brutal and bloody suppression so there is no pathway to a velvet revolution in Iran.”
“The shoes and sneakers seen left along the sidewalks remind us of the 30,000 MEK members and Iranian prisoners who were hanged during the 1988 massacre based on a fatwa by Khomeini,” Safavi added.
World
French firm Lactalis latest to recall baby formula amid contamination scare
French, Swiss food giants Danone and Nestle have also recalled infant formula batches in recent weeks over toxin fears.
Published On 22 Jan 2026
French dairy product giant Lactalis has announced a recall of batches of infant formula in France and more than a dozen other countries over worries batches have been contaminated by a toxin.
The announcement on Wednesday follows the recall of infant formula by Swiss dairy corporation Nestle in almost 60 countries since the beginning of the month.
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Lactalis “is proceeding with a voluntary recall of six batches of Picot infant milk, available in pharmacies and mass retail, due to the presence of cereulide in an ingredient supplied by a supplier”, the company said, referring to the toxin that can cause diarrhoea and vomiting.
“We are fully aware that this information may cause concern among parents of young children,” the company said.
Outside France, the recall affects Australia, Chile, China, Colombia, the Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Spain, Madagascar, Mexico, Uzbekistan, Peru, Georgia, Greece, Kuwait, the Czech Republic and Taiwan, a spokesperson for the company told the AFP news agency.
The recall involves “a few batches” of formula in each of the countries, the spokesperson said.
The company said the French authorities had not signalled “any claim nor any report related to the consumption of these products”.
The infant formula industry has been rocked by recalls in recent weeks.
Authorities in Singapore on Saturday recalled Dumex baby formula, a brand owned by French food giant Danone, as well as batches of Nestle formula.
The Singapore Food Agency said it ordered the precautionary recall of a batch of Danone’s Thai-origin Dumex Dulac 1 and Nestle’s Swiss-origin NAN HA1 SupremePro after detecting cereulide.
Danone said the authorities blocked just “a few pallets” of Dumex, indicating they were not yet on the shelves of retail outlets.
Like Lactalis, Nestle has issued recalls since January due to the potential presence of cereulide, a bacterial substance that can cause sickness.
Nestle France said it was carrying out a “preventive and voluntary recall” of certain batches of its Guigoz and Nidal infant formulas after new investigations showed the potential presence of cereulide.
French health authorities said on Tuesday an investigation was under way after the death of a baby who had consumed milk from one of the batches recalled by Nestle, though no link has been established between its consumption and the death at this stage.
In 2018, Lactalis was at the centre of a salmonella outbreak and ensuing scandal after the company was accused of trying to cover up the extent of the outbreak, which led to the recall of 12 million tins of baby formula from more than 80 countries.
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