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Iran Asks Watchdog Not to Publish 'Unnecessary' Nuke Details

FILE: This Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, satellite image from Planet Labs Inc. that has been annotated by experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury Institute of International Studies shows construction at Iran's Natanz uranium-enrichment facility that experts believe may be a new, underground centrifuge assembly plant. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)
FILE: This Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, satellite image from Planet Labs Inc. that has been annotated by experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury Institute of International Studies shows construction at Iran's Natanz uranium-enrichment facility that experts believe may be a new, underground centrifuge assembly plant. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)
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Iran Asks Watchdog Not to Publish 'Unnecessary' Nuke Details

FILE: This Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, satellite image from Planet Labs Inc. that has been annotated by experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury Institute of International Studies shows construction at Iran's Natanz uranium-enrichment facility that experts believe may be a new, underground centrifuge assembly plant. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)
FILE: This Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, satellite image from Planet Labs Inc. that has been annotated by experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury Institute of International Studies shows construction at Iran's Natanz uranium-enrichment facility that experts believe may be a new, underground centrifuge assembly plant. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)

Iran urged the United Nations' nuclear watchdog to avoid publishing “unnecessary” details on Tehran’s nuclear program, state TV reported Sunday, a day after Germany, France and Britain said Tehran has “no credible civilian use” for its development of uranium metal.

The report quoted a statement from Iran’s nuclear department that asked the International Atomic Energy Agency to avoid publishing details on Iran’s nuclear program that may cause confusion.

“It is expected the international atomic energy agency avoid providing unnecessary details and prevent paving ground for misunderstanding” in the international community, the statement said. It did not elaborate.

On Saturday, Germany, France and Britain pressed Iran to back off its plan to develop uranium metal, calling it “the latest planned violation” of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

The goal of the deal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, something Iran insists it does not want to do, The Associated Press reported.

“Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal,” they said in a joint statement.

“The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications.”

On Thursday, the IAEA said Iran had informed it that it had begun installing equipment for the production of uranium metal. It said Tehran maintains its plans to conduct research and development on uranium metal production are part of its “declared aim to design an improved type of fuel.”

Iran reacted to the European statement Sunday saying Iran informed the UN nuclear watchdog nearly two decades ago of its plans for the “peaceful and conventional” production of uranium metal. It also said it provided updated information to the agency two years ago about its plans to produce silicide advanced fuel.

The statement said uranium metal is an “intermediate product” in the manufacture of uranium silicide, a fuel used in nuclear reactors that is safer and has more power capability than uranium oxide-based fuel, which Iran currently produces.

The three European nations alongside the US, Russia and China signed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that prohibited research and production of uranium metal.

President Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the US from Iran’s nuclear deal, in which Tehran had agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. After the US then ramped up sanctions, Iran gradually and publicly abandoned the deal’s limits on its nuclear development.

President-elect Joe Biden, who was vice president when the deal was signed during the Obama administration, has said he hopes to return the US to the deal.

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Zelenskiy Seeks New Trump Meeting as Peace Negotiators Tackle Land Issue

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives for a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at the presidential palace in Nicosia, , Cyprus, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Petros Karadjias/Pool via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives for a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at the presidential palace in Nicosia, , Cyprus, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Petros Karadjias/Pool via Reuters)
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Zelenskiy Seeks New Trump Meeting as Peace Negotiators Tackle Land Issue

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives for a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at the presidential palace in Nicosia, , Cyprus, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Petros Karadjias/Pool via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives for a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at the presidential palace in Nicosia, , Cyprus, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Petros Karadjias/Pool via Reuters)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is seeking a new meeting with US President Donald Trump as their officials revisited the two most problematic issues in peace talks aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine.

Kyiv is under US pressure to secure peace quickly but wants security guarantees from allies and is pushing back on Russian demands to cede its eastern Donetsk region and give up control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Speaking to reporters over WhatsApp on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said he wanted to meet Trump again soon to gauge his openness to a Ukrainian proposal that Washington provide security guarantees for more than 15 years in the event of ‌a ceasefire.

He ‌also urged Trump to step up pressure on Russia, which ‌has been ⁠cool on ‌the US-backed peace push and is continuing its massive air attacks on Ukrainian cities and the country's energy grid.

"The Americans, in my view, are being productive right now; we have good results... They need to put pressure on Russia. They have the tools, and they know how to use them," Zelenskiy said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suggestion of a new meeting between Zelenskiy and Trump.

Citing the US operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, Zelenskiy suggested ⁠Washington could similarly move against Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a Vladimir Putin ally whose troops became known for their brutality in ‌Ukraine.

"Maybe then Putin would see it and think twice," he ‍said.

Talks in Paris this week produced ‍commitments from Kyiv's allies to back up a ceasefire with guarantees such as a multinational troop ‍presence.

But Zelenskiy said the expression of "political will" had yet to be translated into legally binding pledges backed by national parliaments.

MAJOR STUMBLING BLOCKS

Zelenskiy spoke as US and Ukrainian officials in Paris discussed the matter of territory and the fate of the Zaporizhzhia plant , Europe's largest nuclear facility, which he described as the two thorniest issues in the talks.

Kyiv has refused to pull out of the industrialized Donetsk region, which Russia has failed to seize entirely despite occupying wide swathes of it.

⁠Zelenskiy has said the US has floated the idea of a free economic zone there if Ukraine withdraws from the parts of the region that it still controls.

On Tuesday, US and Ukrainian officials had already talked through "some ideas" to address the issue of territory. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff said "land options" had been discussed and that he hoped for compromise to be reached.

Any compromises on land should be put to a referendum for Ukrainians, Zelenskiy has previously said. According to an opinion poll last month, around three-quarters of Ukrainians are prepared for a deal that would freeze the current front line, but oppose ceding territory.

The US has also proposed trilateral operation of the Zaporizhzhia plant, which Moscow captured in 2022 and connected to its own power grid, with an American chief manager, ‌Zelenskiy said last month.

Kyiv has instead proposed joint Ukrainian-American use of the plant, according to Zelenskiy, with the US itself determining how to use 50% of the energy produced.

World

US Says It Needs to Control Venezuelan Oil Sales Indefinitely to Drive Change

The city of Caracas, days after the US launched a strike on Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Venezuela January 7, 2026. (Reuters)
The city of Caracas, days after the US launched a strike on Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Venezuela January 7, 2026. (Reuters)
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US Says It Needs to Control Venezuelan Oil Sales Indefinitely to Drive Change

The city of Caracas, days after the US launched a strike on Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Venezuela January 7, 2026. (Reuters)
The city of Caracas, days after the US launched a strike on Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Venezuela January 7, 2026. (Reuters)

The United States needs to control Venezuela's oil sales and revenue indefinitely to drive the changes it wants to see in the country, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Wednesday.  

The comments reflect the importance of the South American country's crude oil reserves to President Donald Trump's strategy since US forces ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a raid on the capital Caracas on Saturday. 

"We need to have that leverage and that control of those oil sales to drive the changes that simply must happen in Venezuela," Wright said at the Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference in Miami. 

STORED OIL MOVING TO MARKET FIRST 

He said ‌the US would ‌market stored Venezuelan oil first, then sell ongoing future production, including ‌to ⁠US refineries specially equipped ‌to process it, with revenues deposited into accounts controlled by the US government. 

Wright added he was speaking to US oil companies to learn what conditions would enable them to enter Venezuela to help boost production there. 

"The resources are immense. This should be a wealthy, prosperous, peaceful energy powerhouse," he said. 

"That's the plan." On Tuesday, Caracas and Washington reached a deal to export up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude to the United States, an accord that would divert supplies from China while helping Venezuela avoid deeper oil production cuts. 

The agreement ⁠is a sign Venezuelan government officials are responding to Trump's demand that they open up to US oil companies or risk more military ‌intervention. 

Trump has said he wants interim President Delcy Rodriguez to give ‍the US and private companies "total access" to Venezuela's ‍oil industry. 

"Instead of the oil being blockaded as it is right now, we're going to let ‍the oil flow," Wright said at the conference. 

Selling Venezuelan oil "will benefit the American people, the American economy and global energy markets, but of course, it will also massively benefit the people of Venezuela," he said. 

Shares of US refiners Marathon Petroleum, Phillips 66 and Valero Energy were up between 2.5% and 5%. 

WHITE HOUSE MEETINGS 

Raising crude output from Venezuela is a top objective for Trump, who is scheduled to meet with the heads of major oil companies at the White House on Friday, according to sources. 

Representatives from ⁠Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron - the top three US companies, all of which have experience in Venezuela - would be present, according to a source familiar with the planning. 

The companies have declined to comment. 

Venezuela was producing as much as 3.5 million barrels per day in the 1970s. But mismanagement and limited foreign investment led to a huge drop in annual production, which averaged about 1.1 million bpd last year. 

Wright said he believed short-term production increases in Venezuela are possible, but that a bigger recovery to past production levels would take years. 

"We could get several hundred thousand barrels a day of additional production in the short to medium term if the conditions are there for just small capital deployments," Wright said. "To get back to the historical production numbers, you know that takes tens of billions of dollars and significant time," he said. 

The South American country ‌sits atop the world's largest oil reserves but accounts for only about 1% of global supply.  

World

Netanyahu Tries to Calm Tensions After Israeli Bus Runs Over and Kills Ultra-Orthodox Teen

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends a debate initiated by the opposition as part of a plenary session in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 05 January 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends a debate initiated by the opposition as part of a plenary session in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 05 January 2026. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Tries to Calm Tensions After Israeli Bus Runs Over and Kills Ultra-Orthodox Teen

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends a debate initiated by the opposition as part of a plenary session in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 05 January 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends a debate initiated by the opposition as part of a plenary session in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 05 January 2026. (EPA)

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged calm on Wednesday after a bus driver ran over and killed a teenage boy during a protest by thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish demonstrators against a law seeking to draft them into Israel’s military.

“I call for restraint to prevent the mood from becoming further inflamed so that, heaven forbid, we do not have additional tragedies,” Netanyahu said in a statement, adding that the death would be thoroughly investigated.

The incident on Tuesday evening killed yeshiva student Yosef Eisenthal, who police said was 14. Video from the protest obtained by The Associated Press showed the boy being trapped under the vehicle while the driver continued to drive on for several meters as onlookers jostled and screamed.

Police officers arrested and questioned the bus driver, who told investigators he was attacked by protesters before his vehicle hit the boy. Police said Wednesday that the driver's arrest had been extended until Jan. 15. He has not yet been charged.

Protesters had been blocking the road and acting violently toward police officers, throwing eggs and other objects at them, a police spokesperson said.

The violence reflected growing tensions between the Israeli authorities and the ultra-Orthodox, known as Haredim, as the government mulls plans to draft them into the military.

When Israel was founded in 1948, a small number of gifted ultra-Orthodox scholars were granted exemptions from the draft, which is compulsory for most Jews in the country. But with a push from politically powerful religious parties, those numbers have swelled over the decades.

There is support for rolling back the ultra-Orthodox exemption among many secular Israelis, especially those who have served multiple rounds of duty in the latest war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza.

Measures to draft the ultra-Orthodox have been met with staunch opposition and occasional violence from religious protesters who claim serving in the military will destroy their way of life. The pushback has created a political problem for Netanyahu, who relies on the support of religious parties in the Israeli Parliament.