US Says Iran ‘Leading Cause of Instability’

US Ambassador Nikki Haley address a UN Security Council meeting on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Thursday Jan. 18, 2018 at UN headquarters. Bebeto Matthews, AP
US Ambassador Nikki Haley address a UN Security Council meeting on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Thursday Jan. 18, 2018 at UN headquarters. Bebeto Matthews, AP
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US Says Iran ‘Leading Cause of Instability’

US Ambassador Nikki Haley address a UN Security Council meeting on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Thursday Jan. 18, 2018 at UN headquarters. Bebeto Matthews, AP
US Ambassador Nikki Haley address a UN Security Council meeting on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Thursday Jan. 18, 2018 at UN headquarters. Bebeto Matthews, AP

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has said the regimes that most threaten the world today with weapons of mass destruction — North Korea, Iran and Syria — also promote conflict and regional instability and "aid terrorists and militant groups."

Haley called Iran on Thursday "the leading cause of instability in an unstable part of the world."

Tehran supports "terrorists, proxy militants and murderers like (the head of the Syrian regime) Bashar Assad,” she told the UN Security Council that met on confidence-building measures to tackle the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Haley said the international community must respond to Iran's "dangerous violations" of its obligations in the UN resolution endorsing the nuclear deal, "not because we want the nuclear deal to fail, but because we want the cause of nonproliferation to succeed."

The diplomat also said that North Korea poses the greatest threat to nuclear proliferation and is continuing "its reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons ... while its people starve and to threaten other nations while intimidating its own citizens."

Haley accused Russia of vetoing three council resolutions and preventing the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons from holding Assad's regime accountable for the use of chemical weapons in Syria.



Nearly 400 Would-be Migrants Rescued Off Greek Island

A woman looks at sunset on Christmas Day, at a southern coastal suburb in Athens, Greece, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
A woman looks at sunset on Christmas Day, at a southern coastal suburb in Athens, Greece, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
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Nearly 400 Would-be Migrants Rescued Off Greek Island

A woman looks at sunset on Christmas Day, at a southern coastal suburb in Athens, Greece, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
A woman looks at sunset on Christmas Day, at a southern coastal suburb in Athens, Greece, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki

The Greek coastguard on Friday rescued nearly 400 would-be migrants from a fishing boat and another vessel off southern Crete, ANA news agency reported.

In one operation about 35 nautical miles from the small island of Gavdos, off Crete, a coastguard vessel, a Danish freighter and a helicopter took 365 people off a fishing boat, according to the agency.

Earlier about 30 people were moved onto a Frontex European frontier agency boat, about 25 nautical miles from Gavdos. They were taken to Crete, AFP reported.

Some 39 people on a rubber dinghy were rescued on Thursday just south of Crete.

The sea between Türkiye and Greece and Libya to Greece are popular routes for undocumented migrants trying to reach Europe.

There are many accidents however. Seventeen bodies, mainly Egyptians and Sudanese, were found and another 15 people were believed missing after one their vessel capsized this month.


Israel Becomes 1st Country to Recognize Somaliland as 'Sovereign State'

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025.  ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Israel Becomes 1st Country to Recognize Somaliland as 'Sovereign State'

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025.  ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Israel on Friday formally recognized Somaliland as an "independent and sovereign state" and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties, as the region's leader hailed its first-ever official recognition.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "announced today the official recognition of the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state,” his office said, making Israel the first country to do so.

"The declaration is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords," Netanyahu's office said, referring to several agreements between Israel and Arab countries brokered by US President Donald Trump during his first presidency.

Netanyahu said Israel would seek immediate cooperation with Somaliland in agriculture, health, technology and the economy. In a statement he congratulated Somaliland's president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, praised his leadership and invited him to visit Israel.

Abdullahi, hailed the move, saying it marked the beginning of a "strategic partnership.”

"This is a historic moment as we warmly welcome... the Prime Minister of the State of Israel's recognition of the Republic of Somaliland and affirm Somaliland's readiness to join the Abraham Accords," normalizing relations with Israel, he posted on X.

He said Somaliland was committed to ⁠building partnerships, boosting mutual prosperity and promoting stability across the Middle East and Africa.

Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has for decades pushed for international recognition, the key priority for Abdullahi since he took office last year.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the two countries had agreed to establish "full diplomatic ties, which will include the appointment of ambassadors and the opening of embassies.”

"I have instructed my ministry to act immediately to institutionalize ties between the two countries across a wide range of fields," he said in a statement on X.


14 Injured in Japan After Stabbing, Liquid Spray Attack, Official Says

This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)
This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)
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14 Injured in Japan After Stabbing, Liquid Spray Attack, Official Says

This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)
This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)

Fourteen people were injured in a stabbing attack in a factory in central Japan during which an unspecified liquid was also sprayed, an emergency services official said on Friday.

"Fourteen people are subject to transportation by emergency services," Tomoharu Sugiyama, a firefighting department official in the city of Mishima, in Shizuoka region, told AFP.

He said a call was received at about 4.30 pm (0730 GMT) from a nearby rubber factory saying "five or six people were stabbed by someone" and that a "spray-like liquid" had also been used.

Japanese media, including public broadcaster NHK, reported that police had arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder.

The Asahi Shimbun daily quoted investigative sources as saying that the man in his 30s was someone connected to the factory.

He was wearing what appeared to be a gas mask, the newspaper and other media said.

Asahi also said that he was apparently armed with what it described as a survival knife.
NHK said the man told police that he was 38 years old.

The seriousness of the injuries was unknown, although NHK said all victims remained conscious.

Sugiyama said at least six of the 14 victims had been sent to hospital in a fleet of ambulances. The exact nature of the injuries was also unclear.

The factory in Mishima is run by Yokohama Rubber Co., whose business includes manufacturing tires for trucks and buses, according to its corporate website.

Violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, which has a low murder rate and some of the world's toughest gun laws.

However, there are occasional stabbing attacks and even shootings, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.

A Japanese man was sentenced to death in October for a shooting and stabbing rampage that killed four people, including two police officers, in 2023.

A 43-year-old man was also charged with attempted murder in May over a knife attack at Tokyo's Toda-mae metro station.

Japan remains shaken by the memory of a major subway attack in 1995 when members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin gas on trains, killing 14 people and making more than 5,800 ill.

On March 20, 1995, five members of the Aum cult dropped bags of Nazi-developed sarin nerve agent inside morning commuter trains on March 20, 1995, piercing the pouches with sharpened umbrella tips before fleeing.