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JD Vance Says US at War with Iran's Nuclear Program, Not Iran

Vice President JD Vance, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2025, at the National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)
Vice President JD Vance, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2025, at the National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)
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JD Vance Says US at War with Iran's Nuclear Program, Not Iran

Vice President JD Vance, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2025, at the National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)
Vice President JD Vance, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2025, at the National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)

Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday the US was not at war with Iran but at war with its nuclear program, adding the program had been pushed back by a very long time due to American strikes ordered by President Donald Trump.

Trump said he had "obliterated" Iran's main nuclear sites in strikes overnight with massive bunker-busting bombs, joining Israel's assault against its Middle East rival in a significant new escalation of conflict in the region.

"We're not at war with Iran. We're at war with Iran's nuclear program," Vance said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press with Kristen Welker" show, Reuters reported.

"I think that we have really pushed their program back by a very long time. I think that it's going to be many, many years before the Iranians are going to be able to develop a nuclear weapon."

Vance accused Iran of not negotiating in good faith, which he said served as a catalyst for US strikes. The US had been in diplomatic talks with Iran about Tehran's nuclear program.

Tehran vowed to defend itself while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "gravely alarmed" by the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites.

"We don't want a regime change," Vance added. "We do not want to protract this... We want to end the nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here."

Vance said Trump made the final decision to strike Iran right before the strikes took place and that Washington has received some "indirect" messages from Tehran since the strikes.

Vance said the US "had no interest in boots on the ground."

Trump said on Friday he was going to decide in the next two weeks about direct US involvement in the Israel-Iran war which began with Israel's attacks on Iran on June 13. The war has raised alarm in a region already on edge since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023.

US ally Israel is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons and says it struck Iran to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.

Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Israel is not.

Many Democratic US lawmakers said Trump's actions were unconstitutional and that it was the US Congress that had the power to declare war on foreign countries.

Vance responded to that criticism by saying Trump had "clear authority to act to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."

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World

Landmark Myanmar Rohingya Genocide Case Opens at UN’s Top Court

A view of the courtroom as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) starts two weeks of hearings in a landmark case brought by Gambia, which accuses Myanmar of committing genocide ​the Rohingya, a minority Muslim group, in The Hague, Netherlands, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A view of the courtroom as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) starts two weeks of hearings in a landmark case brought by Gambia, which accuses Myanmar of committing genocide ​the Rohingya, a minority Muslim group, in The Hague, Netherlands, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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Landmark Myanmar Rohingya Genocide Case Opens at UN’s Top Court

A view of the courtroom as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) starts two weeks of hearings in a landmark case brought by Gambia, which accuses Myanmar of committing genocide ​the Rohingya, a minority Muslim group, in The Hague, Netherlands, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A view of the courtroom as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) starts two weeks of hearings in a landmark case brought by Gambia, which accuses Myanmar of committing genocide ​the Rohingya, a minority Muslim group, in The Hague, Netherlands, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)

A landmark case ​accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against minority Muslim Rohingya opened at the United Nations' top court on Monday.

It is the first genocide case the International Court of Justice will hear in full in more than a decade. The outcome will have repercussions beyond Myanmar, likely affecting South Africa’s genocide case at the ICJ against Israel over the war in Gaza.

Myanmar has denied accusations of genocide.

"The case is likely to set critical precedents for how genocide is defined ‌and how it ‌can be proven, and how violations can be ‌remedied," ⁠Nicholas ​Koumjian, head ‌of the UN's Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, told Reuters.

The predominantly Muslim West African country of Gambia filed the case at the ICJ - also known as the World Court - in 2019, accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya, a mainly Muslim minority in the remote western Rakhine state.

Myanmar's armed forces launched an offensive in 2017 that forced at least 730,000 Rohingya from their homes and into neighboring Bangladesh, where they ⁠recounted killings, mass rape and arson.

A UN fact-finding mission concluded the 2017 military offensive had included "genocidal acts".

ROHINGYA VICTIMS ‌SAY THEY WANT JUSTICE

Speaking in The Hague before ‍the hearings, Rohingya victims said they ‍want the long-awaited court case to deliver justice.

"We are hoping for a ‍positive result that will tell the world that Myanmar committed genocide, and we are the victims of that and we deserve justice," Yousuf Ali, a 52-year-old Rohingya refugee who says he was tortured by the Myanmar military, told Reuters.

Myanmar authorities rejected that report, saying ​its military offensive was a legitimate counter-terrorism campaign in response to attacks by Muslim militants. In the 2019 preliminary hearings in the ICJ ⁠case, Myanmar's then leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, rejected Gambia's accusations of genocide as "incomplete and misleading".

The hearings at the ICJ will mark the first time that Rohingya victims of the alleged atrocities will be heard by an international court, although those sessions will be closed to the public and the media for sensitivity and privacy reasons.

In total, the hearings at the ICJ will span three weeks. The ICJ is the U.N.'s highest court and deals with disputes between states.

Myanmar has been in further turmoil since 2021, when the military toppled the elected civilian government and violently suppressed pro-democracy protests, sparking a nationwide armed rebellion.

The country is currently holding phased elections ‌that have been criticized by the United Nations, some Western countries and human rights groups as not free or fair.

World

Trump Says Working Well with Venezuela’s New Leaders, Open to Meeting

A motorcyclist rides past graffiti depicting former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is facing trial in the United States after US forces captured him, in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)
A motorcyclist rides past graffiti depicting former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is facing trial in the United States after US forces captured him, in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)
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Trump Says Working Well with Venezuela’s New Leaders, Open to Meeting

A motorcyclist rides past graffiti depicting former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is facing trial in the United States after US forces captured him, in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)
A motorcyclist rides past graffiti depicting former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is facing trial in the United States after US forces captured him, in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)

US President Donald Trump said Sunday his administration was working well with Venezuela's interim leader Delcy Rodriguez -- and that he would be open to meeting with her.

Trump's upbeat remarks came just over a week after Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was seized in a US special forces raid and brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

Trump has said that the United States now has de facto control of Venezuela, as it enforces a naval blockade of the South American nation's vital oil exports.

Rodriguez, despite being a close Maduro ally, has indicated a willingness to work with the United States, saying she is open to cooperate on Trump's demands for access to Venezuelan oil.

Her government has also vowed to release political prisoners and begin talks on reestablishing diplomatic ties with Washington.

US envoys visited Caracas on Friday to discuss reopening Washington's embassy there.

"Venezuela is really working out well. We're working along really well with the leadership," Trump told reporters Sunday aboard Air Force One.

Asked if he planned to meet with Rodriguez, Trump said: "At some point I'll be."

He also said he expected to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Many were stunned when Trump dismissed the possibility of Machado serving as Venezuela's interim leader following the toppling of Maduro, and instead accepted Rodriguez's ascent.

Machado was given the Nobel Peace Prize last year and dedicated it to Trump, though he has made no secret of his frustration at being passed over for the award.

- Political prisoners -

The Venezuelan government began to release prisoners jailed under Maduro on Thursday, saying a "large" number would be released -- but rights groups and the opposition say only about 20 have walked free so far, including several prominent opposition figures.

Relatives have gathered outside prisons believed to be holding political detainees, to await their loved ones' release, sometimes even camping outside.

Rights groups estimate there are 800 to 1,200 political prisoners currently being held in Venezuela.

"Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners. Thank you!" Trump said in a post late Saturday on his Truth Social platform.

"I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done."

Meanwhile, a detained police officer accused of "treason" against Venezuela died in state custody after a stroke and heart attack, the state prosecution service confirmed Sunday.

Opposition groups said the 52-year-old man, Edison Jose Torres Fernandez, had shared messages critical of Maduro's government.

"We directly hold the regime of Delcy Rodriguez responsible for this death," Justice First, part of the Venezuelan opposition alliance, said on X.

Late Saturday, families held candlelight vigils outside El Rodeo prison east of Caracas and El Helicoide, a notorious jail run by the intelligence services, holding signs with the names of their imprisoned relatives.

Prisoners include Freddy Superlano, a close ally of Machado who was jailed after challenging Maduro's widely contested reelection in 2024.

"He is alive -- that was what I was most afraid about," Superlano's wife Aurora Silva told reporters.

"He is standing strong and I am sure he is going to come out soon."

Maduro's supporters rallied in Caracas on Saturday but the demonstrations were far smaller than his camp had mustered in the past, and top figures from his government were notably absent.

- Oil -

Trump pressed top oil executives at a White House meeting on Friday to invest in Venezuela, but was met with a cautious reception.

ExxonMobil's chief executive Darren Woods notably dismissed the country as "uninvestable" without sweeping reforms -- earning a rebuke from Trump.

"I didn't like Exxon's response. You know, we have so many that want it, I'd probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn't like their response. They're playing too cute," Trump said Sunday.

Experts say Venezuela's oil infrastructure is creaky after years of mismanagement and sanctions.

World

Fed Chair Powell Says Targeted by Federal Probe

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), at the US Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, US, December 10, 2025. (Reuters)
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), at the US Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, US, December 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Fed Chair Powell Says Targeted by Federal Probe

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), at the US Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, US, December 10, 2025. (Reuters)
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), at the US Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, US, December 10, 2025. (Reuters)

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Sunday that US prosecutors have opened a probe into his comments to lawmakers and threatened an indictment, a move he said is part of President Donald Trump's pressure campaign on monetary policy decisions.

Powell added in a statement that the bank received grand jury subpoenas on Friday, "threatening a criminal indictment" related to his Senate testimony in June, which concerned a major renovation project of Federal Reserve office buildings.

He dismissed the possible threat of indictment over his testimony or the renovation project as "pretexts."

"The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President," Powell said.

He branded the "unprecedented action" part of the "administration's threats and ongoing pressure."

The Fed, which makes independent monetary policy decisions, has a dual mandate to keep prices stable and unemployment low.

Its main tool in doing so is by setting a key interest rate that influences the cost of borrowing across the economy, while its board members typically serve under both Republican and Democratic presidents.

Trump has consistently pressured Powell and the central bank to move faster in lowering interest rates, in a breach of the long-standing independence of the institution.

Trump on Sunday denied any knowledge of the Justice Department's investigation into the Federal Reserve.

"I don't know anything about it, but he's certainly not very good at the Fed, and he's not very good at building buildings," NBC quoted Trump saying.

- 'Corrupt takeover' -

Senators from both sides of the aisle blasted the investigation.

"It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question," Republican Thom Tillis said.

"I will oppose the confirmation of any nominee for the Fed - including the upcoming Fed Chair vacancy - until this legal matter is fully resolved," he added.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a democrat, called the probe an assault on the Fed's independence.

"Anyone who is independent and doesn't just fall in line behind Trump gets investigated," Schumer said.

Powell's term as chairman of the Federal Reserve ends in May, and Trump told Politico in an interview last month that he would judge Powell's successor on whether they immediately cut rates.

The US president has openly spoken about ousting Powell but stopped short of doing so, and focused instead on cost overruns for renovation of the Fed's Washington headquarters.

In July, the cost of the Fed's facelift of its 88-year-old Washington headquarters and a neighboring building was up by $600 million from an initial $1.9 billion estimate.

That same month, Trump made an unusual visit to the construction site during which the two men, clad in hard hats, bickered over the price tag for the makeover.