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Cuba Defends Military Drills as Deterrent Against US Aggression

A man pushes a tricycle past a jeep sporting a wheel cover with an image based on the US flag in Havana on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
A man pushes a tricycle past a jeep sporting a wheel cover with an image based on the US flag in Havana on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
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Cuba Defends Military Drills as Deterrent Against US Aggression

A man pushes a tricycle past a jeep sporting a wheel cover with an image based on the US flag in Havana on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
A man pushes a tricycle past a jeep sporting a wheel cover with an image based on the US flag in Havana on January 23, 2026. (AFP)

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel defended his country's military preparedness exercises on Saturday as a deterrent against potential aggression from the United States.

US President Donald Trump this month warned that Cuba "is ready to fall" and told Havana to "make a deal" or pay a price similar to Venezuela, whose ousted leader Nicolas Maduro was taken to America by US forces in a January 3 bombing raid that killed dozens of people.

Venezuela was a key ally of Cuba and a critical supplier of oil and money, which Trump has vowed to cut off.

Diaz-Canel on Saturday supervised military exercises that included a tank unit from Cuba's armed forces.

He was accompanied by Cuban General Alvaro Lopez Miera, who is the minister of the armed forces, and other high-ranking military officials.

"The best way to prevent aggression is for imperialism to have to calculate the price of attacking our country," Diaz-Canel said in remarks broadcast on Cuban television.

"And that has a lot to do with our preparation for this type of military action... This takes on significant importance in the current circumstances," he added.

Cuba's National Defense Council, which is led by Diaz-Canel, recently met "with the objective of increasing and improving the level of preparedness and cohesion" among the country's leadership, according to an official government statement.

The council met to "analyze and approve the plans and measures for transitioning to a State of War," the statement added, without providing further details.

These military exercises are part of the country's preparation "under the strategic concept of the War of the Entire People," a term used by authorities for the mobilization of civilians in the event of armed conflict.

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World

Woman, Boy Drown off Greece After Migrant Boat Sinks

The Greek coast guard rescues refugees and migrants. (AFP/Getty Images)
The Greek coast guard rescues refugees and migrants. (AFP/Getty Images)
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Woman, Boy Drown off Greece After Migrant Boat Sinks

The Greek coast guard rescues refugees and migrants. (AFP/Getty Images)
The Greek coast guard rescues refugees and migrants. (AFP/Getty Images)

A boat carrying over 50 migrants sank off the Greek coast, killing a woman and a boy and leaving three others missing, the coastguard said Sunday.

"Fifty migrants have been rescued and are being cared for by the authorities," after the accident off the island of Ikria in the northern Aegean Sea, a spokeswoman said.

"A rescue operation with a coastguard vessel is underway, and a team of rescuers and divers is expected later today," she said.

Strong winds were hampering rescue efforts, according to public broadcaster ERT.

Ikaria lies close to Türkiye's western coast, a frequent setoff point for migrants trying to enter the European Union.

Many migrants also take the much longer route from Libya to Crete in southern Greece.

The perilous crossings are often fatal. In early December, 17 people were found dead after their boat sank off Crete and 15 others were reported missing. Only two people survived.

According to the UN refugee agency 107 people died or went missing in 2025 off the Greek coast. The International Organization for Migration says about 33,000 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014.

World

Indonesian Rescuers Struggle with Mud and Debris in Search for Dozens Missing After Deadly Landslide

Debris from destroyed houses remains after a landslide struck in Pasirlangu village, Bandung, West Java, on January 24, 2026. (AFP)
Debris from destroyed houses remains after a landslide struck in Pasirlangu village, Bandung, West Java, on January 24, 2026. (AFP)
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Indonesian Rescuers Struggle with Mud and Debris in Search for Dozens Missing After Deadly Landslide

Debris from destroyed houses remains after a landslide struck in Pasirlangu village, Bandung, West Java, on January 24, 2026. (AFP)
Debris from destroyed houses remains after a landslide struck in Pasirlangu village, Bandung, West Java, on January 24, 2026. (AFP)

Indonesian rescuers struggled Sunday with mounds of mud, debris and water‑soaked ground, searching for dozens still missing after a landslide triggered by torrential rains the day before on the country’s main island of Java killed at least 11 people.

The predawn landslide roared down the slopes of Mount Burangrang in West Java province on Saturday, burying some 34 houses in Pasir Langu village. On Sunday, 79 people remained missing, many feared buried under tons of mud, rocks and uprooted trees.

About 230 residents living near the site have been evacuated to temporary government shelters. Rescue workers retrieved two more bodies on Sunday morning, bringing the death toll to 11, according to Ade Dian Permana from the search and rescue office.

Videos released on Saturday by the country's search and rescue agency, known as Basarnas, showed rescuers using farm tools and bare hands to pull a mud-caked body from the ground and placing it in an orange bag to take away for burial.

Heavy equipment and excavators were mostly idle because the ground was too soft and unstable.

"If the slope does not stabilize; crews are prepared to continue manually," Permana said, estimating the height of the mounds of mud to be up to 5 meters (16 feet)

“Some homes are buried up to the roof level,” he added.

Visiting the area on Sunday, Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka pledged that authorities would take measures to prevent similar disasters. He urged the local authorities in West Java and West Bandung to "address the issue of land conversion in disaster-prone areas,” including ways to reduce risks.

Basarnas chief Mohammad Syafii confirmed to reporters after visiting the devastated Pasir Langu village with Gibran, that the terrain condition and bad weather continue to complicate search operations on Sunday.

“We are at the mercy of the weather, and the slide is still mud ... flowing and unstable,” Syafii said. “With the area this wide, we’ll use every asset we have ... drones, K‑9 teams and ground units, but safety comes first.”

Seasonal rains and high tides from about October to April frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.

World

Around 1,700 Kyiv Apartment Blocks Still without Heating After Russian Strike

A resident walks with a dog on a freezing evening during a power outage in a residential neighborhood of Kyiv on January 24, 2026, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (AFP)
A resident walks with a dog on a freezing evening during a power outage in a residential neighborhood of Kyiv on January 24, 2026, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (AFP)
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Around 1,700 Kyiv Apartment Blocks Still without Heating After Russian Strike

A resident walks with a dog on a freezing evening during a power outage in a residential neighborhood of Kyiv on January 24, 2026, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (AFP)
A resident walks with a dog on a freezing evening during a power outage in a residential neighborhood of Kyiv on January 24, 2026, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (AFP)

Around 1,700 apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv were still without heating following a Russian missile and drone attack earlier this week, Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said on Sunday. 

Moscow has sharply intensified bombardments of Ukraine's energy system since it invaded its neighbor in 2022. 

Russia launched a vast attack on Ukraine's energy system ‌on Saturday, rocking Kyiv ‌with explosions overnight, ‌leaving ⁠1.2 million properties ‌without power countrywide during sub-zero winter temperatures. 

"Russia’s main targets right now are our energy sector, critical infrastructure, and residential buildings," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X. 

This week alone, he said Russia had launched more than 1,700 attack ⁠drones, over 1,380 guided aerial bombs and 69 missiles on ‌Ukraine. 

Every massive attack by ‍Russia could have ‍a devastating impact, said Zelenskiy, who on Sunday ‍visited Lithuania. 

"We are working with every leader to strengthen Ukraine. Everyone must clearly understand the threat coming from Russia," he said. 

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said on Saturday that more than 3,200 of Kyiv's buildings were ⁠without heating late that evening, down from 6,000 in the morning. 

"Since yesterday evening, utility workers and energy companies have restored heat supply to more than 1,600 buildings. They are continuing to work to restore services to the homes of Kyiv residents," Klitschko said on Telegram. 

The large-scale attack on the Ukrainian capital took place just as Ukrainian, Russian and American ‌negotiators were discussing options in Abu Dhabi for ending the war.