French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said that the French Navy had boarded a Russia-linked oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea, asserting that France would not tolerate "any violation" of international law. Macron said the tanker was subject to international sanctions and was suspected of operating as part of Moscow's so-called "shadow fleet," suspected of flying a false flag. In a post on X, Macron wrote, "We will not tolerate any violation. This morning, the French Navy boarded an oil tanker coming from Russia, subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag. The operation was conducted on the high seas in the Mediterranean, with the support of several of our allies. It was carried out in strict compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. A judicial investigation has been opened. The vessel has been diverted. We are determined to uphold international law and to ensure the effective enforcement of sanctions. The activities of the "shadow fleet" contribute to financing the war of aggression against Ukraine. According to France 24, Local maritime authorities stated that the navy seized an oil tanker called "Grinch" between Spain and Morocco after it set sail from the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk. A ship named "Grinch" is under United Kingdom (UK) sanctions, while another called "Carl" with the same registration number is sanctioned by the United States and the European Union. Ship-tracking websites, marinetraffic and vesselfinder, said the vessel had been flying a Comoros flag, France 24 said. We will not tolerate any violation.This morning, the French Navy boarded an oil tanker coming from Russia, subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag.The operation was conducted on the high seas in the Mediterranean,… pic.twitter.com/zhXVdzPx1r — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) January 22, 2026 Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the French action, thanking Macron for what he described as a strong and necessary step to curb Russia's war financing. Thank you, France! Thank you, @EmmanuelMacron! This is exactly the kind of resolve needed to ensure that Russian oil no longer finances Russia’s war. Russian tankers operating near European shores must be stopped. Sanctions against the entire infrastructure of the shadow fleet… https://t.co/6t0DbJ9xS1 — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 22, 2026 In a post on X, Zelensky respond, "Thank you, France! Thank you, @EmmanuelMacron! This is exactly the kind of resolve needed to ensure that Russian oil no longer finances Russia's war. Russian tankers operating near European shores must be stopped. Sanctions against the entire infrastructure of the shadow fleet must be tough. Vessels must be apprehended. And wouldn't it be fair to confiscate and sell the oil carried by these tankers?" According to France 24, in late September, French authorities detained a Russian-linked ship called the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin, in a move Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned as "piracy".
23 January,2026 09:43 AM IST | Paris | ANIUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted his European allies Thursday for what he portrayed as the continent's slow, fragmented and inadequate response to Russia's invasion nearly four years ago and its continued international aggression. Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskyy listed a litany of grievances and criticisms of Europe that he said have left Ukraine at the mercy of Russian President Vladimir Putin amid an ongoing US push for a peace settlement. "Europe looks lost," Zelenskyy said in his speech, urging the continent to become a global force. He contrasted Europe's response with Washington's bold steps in Venezuela and Iran. The former comic actor referred to the movie "Groundhog Day," in which the main character must relive the same day over and over again. "Just last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words: Europe needs to know how to defend itself. A year has passed. And nothing has changed. We are still in a situation where I must say the same words again," Zelenskyy said. He said that Ukrainians, too, seem caught in that reality in the war, "repeating the same thing for weeks, months and, of course, for years. And yet that is exactly how we live now. It's our life." A meeting with Trump His speech came after he met behind closed doors for about an hour in Davos with US President Donald Trump, who described the talks as "very good." Zelenskyy called them "productive and meaningful." European countries, which see their own future defence at stake in the war on its eastern flank, have provided financial, military and humanitarian support for Kyiv, but not all members of the 27-nation European Union are helping. Ukraine also has been frustrated by political disagreements within Europe over how to deal with Russia, as well as the bloc's at times slow-moving responses. Russia's bigger army has managed to capture about 20 per cent of Ukraine since hostilities began in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of 2022. But the battlefield gains along the roughly 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) front line have been costly for Moscow, and the Russian economy is feeling the consequences of the war and international sanctions. Ukraine is short of money and, despite significantly boosting its own arms manufacturing, still needs Western weaponry. It is also short-handed on the front line. Its defence minister last week reported some 200,000 troop desertions and draft-dodging by about 2 million Ukrainians. Zelenskyy is also striving to keep the world's attention focused on Ukraine despite other conflicts. Zelenskyy cites inaction on key decisions He chided Europe for being slow to act on key decisions, spending too little on defence, failing to stop Russia's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers that are breaking international sanctions, and balking at using its frozen assets in Europe to finance Ukraine, among other things. Europe, he said, "still feels more like a geography, history, a tradition, not a real political force, not a great power." "Some Europeans are really strong, it's true, but many say we must stand strong, and they always want someone else to tell them how long they need to stand strong, preferably until the next election," he said. The Trump administration is pushing for a peace settlement, with its envoys shuttling between Kyiv and Moscow in a flurry of negotiations that some worry could force Ukraine into an unfavourable deal. A meeting in Moscow Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow late Thursday and sat down for more talks with Putin, the Kremlin said. One major issue remains to be resolved in negotiations, Witkoff said at Davos, without saying what it was. Zelenskyy said the future status of land in eastern Ukraine currently occupied by Russia is unresolved but that peace proposals are "nearly ready." Postwar security guarantees, should a deal be reached, are agreed between the US and Ukraine, although they would require each country's ratification, he said. Zelenskyy said two days of trilateral meetings involving the US, Ukraine and Russia are due to begin Friday in the United Arab Emirates. "Russians have to be ready for compromises because, you know, everybody has to be ready, not only Ukraine, and this is important for us," he said. Trump and Zelenskyy have had a fraught relationship, and the American president has at times also rebuked Putin. Zelenskyy said he thanked Trump for providing US-made Patriot air defence systems that can help stop Russian missiles that are repeatedly hitting Ukraine's power grid, causing hardship for civilians denied light, heating and running water. He said he asked Trump for more of them. After Trump cut support for Ukraine, other NATO countries began buying weapons from the US to donate to Kyiv under a special financial arrangement. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 January,2026 08:55 AM IST | Davos | APTikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American version of the app, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the US that has been in discussion for years. The social video platform company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX to form the new TikTok US joint venture. The new app will operate under "defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurances for US users," the company said in a statement Thursday. Adam Presser, who previously worked as TikTok's head of operations and trust and safety, will lead the new venture as its CEO. He will work alongside a seven-member, majority-American board of directors that includes TikTok's CEO Shou Chew. The deal marks the end of years of uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the United States. After wide bipartisan majorities in Congress passed - and President Joe Biden signed - a law that would ban TikTok in the US if it did not find a new owner in the place of China's ByteDance, the platform was set to go dark on the law's January 2025 deadline. For a several hours, it did. But on his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep it running while his administration sought an agreement for the sale of the company. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 January,2026 08:43 AM IST | Washington | APScientists have discovered that a microscopic parasitic worm can propel itself astonishing distances through the air by using static electricity. The worm is capable of jumping as high as 25 times its own body length to latch onto flying insects. “We’ve identified the electrostatic mechanism this worm uses to hit its target, and we’ve shown the importance of this mechanism for the worm’s survival. Higher voltage, combined with a tiny breath of wind, greatly boosts the odds of a jumping worm connecting to a flying insect,” said a researcher. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 January,2026 08:36 AM IST | Berkeley | AgenciesAhead of talks with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed readiness to part with the frozen Russian assets for rebuilding war-torn Ukraine after a peace deal struck between the two former Soviet republics. In his televised remarks at the meeting of the Russian Security Council late on Wednesday night, Putin also announced to donate $1 billion to the Trump-promoted Board of Peace to oversee the Gaza ceasefire plan from the frozen assets. “Incidentally, the remaining funds from our frozen assets in the US could be used to rebuild territories damaged by the fighting after a peace treaty is concluded between Russia and Ukraine. We are also discussing this possibility with representatives of the US administration,” he said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 January,2026 08:33 AM IST | Moscow | AgenciesHandprints on cave walls in a largely unexplored area of Indonesia may be the oldest rock art studied so far, dating back to at least 67,800 years ago. The tan-coloured prints analysed by Indonesian and Australian researchers on the island of Sulawesi were made by blowing pigment over hands placed against the cave walls, leaving an outline. Some of the fingertips were also tweaked to look more pointed. This prehistoric art form suggests the Indonesian island was home to a flourishing artistic culture. Indonesia is known to host some of the world’s earliest cave drawings. The new art from southeastern Sulawesi is the oldest to be found on cave walls. The stencils also represent a more complex tradition of rock art that could have been a shared cultural practice. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 January,2026 08:29 AM IST | Jakarta | AgenciesThe death toll from a mall fire in Pakistan's biggest city rose to at least 55 people on Thursday, with rescuers in Karachi still searching for more missing in the devastating inferno. Investigators are yet to announce what caused the fire, five days after the blaze gutted the three-storey Gul Plaza. "A total of 55 bodies have been recovered since Saturday night," said Javed Nabi Khoso, deputy commissioner of Karachi's southern district. Families have criticised the slow pace of the recovery operation, with more than 50 giving DNA samples in the hope of finding their missing relatives. "We will hand over the bodies to the family, once DNA samples are matched," health official Summaiya Syed told journalists on Wednesday. Faraz Ali, whose father and 26-year-old brother were inside the mall, told AFP he wants "the bodies to be recovered and handed over to their rightful families". Authorities stress need for better fire safety after Karachi mall tragedy "That is all so that the families may receive something, some comfort, some peace. At least let us see them one last time, in whatever condition they are, so that we may say our final goodbye," the 28-year-old said on Wednesday. The provincial government has announced that it will give 10 million rupees ($35,720) to each family of the deceased. All 1,200 shopkeepers will also be compensated. "The Gul Plaza incident is a tragic and heartbreaking tragedy," provincial information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said on Thursday. Fires are common in Karachi's markets and factories, which are known for their poor infrastructure, but a blaze on such a scale is rare. "Approximately 90 percent of buildings across Pakistan lack a fire safety system," Memon told a news conference. The provincial government was taking measures to ensure fire safety procedures were followed at malls and markets, he said without giving further details. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
22 January,2026 08:12 PM IST | Karachi | AFPA reactor at the world's largest nuclear power plant that restarted for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster is now being shut down again on Thursday due to a glitch that occurred hours after the unit's resumption, its operator said. The No. 6 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in north-central Japan was reactivated Wednesday night for the first time in 14 years, as plant workers started removing neutron-absorbing control rods from the core to start stable nuclear fission. But the process had to be suspended hours later due to a malfunction related to control rods, which are essential to safely starting up and shutting down reactors, the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said. TEPCO, which also manages the wrecked Fukushima plant, said there was no safety issue from the glitch. Kashiwazak-Kariwa plant chief Takeyuki Inagaki told a news conference that he has decided to shut down the reactor to ensure safety. The operation had to stop when an alarm went off after 52 of the 205 control rods were removed from the core, he said. No 6 reactor shut until control rod issue is fixed; plant dormant since Fukushima Inagaki said he hoped to start putting them back in later Thursday to bring the No. 6 reactor to a shutdown. "The equipment is essential to safe operation, and we will examine it inside out," he said, adding that the reactor will not be restarted until the cause is found and measures are taken. "I don't think this is going to be resolved in a couple of days," Inagaki said. The restart at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant was being watched closely since TEPCO also runs the Fukushima Daiichi plant that was ruined in the 2011 quake and tsunami. Resource-poor Japan is accelerating atomic power use to meet soaring electricity needs. All seven reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa have been dormant for a year after the meltdowns of reactors at the Fukushima plant contaminated the surrounding land with radioactive fallout so severe that some areas are still uninhabitable. TEPCO is working on the cleanup at the Fukushima site that's estimated to cost 22 trillion yen (USD 139 billion). It's also trying to recover from the damage to its reputation after government and independent investigations blamed the Fukushima disaster on TEPCO's bad safety culture and criticised it for collusion with safety authorities. Fourteen other nuclear reactors have restarted across Japan since 2011, but the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, about 220 kilometres (135 miles) northwest of Tokyo, is the first TEPCO-run unit to resume production. A restart of the No. 6 reactor could generate an additional 1.35 million kilowatts of electricity, enough to power more than 1 million households in the capital region. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant's combined output capacity of 8 million kilowatts makes it the world's largest, though TEPCO plans to resume only two of the seven reactors in the coming years. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
22 January,2026 08:08 PM IST | Tokyo [Japan] | APPresident Donald Trump on Thursday signed the charter to formally launch his “Board of Peace” initiative at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, describing it as a significant step towards global conflict resolution, news agency PTI reported. Calling it a “very exciting day, long in the making”, Trump said, “We’re going to have peace in the world,” adding, “And we’re all stars.” In his opening remarks, Trump said, “Just one year ago the world was actually on fire, a lot of people didn’t know it,” but claimed that “many good things are happening” and that threats across the world “are really calming down.” Flanked by leaders from the initiative’s founding member countries, Trump stated his administration was “settling eight wars” and claimed that “a lot of progress” had been made towards ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, PTI reported. Thanking leaders present at the ceremony, Trump said, “We are truly honoured by your presence today,” adding that they were “in most cases very popular leaders, some cases not so popular.” He also remarked, “In this group I like every single one of them.” He has earlier described the newly formed body as potentially the “most prestigious board ever formed.” The initiative originated from Trump’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan, which was endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, but has since expanded beyond its original scope. Administration officials said around 35 countries have committed to join the body, while 60 nations have received invitations. Trump also suggested the Board of Peace could assume responsibilities currently held by the United Nations. “We have a lot of great people that want to join,” Trump said during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, whose country has confirmed its membership. He added that some leaders required parliamentary approval before committing, while other countries not invited were seeking inclusion. Defending the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders, Trump said he wanted “everybody” who was powerful and could “get the job done.” Several European allies declined to participate, amid concerns over the board’s expanded mandate and its potential impact on the existing international system under the UN Charter. The United Kingdom also said it would not sign the treaty during Trump’s ceremony, with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper citing concerns over Putin’s invitation. According to a copy of the charter cited by media reports, countries seeking permanent membership would need to contribute USD 1 billion, while non-paying members would have a three-year mandate. The charter designates Trump as permanent chairman, even after leaving office. Trump linked the initiative to his Iran policy and claimed it helped secure the Israel-Hamas ceasefire. “If we didn’t do that, there was no chance of making peace,” he said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Davos on Thursday as Trump expressed frustration over the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict. “I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done,” Trump said. “And if they don’t, they’re stupid — that goes for both of them.” (With PTI inputs)
22 January,2026 06:07 PM IST | Davos | mid-day online correspondentThree people were killed, and another was wounded on Thursday in a shooting in a town in Australia's New South Wales state, police said. Emergency services were called to an address at Lake Cargelligo, a town of around 1,500 people, following reports of a shooting, a police statement said. Three people - two women and a man - were dead, and another man was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition, police said. The shooter or shooters appeared to be at large. Police urged the public to avoid the area and for local residents to stay inside. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
22 January,2026 02:30 PM IST | Melbourne | APRussian President Vladimir Putin has said any decision on joining the Board of Peace led by the US to oversee the Gaza ceasefire plan will be taken after consultations with Moscow's strategic partners. "Regarding our participation in the 'Peace Board', the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been instructed to study the documents received by us, consult with our strategic partners on this matter, and only then will we be able to respond to the invitation extended to us," Putin said in his televised opening remarks at the national Security Council meeting late Wednesday night. "We have always supported and continue to support any efforts aimed at strengthening international stability. We also acknowledge the current US administration's contribution to the search for a solution to the Ukrainian crisis," Putin said, thanking US President Trump for the invitation. The Board of Peace led by Trump was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the Gaza ceasefire plan. Since then, the Trump administration's ambitions have ballooned into a more sprawling concept, with Trump extending invitations to dozens of nations and hinting the board will soon broker global conflicts, like a pseudo-UN Security Council. Putin noted that the proposal made to Russia was primarily about a settlement in West Asia and about finding possible solutions to the pressing problems of the Palestinian people and resolving the most acute humanitarian problems in the Gaza Strip. "In this regard, I would like to emphasise the most important point. The key is that the entire process should have a positive impact on a long-term settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on the relevant decisions of the United Nations. "And it is essential that the fundamental needs and wishes of the Palestinians be taken into account. This concerns the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and its basic social infrastructure, healthcare systems, water supply, and the establishment of a reliable food supply," Putin said and announced to donate USD 1 billion to the Peace Board. "Even before we decide on the issue of participation in the composition and work of the Peace Board, taking into account Russia's special relationship with the Palestinian people, we could, I think, give USD 1 billion from Russian assets frozen under the previous US administration," Putin announced. "I plan to discuss all these issues with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with whom we would hold talks tomorrow (Thursday),"he further added. The Palestinian leader arrived here on Wednesday on a two-day visit. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
22 January,2026 11:17 AM IST | Moscow | PTIADVERTISEMENT
-1769071957970_d.png "Residents advised to stay inside after deadly shooting in rural Australian town. Representational Image")
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