Bolivia starts enforcing classroom cellphone ban as new school year opens
The policy applies to public and private schools alike, with the government saying it wants fewer distractions and more focus in class.
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Lord Mandelson resigns from Labour after latest Epstein file release
Mandelson said he did not want to embarrass Labour further as new US Department of Justice documents renewed scrutiny of his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
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Costa Rica elects Laura Fernández and gives her party a parliamentary majority
Laura Fernández has won Costa Rica’s presidency and her party has taken 30 of 57 legislative seats, giving her a stronger base than her predecessor.
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Prague rallies back Petr Pavel in dispute over Czech cabinet pick
Tens of thousands of Czechs gathered in Prague and other cities to support President Petr Pavel after he refused to appoint a minister linked to the right-wing Motorists for Themselves party.
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Venezuela’s Acting President Proposes Broad Amnesty and Closure of El Helicoide
Acting president Delcy Rodríguez said she would seek a sweeping amnesty for political violence cases dating back to 1999 and close Caracas’s notorious El Helicoide prison.
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Trump declares national emergency over Cuba and threatens new tariffs
The executive order creates a tariff mechanism aimed at countries that supply oil to Cuba, escalating an already severe U.S. pressure campaign.
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Judge tosses federal murder and weapons counts against Luigi Mangione in Thompson case
A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed the murder and weapons counts tied to Brian Thompson’s killing, removing the federal death penalty option while leaving stalking charges in place.
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Justice Department releases 3 million pages of Epstein files, AP says
The Justice Department released a large new batch of Jeffrey Epstein files after the Epstein Files Transparency Act, according to AP.
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Burkina Faso junta dissolves all political parties in sweeping new decree
Burkina Faso’s military government has abolished all political parties and ordered their assets transferred to the state, deepening its break with civilian politics.
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China executes 11 members of Ming family linked to Myanmar scam compounds
The case marks the first executions in Beijing’s crackdown on scam networks in Myanmar, where the Ming family built a violent fraud and gambling empire.
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South Korea’s former first lady Kim Keon Hee sentenced to 20 months for corruption
A Seoul court handed Kim Keon Hee a prison term over gifts and favors, deepening the downfall of the country’s former first couple.
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Turkey arrests six on suspicion of spying for Iran
Authorities say the suspects, including an Iranian national, were detained after coordinated operations across five provinces and accused of gathering intelligence on military sites.
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French lawmakers back ban on social media for under-15s
France’s lower house has passed a bill to bar under-15s from social media and to prohibit mobile phones in high schools, sending the measure to the Senate.
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Azerbaijan says it foiled an embassy attack plot in Baku
Security services arrested three people they say were linked to Islamic State’s Khorasan Province and were preparing to attack an embassy in the capital.
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Nasry Asfura Sworn In as Honduras President After Narrow Election Win
Conservative businessman Nasry Asfura took office as president of Honduras after a closely contested election shaped by crime, migration and geopolitical rivalry.
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Interpol operation leads to 3,744 arrests in global trafficking crackdown
Operation Liberterra III spanned 119 countries and also identified more than 4,400 potential victims, Interpol said in a report on transnational trafficking and smuggling.
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Shariff Aguak mayor survives ambush as gunmen are killed in clash with security forces
A convoy carrying the mayor of Shariff Aguak came under fire in Maguindanao del Sur on January 25, 2026, in an attack that ended with the assailants dead and the mayor unharmed.
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French hold Indian captain of seized Mediterranean tanker as Russia sanctions probe widens
French authorities are questioning the Indian captain of a tanker intercepted in the Mediterranean after the ship arrived at anchorage near Marseille, part of a wider crackdown on the Russian shadow fleet.
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Myanmar’s final election phase closes monthlong vote under military control
Myanmar held the third and final phase of its general election on January 25, 2026, in a process that all but guaranteed military-backed control of parliament.
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Minnesota protests intensify after fatal shooting of nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agent
Demonstrations, business disruptions and political fallout spread across Minneapolis after the death of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti during federal immigration enforcement activity.
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Minnesota strike shut down businesses, campuses and cultural institutions in protest over ICE surge
Tens of thousands joined an economic blackout in Minneapolis and across Minnesota, with closures, arrests and a march through subzero weather after the death of Renee Good.
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To Lam re-elected to lead Vietnam’s Communist Party as growth targets sharpen
Vietnam’s ruling party has re-elected To Lam as general secretary, strengthening his position at the top of the state and sharpening focus on economic reform.
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Haiti council votes to remove acting prime minister in fresh political rupture
AP said Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council moved to oust acting prime minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé two weeks before the council was due to dissolve.
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Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding arrested in Mexico
The FBI fugitive faces U.S. charges over multinational cocaine trafficking and an alleged plot to kill a federal witness.
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