US seizes a seventh Venezuela-linked oil tanker

The United States military announced that it has seized a seventh Venezuela-linked oil tanker, as the US tightens its control over the production and sale of the country’s considerable oil resources.

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees military operations in Latin America, said on Tuesday that it captured the Motor Vessel Sagitta as part of its blockade on oil vessels leaving and entering the country.

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“The apprehension of another tanker operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully”, SOUTHCOM said in a statement.

It added that Tuesday’s tanker seizure occurred “without incident”, sharing a video appearing to show US forces flying towards the vessel and landing on its deck.

The US began seizing sanctioned tankers on December 10, as part of a campaign of increasing pressure on Venezuela.

Tensions between the US and Venezuela came to a peak on January 3, when US President Donald Trump authorised a predawn military operation to abduct his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro.

In the lead-up to that operation, Trump and allies like Stephen Miller had been increasingly vocal about laying claim to Venezuelan oil, given the US’s history of prospecting for petroleum there in the early 20th century.

But by 1971, Venezuela had nationalised its oil industry. Efforts to expropriate assets from foreign oil companies in 2007 have further fuelled criticism from the Trump administration, which considers Venezuelan oil “stolen” from US owners.

Legal experts, however, largely consider such arguments a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty.

Trump has nevertheless said the US will control Venezuela’s oil and has used the threat of further military attacks to pressure Venezuela’s government into compliance.

The Trump administration has also placed steep sanctions on Venezuela’s economy, as part of a trend stretching back to the Republican leader’s first term as president.

The US has framed the tanker seizures as a way of enforcing those sanctions, although the legality of using military force to enforce economic penalties is disputed.

Trump and his officials have said that the sale of Venezuelan oil on the world market will be dictated by the US and that the proceeds from those sales will be placed in a US-controlled bank account.

Trump has also used control over Venezuela’s oil to ratchet up pressure on Cuba, for which access to Venezuelan oil is an important economic lifeline.

The US president told reporters on Tuesday at a White House briefing that he has taken 50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela.

At the White House, he said, “We still have millions of barrels of oil left.” On the open market, we’re selling it, they say. We are incredibly lowering oil prices.

Vinicius defies boos with star turn in Real Madrid’s 6-1 UCL rout of Monaco

Vinicius Junior calmed the fans who had booed him once more at the start of Real Madrid’s 6-1 victory over Monaco in the Champions League, with three assists and a goal.

In the opening game of the league-phase match against Spain on Tuesday, a portion of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium crowd nearly always jeered the Brazilian forward. However, as the game progressed, the boos vanished and Vinicius almost certainly had scored his first Champions League goal of the season in the 63rd minute.

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In Madrid’s 2-0 victory over Levante in the Spanish league, the early boos were not nearly as loud as they were on Saturday. Both times when Vinicius’ name appeared in the starting lineup, fans were offended, but this time the match ended with Vinicius’s supporters choosing him as the winner.

Vinicius hasn’t had a stellar season, and some fans attributed him to the removal of coach Xabi Alonso last week.

Alonso, a former player from Spain and a top player, was fired as coach after an arduous eight-month absence. Vinicius had a verbal spat with him. In the locker room, Visicius reportedly criticized as the main player for not backing Alonso.

He passed a number of defenders before striking the upper corner on Tuesday, and he was on his way to scoring. Instead of celebrating, he hugged his teammates near the midfield. Then he rushed to Alvaro Arbeloa, the new Madrid coach, to give him a hug and salute.

Kylian Mbappe and Franco Mastantuono scored for Vinicius in the 26th and 51st, respectively. Thilo Kehrer, a Monaco defender, scored an own-goal from the Brazilian’s cross in the 55th minute.

A fan at the Bernabeu held a banner that read, “Vini, we are behind you.”

In the fifth minute, Mbappe scored to give the hosts a lead. After scoring again in the second half and again after the final whistle, he gave Vinicius a hug.

Recently, Mbappe and Arbeloa had publicly defended Vinicius, with Mbappe claiming that the audience should not focus solely on Vinicius.

Vinicius made a seventh-minute attempt that was applauded by many fans who had just missed the target from inside the area. Some fans booed once more after he improvised a ball in the 40th, but many more applauded in response.

Similar incidents against Levante and club President Florentino Pérez did not cause any immediate resentment.

After scoring, Mbappe apologized to Monaco fans. Former Monaco player, he was. In his first 20 games with Madrid, Mbappe has scored 18 Champions League goals, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo’s 14th.

In the 80th minute, Jude Bellingham scored Madrid’s sixth goal, which some fans also made fun of on Saturday.

In second-half stoppage time, Vinicius almost broke the dead on a breakaway.

Alonso’s exit came as a result of a two-game losing streak that saw Madrid play Levante, which included a humiliating elimination from Albacete in the Copa del Rey round of 16 and a loss to Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Jesus brace helps Arsenal down Inter to seal Champions League qualification

Just one month after recovering from a lengthy injury layoff, Gabriel Jesus is already back in top form.

The Arsenal forward scored twice in a dynamic opening period to help his side defeat Inter Milan 3-1 on Tuesday in the Champions League. This was his third start of the season.

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After torn his ACL in January of last year, Jesus was out for almost a year.

It’s a “dream night.” Jesus told Amazon Prime, “I had a football dream. Being in this stadium and watching this score is tears in my eyes because I’ve always wanted to be here. I watched a lot of Serie A when I was a kid.

Whatever the reason is for something to happen, whether it’s good or bad, there is always a reason. During my 11 months of field absence, I discovered that.

Jesus made only his first appearances before Tuesday in domestic cup competitions, and he only made one appearance since then when he made a few substitute starts.

Viktor Gyokeres, who has struggled to adapt since moving to Sporting Lisbon for a big sum of money, was replaced by Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta at San Siro.

“Jesus said, “Everyone wants to start.” I have a lot of respect for people. I’m now 28 and not a child, so I can understand football.

“I’m delighted Vik scored a goal,” I said. I’m so happy that Vik and I both scored.

In the tenth minute, Jesus instinctively extended his leg to the end of a scuffed Jurrien Timber shot before firing Arsenal in front.

Since scoring in a group game against Lens in November 2023, it was his first Champions League goal in more than two years.

Petar Sucic gave Arsenal the lead eight minutes later, but Jesus was again in the right place at the right moment in the 31st minute.

Leandro Trossard nodded it back across the field as Bukayo Saka curled in a corner to the far post before heading home.

In the 75th minute, Gyokeres scored Arsenal’s second goal after scoring for Jesus.

Arsenal, which had already won seven European games in a row for the first time in its history, was assured of a spot in the top four of the Champions League as a result.

Arsenal reached the Champions League final in 2006 before losing to Barcelona, but they have never won.

Trump made many statements on US economy. Most are untrue

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has made a number of claims about the state of the US economy.

Trump made a protracted and meandering statement to the media on Tuesday, the first anniversary of his second term in office, claiming everything from drug prices being slashed to “no inflation” in the US. The majority of the claims were erroneous in fact.

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Some of his economic statements were reviewed by Al Jazeera:

There is “no inflation,” and the core inflation rate has been at 1.6 percent for the past three months.

Both of these claims are false. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), core inflation in November and December increased by 2.6 percent year over year.

Due to the longest government shutdown in US history, the month before, a core consumer price index (CPI) report was not made available.

In general, inflation increased by 2.7% over the previous year’s same period.

Drug prices under Trump’s “most favored nation” programme are down by “300, 400, 500, 600 percent”.

This is incorrect. Although the goal of the program is to lower drug prices, mathematically impossible reductions are achieved.

A product would be free if the price was 100 percent lower. Anything else would require that pharmaceutical companies would pay customers to purchase their goods.

In attente of the Supreme Court’s tariff decision:

Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs will be decided by a Supreme Court case that is pending. If the court rules against his administration, he claimed, the US would have to pay back the money.

This is unclear, but partially accurate. The US would need to refund some of the importers’ money in tariffs if the court decides against the administration. The government could be required to pay roughly half of the tariffs it collected, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in September.

Kevin Hassett, the administration’s economic adviser, has stated that if the court rejects the current plan, the administration will look into other legal options.

Joe Biden, the former president, “did not do tariffs.”

This is untrue. During the course of his administration, Bin Laden imposed numerous tariffs. He imposed 35 percent tariffs on Russian imports as part of sanctions in 2022 as a result of Moscow’s extensive invasion of Ukraine.

Biden’s policy, which was implemented during the Trump era, was increased to 14.5 percent from 8.5 percent in 2024.

He also imposed tariffs on China that year, including 50 percent on semiconductor chips, 25 percent on steel and aluminum, and 100 percent on electric cars.

More than 270, 000 bureaucrats were removed from the federal government by the Trump administration, but they are now moving to the private sector. &nbsp,

According to the BLS, the federal government has lost 277, 000 jobs since January 2025. However, data shows that the private sector, particularly those with tariff-exposed sectors, is only growing slowly.

The US economy added 50, 000 jobs in the most recent employment report. The most significant gains were made by healthcare, which added 34, 000 jobs, and food service, which added 27 000.

The US economy added 584, 000 jobs in 2025. This is significantly less than the two million created under Biden in the prior year.

In some states, gas prices start at $ 1.99 per gallon.

This is incorrect. The average price for a gallon of gas is $2.82, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks gas prices. Oklahoma’s gas prices start at $ 2.31, which is the lowest.

More auto factories are being constructed in the US today than ever.

Oxford Economics tracks private construction expenditures for factories making transportation equipment. Nominal spending on building components for transportation equipment was down from its all-time high in 2024, according to the report.

Trump has been making these kinds of claims for almost a year. Experts in the auto industry have long claimed that these claims are exaggerated because, unlike Hyundai and Stellantis, these companies add to already-existing plants.

Syrian government, SDF agree on a four-day ceasefire

After the army continued to seize territory in the country’s northeast following lightning advances, the Syrian government has declared a four-day ceasefire with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The ceasefire, which went into effect on Tuesday at 8 p.m. (17:00 GMT), was announced by the Syrian Army.

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In order to integrate the Kurds into the Syrian state, the SDF also announced that it had asked the SDF to provide the name of a candidate for the position of assistant defense minister in Damascus.

The SDF stated that it would not engage in military action unless attacked and that it had accepted the ceasefire.

In a statement, the SDF states that “we also affirm our openness to political paths, negotiated solutions, and dialogue, and our readiness to move forward with the implementation of the January 18 agreement in a way that promotes de-escalation and stability.”

However, the SDF claimed that government-allied groups were staging an attack “using heavy weapons” on Tal Baroud, which was located along the Abyad road south of Hasakah shortly after the ceasefire was in place.

The town of Zarkan has recently been “under intense artillery shelling” by Damascus-affiliated factions, according to Farhad Shami, the SDF’s spokesperson. He claimed that government-allied forces used five suicide drones and heavy gunfire to attack al-Aqtan Prison north of Raqqa.

In the most impressive move by President Ahmed al-Sharaa to assume control of the Syrian government following the demise of former leader Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian government has quickly advanced and seized territory held by the SDF.

The al-Hol camp, which is home to thousands of ISIL (ISIS) fighters’ families and other long-term refugees from the conflict, has now under the control of Syria’s Ministry of Interior, according to the country’s interior ministry. earlier today, the SDF seized control of the camp.

Hasakah city, which has a population of Kurds and Arabs, and Qamishli, which are both under the control of the SDF, are still under the control of the SDF. During the ceasefire, the Syrian government declared that its forces would not attempt to enter either of the cities.

INTERACTIVE-SYRIAcontrol map - January 20 2026_Control Map

The SDF&nbsp agreed to end its years-long rule over Raqqa and Deir Az Zor, two of Syria’s principal oilfields, under the auspices of the military.

The northeastern region of Syria, which was previously under the control of the SDF, is ready for the integration of SDF forces into the Syrian state’s institutions, according to Abdul Karim Omar, a Kurdish representative in Damascus.

Ibrahim Olabi, Syria’s ambassador to the UN, stated to reporters that the government is optimistic about the ceasefire agreement.

Olabi said, “We’re working with our partners in the United States to make sure that it holds.”

What’s behind Trump’s push to control Greenland?

Inuit Greenlanders oppose being treated like geopolitical pawns as Trump increases his threat to seize Greenland.

Greenland, which is viewed as a form of defense against China and Russia, is threatened by US President Donald Trump, but as a result of climate change, it holds strategic Arctic value. His threats are being rejected as insulting and colonial by 57, 000 Inuit people. In this geopolitical storm, how do Greenlanders see their future?

In this episode: &nbsp .

  • Inuit Circumpolar Council Chair Sara Olsvig, International

Credits for each episode:

Noor Wazwaz, Tuleen Barakat, Noor Wazwaz, and Kevin Hirten, our guest host, were the producers of this episode, Marcos Bartolome, Tamara Khandaker, and Melanie Marich. Alexandra Locke edited it. &nbsp,

Alex Roldan is our sound designer. Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhemm, our video editors. Executive producer of The Take is Alexandra Locke. The head of audio for Al Jazeera is Ney Alvarez.

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