Israeli municipal authorities are discussing plans to advance an illegal settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim reports from Kufr Aqab, near the site where Israel may demolish more Palestinian homes to make space for settlers.
At least 116 prisoners have been released in Venezuela after their arrests during the presidency of Nicolas Maduro, the government has announced, nine days after the United States abducted Maduro.
Venezuela’s Ministry of Penitentiary Services reported on Monday that the prisoners had been released “in the past few hours”. It followed a similar release a few days ago.
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The ministry added that those freed had been “deprived of their liberty for acts associated with disrupting the constitutional order and undermining the stability of the nation”.
Two Italian citizens were also released, and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani pledged to upgrade Rome’s relations with Caracas in response.
Dozens of dual Italian-Venezuelan nationals remain in prison.
However, the Foro Penal group, a human rights organisation, contended earlier on Monday that only 41 people had been released, including 24 people freed overnight.
The release of political prisoners in Venezuela has been a long-running call of human rights groups, international bodies and opposition figures.
Human rights groups estimated there are 800 to 1,200 political prisoners in Venezuela.
The releases, which began on Thursday, came after pressure by US President Donald Trump, who stated that Washington was “in charge” of the Latin American country following the military operation on January 3 to abduct Maduro, which sparked global protests and criticism.
Maduro now faces drug-trafficking charges and is currently being held in a prison in New York.
On Saturday, Trump celebrated the release of the prisoners in what he called a “big way”.
He added that he hopes those freed “will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done”.
In the meantime, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado met with Pope Leo XIV during a private audience on Monday.
So far, few details have been released about the meeting.
On Friday, the pontiff called for Venezuela’s sovereignty to be protected and issued an appeal “to respect the will of the Venezuelan people and to safeguard the human and civil rights of all.”
Machado, who is currently touring Europe, is expected to meet with Trump this week after he said on January 3 that she did not have the support or respect to lead the country.
She had dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump, who deeply covets the honour himself.
The Venezuelan opposition, which has been supported by Republican and Democratic administrations in the US, had pledged to replace Maduro with one of their own.
Who: Egypt vs Senegal
What: CAF Africa Cup of Nations
Where: Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier, Morocco
When: Wednesday at 6pm (17:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 14:00 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.
Superstar Mohamed Salah is one step closer to realising his long-held dream of winning the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with Egypt as the Pharaohs chase a record-extending eighth continental title in Morocco.
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The 33-year-old forward has lifted major honours with Liverpool – including the Premier League and Champions League titles – but Africa’s most coveted prize has eluded him. A two-time AFCON runner-up, Salah is aiming to finally go one step further with pre-tournament favourites Senegal his next hurdle in the first semifinal on Wednesday.
Senegal, Africa’s second highest ranked nation at 19th in the world, feature in the AFCON semifinals for the third time in the last four editions. Boasting the likes of Sadio Mane and Kalidou Koulibaly, the Teranga Lions have no dearth of talent or depth across their squad.
Here’s all to know before the Senegal vs Egypt showdown:
Senegal ended their group campaign unbeaten, registering two wins and a draw to finish top of Group D with seven points, edging the Democratic Republic of the Congo on goal difference.
In the round of 16, they overcame an early scare to beat lowly Sudan 3-1. In the quarterfinals, Senegal became the first team to reach the final four with a narrow 1-0 win over West African neighbours Mali.
Egypt enjoyed a similar record in the group stage, finishing top of Group B with seven points.
They defeated Benin 3-1 in the round of 16 before knocking out the title holders Ivory Coast 3-2 in a thrilling quarterfinal.
The winner of this match will face the victor of the second semifinal between Nigeria and host nation Morocco.
Striker Nicolas Jackson and central midfielder Pape Gueye have both delivered match-winning performances, scoring two goals apiece, while Cherif Ndiaye has also found the net twice with both goals coming off the bench.
Veteran winger Mane remains a linchpin for Senegal alongside midfielder Iliman Ndiaye, whose decisive contribution sealed their semifinal qualification, and 17-year-old sensation Ibrahim Mbaye continues to play with a maturity well beyond his years.
Salah, arguably the biggest African football star of his generation, is Egypt’s highest scorer at the tournament with four goals, tied for second on the AFCON top scorers list behind Morocco’s Brahim Diaz.
The Liverpool attacking winger arrived in Morocco short of his usual world class standards, but Salah has swiftly returned to the red-hot form that earned him the nickname “the Egyptian King”.
Sublimely talented Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush (two goals) leads the Egyptian attacking line while centre back Rami Rabia and midfielder Hamdi Fathi are key contributors in defence.
(All competitions, latest result first)
Senegal: W-D-W-W-L
Egypt: W-W-D-W-W
Senegal and Egypt have met in 15 previous encounters across friendly and competitive matches.
Egypt have a slight edge in the head-to-head record with seven wins while Senegal have won six times. Two games ended in a draw.
The teams last met in a FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff in March 2022. It was the second leg of the playoff tie, in which Senegal won 3-1 on penalties as Egypt failed to qualify for the global showpiece.
Salah missed a penalty in that decisive fixture.
This is Senegal’s 18th appearance at the tournament with their best result a maiden championship title at AFCON 2021 in Cameroon.
They were also runners-up twice, in 2002 and 2019.
Yes. Egypt are record seven-time AFCON winners with title victories in 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010.
They were also runners-up three times, in 1962, 2017 and 2021.
Senegal coach Pape Thiaw has no new injury concerns.
Edouard Mendy (goalkeeper); Krepin Diatta, Kalidou Koulibaly, Moussa Niakhate, Malick Diouf; Lamine Camara, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Pape Gueye; Iliman Ndiaye, Habibou Mouhamadou Diallo, Sadio Mane
Midfielder Mohamed Hamdi, who picked up an injury in the round of 16, is unavailable. Otherwise, coach Hossam Hassan has a fit squad.
Los Angeles police say they are looking into “assault with a deadly weapon” charges after someone drove a truck through a crowd of people demonstrating in support of protesters in Iran. A banner on the side of the vehicle said “No Shah” and “Don’t repeat 1953” in apparent reference to that year’s US-backed coup.
Violent protests and a fierce security crackdown have killed hundreds of people in Iran. The US president is threatening to bomb the country, while Iranian officials condemn foreign interference. So, what’s really going on? Soraya Lennie explains.
Protests in Iran over the country’s economic conditions, which broke out in late December 2025, have snowballed into a broader challenge to the clerical rulers who have governed Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Here is what we know about the protests in Iran so far.
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Protests broke out over soaring prices in Iran on December 28, 2025 after the rial plunged to a record low against the United States dollar in late December.
The protest started with shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar who shuttered their shops and began demonstrating. It then spread to other provinces of Iran.
On Monday, the rial was trading at more than 1.4 million to $1, a sharp decline from around 700,000 a year earlier in January 2025 and around 900,000 in mid-2025. The plummeting currency has triggered steep inflation, with food prices an average of 72 percent higher than last year. Annual inflation is currently around 40 percent.
Iran’s economy is ailing for several reasons. The country fought a 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, which resulted in infrastructural damage in several Iranian cities.
Additionally, in September 2025, the United Nations re-imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme when the UN Security Council voted against permanently lifting economic sanctions on Iran.
In December, Iran introduced a new tier in its national fuel subsidy system, effectively raising the price of what had been some of the world’s cheapest petrol or gasoline and adding to the financial strain on households.
Officials will now reassess fuel prices every three months, opening the door to further hikes. At the same time, food prices are set to climb after the Central Bank recently scrapped a preferential, subsidised dollar-rial rate for all imports except medicine and wheat.
“If only the government, instead of just focusing on fuel, could bring down the price of other goods,” taxi driver Majid Ebrahimi told Al Jazeera in late December. “The prices of dairy products have gone up six times this year and other goods more than 10 times.”
While chants by protesters initially focused on the ailing economy, they have switched to opposition to the clerical establishment in Iran. Some protesters have also begun chanting in support of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of deposed Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the heir to the former Pahlavi monarchy.
Many supporters of Pahlavi are calling for a return to the monarchy, although Pahlavi himself says he favours holding a referendum to determine what type of government structure Iranians want.
After Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iran’s prime minister who was democratically elected in 1951, nationalised the British-controlled oil industry in Iran, he was overthrown in a 1953 coup backed by the US and the United Kingdom to secure Western oil interests. A repressive royal rule was reinstated until 1979, when Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran, fled the country as the Islamic revolution took hold. He died in Egypt in 1980.
“There were chants in his [Pahlavi’s] support on the streets of Iran among other chants in this round of protests,” Maryam Alemzadeh, an associate professor in the history and politics of Iran at the University of Oxford, told Al Jazeera.
Demands for democracy and opposition to the Islamic government’s strict laws have been building for some time, especially since the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in police custody in 2022.
In September 2022, Amini was arrested in Tehran by Iran’s notorious morality police for alleged non-compliance with Iran’s strict dress code. She was taken to a re-education centre where she collapsed. She died in hospital a few days later.
The initial protests were staged by shopkeepers in Tehran angered by rising prices. However, protests have now become more widespread. A large, fragmented opposition base is emerging both inside Iran and within Iranian diaspora communities in other countries.
Iran’s Fars News Agency said “limited” demonstrations were held on Sunday night in Tehran’s Navvab and Saadat Abad neighbourhoods.
Protesters also gathered in the cities of Hafshejan and Junqan in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and a separate rally took place in Taybad county in the northeastern province of Razavi Khorasan.
Fars reported that security forces moved in and broke up those gatherings, while the rest of the country’s cities and provinces remained calm overnight.
Protests have also spread to other countries where there are significant Iranian communities, including the US, UK, Germany, France, Turkiye, and Pakistan, in solidarity with the protesters in Iran.
More than 100 security personnel have been killed in recent days, state media has reported, while opposition activists say the death toll is higher and includes hundreds of protesters.
Al Jazeera cannot independently verify these figures.
Experts fear that the death toll could be far higher. “Minimal news that makes it out of the total internet shutdown signifies that thousands of citizens might have been killed by government forces,” Alemzadeh said.
Iran’s internet blackout entered its fourth day on Monday, according to watchdog NetBlocks.
It remains unclear whether the internet was actively blocked by the government. However, in a post on social media on Thursday, NetBlocks said the blackout follows “a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country and hinders the public’s right to communicate at a critical moment”.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told foreign diplomats in Tehran on Monday that the internet would soon be restored in Iran, adding that the government was coordinating with the security establishment on the issue.
The foreign minister said connectivity would also be restored to embassies and government ministries.
Since protests began in December, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened that Washington could intervene militarily in Iran if there is a violent crackdown.
Araghchi alleged that nationwide protests have “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for Trump to intervene militarily.
He added that Trump’s warning of military action against Tehran should protests turn violent had motivated “terrorists” to target protesters and security forces to encourage foreign intervention. “We are ready for war but also for dialogue,” he said.
Araghchi also said that the Iranian authorities have gathered video footage of weapons being distributed to protesters, adding that they will soon release confessions from detainees.
The demonstrations had been “stoked and fuelled” by foreign elements, he said, noting security forces would “hunt down” those responsible.
Alemzadeh said an uprising could escalate in Iran if protesters’ demands are not addressed.
“Protesters have been faced with repression that is unprecedented in brutality, even with the Islamic Republic’s notorious standard,” she said.
She added: “The grievances, however, are not going to be quieted this time around.”
Alemzadeh said that life for many in Iran has become intolerable under the current economic conditions, which many see as caused by corruption, mismanagement and international sanctions. Additionally, Iranians have been denied freedom of speech and lifestyle for decades, she added.
“Even if this round of protests is repressed by extreme violence, another could emerge in no time until a radical shift occurs,” she said.