Birmingham's bin workers mark one year of strikesUncollected waste has piled in the streets after they started an indefinite all-out strike on March 11. There have been no recycling collections since February, with residents left to either hoard it, dispose of it with their household rubbish or make trips to the tip. Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said: “As we reach the one-year anniversary of the bin strikes, it is important to remember what this dispute is about.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/birminghams-bin-workers-mark-one-year-strikesStarmer prepares for parliamentary battles over imminent EU ‘reset’ billThe legislation aims to introduce an alignment mechanism for the agrifoods and electricity trading deals agreed with EU leaders but still under negotiation. The bill will hand ministers powers to go beyond what the UK has agreed so far, giving future administrations the power to potentially align standards in other sectors and keep pace with new EU regulation.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jan/06/keir-starmer-parliamentary-battle-over-eu-reset-policyGerman prosecutors open terror probe into Berlin blackoutThe attack was claimed online by a far-left extremist group calling itself Vulkangruppe, or Volcano Group, which said it was targeting "the fossil fuel economy" driving climate change. "In the greed for energy, the Earth is being drained, sucked dry, burned, ravaged, razed, raped and destroyed," the group wrote. Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner condemned the attack, saying "suspected left-wing extremists knowingly put lives at risk, especially those of patients in hospitals, as well as the elderly, children and families."
https://www.dw.com/en/german-prosecutors-open-terror-probe-into-berlin-blackout/a-75413616Israeli forces fire live rounds and teargas as they storm Birzeit UniversityIsraeli forces fired live ammunition and teargas at students and teachers as they stormed Birzeit University on Tuesday. At least 8,000 students are trapped inside the top Palestinian university, located just north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestine's Government Communication Centre. Over forty people, mostly students, were injured, with one image showing a trail of blood at the scene of the raid.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-forces-fire-live-rounds-storm-birzeit-universityIran security forces use tear gas in Tehran bazaar as toll risesThe official IRNA news agency said "some" people were arrested, without giving numbers. With protests continuing in other areas for a tenth day, HRNA posted footage of large crowds of people marching in protests through Abdanan in western Iran shouting slogans including "this is the last message, the entire regime is the target".
https://www.newarab.com/news/iran-security-forces-use-tear-gas-tehran-bazaar-toll-risesColombian president says ‘I will take up arms again’ if US invadesPetro, a former leftist guerrilla who demobilised in the 1990s, rejected the accusations, saying: “I am not illegitimate and I am not a narco. “Trump speaks without knowledge. Stop slandering me,” he wrote in a post on X. “If they [the US] bombs, the campesinos will become thousands of guerrillas in the mountains. And if they detain the president which a large part of the country loves and respects, they will unleash the ‘jaguar’ of the people,” Petro warned.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/05/trump-colombia-invasion-petroIn post-Maduro Venezuela, US eyes security chief as potential target, sources sayDiosdado Cabello, who controls security forces accused of widespread human rights abuses, is one of a handful of Maduro loyalists that President Donald Trump has decided to rely on as temporary rulers to maintain stability during a transition period, said one source briefed on the administration’s thinking. U.S. officials are especially concerned that Cabello, given his record of repression and history of rivalry with Rodriguez, could play the spoiler and are seeking to force his cooperation even as they look for ways to eventually push him out of power and into exile, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/post-maduro-venezuela-us-eyes-security-chief-potential-target-sources-say-2026-01-06/2 Caribbean Nations Agree to Host People Seeking Asylum in U.S.Two small Caribbean nations, Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda, said on Monday that they had agreed to start receiving foreign nationals seeking asylum in the United States. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica told reporters at a news conference that his country and the United States had signed “an agreement to facilitate third-country refugees to be sent to Dominica.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/world/americas/caribbean-dominica-antigua-asylum-seekers.htmlhttps://archive.ph/giw4vMyanmar to free 6,186 prisoners in Independence Day amnesty during electionMyanmar's military government will release 6,186 prisoners under an amnesty marking Independence Day, state media said on Saturday, a week after a multi-stage general election began in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/myanmar-free-6186-prisoners-independence-day-amnesty-during-election-2026-01-04/“Far left” extremism must be included in Bondi inquiry’s terms of reference: LeyEarlier, another group of prominent Australians joined calls for a federal royal commission into anti-Semitism, saying Mr Albanese “should act immediately” on anti-Jewish hatred. The open letter, penned by more than 30 former defence, security and intelligence officials, claimed anti-Semitism had “already exposed Australia to foreign interference from hostile states and extremist groups”.or failing to address “radical Islamic extremism in their language or their intentions” in the weeks following the attack, but reiterated the Coalition’s commitment to working on a bipartisan basis.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/far-left-extremism-must-be-included-in-bondi-inquirys-terms-of-reference-ley/news-story/fdd1d82a70b9ceca1d14c55678a7d5a0https://archive.ph/zqntv