ISTANBUL
Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Wednesday, including US President Donald Trump warning Iran that his country is prepared to take “very strong action” if it hangs protesters, Russia rejecting Trump’s 25% tariff plans, South Korea’s special prosecutor demanding death penalty for ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, and children dying from hypothermia in Gaza this winter, says the UNICEF.
TOP STORIES
- Trump warns of 'very strong action' if Iran hangs protesters
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his country is prepared to take “very strong action” if reports that Iran plans to execute protesters prove accurate.
"I haven't heard about the hanging. If they hang them, you're going to see some things ... We will take very strong action if they do such a thing," Trump said in an interview with CBS News.
Asked about his "end game" for Iran, Trump replied: "The end game is to win. I like winning."
Trump's comments came after he was asked about remarks he posted earlier on his social media company Truth Social, saying: “Help is on the way.”
"Well, there's a lot of help on the way, and in different forms, including economic help ... We put Iran out of business with their nuclear capacity," he said, referring to US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June last year.
- Russia rejects ‘attempts to blackmail’ Iran’s partners amid Trump’s 25% tariff plans
Russia on Tuesday said that it rejected “attempts to blackmail” Iran’s partners as US President Donald Trump announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on "any and all" countries doing business with Iran.
In a statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Western sanctions on Iran, which she defined as “illegal,” hinder the country's development and create economic and social problems primarily affecting ordinary Iranian citizens.
“Foreign forces hostile to Iran are attempting to exploit the mounting social tensions to destabilize and destroy the Iranian state. The infamous ‘color revolution’ method is being used,” Zakharova said.
She further expressed Moscow’s condemnation of “subversive external interference in Iran's domestic political processes,” saying the Iranian government is “committed to constructive dialogue with society in search of effective ways to neutralize the negative socioeconomic consequences of hostile Western policies.”
- Death penalty sought for South Korea’s ousted President Yoon over martial law
South Korea’s special prosecutor on Tuesday demanded the death penalty for ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol over a failed martial law bid, Yonhap News reported.
Yoon, who is in jail, imposed martial law in December 2024 for a brief period before parliament upended his decision and subsequently was ousted from office by the Constitutional Court last April.
The 65-year-old politician was charged with leading an insurrection, which carries the maximum death penalty, besides life imprisonment.
Special counsel Cho Eun-suk described Yoon as the "ringleader of an insurrection who sought to stay in power by seizing control of the judiciary and legislature."
He asked the court to sentence Yoon to death during the final arguments in the case at Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25.
- 6 children die from hypothermia in Gaza this winter
Six Palestinian children have died from hypothermia in Gaza this winter, a UNICEF spokesperson said Tuesday.
"We've had children die of hypothermia again in the last few days. So, we've now gone to six children who died of hypothermia just in this winter," James Elder told journalists in Geneva via video link from Gaza.
Elder said more than 100 children have been killed since the ceasefire took effect in October last year.
"That's roughly a girl or a boy killed here every day during a ceasefire," he said, adding that "life in Gaza remains suffocating" and that "survival remains conditional."
NEWS IN BRIEF
- US Vice President JD Vance will chair a meeting of senior officials to discuss the rapidly evolving situation in Iran amid continued mass demonstrations in the country.
- The terrorist organization YPG/SDF detonated a strategic bridge in the northern countryside of Aleppo on Tuesday, shortly after the Syrian Army declared three towns closed military zones, Syrian media reported.
- US Central Command (CENTCOM) and regional partners opened a new coordination facility at Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base to "enhance integrated air and missile defense" capabilities in the Middle East, the command said Tuesday.
- The Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) presented the Final Verdict of the Gaza Tribunal, established to investigate Israeli war crimes in Gaza, to the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its first recipient.
- The Italian foreign minister has summoned the Iranian envoy to denounce Tehran's "violent repression" of demonstrators in mass protests, media reports said Tuesday.
- Israel has raised its alert level for the Air Force and army troops in anticipation of a possible US strike on Iran, media reports said Tuesday.
- The Israeli army killed two Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip late Tuesday, according to the military, marking a new violation of a ceasefire deal in place since October.
- China on Tuesday vowed to “firmly protect” its interests in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s order to his administration to impose 25% tariffs on "any and all" countries doing business with Iran.
- The US and Armenia announced a framework on Tuesday for the implementation of a strategic transit corridor agreed during a White House Peace Summit in August to boost regional trade.
- Syria declares the area west of the Euphrates River, occupied by the YPG/SDF terror group, a military zone, demanding that all armed elements withdraw to the east.
- US President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday to strip the citizenship of naturalized Americans who have engaged in fraud, pointing in particular to the Somali American community.
- Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Tuesday had a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqhchi, and the two discussed the latest developments in Iran, the scene of protests in recent weeks.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
- US annual inflation unchanged at 2.7% in December
The annual inflation rate in the US was 2.7% in December, unchanged from November and in line with market expectations.
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday, the monthly inflation rate was 0.3% in December.
Food prices rose 3.1% in the month on a yearly basis, up from November, while the increase in energy prices was 2.3%. Shelter prices rose 3.2% year-on-year.
- South Korea, Netherlands to deepen tech ties in semiconductors, quantum
South Korea and the Netherlands agreed Wednesday to expand cooperation in advanced industries, including semiconductors and quantum technology, to respond to global supply chain restructuring, according to Seoul’s Industry Ministry
The two sides signed a letter of intent at a joint innovation committee meeting in The Hague, pledging closer collaboration to strengthen industrial competitiveness amid an intensifying global tech race, Yonhap News reported, citing a statement.
