News Briefs

Biden extends protected status for some migrants. About 600,000 Venezuelans and more than 230,000 Salvadorans already living in the United States can legally remain another 18 months, the Department of Homeland Security said on Jan. 10, barely a week before President-elect Donald Trump takes office with promises of hardline immigration policies. The immigrants have Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which President Joe Biden’s administration has strongly supported. TPS faces an uncertain future under Trump, who tried to sharply curtail its use during his first term as president. Homeland Security also extended TPS for more than 103,000 Ukrainians and 1,900 Sudanese already living in the U.S.

Trump targets temporary protected status. What that could mean for Haitians in the US.

Trump credited for dockworker deal. A tentative labor deal forestalled possible trade disruptions at three-dozen United States ports. The deal, announced the night of Jan. 8, must still be ratified by some 45,000 union members. Both sides in the talks credited President-elect Donald Trump for clearing the way for a deal on automation, avoiding a similar deadlock over automation which sparked a three-day strike in October at major ports. President Joe Biden played a vital role in helping workers win a 62% raise over six years, which ended the strike. Pro-union attorneys say Mr. Trump’s track record is not one of union support.

Workers unions have enjoyed a boost in popularity since the ’70s with the absence of major strikes. An October dockworker strike challenged that popularity and tested the Biden-Harris administration.

Venezuela inaugurates Nicolás Maduro. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term on Jan. 10 despite international condemnation of his recent reelection as illegitimate. His administration has grown increasingly brazen in cracking down on opponents. This week alone, masked gunmen arrested a former presidential candidate, a prominent free speech activist, and the son-in-law of self-exiled opposition leader Edmundo González. Mr. González is recognized as president-elect by the United States and international organizations. Currently in the Dominican Republic, he has never offered details of how he intends to enter the country and take power.

Key question as Venezuela prepares for inauguration: Who is the next president?

Venezuela’s Maduro clings to power. Opposition hopes this time it ends differently.

Romanians protest presidential election cancellation. Thousands of Romanians rallied outside the country’s top court on Jan. 10 to protest against the December cancellation of the presidential election in which a little-known pro-Russian candidate won the first round. Although small, protests have continued since Dec. 6, when the Constitutional Court voided the election two days before the second round. The move came after state documents showed frontrunner Calin Georgescu had benefitted from an unfair social media campaign likely orchestrated by Russia. Moscow denied any interference. Hard right and ultranationalist parties hold over a third of Romania’s parliamentary seats.

Chief of South Korean presidential guards resigns. South Korea’s acting leader on Jan. 10 accepted the resignation of the chief of the presidential security service, Park Jong-joon. Mr. Park faced police questioning over how his forces blocked law enforcement efforts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Jan. 3. Corruption investigators and police are planning a second attempt to bring Mr. Yoon into custody as they jointly investigate whether his brief martial law declaration on Dec. 3 amounted to an attempted rebellion. It wasn’t immediately clear how Mr. Park’s resignation would affect the push to bring Mr. Yoon into custody.

‘We cannot rest yet’: South Koreans react to deepening political crisis

Earth passes warming threshold. Global temperatures in 2024 soared to yet another record level, temporarily pushing Earth past a major symbolic climate threshold. It breaks the long-term warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius since the late 1800s that was set as a target by the 2015 Paris climate pact. July 10 was the hottest day recorded by humans, with the globe averaging 17.16 degrees Celsius (62.89 degrees Fahrenheit), according to a European Union agency. In 2024, the 27 weather disasters in the United States cost $182.7 billion. Hurricane Helene was the costliest and deadliest of the year with at least 219 deaths and $79.6 billion in damage.

Is climate change causing extreme weather? The science is complicated.

Helene ravaged North Carolina’s mountains. Its citizens are hollering back.

U.S.-backed general becomes president of Lebanon. Lebanon’s parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun head of state Jan. 9, revealing shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East. The general, who has support from the United States, fills a two-year presidential vacancy after Israel defeated the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in last year’s war, and Syrian rebels toppled Hezbollah’s ally Bashar al-Assad in December. Mr. Aoun promised to rebuild parts of Lebanon destroyed by Israel and also to prevent Israeli attacks on Lebanon, which was mired in deep economic and political crises even before the latest conflict.

‘We are looking for a good future’: Lebanese life amid the rubble

In Lebanon, Hezbollah pays high political cost for its war with Israel

Senate set to pass bill to round up unauthorized migrants suspected of crimes. The U.S. Senate on Jan. 9 was expected to advance a bill requiring the federal government to detain migrants living in the United States illegally who are accused of crimes, even if they are not charged with any. The Republican-backed legislation passed the House of Representatives with support from Democrats on Jan. 7. The “Laken Riley Act” is named after a Georgia college student was murdered last year by a Venezuelan man previously arrested for shoplifting. Research shows immigrants do not commit more crimes than native-born Americans.

Trump hammers on ‘migrant crime.’ The reality: It’s not rampant, but a real concern.

Over 47,000 displaced in aftermath of 6.8 magnitude Tibetan earthquake. Authorities moved more than 47,000 people to shelters in earthquake-hit Tibet, Chinese officials said on Jan. 9, while rescuers widen a massive combing effort for survivors near the foothills of the Himalayas, despite slim survival odds. It is not yet clear how many are still missing after the Jan. 7 quake of magnitude 6.8 killed 126 and injured 188. The quake destroyed more than 3,600 homes in Tingri, the rural county at its epicenter, and damaged 27,000 more at an average elevation of more than 13,000 feet, which presents a challenge for rescuers.

More than 46,000 Palestinians killed in Israel-Hamas war. Gaza’s Health Ministry says the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has climbed above 46,000. The ministry has said women and children make up more than half the fatalities but does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians. The Israeli military (IDF) says it has killed over 17,000 militants without providing evidence. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it says the militants operate in residential areas. The IDF has repeatedly struck what it claims are militants hiding in shelters and hospitals, often killing women and children. 

‘Cold is death.’ For Gazans in flimsy tents, a winter of sorrow and loss.

‘Waiting to see if I will survive’: A Gaza reporter caught in the war she’s covering

Musk livestreamed chat with leader of German far-right. Elon Musk hosted the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on social media platform X on Jan. 9, stoking concerns in Europe about possible meddling by the U.S. billionaire in campaigning for Germany's Feb. 23 national election. Mr. Musk, who helped Republican Donald Trump get re-elected as United States president, is now becoming vocal in his support for far-right and anti-establishment parties across Europe. The AfD is an anti-immigration, anti-Islamic party labeled as right-wing-extremist by German security services. Mr. Trump has tasked the entrepreneur with making the U.S. government more efficient.

Elon Musk aims his digital megaphone at Europe. Why?

Where Nazis first won office, Germans are voting for right-wing extremists

President Jimmy Carter lies in state at Capital Rotunda. Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter will lie in state in Washington for a second day on Jan. 8 as part of state funeral rites. People continue to pay their respects. Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker Mike Johnson were among those who offered tributes to Mr. Carter on Jan. 7. The 39th president, who died Dec. 29, will remain at the Capitol until Jan. 9, when he will be transported to Washington National Cathedral for a state funeral with a eulogy by President Joe Biden.

For Jimmy Carter, a life of service, defined by faith
Jimmy Carter and Monitor Breakfasts: A long, storied history

Denmark dismisses Greenland becoming U.S. state. Greenland may become independent if its people want, but it won’t become a U.S. state, Denmark’s foreign minister said on Jan. 8 after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out using force to acquire the Arctic island. Greenland’s Prime Minister, Mute Egede, held talks on Jan. 8 with the Danish king in Copenhagen. Mr. Egede has said the Danish-ruled island is not for sale, while in his New Year speech he stepped up his push for independence. Denmark says the territory’s fate can be decided only by Greenlanders.

Justice Department to release partial findings on Jan. 6. The Justice Department said Jan. 8 it will release special counsel Jack Smith’s findings on Donald Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election. For now, it will keep the rest of the report, regarding the Florida classified documents case, under wraps. The revelation was made in a Jan. 8 filing to a federal appeals court that was considering the defense's request to block the release of the two-volume report. Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge presiding over the classified documents case, issued a temporary block on the report Jan. 7.

Polls show Americans’ views have softened toward Jan. 6 rioters and Donald Trump’s role that day. 

U.S. says Sudanese rebel force committed genocide. The Biden administration said Jan. 7 it has determined Sudan’s Rapid Support Force (RSF) rebel group and proxies are committing genocide in the country’s civil war. The administration said it has also imposed sanctions on the Sudanese group’s leaders. The RSF and RSF-aligned militias have directed attacks against civilians, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023, when the RSF and Sudan’s military began fighting each other. The conflict in Sudan is considered the world’s biggest ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.

To the people of Sudan: We see you

War shut down Sudan’s universities. But its students refused to give up.

U.S. unemployment continues to fall. The Labor Department on Jan. 8 said applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in nearly a year last week, pointing to a still healthy labor market with historically low layoffs. Applications for jobless benefits fell to 201,000 for the week ending Jan. 4, down from the previous week’s 211,000. This week’s figure is the lowest since February of last year. On Jan. 8, the government also reported that United States job openings rose unexpectedly in November, showing companies are still looking for workers even as the labor market has loosened.

The job market needs workers. The newest ones are over age 75.

Biden establishes two national monuments. The White House said Jan. 7 President Joe Biden will establish two new national monuments in California that will honor Native American tribes. It’s part of his efforts to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030 through his “America the Beautiful” initiative. Proclamations set to be signed on Jan. 7 will create the Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California near Joshua Tree National Park and the Sáttítla National Monument in Northern California. The declarations ban drilling, mining, and development in the two locations.

Cold weather and snow to hit southern United States. Bitter cold is set to envelop the southern United States Jan. 8, just after the first significant winter storm of the year blasted a huge swath of the country with ice, snow, and wind. The immense storm system disrupted areas of the country that usually escape winter’s wrath, downing trees in some southern states, threatening a freeze in Florida, and bringing wind chill at Dallas-Fort Worth down to 16 degrees on Jan. 7. A low-pressure system is expected to form as soon as Jan. 8, bringing snow to parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

Florida town’s climate reckoning: Storms so costly, homeowners may be forced out