President Trump issued an executive order Jan. 10 to block judicial processes from being instituted against Venezuelan oil funds held in the US, on the basis that it would "materially harm the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

UN Secretary General António Guterres issued a statement Jan. 9 strongly condemning Russian missile and drone attacks in Ukraine following Moscow’s firing of its medium-range nuclear-capable "Oreshnik" ballistic missile.

President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum Jan. 7 directing the United States to withdraw from 66 international organizations, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Amnesty International reported Jan. 5 that Ugandan security forces have unlawfully targeted opposition rallies with excessive force and arbitrary arrests, with some detainees subject to torture and other mistreatment.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Jan. 2 urged the Israeli government to abandon proposed legislation that would mandate death sentences exclusively for Palestinians in specific cases—for crimes committed both in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Türk stated that the legislation is "inconsistent with Israel's obligations" under the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR). He also raised concerns over the "introduction of mandatory death sentences, which leave no discretion to the courts, and violate the right to life."

President Donald Trump announced on Jan. 3 that the US would "run" Venezuela, following a strike on the country that led to the capture and transfer to the US of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores.

Finnish authorities announced Dec. 31 that they are investigating damage to an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland after seizing a vessel suspected of sabotage in the incident. According to a police statement, telecommunications authorities detected a fault in the undersea cable linking Helsinki and Tallinn, Estonia's capital, that morning.