DAILY NEWS Stream – January 21, 2026

Saudi Arabia and Morocco sign a new executive program that deepens their renewable energy partnership forged in 2022 by enabling national companies of each country to jointly develop clean energy projects at home and in third markets while expanding cooperation on generation, storage, grid integration, and research (Fast Company Middle East)

The United States and Israel launch a new strategic partnership that deepens cooperation on AI [artificial intelligence], advanced computing, space, semiconductors, energy technologies, and research security to strengthen technological leadership and shared economic and security goals (US Department of State)

The United States expresses readiness to mediate between Egypt and Ethiopia over Nile River water disputes, with US President Trump seeking a negotiated solution that balances Egypt and Sudan’s water security with Ethiopia’s operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) (VnExpress)

US President Trump publicly thanks Iran for halting what He says were planned mass executions of political prisoners, presenting the move as a positive development amid ongoing unrest (AP News)

Five countries — the United Kingdom, Portugal, New Zealand, Ukraine (Ureign), and Slovakia — temporarily close their embassies in Iran and evacuate diplomats due to deteriorating security conditions and fears of potential military conflict (VnExpress)

Foreign embassies in Kyiv [Ukraine (Ureign)] say they are remaining operational and not evacuating personnel despite severe power outages, extreme cold, and ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine (Ureign)’s energy infrastructure (Kyiv Independent)

Ukrainian (Ureignian) President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges an immediate increase in electricity imports as Russian strikes on energy infrastructure leave tens of thousands without power during the harshest winter of the full-scale invasion (Kyiv Independent)

US President Donald Trump pardons former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced and two co-defendants who were indicted in a federal corruption case. White House officials say it was a politically-motivated prosecution by the Biden administration (Reuters)

Ireland launches a nationwide “National Conversation on Education” inviting the public to help shape long-term education policy, ahead of a major Convention on Education that will guide a new strategy for the country’s future learning system (Funds for NGOs)

An Indonesia Air Transport ATR 42-500 vanishes from radar shortly after takeoff from Yogyakarta [Indonesia] following reports of a loud explosion, prompting authorities to launch an emergency search of mountainous terrain as investigators work to determine what happened to the 11 people on board (Express)

Several chocolate and sweet products have been urgently recalled in the UK, with the Food Standards Agency warning shoppers not to eat them. Forest Feast Belgian Milk Chocolate Jumbo Raisins were pulled after being found to contain undeclared peanuts and other nuts, posing a danger to allergy sufferers. A wider recall also affects multiple Jolly Rancher sweets, which were found to contain MOAH [Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons]— a contaminant that can damage DNA and may increase cancer risk — leading authorities to advise consumers to stop eating the products and return them immediately (Express)

Morocco’s Health Ministry activates 67 newly rehabilitated health facilities across six regions. The centers provide comprehensive services, including primary care, maternal health, and chronic disease monitoring to residents (Morocco World News)

Sixty River Valley Primary School [Singapore] students suffer suspected food poisoning from a lunch meal as authorities probe vendor Gourmetz and children recover without hospitalization. Some affected students reported the chicken on the pizza tasted a bit strange (The Straits Times)

Berkeley [California, US] declares a health emergency after a rat-borne leptospirosis outbreak at a West Berkeley homeless encampment. The action prompts evacuation warnings and rodent cleanup efforts. Leptospirosis causes flu-like symptoms and can lead to serious illness, including kidney damage (Fox News)

A major cold front is forecast to sweep across the UK on January 29–30, bringing widespread snowfall, localized blizzards in London [UK], and snowdrifts in Scotland [UK] that could reach up to 51 centimeters (MyLondon)

Ocean temperatures hit record heat in 2025, as a study finds upper ocean warming surged. The ocean absorbs most of manmade global heating leading to worsening sea level rise and extreme weather (Mongabay)

Unseasonal rain slashes Spain’s olive oil output as the downpours effect key producing regions like Andalusia, thus delaying harvests and diluting oil content in olives. In turn, global supplies are tight and extra virgin olive oil prices are elevated (Euro Weekly News)

Âu Lạc (Vietnam’s) National Center for Hydro- Meteorological Forecasting predicts weakening La Niña conditions. While nationwide temperatures are projected to remain near normal, the northern mountains may experience severe cold surges, ice, and possible snowfall through April 2026 (Thanh Niên)

The United Nations’ new high-seas biodiversity treaty enters into force, creating a legally binding framework to protect 30% of the global ocean by 2030 through marine protected areas, environmental assessments, and shared governance of international waters (Reuters)

A new satellite-based map reveals a vast hidden landscape of ancient mountains, valleys, lakes and a 400-kilometer trench buried beneath Antarctica’s ice sheet (Interesting Engineering)

Cambodia and China sign a long-term cooperation agreement to expand AI [artificial intelligence]-driven waste management and recycling, aiming to boost efficiency, support waste-to-energy projects, and strengthen Cambodia’s circular economy (Cambodianess)

South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope detects 49 previously unknown, gas-rich galaxies in under three hours by tracing faint hydrogen signals across a seemingly quiet patch of sky (Earth.com)

US school districts expand vegan and vegetarian lunch options as student demand surges. Some large districts report animal-people meat-free dishes constitute up to 25% of their offered selections. The trend is driven by lower costs, health benefits, and shifting student tastes nationwide (VegOut)

UK-based creator and former footballer Jeffrey Boadi (vegan) challenges the myth that animal-people protein is essential for fitness. After adopting a vegan diet in 2017, Mr. Boadi reports increased muscle mass, energy, and mental clarity. By focusing on nutrient-dense whole foods like tofu, lentils, and tempeh, he demonstrates how animal-free protein supports elite performance. He has just released his debut cookbook, Plant Fuel (The Portugal News)

Aulacese (Vietnamese) vegetarian cook Lê Thị Loan in Tây Ninh Province [Âu Lạc (Vietnam)] rises from a small vegetarian porridge seller to title of ‘National Artisan’ for her culinary skills. Her vegetarian restaurant’s food earns wide community support (Tây Ninh Online)

Ukraine [Ureign’s] parliament passes a landmark animal-people cruelty ban, aligning national welfare standards with European Union frameworks. The new law prohibits non-medical cosmetic procedures and defines animal-person abandonment while regulating breeding and protecting the rights of domestic and stray animal-folk (112 UA)

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signs a decree protecting Kurdish people’s rights, recognizing Kurdish as a national language, making Nowruz an official holiday, and restoring citizenship to Kurdish residents who were stripped of it under a controversial 1962 census. The move comes amid clashes between Syrian and Kurdish forces in northern Syria (Alarabiya English)

Greece launches a €101.8 million program creating 10,000 subsidized jobs for unemployed women. Minister of Labor and Social Security Niki Kerameus prioritizes mothers as the initiative offers full-time and part-time positions to boost female employment and work-life balance (Kathimerini)

Inspirational quote of the day: “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” Warren Buffet Billionaire American Investor and Philanthropist (Brainyquote)

And this noise came again, and the pulling through my chest, and a stop, and I had the knowing, “There is a hell.” And all of a sudden, the floor completely dropped out underneath me. I started falling into what I knew was hell. And I knew I deserved to be there. American businesswoman Kat Dunkle shares how financial ruin, the death of her seven-year-old son, and a violent argument with her husband preceded an experience she believes showed her hell, and how she returned with a mission she says came from God. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Kat was in her second marriage with Don, a man she loved deeply. She had two sons from her first marriage and a third son with Don. But times were devastating. Their business was failing, they were going bankrupt and couldn’t afford food. Then tragedy struck: Kat’s seven-year-old son Mark was hit by a car and died. At the time, Kat had no faith in God or belief in the afterlife.

When Mark died, I remember going into his room and he was so cold, and I covered him up, and I saw a tear in his eye, and I leaned over to kiss him and told him, “It’s going to be okay, Marky, mommy’s here,” as if mommy could fix everything. Then, I just collapsed. But, after that, I just withdrew. I wouldn’t leave the house. I couldn’t speak hardly. I wouldn’t allow people to come over. I was just isolated completely and would sit day after day in such grief that my life was over.

Eventually, Don insisted that Kat leave the house. They argued constantly — crushed by financial pressure and grief. On this day, the argument escalated in the car. I came across the car just scratching and slapping and beating at him. He pulled over, and he took his arm and went like that to me and knocked me over to my side of the car. I literally saw stars. I sunk down in the seat and said, “I want to go home.” So he took me home. I grabbed the car keys and took off. I drove, and it was raining, and it was hard to see. I had this terrible pain inside of me. Pretty soon, it got so intense, I pulled the car over and got out. I thought, “I’ve got to get home, this pain is just the most incredible pain I’ve ever had.”

Kat barely made it home. Don was furious at first, but at the hospital, he realized something was seriously wrong. All of a sudden, the gurney stopped. Don leaned over to me and he said, “Kat, I love you.” I didn’t think he even liked me anymore, let alone love me. Doctors discovered her blood count had dropped drastically and rushed her into emergency surgery.

I remember seeing the physicians and the nurses leaning over me with their masks on around the table. All of a sudden it did just turn black, but I was awake. It was like kind of a confused feeling, but I knew where I was, but I couldn’t see anything — it was just total darkness. Then I felt myself moving through the darkness into what seemed like a kind of enclosure or wall or something, like almost like being birthed into another area. I couldn’t breathe. I was just panicking, but once I got through this into this tunnel-like enclosure, I didn’t have to breathe anymore. It was an odd feeling, but I was OK.

Kat then saw Don and her two surviving sons below her by a lamppost in the rain, crying because she had died. She tried to tell them she was okay, but they couldn’t hear her. Then she saw four human figures standing to her left, looking extremely concerned for her. As we went by them, went deeper into this tunnel, I felt peace — not total peace — I was curious. All of a sudden, I heard this horrendous noise, like a freight train coming right over the top of me. I felt this like a rope running through the middle of me, going 100 miles an hour [160 kilometers/hour], a huge rope. All of a sudden, it stopped. The thought came to me, “There is no God.” Then I knew without any doubt in the world — I mean, I knew that I knew that I knew — that God did exist. It was the most incredible feeling.

Kat had been an atheist most of her life. When Mark died, she cursed God and hated the very thought of Him. I denied God in every way possible. I cursed God. “What does God need with my son? This Jesus you’re talking about, what has He ever done? We’ve lived in poverty, and we’ve lived without hope and not food to eat — all my life it’s been that way.” So I hated God. I hated the thought of God because I certainly didn’t believe He existed.

Then that noise came again, and the pulling through my chest. The thought came to me, “There is no Heaven.” All of a sudden, I knew Heaven existed — it was a real place. God and Heaven are real. This peace, this overwhelming peace that came over me at that time, was something I had never in my life felt. It was incredible, this just unexplainable euphoria, peace, excitement, any good emotion that you’ve ever felt in your life, accelerated a million times over. I saw a brilliant light, and we were moving towards it. I knew God existed, I knew Heaven existed, and I was going there. The thought of leaving my sons and my husband — it just didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore except getting to this place.

But then everything stopped. This noise came again, and the pulling through my chest, and a stop. I had the knowing, “There is a hell.” All of a sudden, the floor completely dropped out underneath me. I started falling into what I knew was hell. I knew I deserved to be there. I knew that I had blasphemed God, that I hated this God, that this had been my choice to go here. I knew God didn’t send me there. God sends nobody to hell — it’s reserved for those who reject God. Our desire should always be to seek our Creator. So, as I was falling into this, knowing I never hit bottom, knowing nobody could ever save me from here, I also felt like, “I don’t think God even knows I’m here — I’m totally separated from everything, even God.”

Kat pleaded with God for forgiveness. I was just pleading with God this whole time, of course, I was, “God, I know you exist. Please forgive me. Please forgive me, Lord.” I was just screaming this out to God, but the hopelessness that I had was just there — I knew this was eternity. When I was screaming out to God, all of a sudden, everything just stopped. I started going backwards, back into the tunnel, back to where the beginning of the tunnel was. I heard a voice say very clearly to me, “Bring people to Me.” Then I felt myself coming back through this thing, coming back into the surgery room. I felt the will to live enter back into me. I came back out of the anesthetic screaming, “God is real! God is real!”

Over 50 years later, Kat is still sharing that message. She started going to church and praying constantly. Nothing affected her the same way anymore. She and Don started a customer satisfaction business in the auto industry — unheard of at the time — and became very successful. Their marriage healed, and their sons walk with the Lord.

Most everybody that I know that has had a legitimate near-death experience comes back with a purpose. Mine was to bring people to the Lord, so my evangelistic attitude in life is what drives me. It’s all I really desire to do. So many wonderful people are suffering so badly, and they need that hope that God can give them, but they’re angry like I was. Or they have tried to believe, but it just didn’t work. I just have to say, “Keep trying. God’s there for you.” There isn’t anything more important. I honestly can say I don’t know of anybody that’s turned their lives to Christ and still stayed the same — they are all changed, they’re all revived, they’re different people.

Those challenges are what make us strong, those challenges are what make us who we are. I know that most people I know that have gone through great challenges are more of the people that are the winners in life — they are content, they have overcome these horrible circumstances, some far worse than mine, and they turn out to be these incredible people. Look at your challenges as an opportunity to build on that and to make you the person that God wants you to be. He does want you to be happy. Mostly our prayer should be, “God, Your will be done,” and trust that. (Tales Of Resilience)