Trump says Iran reached out for nuclear talks, may meet with them
Live Updates
January 12, 2026
January 12, 2026
Police: Eight arrested in overnight raid on east Jerusalem Palestinian refugee camp
Police and Border Police forces carried out an overnight raid as part of an "operation to combat terror and criminal infrastructure" at the Shoafat refugee camp in Jerusalem, the police said.
According to the police, officers seized weapons, ammunition and drugs during the operation and arrested eight suspects.
It was further reported that on Sunday an undercover Border Police unit arrested an illegal arms dealer in the refugee camp.
Australia's Prime Minister Albanese recalls parliament early in wake of Bondi attack
Australia's national parliament will cut short its summer break to pass laws tackling hate speech after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday, as concerns were also expressed over free speech.
The December 14 shooting in Sydney that killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by the Islamic State.
The federal parliament will return next Monday, and Albanese said he wanted legislation to step up penalties for hate speech and authorise a gun buyback to pass the following day.
Australians were entitled to express different views about the Middle East, he told reporters in Canberra.
"What they are not entitled to do is to hold someone to account for the actions of others because they are a young boy wearing a school uniform going to a Jewish school or a young woman wearing a hijab," he said.
The proposed laws will also ease visa denials on the grounds of racial bigotry, and lower the threshold for banning hate organizations including neo-Nazi groups, officials said.
Last week, Albanese said Australia will hold a Royal Commission inquiry into the Bondi Beach mass shooting in which 15 people were killed, the country's most powerful public inquiry.
The commission will look into antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia, and examine the events leading up to the Bondi Beach shooting. The Royal Commission, a government inquiry that can compel people to give evidence, will be led by retired judge Virginia Bell and is expected to present its findings by the end of this year.
New South Wales state premier Chris Minns unveiled new rules on Monday that allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls and impose bigger fines, as part of measures to curb "hate preachers".
Minns said the move was prompted by the difficulty in closing a Muslim prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield, which has a large Muslim community, said councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
"Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way," Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
Trump says Iran reached out for nuclear talks, is in contact with opposition leaders
Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a U.S. official told Reuters on Sunday.
The Wall Street Journal had reported that options included military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, widening sanctions and providing online help to anti-government sources.
"The military is looking at it, and we're looking at some very strong options," Trump told reporters traveling on Air Force One on Sunday night.
Trump said he was in contact with Iranian opposition leaders. He also said, without elaborating, that Iran's leaders had called him on Saturday and want to negotiate, and that he might talk to them.
Trump says military exploring 'strong options' amid Iran protests
U.S. President Donald Trump said that his country is considering a range of responses to the escalation of the Iranian regime's actions against citizens protesting against it. "The military is looking at it," Trump said. "We're looking at very strong options on Iran."
Exiled son of deposed Shah of Iran: 'We are not alone, international support will arrive soon'
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the deposed Shah and a key leader of the protests in Iran, addressed the Iranian people, stating, "We are not alone, international support will arrive soon."
In a post on X, Pahlavi added, "Soon we will demand the return of our country from the Islamic Republic. Khamenei and his regime have taken severe blows from you, and we must not allow them to recover."
Pahlavi also called for Iranian embassies and consulates around the world to "decorate them with Iran's national flag instead of the embarrassing flag of the Islamic Republic."
Truck driven through crowd at Los Angeles rally in support of Iran protests
Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with marchers demonstrating in support of the Iranian people, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver.
The U-Haul truck, with a window and side mirrors shattered, was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police cars. ABC7 news helicopter footage showed officers keeping the crowd at bay as demonstrators swarmed the truck, throwing punches at the driver and thrusting flagpoles through the driver's side window.
The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained "pending further investigation," police said in a statement Sunday evening.
The police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt. Two people were evaluated by paramedics and both declined treatment, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, had gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA's Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian theocracy. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by 5 P.M. only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.
Activists say a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed more than 530 people. Protesters flooded the streets in Iran's capital of Tehran and its second-largest city again Sunday.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.
RECAP: Trump says Iran reached out for nuclear talks, 'may meet with them'
Here are Monday's latest updates from Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and the Middle East:
■ U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown targeting demonstrators there, a move coming as activists said the death toll in protests rose to at least 544.
■ Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the deposed Shah and a key leader of the protests in Iran, addressed the Iranian people, saying, "We are not alone, international support will arrive soon."
■ The IDF said it struck several sites targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon throughout Monday.
■ Haredi protesters from the extremist Jerusalem faction stormed a recognition event for the parents of the recruits of the ultra-Orthodox Hashmonaim Brigade in central Israel's Bnei Brak. The army said "some of the protesters acted violently towards the soldiers and commanders of the brigade."
■ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, was barred on Sunday from entering the Prime Minister's Office or leaving the country after being detained by police for a day-long questioning in connection with the BibiLeaks affair, involving the 2024 leak of classified IDF documents.
■ U.S. law enforcement authorities in Mississippi have arrested a man suspected of participating in the arson attack on the state's largest synagogue, which caused extensive damage to the historic structure.
■ Australia's national parliament will cut short its summer break to pass laws tackling hate speech after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday.
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