US forces

seize tanker

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces have boarded and taken control of a seventh oil tanker connected with Venezuela. It’s part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to take control of the South American country’s oil. U.S. Southern Command said in a social media post that U.S. forces apprehended the Motor Vessel Sagitta on Tuesday “without incident” and that the tanker was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

Since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro early this month, the Trump administration has set out to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products.

Wall Street

sees losses

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks sank on Wall Street after President Donald Trump threatened to hit eight European countries with new tariffs as tensions escalate over his attempts to assert American control over Greenland. The S&P 500 fell 2.1% Tuesday, its biggest drop since October.

Technology stocks were the biggest weights. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.8%. The Nasdaq composite slumped 2.4%.

Trump said Saturday that he would charge a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from the eight European nations.

European markets also fell, while gold prices surged. Long-term Treasury yields rose in the bond market.

UN facilities

targeted

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces have targeted two United Nations facilities as part of their crackdown on the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. On Tuesday, crews bulldozed the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s offices in Sheikh Jarrah and fired tear gas at a vocational school in Qalandia.

The agency’s West Bank director, Roland Friedrich, said this marks the culmination of two years of measures against UNRWA in east Jerusalem. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the demolition enforced a new law banning UNRWA, claiming the agency has ties with militant groups. The U.N. has denied these claims.

Israel has long claimed the agency has an anti-Israel bias, often with little evidence.

Netflix

ups its bid

(AP) — Netflix is now offering to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business in an all-cash deal. This move aims to win over Warner’s shareholders for a $72 billion merger and counter a bid from Paramount.

On Tuesday, Netflix and Warner announced a revised transaction to simplify the structure and speed up a shareholder vote. The all-cash offer is valued at $27.75 per Warner share. Warner’s leadership supports the merger with Netflix.

Meanwhile, Paramount has made a $77.9 billion offer and plans a proxy fight. The sale could face antitrust scrutiny and political influence.