“Ukraine is ready to send two North Koreans captured in battle back to their homeland in exchange for its own soldiers held in Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday. ‘If Kim Jong Un even remembers these citizens of his and is capable of organizing an exchange for our warriors being held in Russia, we are ready to transfer such soldiers,’ Zelenskyy said in a video statement on Sunday. Soldiers who did not want to return to North Korea may have ‘other options’ if they are willing to ‘bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korean,’ Zelenskyy said in a social media post.” (01/13/25)
“Conservatives make a big deal out of ‘cancel culture,’ the idea that liberals step on free speech by calling out people for political incorrectness. It’s partly true: Some liberal fashions are ludicrous. Like all fads, they will fade in time. However, as a contributor to U.S. News and World Report pointed out recently, liberals can’t hold a candle to the cancellation happening now on the far right. … A new political phenomenon has appeared. Call it ‘capitulation culture’ — the parade of companies, financiers, billionaires and politicians who once stood on principle but now bend to kiss the incoming president’s ring.” (01/13/25)
“The Supreme Court on Monday turned back a challenge to a strict gun licensing law in Maryland. The high court declined to hear the case in a brief order handed down without elaboration, as is typical. The challengers argued that the handgun law violates the Second Amendment by making it too hard for people to get guns. The law, passed after the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, requires people to get safety training, submit fingerprints and pass a background check before buying a handgun. The state says those are reasonable safety measures.” (01/13/25)
“I would be very, very surprised if Donald Trump could point to Greenland or Panama on an unlabeled map, and I’d bet $10,000 he could not lay a finger on Denmark without advice and assistance. But Trump has decided that it is of paramount importance to the United States to wrest control of the Panama Canal away from Panama and to wrest control of Greenland, a territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, from Denmark. … What Trump is up to vis-a-vis Greenland and Panama isn’t foreign policy or trade policy or anything of the sort — it is rhetorical experialism, an obvious and obviously dumb way to try to externalize the emotional focus of his incoming administration in a way that relieves him of the burden of doing anything of substance at home or abroad.” (01/13/25)
“The bid by Japan’s Nippon Steel to buy US Steel may have a new lease on life after the Biden Administration extended a deadline for the Japanese steelmaker to abandon plans to acquire the storied Pittsburgh company after President Joe Biden blocked the deal. The new deadline, now in mid-June, was viewed by US Steel — and investors — as an opportunity for the companies to complete the acquisition, even though President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office in a week, also opposes the deal.” (01/13/25)
“It happened in five seconds. A police officer fired two shots at a 32-year-old man carrying a knife in a brightly lit hallway of a South Bronx building on Sunday evening, striking him in the torso. The man, whom the police have not identified, was in stable condition and was expected to survive.” (01/13/25)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Michael Strong
“In many states, it is more straightforward to launch your own microschool than you might imagine. Indeed, you might be able to bootstrap the school with no upfront capital of your own. How is this possible? The first insight is that a child is the most important focus of a parent’s life. Entrepreneurs solve problems. If you can provide children in your community with a better educational option than currently exists, then you will find parents to be profoundly supportive. A group of supportive parents is your key to bootstrapping a microschool.” (01/13/25)
“The top judge at the International Court of Justice Nawaf Salam has been designated Lebanon’s next prime minister in a surprising turnaround for the crisis-ridden country. On Monday, the office of newly minted President Joseph Aoun asked Salam to form a government, after the judge was endorsed by a large majority of lawmakers during consultations with Aoun. Aoun’s election and Salam’s designation mark the end of a more than two-year long stalemate with a presidential vacuum and a cabinet operating in a day-to-day caretaker capacity. … Salam’s designation is a blow to Hezbollah and its allies Amal, known as the Shia duo, who are believed to have supported [incumbent caretaker Prime Minister Najib] Mikati.” (01/13/25)
