“Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received millions of pounds from an oligarch using funds from a firm implicated in criminal corruption, a BBC investigation has found. Kazakh billionaire Timur Kulibayev has told the BBC through his lawyers that he used a loan from a company called Enviro Pacific Investments to help him buy Andrew’s former mansion. Prosecutors in Italy concluded that the firm had received cash from a bribery scheme in 2007. Weeks after the last of these payments was made, the oligarch bought Sunninghill Park in Berkshire from the then prince for £15m — with the help of funds from Enviro Pacific.” (01/08/25)
“Farmers drove about a hundred tractors into Paris on Thursday morning to protest the European Union intention to move forward with a free trade deal with five South American nations, the French Interior Ministry said. French farmers for years has denounced the trade deal with the Mercosur nations of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, arguing that the deal would hurt French farmers’ livelihoods. Thursday’s protest was staged by the Rural Coordination union to put further pressure on France’s government, which has opposed the deal.” (01/08/26)
“Venezuela will release ‘a significant number’ of Venezuelan and foreigners imprisoned in the country, the head of Venezuela’s national assembly said Thursday. Jorge Rodríguez, brother of acting President Delcy Rodríguez, did not specify who they would be releasing or how many people would be released. Despite mass detentions following the tumultuous 2024 election, Venezuela’s government maintains it doesn’t keep political prisoners. The U.S. government and the country’s opposition have demanded the release of opposition figures and critics. ‘Consider this gesture by the Bolivarian government, which is broadly intended to seek peace,’ Rodríguez said in an announcement publicized over TV.” (01/08/25)
“President Trump on Wednesday announced plans to withdraw the U.S. from dozens of global organizations, including the United Nations climate change agencies. It’s among the biggest and most extreme steps this administration has taken to retreat from the global stage and pull back foreign spending. Legal experts immediately questioned whether Trump’s move is legal, though the existence of laws haven’t stopped other moves of his. … Trump’s memoranda to executive departments and agencies said that after consulting with his Cabinet, he ‘determined that it is contrary to the interests of the United States to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support to’ the organizations.” (01/07/26)
“A US immigration [thug] has shot dead a 37-year-old woman in the city of Minneapolis, sparking protests overnight. Federal officials said the woman, Renee Nicole Good, had tried to run over immigration [thugs] with her car but the city mayor said the [thug] who shot her had acted recklessly. Videos of the incident show ICE [thugs] approaching a car which is in the middle of the street. As it attempts to drive off, one of them points his gun at the driver and at least two shots are heard. … Following the fatal shooting, the city’s Democratic mayor, Jacob Frey, used an expletive to urge the ICE [thugs] to leave the city.” (01/08/26)
“The United States says it has [stolen] two tankers linked to Venezuelan oil exports in ‘back-to-back’ operations in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. US [pirates] boarded the Russian-flagged Marinera after a pursuit lasting almost two weeks and as it travelled through the waters between Iceland and Scotland. The British Navy gave logistical support by air and sea. A second tanker — the M/T Sophia — was accused by the US of ‘conducting illicit activities’ and boarded in the Caribbean.” (01/07/26)
“Bitcoin fell under $90,000 on Thursday as the early-January crypto rebound cooled, even as the broader risk backdrop stayed supportive with a rally in global government bonds and growing bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts. Bitcoin was down about 2% over 24 hours but still up more than 3% over the past week, while ether slipped around 3% on the day and remained roughly 6% higher over seven days, according to CoinGecko data.” (01/08/26)
“A House Oversight panel on Wednesday approved subpoenas for Les Wexner and others in connection with the Epstein investigation. Les Wexner, billionaire founder of The Limited (now Bath & Body Works, Inc.) and longtime friend of Jeffrey Epstein, will be subpoenaed along with Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, the executors of the Epstein estate, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, announced. … Wexner was named in a heavily redacted email sent from someone at the FBI’s New York office in 2019, with the subject line ‘Co-conspirators.’ The email was released as part of the DOJ’s document dump following the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.” (01/07/26)
“Two people have been killed and several others wounded in an Israeli strike on a home in Gaza City’s eastern Tuffah neighborhood a short while ago, according to Palestinian media. The dead are not immediately identified. Footage published by Palestinian media shows people wounded in the strike arriving at Gaza City’s al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, including an elderly woman in a bloodied headscarf and a young man lying on a stretcher. The IDF and Shin Bet said they targeted a ‘senior terrorist’ in the northern Gaza Strip this evening in response to shots fired toward IDF troops by Hamas operatives earlier.” (01/07/26)
“Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday opened a new phase of his pontificate by gathering the world’s cardinals to Rome and indicating some reform-minded priorities by calling the modernizing teachings of the Second Vatican Council the ‘guiding star’ of the church. Red-capped cardinals trickled into the Vatican’s audience hall for the opening session of the two-day meeting, the first of Leo’s papacy. Several cardinals said they didn’t know what to expect, since Leo’s written invitation had spoken only in vague terms about four main agenda items. … But during his morning general audience Wednesday, Leo gave the strongest signal yet about the direction of his still-young pontificate, calling for the full implementation of the reforms of Vatican II, the 1960s meetings that modernized and revolutionized the Catholic Church and remain a source of debate today.” (01/07/26)
