“United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chinese President Xi Jinping have called for a closer strategic partnership as they met in Beijing during the first trip of its kind by a British leader in eight years. … Starmer’s trip is also overshadowed by London’s strained relationship with the United States under the leadership of President Donald Trump. Their ties have been tested by Trump’s tariff war and his recent threats of annexing Greenland, much to the alarm of NATO members like the UK. Trump was angered by a similar visit this month to Beijing by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who also sought deeper economic ties with China.” (01/29/26)
“Deploying National Guard and other military troops [to occupy] U.S. cities cost taxpayers nearly $500 million in the second half of 2025, the Congressional Budget Office reported Wednesday. The cost breakdown includes the cost to activate, deploy and pay National Guard personnel; related operational, logistical and sustainment costs; and other direct and indirect costs of deploying National Guard and other military units, such as the U.S. Marine Corps, the CBO report shows. Since June, the CBO said the Trump administration deployed National Guard troops and active-duty Marines to [occupy] the nation’s capital, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, Memphis and Portland, Ore.” (01/28/26)
“FBI agents on Wednesday executed a search warrant at the Fulton County, Ga., elections office south of Atlanta. Agents executed ‘a court authorized law enforcement action’ at the county’s main office in Union City, according to an FBI statement obtained by NewsNation, The Hill’s cable partner. … Fulton County was a flash point between local prosecutors and President Trump following the 2020 election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) indicted Trump on racketeering charges in 2023, alleging he and 18 others conspired to subvert former President Biden’s 2020 election win in Georgia and keep Trump in office. … In December, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a complaint against Fulton County over information related to the 2020 election. The DOJ requested ‘all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots, signature envelopes, and corresponding envelope digital files from the 2020 General Election in Fulton County’ to investigate ‘compliance with federal law.'” (01/28/26)
“Sarah Mullally was officially confirmed on Wednesday as the first woman to lead the Church of England as Archbishop of Canterbury in a traditional ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. The vast cathedral was converted into a court of law for the ancient Confirmation of Election, a legal ceremony set within a church service marking the moment an archbishop-elect legally assumes office. Mullally, who will also serve as the spiritual head of 85 million Christians across 165 countries in the global Anglican Communion, took an oath of allegiance as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury before senior bishops acting as Royal Commissioners under the authority of King Charles. The British monarch has served as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England since Henry VIII split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century.” (01/28/26)
“A Ugandan court on Wednesday released on bail a prominent rights activist whose detention was seen by campaign groups as part of a widespread crackdown on dissent ahead of the country’s general election that was held on January 15. Sarah Bireete, who heads the Centre for Constitutional Governance, a Kampala-based pressure group, was detained on December 30 after questioning the accuracy of the voter register to be used in the poll. She was later charged with offences related to alleged unlawful disclosure of voters’ information. … Rights groups and the opposition have long accused his government of using the military to suppress dissent. The government denies those accusations.” (01/28/26)
“The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the Federal Aviation Administration had approved dangerous flight routes that allowed an Army helicopter to fly into the path of a passenger jet over the Potomac River on Jan. 29, 2025, to calamitous results. … the investigating board also castigated the agency for not doing enough to respond to warnings about longtime risks to safety and found a complacent culture within the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport that relied too heavily on pilots in the airspace being able to see and steer clear of each others’ aircraft, a practice called visual separation. They also determined that insufficient warnings from the air traffic controller to the pilots of the Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet involved in the crash, and altimeters that, unbeknown to the helicopter pilots, habitually gave faulty readings of altitude, also contributed to the tragic crash.” (01/28/26)
“Hungarian prosecutors have charged Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony over his role in arranging last year’s gay pride march in the capital city, which attracted hundreds of thousands of people despite a ban. Prosecutors have ‘filed charges and seek a fine against the mayor of Budapest, who organised and led a public gathering despite a police ban,’ their office said in a statement announcing the case on Wednesday. … Since returning to power in 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been tightening his grip over the country and has targeted groups advocating for human rights. Orban’s conservative government has also pushed for legislation promoting traditional family values and steadily rolled back LGBTQ rights. In 2025, his Fidesz party amended laws and the constitution to ban the annual pride march, drawing protests from critics and the European Union.” (01/28/26)
“The group behind the nationwide ‘No Kings’ protests are planning their fourth demonstration of President Donald Trump’s second term — and are anticipating even greater turnout than their earlier rallies. Ezra Levin, a rally organizer and the co-founder of the progressive group Indivisible, said in an interview that the planned third ‘No Kings’ protest on March 28 is in response to a ‘secret police force terrorizing American communities.’ … Indivisible estimated 3 million protesters turned out for its ‘Hands Off’ rally in April 2025, while 5 million showed up in June as part of the first ‘No Kings’ protest and 7 million for the second ‘No Kings’ demonstration in October. Organizers said they are aiming for nearly 9 million people to turn out in March.” (01/28/26)
“Turkish authorities have arrested six people, including an Iranian national, on suspicion of spying for Iran, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Wednesday. The arrests followed coordinated operations carried out by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization and counterterrorism police across five provinces. The suspects are believed to have been in contact with members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and are accused of gathering information on military bases and other sensitive sites in Turkey, Anadolu reported. They allegedly conducted surveillance of NATO’s Incirlik air base in southern Turkey.” (01/28/26)
“A group of Republican senators is open to splitting the Homeland Security appropriations measure off from a six-bill government funding package that needs to pass by Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown that would affect the Pentagon and other major departments. … A senior Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss the standoff over funding said Senate Republicans would prefer to move all six spending bills as one package but would probably agree to leave the Homeland Security funding measure behind if Democrats dig in their heels.” (01/28/26)
