“Bulgaria’s second-largest parliamentary grouping, the reformist PP-DB, declined a request on Wednesday from the president to try to form a new government, increasing the likelihood of a snap election in the European Union’s poorest member state. Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov’s coalition government, backed by GERB-SDS, resigned last month after weeks of street protests against state corruption and a new budget that would have increased some taxes. In line with the constitution, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on Monday had formally asked the conservative GERB-SDS to form the government which they rejected. On Wednesday PP-DB, which seeks closer relations with the European Union, also rejected the mandate, BTA agency reported. Radev is now expected to offer a chance to govern to another party and then if they refuse he will have to call a snap vote, Bulgaria’s eighth in just four years.” (01/24/26)
“French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government on Wednesday survived a second vote of no confidence in the National Assembly that had been called in protest against the EU-Mercosur trade deal. The motion, filed by the far-right National Rally (RN) party, was backed by 142 members of parliament’s lower house. 288 votes were needed for the motion to pass. An earlier no-confidence motion filed by the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) on the same matter had also failed. Despite French opposition, EU member states last week approved the signing of the long-debated deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. French farmers have been protesting for months against the deal they say threatens local agriculture by creating unfair competition with cheaper South American imports.” (01/14/26)
“Claudette Colvin, who helped to ignite the modern civil rights movement in the US after refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus, has died aged 86. Colvin was 15 when she was arrested on a bus in Montgomery, nine months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for also refusing to give up her seat. … Colvin was detained on March 2, 1955, after a bus driver called the police to complain that two [b]lack girls were sitting near two white women in violation of segregation laws. Colvin refused to move when asked, leading to her arrest. … Colvin was briefly imprisoned for disturbing public order. The following year, she became one of four [b]lack female plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit challenging segregated bus seating in Montgomery. The case was successful, impacting public transportation throughout the US, including trains, aeroplanes and taxis.” (01/14/26)
“Tehran has warned U.S. allies in the Middle East it will strike U.S. bases on their soil if Washington attacks Iran, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday, following President Donald Trump’s threats to intervene in support of protesters. The death toll from Iran’s unrest climbed to almost 2,600, a rights group said, as the clerical establishment seeks to quell nationwide protests posing one of the biggest challenges to their rule since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. … Trump has said military action is among the options he is weighing to punish Iran over the crackdown.” (01/14/26)
“The Republican-led House Oversight Committee announced Tuesday that it will seek to hold former President Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress after he failed to appear for a deposition as part of the panel’s probe into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. ‘As a result of Bill Clinton not showing up for his lawful subpoena, which again was voted unanimously by the committee in a bipartisan manner, we will move next week in the House Oversight Committee markup to hold former President Clinton in contempt of Congress,’ Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill. The committee had scheduled a deposition with Clinton for Tuesday morning, as well as a deposition with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for Wednesday. In a letter to Comer, the Clintons said they didn’t plan to appear for the depositions.” (01/13/26)
“Donald Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow for another round of peace talks with Vladimir Putin, according to a report. Sources told Bloomberg that the two envoys could meet with the Russian President this month amid faltering efforts by the US to negotiate an end to the conflict. A date for the meeting has not been agreed. … A flurry of diplomatic activity driven by Trump has failed to yield a peace agreement, with Moscow refusing to budge on its maximalist demands and Kyiv continuing to seek security guarantees from Washington.” (01/14/26)
“Crypto markets ripped higher on Wednesday as easing U.S. inflation and renewed political uncertainty around the Federal Reserve reignited demand for scarce, non-sovereign assets. Bitcoin jumped more than 4% over the past 24 hours, breaking above $95,000 for the first time in a week and pushing toward the upper end of its January range. Ether outperformed, climbing over 7% to around $3,330, while major tokens, such as Solana’s SOL, Cardano’s ADA, and BNB Chain’s BNB, moved as much as 9% higher.” (01/14/26)
“Scott Adams, creator of the ‘Dilbert’ comic strip, who became controversial for his right-wing statements, has died following a battle with metastatic prostate cancer. He was 68. … Born in Windham, New York in 1957, Adams started drawing comics at age 6, citing the ‘Peanuts’ comics as an early inspiration. … By 1994, ‘Dilbert’ was syndicated in more than 400 newspapers, and in 1995, Adams left Pacific Bell to become a full-time cartoonist.” (01/13/26)
“The nation’s highest court heard more than three hours of arguments in two cases regarding state bans on transgender students playing on sports teams that are consistent with their gender identity. Chief Justice John Roberts has signaled his skepticism for what he called transgender ‘exception’ for sex-based laws. He also said he the blockbuster 2020 precedent that protects gay and transgender employees from discrimination doesn’t apply to the sports cases, signaling that he is prepared to undermine a central argument from LGBTQ advocates. Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that the court cannot look past what he characterized as the ‘harm’ that transgender-inclusive sports policies impose on cisgender women and girl’s sports teams.” (01/13/26)
“As Canadian leader Mark Carney arrives in China on Wednesday, his hosts see an opportunity to peel the longtime U.S. ally away from their rival, at least a bit. China’s state media is calling on the Canadian government to set a foreign policy path independent of the United States — what it calls ‘strategic autonomy.’ Canada has long been one of America’s closest allies, geographically and otherwise. But Beijing is hoping that President Donald Trump’s economic aggression — and, now, military action — against other countries will erode that longstanding relationship.” (01/13/26)
