“Russia carried out an aerial attack on Kyiv overnight, severing power and water supplies for thousands of residential buildings in the Ukrainian capital amid a temperature of minus 14 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit), the city’s mayor said Tuesday. The drone and missile strikes hit the east bank of the Dnipro River on the night of Monday to Tuesday, Vitali Klitschko said. The attack by Russian forces has left a total of 5,635 residential buildings in Kyiv without heating, mayor Klitschko said in a statement posted on Telegram. … An energy infrastructure facility also suffered damage in a Russian strike on Ukraine’s Odesa in the south, the region’s Governor, Oleh Kiper, said.” (01/20/26)
“U.S. President Donald Trump has linked his drive to take control of Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize, saying he no longer thought ‘purely of Peace’ as the row over the island threatened to reignite a trade war with Europe. Trump declined to tell NBC News in an interview whether he would use force to seize Greenland. He did reiterate his threat to hit European nations with tariffs if a deal is not reached. … In a text message on Sunday to Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, Trump said: ‘Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.'” (01/20/26)
“China’s birth rates sunk to a record low in 2025, despite the government rolling out a spate of incentives to boost it, as the country’s population fell for the fourth straight year. Government data on Monday showed that the country’s birth rate fell to 5.63 per 1,000 people – a record low since the Communist Party took power in 1949 – while its death rate rose to 8.04 per 1,000 people, the highest since 1968. Its population fell 3.39 million to reach 1.4 billion by the end of 2025, marking a quicker decline than the previous year. Faced with an ageing population and sluggish economy, Beijing has been trying hard to encourage more young people to marry and have children.” (01/19/25)
“The Libertarian Party of Georgia has nominated Chase Oliver, the party’s 2024 presidential nominee, to run for governor in 2026. … In addition to candidate nominations, the party also conducted its regularly scheduled even-year leadership elections and selected its state delegation for the 2026 Libertarian National Convention, with the state receiving 31 available delegate seats this year. … The party further announced additional statewide nominations, including Allen Buckley for U.S. Senate and Ted Metz for secretary of state. It did not indicate whether it plans to field a candidate for lieutenant governor, which is elected separately from the gubernatorial race. In addition, the party shared its endorsement of Andrew Underwood for the special election in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, which it publicized on social media several days ahead of the convention.” (01/19/26)
“Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu of France announced on Monday that he would push through the country’s long-awaited budget without a vote in the lower house of Parliament, leading opposition lawmakers to announce plans to topple his minority government with a vote of no confidence. Mr. Lecornu’s decision followed more than four months of failed negotiations to reach a consensus over the budget in France’s gridlocked Parliament, where the prime minister’s centrist coalition lacks a majority. To break that deadlock, Mr. Lecornu said that he would use a contentious constitutional tool to force through the budget on Tuesday, a tool that he previously pledged not to use.” (01/19/26)
“The Syrian government and Kurdish forces traded accusations on Monday over the fate of Islamic State (IS) group prisoners held in Kurdish-run facilities, as Syria’s army deployed in the north and east under a recent deal. Despite the deal, the government and the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) traded blame Monday for fresh attacks the military said killed three soldiers, as well as accusations over the fate of Islamic State (IS) group prisoners in Kurdish-run jails. Following continued clashes, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump discussed developments in Syria in a phone call on Monday evening, the Syrian presidency said.” (01/19/26)
“Gold and silver prices hit record highs but share prices fell on Monday as investors reacted to the threat by US President Donald Trump to impose fresh tariffs on eight European countries opposed to his proposed takeover of Greenland. The price of gold touched $4,689.39 (£3,499) an ounce on Monday, while silver rose to a peak of $94.08 an ounce. Precious metals are seen as safer assets to hold in times of uncertainty, and the prices of both gold and silver have soared over the past year. But stock markets in Europe fell as investors worried over the latest increase in geopolitical tensions.” (01/19/26)
“The European Commission is exploring a ban on artificial intelligence-powered apps that undress [sic] people online in the wake of abusive content generated through X’s Grok. European Parliament lawmakers last week launched a call — first reported by POLITICO — to ban apps and tools that allow users to generate fake intimate images of individuals without consent under the bloc’s flagship AI law.” [editor’s note: If it is a fake image, it is not an image of a real individual — and in what universe does creating an image of someone violate their rights anyway? It neither picks their pockets nor breaks their legs. And no such ban would be effective in any case – TLK]
“Scientists have been forced to rethink the intelligence of cattle after an Austrian cow named Veronika displayed an impressive – and until now undocumented – knack for tool use. Witgar Wiegele, an organic farmer and baker from a small town in Carinthia near the Italian border, keeps Veronika as a pet and noticed that she occasionally played with sticks and used them to scratch her body. Wiegele said Veronika began playing with pieces of wood years ago, then worked out how to scratch herself with sticks. He said she also recognised family members’ voices and hurried to meet them when they called. … Word soon got around and before long a video clip of the cow’s behaviour reached biologists in Vienna who specialise in animal intelligence. They immediately grasped the importance of the footage. ” (01/19/26)
“Russia has sentenced an American man to five years in prison for illegally transporting weapons, a court said Monday, noting that a rifle was found on his yacht after it docked in the port city of Sochi last June. Russian media said he smuggle[d] the weapons [sic] on his private yacht from July 2024 – June 2025. … According to the court, the man sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It cited him as saying he’d met a Russian woman online and decided to visit her and that he didn’t know he was forbidden to keep a weapon on his yacht while it was docked in Russia.” (01/19/26)
