“Mexico’s security minister said Tuesday that it had sent another 37 members of Mexican drug cartels to the United States, as the Trump administration ratchets up pressure on governments to crack down on criminal networks it says are smuggling drugs across the border. Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch wrote in a social media post on X that the people transferred were ‘high impact criminals’ that ‘represented a real threat to the country’s security.’ It is the third time in less than one year that Mexico has sent detained cartel members to the U.S. as the country attempts to offset mounting threats by U.S.” (01/20/26)
“The European Parliament is planning to suspend approval of the US trade deal agreed in July, according to sources close to its international trade committee. The suspension is set to be announced in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday. The move would mark another escalation in tensions between the US and Europe, as Donald Trump ratchets up his efforts to acquire Greenland, threatening new tariffs over the issue on the weekend. The stand-off has rattled financial markets, reviving talk of a trade war and the possibility of retaliation against the US for its trade measures. Shares on both sides of the Atlantic were lower on Tuesday, with European stock markets seeing a second day of losses. In the US, the Dow Jones slid more than 1.7%, while the S&P 500 dropped more than 2% and the Nasdaq closed about 2.4% lower.” (01/21/26)
“The U.S. Department of Justice served subpoenas to several Minnesota officials Tuesday, including Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and others for an alleged conspiracy to impede federal immigration officers. Two Minnesota prosecutors, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, were sent similar subpoenas. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche recently accused Frey and Walz of ‘encouraging violence against law enforcement’ and called their actions ‘terrorism.’ But he provided no evidence of his claims. … The Justice Department investigation comes after it indicated it will not file charges against Jonathan Ross, an ICE [gang member] who [murdered] Renee Nicole Good as she was in her car and amid a convoy of [ICE gang thugs].” (01/20/26)
“US military [pirates] boarded and took control of a seventh oil tanker connected with Venezuela on Tuesday as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to take control of the South American country’s oil. US Southern Command said in a social media post that US forces apprehended the Motor Vessel Sagitta ‘without incident’ and that the tanker was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s ‘established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.’ The military command did not say whether the US Coast Guard took control of the tanker as has been the case in prior seizures.” (01/20/26)
“An Arab human rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) has filed a request for United Kingdom sanctions to be lodged against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over ‘incitement to violence and genocide against Palestinians’ in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. British law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn filed the request on Tuesday with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on behalf of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights UK (AOHR UK), seeking targeted financial and travel sanctions against the Israeli leader. … Last year, a United Nations inquiry found that statements from Netanyahu and Israel’s top leadership had amounted to the ‘incitement to commit genocide’ in Gaza during the war. The submission adds that sanctions should be applied to Netanyahu over his responsibility for ‘unlawful military operations in Gaza’ as he is the country’s highest-ranking official.” (01/20/26)
“A top federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia has posted a job opening for a top federal prosecutor position that the Trump administration claims is occupied by Trump loyalist Lindsey Halligan. Chief Judge M. Hannah Lauck entered an order on Tuesday ordering the clerk of the court to post a vacancy announcement, soliciting applications from attorneys interested in filling the position of Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. … Under the law, when the position is vacant — as the chief judge declared it was — the court can ‘appoint a United States Attorney to serve until the vacancy is filled’ by a Senate-confirmed candidate. The application deadline is listed as Feb. 10, 2026. A judge previously ruled that Halligan was unlawfully serving in the role and dismissed cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.” (01/20/26)
“Leaders in Congress released the final four measures to fund the government Tuesday, as lawmakers race to avoid another government shutdown at the end of the month. Congress has until Jan. 30 to fund the remaining government agencies and programs, after approving a three-bill funding package as part of the effort to end the longest government shutdown in history in November, while the majority of government funding was extended on a temporary basis. … House and Senate appropriators released the text of the final package of four bills, known as a ‘minibus,’ Tuesday. The legislation would provide funding related to the departments of Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Homeland Security.” (01/20/26)
“Netflix is revising its $72 billion offer for Warner Bros. Discovery to make it an all-cash transaction. Netflix initially put forth a cash and stock deal valued at $27.75 per Warner Bros. share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt. Netflix and Warner Bros. said Tuesday that the revised deal simplifies the transaction structure, provides more certainty of value for Warner Bros. stockholders and speeds up the path to a Warner Bros. shareholder vote. The companies said that the all-cash transaction is still valued at $27.75 per Warner Bros. share. … Netflix has been in a tussle with Paramount Skydance for Warner Bros., with Paramount taking another step in its hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. last week, saying that it would name its own slate of directors before the next shareholder meeting of the Hollywood studio.” (01/20/26)
“Seven members of the Netherlands’ far-right Freedom Party led by Geert Wilders have split from the party’s 26-member faction in parliament and will form their own group, citing dissatisfaction with his leadership, Wilders and the lawmakers said on Tuesday. The split is the most serious challenge to Wilders'[s] control over his party since its foundation in 2006. Wilders told reporters in The Hague that the seven ‘thought Freedom should be more constructive and work together with the new governing coalition instead of conducting hard opposition.’ ‘We’re not planning to do that.’ He said his party would survive the crisis. The split comes as the centrist, pro-EU D66 party, which won the election last October, is in talks to form a minority government in coalition with the conservative Christian Democrats and the right-wing VVD.” (01/20/26)
“The UK government has defended a deal to give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and lease back a key military base, following criticism from US President Donald Trump over its handling. In a post on social media, Trump labelled the move as ‘an act of great stupidity’ and ‘total weakness,’ months after he and senior US officials endorsed it. In response, the UK government said it would ‘never compromise on our national security,’ while the prime minister’s official spokesperson insisted the US still supported the move.” (01/20/25)
