Source: Reuters
“Russian drones and missile strikes on Monday hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, knocking out power to 80% of the city and surrounding region and striking apartment buildings, a school and a kindergarten, local officials said. Two people were injured, Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.” (01/27/26)
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin slipped to about $88,400 in early-week trading, extending a roughly 4% decline over the past week as major cryptocurrencies softened. The token’s underperformance versus rising equities and surging gold underscores that crypto is trading more like a high-beta risk asset than a safe-haven hedge. Traders are cautious and volumes muted ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve decision and a wave of Big Tech earnings, events seen as key catalysts for bitcoin’s next move.” (01/27/26)
Source: Seattle Times
“Judges at the International Criminal Court ruled on Monday that former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is fit to stand trial, after postponing an earlier hearing over concerns about the octogenarian’s health. Duterte is facing charges of crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in dozens of killings as part of his so-called war on drugs when in office, first as the mayor of a southern city and later as president. Lawyers for the 80-year old had argued Duterte was in frail health and his condition was deteriorating in the court’s detention unit.” (01/26/26)
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Lebanon has filed a complaint with the United Nations about repeated Israeli violations of a November 2024 ceasefire, calling on the Security Council to push Israel to end its attacks and fully withdraw from the country. The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants said the complaint, sent on Monday, stressed that Israeli abuses are a ‘clear’ violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. … Despite the 2024 ceasefire, the Israeli military has been launching near-daily attacks in Lebanon, which have killed hundreds of people. In November last year, the UN put the number of civilians killed in Israeli attacks at at least 127.” (01/26/26)
Source: The New Arab [UK]
“A measure is being advanced in the Florida legislature to officially recognise the term ‘Judea and Samaria’ and ban ‘West Bank’ in official state documents. The name change, which has strong support in both chambers of the Florida state legislature, would mean that all official documents, including press releases, school textbooks, and library materials, would refer to the area west of the Jordan River by its biblical names, Judea and Samaria. … Supporters of the bill say it seeks to recognise a historic location, while critics say it is a tactic to erase Palestinian identity—and possibly further Israeli control over the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967 (and expanding illegal settlements ever since).” (01/26/26)
https://www.newarab.com/news/florida-aims-ban-west-bank-official-vocabulary
Source: ABC News
“Myanmar’s military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party claimed Monday that it had won the country’s first election since the army seized power in 2021, paving the way for a new government. The victory of the party led by a former general was widely expected after the vote excluded major opposition parties and dissent was tightly restricted. Also, 25% of parliamentary seats were automatically reserved for the military — effectively guaranteeing control by the armed forces and its favored parties. Critics say the polls organized by the military government were neither free nor fair, but an effort to legitimize its rule after seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover triggered widespread opposition that dragged Myanmar into a civil war.” (01/26/26)
Source: USA Today
“The Supreme Court will decide whether a 1988 privacy law spurred by the disclosure of a high court nominee’s video rental history should be applied to digital videos watched on a free website. The court on Jan. 26 agreed to review a lower court’s ruling that the Video Privacy Protection Act can’t be used to sue a sports website for sharing a user’s video-watching history with Facebook. After President Ronald Reagan nominated Robert Bork to the high court in 1987, a journalist obtained from his local video store a list of films Bork had rented. Congress responded by creating stiff penalties for any ‘video tape service provider’ who discloses personal information about their customers without consent.” (01/26/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/01/26/supreme-court-video-privacy-law/88302348007/
Source: CNBC
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday said he had cancelled all Treasury Department contracts with the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, one of whose employees leaked the tax records of President Donald Trump, and the billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, to media outlets. Booz Allen Hamilton’s stock price dropped by 8% on the heels of the Treasury Department’s announcement. The department said it currently has 31 separate contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton, totaling $4.8 million in annual spending and $21 million in total obligations. … The department noted that between 2018 and 2020, Booz Allen employee Charles Edward Littlejohn ‘stole and leaked the confidential tax returns and return information of hundreds of thousands of taxpayers.’ The data breach affected about 406,000 taxpayers, according to the IRS. Littlejohn, 40, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of disclosure of tax return information.” (01/26/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/26/trump-tax-records-treasury-cancels-booz-allen-contracts.html
Source: St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
“Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, called on Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes to resign after she said people who feel [sic] they are in danger are legally allowed to shoot masked federal law enforcement officers. Mayes made these comments in an interview with 12News, where she said, ‘We have a Stand Your Ground law that says that if you reasonably believe that your life is in danger and you’re in your house or your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force.’ … Her comments are ‘putting the lives of federal and local law enforcement officers engaged in such dangerous work at risk,’ the state senator explained. ‘She needs to recant her statement and resign in disgrace,’ Kavanagh said.” [editor’s note: Well, SOMEONE does – TLK] (01/26/26)
Source: Fox News
“Israel on Monday confirmed that the remains of Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza, have been recovered and returned home after 842 days. Gvili, who was 24 at the time of his death, served as an Israel Police officer and was killed during fighting on Oct. 7, 2023, after confronting Hamas terrorists near Kibbutz Alumim, according to a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. His body was later abducted to Gaza. … The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said following the completion of an identification process conducted by Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine, in coordination with police and military authorities, that officials informed the Gvili family that their loved one’s remains had been identified and would be returned for burial.” (01/26/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/world/israel-confirms-recovery-last-hostages-remains-from-gaza