“New Hampshire Episcopal bishop is attracting national attention after warning his clergy to finalize their wills and get their affairs in order to prepare for a ‘new era of martyrdom.’ Bishop Rob Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire made his comments earlier this month at a vigil honoring Renee Good, who was [murdered] on Jan. 7 behind the wheel of her vehicle by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. … Hirschfeld’s speech cited several historical clergy members who had risked their lives to protect others, including mentioning New Hampshire seminary student Jonathan Daniels, who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy in Alabama while shielding a young Black civil rights activist in 1965. ‘I have told the clergy of the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness,’ Hirschfeld said.” (01/18/26)
“Israel objected on Saturday to the US announcement of members of a so-called ‘Board of Peace’ executive board appointed to lead post-war Gaza, according to a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that came into force in October. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced the names of some of the people who are going to sit on the body that will oversee the transitional government in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. … The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which is considered a terrorist group by some countries, also criticized the makeup of the board, arguing it ‘came in accordance with Israeli criteria and to serve the interests of the occupation, in a clear indicator of preexisting bad intentions over the implementation of the terms of the [ceasefire] agreement.'” (01/17/26)
“More than 200,000 consumers in the Russian-held part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region were left without electricity on Sunday, the Moscow-installed regional governor said, after a Ukrainian drone strike on Saturday. In a statement posted on Telegram, Yevgeny Balitsky said that work was ongoing to restore the power supply, but that almost 400 settlements remain without electricity. Temperatures are well below freezing throughout the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, around 75% of which is controlled by Russia.” (01/18/26)
“The Trump administration is seeking to deport two men who provided accounts of the Jan. 3 death of Geraldo Lunas Campos at a Texas detention camp that differed from the Department of Homeland Security’s description of the incident. Santos Jesus Flores and Antonio Ascon Frometa, two detainees at Camp East Montana who both have criminal convictions, said in phone interviews with The Washington Post this week that they witnessed Lunas Campos engaged in a struggle with guards before his death. Flores claimed he saw guards choking Lunas Campos to death. In a statement Thursday, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Lunas Campos had tried to take his own life and guards were trying to save him.” (01/17/26)
“Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pointed the finger at U.S. President Donald Trump for encouraging protests in the Middle Eastern country that he acknowledged have led to thousands of deaths. Khamenei held Trump responsible for the violence, according to Iranian state media, calling him guilty ‘for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation.’ An Iranian official put the verified deaths at 5,000, according to a report by Reuters on Sunday. … The country is currently under an internet blackout, making it difficult to get information from inside Iran about the crackdown on widespread protests. The U.S.-based Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency estimates 3,308 have died and said they have confirmed 24,000 arrests.” (01/18/26)
“Federal officials are investigating the partner of Renee Nicole Good to determine whether she may have impeded a federal officer moments before he [murdered] Good in Minneapolis, according to two people familiar with the investigation who spoke to NBC News. The federal investigation into the [murder] by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross is focusing more on Becca Good, including what officials said were her possible ties to activist groups, and less on Ross’[s] actions when he fired into Renee Good’s vehicle during an immigration operation last week, the people said. … The Justice Department is also investigating Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey under the theory they conspired to impede federal immigration agents through their public statements, according to a senior law enforcement official and person familiar with the matter.” (01/17/26)
“Independent restaurants have accused global corporations of being ‘sneaky’ and ‘a killer’ to family businesses by masquerading as indies on delivery apps. Chain restaurants including Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays, Frankie & Benny’s, Las Iguanas and Barburrito have brands on apps such as Deliveroo and Just Eat, giving them different names and the appearance of being small or independent businesses. … Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats all said virtual brands could be utilised by any business, including independents.” (01/18/26)
“Representatives of the European Union and South American nations signed a free trade agreement on Saturday, but it won’t be official until approved by the European Parliament. The free trade agreement would support trade between Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, collectively called ‘Mercosur,’ and E.U. member nations, but the E.U.’s parliamentarians could reject it. Mercosur is a Spanish acronym that is short for ‘Southern Common Market,’ and the European Parliament might take months to ratify the agreement, if it does at all, some European officials have warned.” (01/17/26)
“President Donald Trump on Saturday vowed to ‘take out’ the Republican leader of the Indiana Senate after he resisted a new congressional map the president had championed. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Indiana Senate Majority Leader Rod Bray had ‘betrayed’ the Republican Party after his chamber voted down a new map last month that would have created two more right-leaning congressional districts in the state. The president said he would partner with David McIntosh, a former Indiana congressman who helped found two political groups, the Federalist Society and the Club for Growth, to target Bray. … In December, the Indiana Senate voted 31-19 against a new congressional map, with 21 Republicans joining 10 Democrats in voting against the measure. If approved, the districts of two Democratic representatives would have been eliminated.” (01/18/26)
“U.S. forces have fully withdrawn from an air base in western Iraq in implementation of an agreement with the Iraqi government, Iraqi officials said Saturday. Washington and Baghdad agreed in 2024 to wind down a U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq by September 2025, with U.S. forces departing bases where they had been stationed. However, a small unit of U.S. military advisers and support personnel remained. … Now all U.S. personnel have departed.” (01/17/26)
