“Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday opened a new phase of his pontificate by gathering the world’s cardinals to Rome and indicating some reform-minded priorities by calling the modernizing teachings of the Second Vatican Council the ‘guiding star’ of the church. Red-capped cardinals trickled into the Vatican’s audience hall for the opening session of the two-day meeting, the first of Leo’s papacy. Several cardinals said they didn’t know what to expect, since Leo’s written invitation had spoken only in vague terms about four main agenda items. … But during his morning general audience Wednesday, Leo gave the strongest signal yet about the direction of his still-young pontificate, calling for the full implementation of the reforms of Vatican II, the 1960s meetings that modernized and revolutionized the Catholic Church and remain a source of debate today.” (01/07/26)
“A senior French judge warned Tuesday against ‘unacceptable’ foreign interference after the U.S. reportedly considered sanctioning members of France’s judiciary. ‘If such facts were true or were to materialize, they would constitute unacceptable and intolerable interference in our country’s internal affairs,’ Peimane Ghaleh-Marzban, president of the Paris court that handled a contentious case involving far-right chief Marine Le Pen, said in an inaugural speech to new magistrates, according to AFP. His comments come after German news outlet Der Spiegel reported that the U.S. State Department had considered imposing sanctions on the judges who sentenced Le Pen to a five-year election ban last spring over embezzlement of EU funds, preventing her from running in the presidential election planned for 2027. … Le Pen, who denies all charges, will face an appeal trial from next week, with a decision expected ahead of the summer.” (01/07/26)
“U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his administration is moving to ban Wall Street from investing in single-family homes in a bid to reduce home prices, a potential blow for private-equity landlords that also pressured homebuilder shares. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was taking immediate action and would ask Congress to codify the measure, adding he would also be discussing additional housing and affordability proposals in a speech at the Davos World Economic Forum. … Wall Street landlords dispute that their investments have stoked inflation and hurt housing supply. In a January research note, Blackstone said institutions own only 0.5% of all single-family homes in the United States. It was not immediately clear what legal authority Trump would draw upon to impose such a ban on the private market purchases of houses.” (01/07/26)
“The deadliest clashes so far broke out Tuesday between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, as efforts to merge the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces with the national army have shown little progress. Syria ’s state-run SANA news agency said a soldier was killed and three others were wounded in an attack by the SDF. State TV later reported that three civilians, including two women, were killed and others were wounded, including two children, in shelling of a residential area that it blamed on the SDF. SANA also said nine Aleppo Directorate of Agriculture employees were wounded by SDF shelling that hit its office. The SDF in a statement denied being behind the shelling that killed the civilians and said a shell launched by ‘factions affiliated with the Damascus government’ landed in the al-Midan neighborhood.” (01/07/25)
“Lawyers representing the New York Daily News and an array of news organizations suing OpenAI for allegedly stealing [sic] and distorting their reporters’ work have asked a Manhattan judge to sanction ChatGPT’s parent company, alleging the tech behemoth deleted millions of conversations they were required to hand over as evidence of copyright infringement. OpenAI continued to destroy output logs despite orders from two judges to preserve and provide them to the news organizations, new court filings allege. More than 1 million logs that had been requested — containing information the news outlets believe was based on their journalists’ reporting — were subbed out, according to court documents.” (01/07/26)
“Private employers added 41,000 jobs in December, recovering from losses in the previous month but missing the projected estimate for gains by a few thousand jobs. Dow Jones estimated the private sector would add about 48,000 jobs in the final month of the year after losing 29,000 workers in November. Gains made were coupled with a 4.4 percent year-over-year pay increase for employees, according to ADP. The South and Northeast tracked the most growth, with 54,000 new jobs in the Southern region and 40,000 in the Northeast. The West was the only region to see a decrease in jobs, with 61,000 roles cut. The decrease reflects a broader decline in roles within the information, business services and manufacturing industries.” (01/07/26)
“A federal judge has demanded an explanation from prosecutor Lindsey Halligan for continuing to use the title of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia despite another judge’s ruling that she was unlawfully occupying the role. District Judge David Novak, appointed by President Donald Trump, issued a three-page order Tuesday giving Halligan seven days to explain herself, given that District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie had found in November that the Department of Justice had violated the Constitution by appointing her as a second successive interim hire. Currie’s finding led to the dismissal of criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, two long-standing enemies of the president.” (01/07/26)
“A series of mild eruptions at the most active volcano in the Philippines has prompted the evacuation of nearly 3,000 villagers from a danger zone on its foothills, officials said Wednesday. Authorities raised the 5-step alert around Mayon Volcano in the northeastern province of Albay to level 3 on Tuesday after detecting intermittent rockfalls, some as big as cars, from its peak crater in recent days along with deadly pyroclastic flows — a fast-moving avalanche of super-hot rock fragments, ash and gas. Alert level 5 would indicate that a major explosive eruption, often with violent ejections of ash and debris and widespread ashfall, is underway. ‘This is already an eruption, a quiet one, with lava accumulating up the peak and swelling the dome, which cracked in some parts and resulted in rockfalls, some as big as cars,’ Teresito Bacolcol, the country’s chief volcanologist, told The Associated Press.” (01/07/25)
“Chinese independent refiners are expected to switch to heavy crude from sources including Iran in coming months to replace Venezuelan shipments halted since the U.S. removed the country’s president, traders and analysts said. Caracas and Washington agreed to export up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude to the United States, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend. That arrangement is likely to curtail Venezuelan supply to China, analysts say, reducing a source of cheap oil for independent refiners known as teapots. The world’s biggest crude importer is a major buyer of discounted sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela.” (01/07/26)
“A council fighting against Yemen’s Houthi rebels [sic] said Wednesday it had expelled the leader of a separatist movement and charged him with treason after he reportedly declined to travel to Saudi Arabia for talks. The statement carried by SABA news agency controlled by anti-Houthi forces is the latest escalation between Saudi-backed forces and the Southern Transitional Council, which had been backed by the United Arab Emirates. It also further complicates the future of Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country riven by one of the Mideast’s worst conflicts for over a decade. The STC said leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi remained in Aden. It also accused Saudi Arabia of launched airstrikes in Yemen’s al-Dhale governorate, causing casualties.” (01/07/26)
