“Two prominent Tunisian columnists were sentenced on Thursday to three and a half years in prison each for money laundering and tax evasion, according to a relative and local media. The two men, Mourad Zeghidi and Borhen Bsaies, have already been in detention for almost two years for statements considered critical of President Kais Saied’s government, made on radio, television programmes and social media. They were due to be released in January 2025 but have remained in custody on charges of money laundering and tax evasion.” (01/22/26)
“France’s navy, working with intelligence provided by the United Kingdom, on Thursday intercepted an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that traveled from Russia, in a mission targeting the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet, officials said. French maritime authorities for the Mediterranean said the ship, the Grinch, is suspected of operating with a false flag. The French navy is escorting the ship to anchorage for more checks, the statement said. The tanker departed from the city of Murmansk in northwestern Russia, it said.” (01/22/26)
“The U.S. has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, one year after President Donald Trump announced America was ending its 78-year-old commitment, federal officials said Thursday. But it’s hardly a clean break. The U.S. owes more than $130 million to the global health agency, according to WHO. And Trump administration officials acknowledge that they haven’t finished working out some issues, such as lost access to data from other countries that could give America an early warning of a new pandemic. … In an executive order issued right after taking office, Trump said the U.S. was withdrawing from WHO due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises.” (01/22/26)
“A Democratic lawmaker in Washington state introduced a bill this week called the ICE Out Act of 2026, which would prohibit state law enforcement agencies from hiring anyone that has taken a job as a sworn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. The legislation was introduced by state Rep. Tarra Simmons, who served time for three felony convictions for possession of controlled substances and retail theft in 2011 before having her criminal record cleared. ‘In this Washington, we have worked incredibly hard to build trust between law enforcement and community,’ Simmons said in a press release. ‘In most Washington agencies, the men and women who step up to serve have developed a culture of holding each other accountable to the highest professional standards. The last thing we need is infiltration of ICE agents trained during the Trump Administration to send us backwards.” (01/22/25)
“A Philippine court on Thursday convicted a journalist on charges of financing terrorism and sentenced her to more than a decade in prison, in a ruling that rights and press groups said was a blatant attack on press freedom. The Regional Trial Court in Tacloban City gave the journalist, Frenchie Mae Cumpio, and her former roommate Marielle Dumaquil a jail sentence of 12 to 18 years, the maximum allowed. But the women, who have been in prison since they were arrested in 2020, were acquitted of charges of possessing firearms and explosives. … The authorities said [Cumpio’s] coverage of the community and local politics was biased in favor of communist insurgents, who have long had a presence in the region. She was convicted of being a conduit for funds for the rebels.” (01/22/26)
“A federal jury on Thursday found Walmart negligent for selling a shotgun used in a suicide and awarded the family of the victim — who worked at the store — millions in damages. The verdict followed a 10-day civil trial in Maryland that focused on communications among employees inside a Walmart store 45 miles south of Washington. The family of the 23-year-old who took his life, Jacob Mace, said store managers knew Mace was suicidal and did nothing to ensure that he couldn’t buy a gun from the store. Walmart argued that the managers didn’t know Mace’s intentions and that he legally bought the gun after clearing a federal background check.” [editor’s note: If the guy wanted to kill himself, how is Walmart responsible? Does his family claim he was their property? – TLK] (01/22/26)
“Ursula von der Leyen comfortably survived a no-confidence vote in the European Parliament on Thursday. A large majority of members of the European Parliament backed the center-right European Commission president in a confidence motion brought by the far-right Patriots for Europe group. Of the 720 EU lawmakers, 565 showed up to vote. Only 165 backed toppling the Commission, with 390 voting against and 10 abstaining. Von der Leyen was not in Strasbourg for the vote. The motion’s proponents argued that von der Leyen and her team of commissioners should be dismissed over their handling of the EU–Mercosur trade deal, which they claim undermines European farmers by opening up the European market to unfair competition.” (01/22/26)
“Amazon is planning a second round of job cuts next week as part of its broader goal of trimming some 30,000 corporate workers, according to two people familiar with the matter. The company in October cut some 14,000 white-collar jobs, about half of the 30,000 target first reported by Reuters. The total this time is expected to be roughly the same as last year and could begin as soon as Tuesday, the people said, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss Amazon’s plans. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment.” (01/22/26)
“A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the government not to review materials seized during the search of a Washington Post reporter’s home last week. The ruling, from Magistrate Judge William B. Porter, was in response to a legal filing by the newspaper on Wednesday arguing that the seizures violated the First Amendment and demanding the return of the items. ‘The seizure chills speech, cripples reporting and inflicts irreparable harm every day the government keeps its hands on protected materials,’ the company said in the filing. Judge Porter wrote that The Post and the reporter, Hannah Natanson, had shown ‘good cause’ to maintain the ‘status quo’ while the issues were being sorted out in court.” (01/22/26)
“Former special counsel Jack Smith on Thursday defended his decision to secure two criminal indictments against President Trump and asserted his team had gathered enough evidence to convict. Smith gave his first public testimony about his work Thursday, appearing before the House Judiciary Committee. Republican members of the panel attacked Smith’s move to collect phone records of lawmakers who had been in contact with Trump allies around the time of the Capitol riot in 2021. And they cast the historic investigations of Trump as politically motivated. … In a videotaped deposition, Smith said the president had only himself to blame, for charges he tried to overturn the will of voters in 2020.” (01/22/26)
