Source: Foreign Policy
by Stephen Holmes
“European leaders face a puzzle that defies the usual political logic. As U.S. reliability collapses under the second Trump administration, one might expect those Europeans most alarmed by American hostility to become the strongest advocates for autonomous European defense. Instead, the opposite pattern prevails. The constituencies most willing to invest in European rearmament are precisely those that still believe NATO can be salvaged — while those who have concluded that the United States is now an adversary are the least willing to bear the costs of replacing American protection.” (01/28/26)
https://archive.is/4Ilwm
Source: New York Post
“A private plane carrying a deputy chief minister crashed in an open field in western India on Wednesday, killing the official and four other people on board, aviation authorities said. There were no survivors. The aircraft was en route from India’s financial capital of Mumbai to Ajit Pawar’s home city Baramati when it crash-landed and burst into flames some 159 miles from Mumbai. The reason for the crash was not immediately known. Television footage showed smoke rising from the wreckage. … Pawar was a key figure in state politics and served as the second highest elected official in Maharashtra as part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling coalition in the state.” (01/28/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/01/28/world-news/india-politician-ajit-pawar-killed-in-private-plane-crash-with-4-others/
Source: Washington Post
“What Jason Rezaian learned after 544 days in an Iranian prison.” (01/28/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/what-jason-rezaian-learned-after-544-days-in-an-iranian-prison/
Source: ABC News
“Indian authorities said they had contained a Nipah virus outbreak after confirming two cases in the eastern state of West Bengal, as several Asian countries tightened health screenings and airport surveillance for travelers arriving from India. India’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that two Nipah cases had been detected since December and that all identified contacts had been quarantined and tested. The ministry did not release details about the patients but said 196 contacts had been traced and all tested negative.” (01/28/26)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/india-contained-nipah-virus-outbreak-asian-countries-ramp-129625736
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Ted Snider
“‘Tariffs,’ President Donald Trump is fond of reminding us, ‘is the most beautiful word to me in the dictionary.’ It’s the most beautiful word ‘because tariffs are going to make us rich as hell. It’s going to bring our countries businesses back that left us.’ And that’s how it started. On ‘Liberation Day,’ on April 2, Trump announced a 10% minimum tariff on goods from all countries with some countries being hit with higher ‘reciprocal tariffs.’ ‘For decades,’ he explained, ‘our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike.’ But Trump’s use of tariffs and sanctions quickly broadened as a versatile tool for much more than returning business to America. First they became a blunt tool for regime change; then they became the go to tool for everything from foreign policy goals to election interference.” (01/28/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/trump-is-broadening-his-use-of-economic-warfare
Source: CNBC
“Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that the automaker is ending production of its Model S and X vehicles, and will use the factory in Fremont, California, to build Optimus humanoid robots. ‘It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end with an honorable discharge,’ Musk said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. ‘If you’re interested in buying a Model S and X, now would be the time to order it.’ After the original Roadster, the two models are Tesla’s oldest vehicles, and in recent years the company has slashed prices as global competition for electric vehicles has soared. Tesla started selling the Model S sedan in 2012, and the Model X SUV three years later.” (01/28/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/28/tesla-ending-model-s-x-production.html
Source: The American Prospect
by Whitney Curry Wimbish & David Dayen
“Executives who lobbied for Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which enabled the immigration terror in their state, now want everyone to believe they are on the people’s side.” (01/28/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/01/28/minnesota-ice-trump-ceo-big-beautiful-bill-alex-pretti/
Source: CNBC
“Amazon said Wednesday it plans to eliminate about 16,000 corporate jobs, marking its second round of mass job cuts since last October. In a blog post, the company wrote that the layoffs were part of an ongoing effort to ‘strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.’ That coincides with a push to invest heavily in artificial intelligence. The job reductions come just a few months after October’s layoffs, when 14,000 employees were let go across Amazon’s corporate workforce. At the time, the company indicated the cuts would continue in 2026 as it found ‘additional places we can remove layers.'” (01/28/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/28/amazon-layoffs-anti-bureaucracy-ai.html
Source: Underthrow
“Peace Propaganda: The Power of Story.” (01/28/26)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/peace-propaganda-the-power-of-story
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Kathleen Enright
“By many measures, we are living in one of the most divisive moments in our nation’s nearly 250-year history. Disagreement has hardened into mistrust. Americans are trading blame. As we saw in Karl Zinsmeister’s recent op-ed, even the deeply American commitment to charitable giving is increasingly under scrutiny. With mistrust distorting perceptions of philanthropy, a concerning narrative is taking hold. This narrative, visible in Zinsmeister’s piece and elsewhere, holds that the generosity we disagree with is inherently suspect, even illegal. A clear-eyed view of how charitable foundations work helps put the debates about the sector in the proper context.” (01/28/26)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/01/28/defending_charity_in_an_age_of_political_mistrust_153762.html
