Source: Reuters
“A South Korean court sentenced former first lady Kim Keon Hee to 20 months in jail on Wednesday for accepting Chanel bags and a diamond pendant from Unification Church officials in return for providing political favours. The wife of ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was ousted from office last year, was cleared on other charges of stock price manipulation and violating the political funds act. Prosecutors will appeal against the not-guilty verdicts, media reports said. The ruling comes amid a series of trials stemming from investigations into Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law in 2024 and related scandals involving the once-powerful couple.” (01/28/26)
https://archive.is/xPb8O
Source: The American Conservative
“Trump’s Crisis in Minneapolis & Divorce from Europe.” (01/28/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/tac-right-now-trumps-crisis-in-minneapolis-divorce-from-europe/
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“It turns out that President Donald Trump can change direction when a high-profile enforcement effort staged for political impact instead causes blowback. While sending 2,000 federal agents to Minnesota was supposed to embarrass the state’s Democratic politicians and make them look impotent, it instead resulted in the deaths of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti and further alienated a public already turning against hardline immigration policies. The shift is welcome, but the price in lives required to achieve it is too high. It’s also unlikely to bring us the far-reaching law enforcement reform we need.” (01/28/26)
https://reason.com/2026/01/28/after-alex-prettis-death-the-administration-signals-a-shift-on-immigration-enforcement/
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/
