Visiting the U.S. just got much more expensive for tourists from 25 additional countries following an update to the State Department’s policy on visa bonds.

The issue of ultra-Orthdox Jewish enlistment in the military may collapse Israel's coalition.

NEW from me for @forbes.com: did the Venezuela attack benefit Trump financially? It looks that way. I run the analysis here: www.forbes.com/sites/kylemu...

To help you keep more of your paycheque, we’ve cut taxes for 22 million Canadians. We’re building a stronger economy — one that works for everyone.

Tell me another one about how protests don’t matter… www.newhavenindependent.org/2026/01/07/a...

Volker Turk's description of West Bank situation as 'apartheid' marks first time a UN human rights chief has used term.

Birth of rare mountain gorilla twins recorded in Congo park reut.rs/4aKu3qz

TRUMP IS PRO-CONFLICT: The Trump regime’s war on science, Gaza, Venezuela, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Nigeria, Iran, and Greenland, (Canada?) instead of the global climate emergency will not end well. www.juancole.com/2025/12/spen...

Climate change and stopping fossil fuels should be our global priority. Melting glaciers Extinctions Loss of biodiversity Time is short Science knows Inconvenient truth Carbon causes Excess heat absorbs Sea levels rise Act now, or Disaster awaits Innocents suffer the most.

www.npr.org/2026/01/04/n... Burning any type of oil contributes to climate change, but Venezuela's oil is "among the dirtiest oils in the world to produce when it comes to global warming," says Paasha Mahdavi, associate professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Deep budget cuts and massive firing sprees shrank emergency response agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), considered a global crown jewel for climate science.

Oil, conflict, and climate change – there is a direct connection.

In 1916 the U.S. entered an agreement w/Denmark in which in exchange for taking control of the islands of St. Croix, St. John, & St. Thomas (then the “Danish West Indies”), the U.S. would pay $25 million & not object to Danish control of Greenland.

Trump threatening to annex Greenland and dissolve NATO isn't about US National Security. It's about Russia's.

We all have to do our part #oil #venezuela

For everyone who is spinning out conspiracy theories and Greenland, Russia, China and Venezuela: the obsession with Greenland is as simple as this. Article from last spring. www.reuters.com/world/europe...

GOP congressman: I hope Republicans stand up against this, because this is appalling. Greenland is a NATO ally. We have a base on Greenland. Denmark is a proven ally. The way we're treating them is really demeaning, and it has no upside. All it does is make our NATO allies angry.

Almost 90% of Greenland’s population is Indigenous, in case you’re wondering why the rich white men in the gilded White House think they can just take their land.

They are not. In 1916 the U.S. entered an agreement w/Denmark in which in exchange for taking control of the islands of St. Croix, St. John, & St. Thomas (then the “Danish West Indies”), the U.S. would pay $25 million & not object to Danish control of Greenland. history.state.gov/historicaldo...

@casten.house.gov Do you suppose you could explain for Stephen Miller's benefit how mistaken he is that Venezuela's energy sector has "unlimited economic potential" in a $60/BBL market?

Toxic waste, rusted military equipment and a clean-up that continues today. Greenlanders still remember the last time the US ‘took’ their country

'This is already the Putin model: authoritarian rule that enables smash-and-grab oligarchy by those in the regime’s good favor. Trump is making it unusually explicit that in this sphere of influence, Trump-approved oligarchs will be enriched" newrepublic.com/article/2049... via @newrepublic.com

Canada stands with Ukraine. Their cause — freedom, democracy, and sovereignty — is our cause. We’ll keep working with our Allies to secure peace for the Ukrainian people, and we’ll be there to help them rebuild, recover, and create the foundations for lasting prosperity.

SOOOO true. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Volkswagen’s VW and Audi brands sold fewer cars in the US in the fourth quarter, with Donald Trump’s tariffs and his U-turn on electric vehicles taking a toll on Europe’s biggest automaker.

Our annual 52 Places to Go list features an eclipse, a revolution and more. What's on yours? nyti.ms/4bj85uS

Israeli forces raided Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, firing live ammunition to disperse students during a protest and film screening. At least three students were injured as troops entered the campusand classrooms.

Our health care system is collapsing. Housing is unaffordable. 60% of people are living paycheck to paycheck. Instead of trying to "run" Venezuela, Trump might try to do a better job running the United States.

Interesting

The sheer arrogrance is astounding.... HUBRIS www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLFk...

The odds could tilt in China's favor if the US becomes absorbed in Venezuela (via Bloomberg Opinion)

Venezuela’s government is arresting journalists and sending paramilitary forces to suppress anyone who is too happy about Maduro's removal giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

For MAGA, the 1,600 Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by Trump are not white supremacist cop-beaters, violent criminals & seditious conspiracists: they are “patriots,” “political prisoners” & “hostages.” MAGA is rewriting history. Democrats will keep telling the truth, the foundation of democracy.

“Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.” ― Niccolò Machiavelli

www.ctvnews.ca/politics/art.... Of course one assumes immortality, a HUGH assumption. This too shall pass. Besides Mother Nature has other plans for our fragile planet that will overtake all these ambitions by authoritarian types

Something I saw on an Ian Bremmer post - hilarious

among other things, you can't just *give* the Nobel prize to someone else. that's not how it works

A year ago, I went to Copenhagen to write about the political crisis sparked by Trump over Greenland. Danes told me that the US can already do whatever it wants on the island. Their conclusion: Trump just wants the U.S. to look larger on a map www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

Breaking News: Ten people who falsely claimed that France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, was born a man were convicted of online harassment.

Israel extends Gaza occupation beyond ‘yellow line’ in north, bombs south https://aje.io/nb59mu

As Japan’s population ages, families, banks and lawmakers are grappling with how to protect seniors’ assets from the effects of dementia — and prevent trillions from slipping out of productive use.

Trump is weak at home, and he can be stopped – so long as the domestic political logic of foreign intervention is recognized and turned against him. This act of war is about regime change in the United States. It only succeeds if Americans allow it to do so.

Denmark’s prime minister urged Donald Trump to stop threatening to take control of Greenland as the US president’s move to run Venezuela set alarm bells ringing in the Nordic nation about America’s military ambitions.

There are a hundred more important things to say, and I tried to say some of them in my essay for "Thinking About...", but: invading a country for oil is also just atavistic at this point. Even if it worked, which it won’t, it still wouldn’t work.

Guest column: As an infectious diseases physician and researcher, I’ll be keeping an eye on a few viruses in 2026 that could be poised to cause infections in unexpected places or in unexpected numbers. Here are a few:

The Prime Minister of Greenland Jens-Frederik Nielsen to the United States: “Enough is enough.”