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Blurb:

Leavitt’s briefing comes as President Donald Trump meets with the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at 12:30 p.m. at the White House. Trump has backed interim Venezuelan president Delcy Rodriguez following the United States’s ouster of former dictator Nicolas Maduro, instead of immediately supporting a regime change led by Machado.

Also on the foreign policy front, Leavitt is likely to face questions from reporters on the administration’s goals in Iran and Greenland. The briefing may also cover Trump’s newly announced “Great Healthcare Plan,” which he outlined for Congress.

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“Renee Good. I want you to remember her name. She’s a martyr, she sacrificed.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison spoke Wednesday at a student walkout and rally at the Minnesota State Capitol, where he condemned the “surge” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents operating in the state.

Students in St. Paul held a walk-out and gathered at the Capitol to protest expanded ICE operations in Minnesota this week. Ellison addressed the crowd, telling students that as attorney general, he serves as their “lawyer.”

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Senate Democrats snubbed women all across the country on Wednesday when they downplayed the physical dangers and abuse risks associated with abortion pills in favor of promoting abortion for all via mail-order mifepristone.

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy and his GOP colleagues utilized the hearing titled Protecting Women: Exposing the Dangers of Chemical Abortion Drugs as yet another opportunity to spur on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s professed mifepristone review.

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[UPDATE] Thomas More Society has filed an emergency application to the Supreme Court on behalf of its clients, California teachers and parents, to block state law that requires teachers to hide students’ gender confusion from their parents.

The appeal was filed on January 8 after a panel of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stayed an injunction blocking the laws.

Paul M. Jonna, special counsel for Thomas More Society and a partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP, argued,

“Right now, California’s parental deception scheme is keeping families in the dark and causing irreparable harm. That’s why we’re asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene immediately. The state is inserting itself unconstitutionally between parents and children, forcing schools to deceive families, and punishing teachers who tell the truth.”

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More and more people have been experiencing psychosis induced by AI chatbot use. This is concerning since chatbot use is so prevalent, especially among young people and those who are in distress and vulnerable (one recent study found that about a quarter of young adults used chatbots specifically for mental health advice).

Reassuringly, psychiatry’s stance is that anyone who experiences this was already “prone to psychosis”—that the chatbot simply triggered delusions that would have been triggered some other way. Yet there is no evidence to support this explanation, and the case reports of those who have experienced AI psychosis tell a different story.

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President Donald Trump is preparing to storm the heart of the globalist establishment, bringing his America First agenda directly into the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual summit in Davos, Switzerland.

Trump’s appearance at the elite gathering, long synonymous with open borders, free trade absolutism, and unelected global governance, represents a direct challenge to the ideological consensus that has dominated the WEF summit for decades.

This year’s Davos theme, “A Spirit of Dialogue,” rings hollow to critics as the global elite scramble to preserve their image of openness in the face of a U.S. president who has openly rejected multilateralism and global economic central planning.

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Macomb County Clerk Anthony G. Forlini announced Monday that noncitizens have been appearing in the Michigan county’s jury pool “at an alarming rate” and many of them are registered to vote. The data indicates that many noncitizens have potentially sat on juries and/or illegally voted in elections.

During a press conference in the courthouse jury room in Mount Clemens, MI, Forlini stated that an internal review of the county identified 239 noncitizens selected for jury duty over a four-month period from September 5, 2025, to January 8, 2026.

The jury pool is drawn from the Michigan Secretary of State’s driver’s license database, which does not consistently flag citizenship status, allowing noncitizens—such as lawful permanent residents with green cards—to be included.

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The Department of Justice is looking into ties between Renee and Becca Good and far-left activist groups that have been courting mayhem in the state as both the fraud investigation and federal efforts to remove illegal immigrant criminals ramp up.

Six federal prosecutors resigned on Tuesday rather than conduct an investigation into Becca Good, the activist wife of Renee Good, who was killed while ramming her car into an ICE agent last week. Becca Good was outside the car at the time of the shooting filming the action between her wife and the officer while taunting law enforcement.

The New York Times reports that “the Justice Department launched an investigation to examine ties between Ms. Good and her wife, Becca, and several groups that have been monitoring and protesting the conduct of immigration agents in recent weeks.” These prosecutors were reluctant to look into Good, who said after the shooting that it was all her fault.

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House Republicans’ largest outside spending groups are leading their Democratic counterparts in fundraising ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The House GOP leadership aligned-Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) and its associated nonprofit, the American Action Network (AAN), reported a $136 million fundraising haul in 2025. Meanwhile, House Democratic groups — House Majority PAC and its sister organization House Majority Forward — raised just $121 million combined in the same time span.

The GOP lead is relatively small, but the Republican groups are touting the fundraising edge, first reported by Punchbowl News, as proof they have the resources to defend the fragile House GOP majority.

“This record-breaking haul of $136 million is a testament to the sustained commitment of our donors and their trust in Speaker Mike Johnson, this Republican leadership team, and our mission,” CLF President Chris Winkelman said in a statement. “Building this historic war chest early means we have a financial head start heading into the midterms. We will defend our majority-making incumbents and push further into Democrat territory.”

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House Republicans passed a sweeping new framework for a second reconciliation bill that would ban illegal aliens from receiving a single dime from taxpayer-funded federal welfare programs.

The proposal, which was led by the Republican Study Committee (RSC) also seeks to reform federal funding allocations to states, ensuring that taxpayer funds are spent solely on U.S. citizens.

Congressman Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) emphasized the urgency of the reconciliation bill during a press conference earlier today, saying, “Republicans in Congress can and must go it alone with the second reconciliation bill.”

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GENEVA: The United Nations demanded on Tuesday (Jan 13) a swift and independent investigation after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a protester in the US city of Minneapolis last week.

The UN rights office voiced deep concern at the killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who was shot dead in her car by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in the Midwestern city last Wednesday.

“Under international human rights law, the intentional use of lethal force is only permissible as a measure of last resort against an individual representing an imminent threat to life,” UN rights office spokesman Jeremy Laurence told reporters in Geneva.

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One of the biggest problems — of many — that President Donald Trump identified under his predecessor’s regime involved the soaring cost of living to which many Americans were subjected.

By that same token, Trump also appears cognizant that one of the initiatives he supports, the investment in and proliferation of artificial intelligence, could very well lead to Americans feeling the same sort of squeeze they felt under former President Joe Biden.

Aware of that, the president took to Truth Social to issue a mandate to tech companies, saying they will not be allowed to jack up American utility bills.

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Taiwan has deployed coastguard vessels after four Chinese boats entered waters near Kinmen Island, sparking further fears over an invasion. The Coast Guard Administration condemned China’s attempt to use routine gray-zone conflict tactics to create false information about its jurisdiction, seriously undermining regional peace and stability.

According to Taiwan’s Coast Guard, the Kinmen‑Matsu‑Penghu Branch, unusual activity was seen near Kinmen in the afternoon. In a press statement, it explained that around 2 pm, personnel in the 12th Patrol District detected Chinese Coast Guard ships gathering in two separate areas just off Kinmen’s southern coastline. In response, Taiwan’s Coast Guard quickly sent out its own patrol vessels, moving them into nearby restricted waters so they would be in position ahead of any potential developments.

Blurb:

President Donald Trump earlier signaled support for protests in the Islamic Republic and threatened new strikes

The US has opened a new air and missile defense coordination cell at a key airbase in Qatar amid rising tensions with Iran and President Donald Trump’s promises to assist protesters in the Islamic Republic.

In a statement on Tuesday, US Central Command said the facility at the Al Udeid Air Base, which houses some 10,000 troops, will be comprised of American and allied personnel and seeks to “enhance integrated air and missile defense.” The new cell is also intended to tighten information-sharing, threat warning, drills and joint responses for air and missile defense, US officials said.

Reuters reported, citing three unnamed diplomats, that some personnel had been advised to leave the base by Wednesday evening for unknown reasons. The agency noted that the US took the same measures ahead of strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last summer, while the Al Udeid Air Base came under a retaliatory attack from Tehran at the time.


 

The move comes amid soaring US-Iran tensions, with Trump offering symbolic support for the riots, which began in late December as protests over the sharp devaluation of the Iranian rial and the sanctioned country’s cost-of-living crisis. The US president, in particular, has urged Iranians to keep protesting and said “HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” while also warning of “very strong” action in case of a harsh crackdown on rioters. At the same time, Trump did not rule out talks with Iran.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Tehran did not seek war but was prepared for it, and Iranian officials have warned neighboring states that host US forces that they could face retaliation if Washington attacks. Officials in Tehran have also insisted that the US and Israel had had a “big hand” in fostering the current protests.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar have privately pressed Washington not to strike Iran, warning that a conflict could trigger severe regional instability and disrupt oil markets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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from www.rt.com

Blurb:

Independent journalists Nick Sortor and Cam Higby were physically attacked by a violent mob during an anti-ICE demonstration outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Sunday night, after a far-left streamer threatened to track and harass them.

According to Sortor, agitators scuffled with them whenever they left their vehicle to film clashes between law enforcement and the anti-ICE militants.

“We did our best not to engage with them,” Higby stated on X.  “Obviously they repeatedly initiated physical contact with us.”

At one point, an aggressive masked female agitator got in front of Sortor,  holding up a sign to block him from filming. Sortor snatched the sign from her and threw it on the ground.   The woman continued hounding the journalist, throwing punches and trying to grab his phone away. Sortor continued filming while pushing her away with his free hand. He pulled off her mask so she could be identified and face consequences for the assault, Higby explained later on X.

Federal agents deployed flash bangs, tear gas, and pepper balls to disperse the increasingly violent mob, which allowed the two to escape to their vehicle, a white Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.

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The next step from the Executive Order in November where such a designation was announced (White House).

On January 13, 2026, the U.S. labeled the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood—Al Jama’a Al Islamiyya—as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, while designating its Egyptian and Jordanian branches as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. This stems from a November 2025 executive order by President Trump, based on evidence of their financial, logistical, and ideological support for Hamas. Gulf allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE endorsed the step, though the Brotherhood called it politically motivated and plans legal challenges. The designations impose asset freezes, travel bans, and penalties for material support, marking a targeted escalation in counterterrorism without labeling the entire group.

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Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez has declared that the communist regime would defend itself “to the last drop of blood” before making a deal with the United States.

Bermúdez responded defiantly to pressure from President Donald Trump, who urged Havana to strike a deal with Washington.

Trump addressed Cuba earlier in the day in a Truth Social post, warning the regime to negotiate while it still can and signaling a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward the island.

“They make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump wrote.

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A train derailed in northeastern Thailand on Wednesday after a construction crane fell on three of its carriages, ‌killing at least 25 people and injuring about 80, police said.

The accident took place on Wednesday morning in the Sikhio district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, 230 km northeast of Bangkok, on a train from ‍the capital bound for Ubon Ratchathani province.

“The death ‍toll has now ‍reached 25. The search for more bodies is ongoing,” Police Colonel ⁠Thatchapon Chinnawong told Reuters by phone.

Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said in a statement that there were 195 ​people on board, adding that he had ordered a thorough investigation to be carried out.

Blurb:

Scott Adams, whose popular comic strip Dilbert captured the frustration of beleaguered, white-collar cubicle workers and satirised the ridiculousness of modern office culture until he was abruptly dropped from syndication in 2023 for racist remarks, has died. He was 68.

His first ex-wife, Shelly Miles, announced the death Tuesday (Jan 13) on a livestream posted on Adams’ social media accounts. “He’s not with us right anymore,” she said. Adams revealed in 2025 that he had prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. Miles had said he was in hospice care in his Northern California home on Monday.

“I had an amazing life,” the statement said in part. “I gave it everything I had.”

At its height, Dilbert, with its mouthless, bespectacled hero in a white short-sleeved shirt and a perpetually curled red tie, appeared in 2,000 newspapers worldwide in at least 70 countries and 25 languages.

Blurb:

States that have sanctuary cities protecting illegal aliens and their dangerous criminal element as of February 1 will no longer receive any form of federal funding, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday during an address at the Detroit Economic Club.

The U.S. simply can’t afford to subsidize the millions of illegal aliens currently in the U.S. – especially since many of them are a threat to American citizens, Trump warned:

“Many of those people are murderers. They’re people released from jails, prisons, mental institutions, insane asylums. They’re people that are drug dealers, they’re addicts.”

If states and cities continue to protect people who break U.S. immigration laws, they’ll have to do so without the help of federal funding, Pres. Trump said:

“Starting Feb. 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens.”

Blurb:

The political heavyweight is seeking to overturn a five-year ban on holding office

Veteran French politician Marine Le Pen appeared in court on Tuesday to appeal a ruling that bars her from holding office for five years, effectively sidelining her from the 2027 presidential race, where she had long been seen as the leading candidate.

Le Pen, who was convicted last year of misappropriating EU funds, told the court that she had done nothing wrong.

RT examines what is at stake.

Blurb:

Nick Shirley, the viral YouTuber who exposed the fraud happening at Somali daycare centers in Minnesota, took credit for Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s resignation from the 2026 gubernatorial race.

While Walz faced national scrutiny for his handling of fraud, Shirley posted a 42-minute documentary on Dec. 26, which found that nearly a dozen Somali daycare centers funded by taxpayer dollars were not actually providing services. In response to the governor accusing Shirley of being a “conspiracy theorist” who broke into daycare centers, Shirley posted on X that he “ended” Walz’s career.

“I ENDED TIM WALZ,” Shirley wrote on X.

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“The retirement grade determination process directed by Secretary Hegseth will be completed within forty five days.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Monday that the Pentagon is taking administrative action against Senator Mark Kelly, a former Navy Captain, for his role in a late 2025 video in which he and other lawmakers, dubbed the “Seditious Six,” called for active duty troops to “refuse illegal orders.” Hegseth said that the Pentagon has initiated “retirement grade determination proceedings,” with a reduction in grade resulting in a reduction in retired pay.

Hegseth said, “Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline. As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice.”

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Kiano Vafaeian suffered from diabetes, vision impairment, and mental illness.

A 26-year-old man who sought Canada’s state-assisted suicide program after becoming depressed over losing his eyesight has now died.

Kiano Vafaeian suffered from diabetes, vision impairment, and mental illness. His case gained attention on social media after being highlighted by Billboard Chris, who shared details of Vafaeian’s death and his family’s objections to the process.

Vafaeian’s mother, Maersilla Vafaeian, wrote in a Facebook post that she had previously been able to stop her son from undergoing euthanasia and secure help for him when he was vulnerable.