World, US, Culture, Market, and Sci-Tech News Aggregation from MSM and Independent News
A reporter asked President Donald Trump about the protests in Iran:
REPORTER: There’s been protesters killed in Iran. You said we were locked and loaded, ready to go. What is the line there for when the US is going to get involved in those protests?
TRUMP: We’ll take a look. We’re watching it very closely. If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States.
President Donald Trump has stated that he does not believe Ukraine carried out a drone strike targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence last week, pushing back on claims made by Moscow.
“I don’t believe that strike happened,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling from Florida to Washington.
“There is something that happened fairly nearby, but had nothing to do with this.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed on Dec. 29 that Kyiv launched 91 drones toward Putin’s residence in Novgorod, and that all drones were destroyed. Ukraine denied the allegation.
China warns satellites from Elon Musk’s Starlink are ‘safety and security’ risk South China Morning Post
from news.google.com
The US military struck five alleged drug-smuggling boats over two days, killing a total of eight people while others jumped overboard and may have survived, US Southern Command said in a social media post on Thursday.
Southern Command, which oversees South America, did not reveal where the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday occurred.
Previous similar attacks have taken place in the Caribbean Sea and in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
China’s Xi renews promise to take back Taiwan 1News
from news.google.com
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted in an interview on Sunday (Jan 4) that he will complete his five-year term amid speculation his centre-left Labour Party could oust him after the upcoming local elections.
Starmer, who won power in July 2024, also argued Britain should pursue further alignment with the EU single market, saying it was in the country’s “national interest” to get “closer” to the bloc.
A decade after Britons voted narrowly to leave the EU, the stance is likely to draw criticism from Brexit advocates like Nigel Farage, whose hard-right Reform UK party has led in the polls for the past year.
Around 45,000 households were left without electricity in southwest Berlin after high-voltage power lines were damaged by a fire, which authorities have described as a politically motivated attack by far-left extremists.
Though power has been restored in some areas, thousands could be left without power until Thursday after what authorities say was a politically motivated attack by “left-wing extremists”.
The blaze erupted on a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal near the Lichterfelde power plant on Saturday morning, local authorities said, affecting 2,200 businesses and 45,000 households across four districts, cutting their access to electricity, including internet and heating.
Uganda bans live broadcasts of riots and ‘unlawful processions’ ahead of vote CNBC Africa
from news.google.com
China says it ‘stands firmly against external interference’ in Iran amid protests Anadolu Ajansı
from news.google.com
EU says ‘seriously looking’ into Musk’s Grok AI over sexual deepfakes of minors France 24
from news.google.com
Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro arrives at Manhattan federal court for arraignment ABC13 Houston
from news.google.com
from news.google.com
When deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro makes his first appearance in New York courtroom Monday to face U.S. drug charges, he will likely follow the path taken by…
from japantoday.com
She had pledged loyalty to Nicolás Maduro on Saturday and condemned his capture as an “atrocity”, but on Sunday called for a “balanced and respectful” relationship with the US, which has warned they might make a fresh military intervention if she does not accommodate their demands.
Venezuela is still dealing with the fallout from US strikes that hit the coastal town of Catia La Mar on January 3. Residents say the attacks struck a civilian apartment building and nearby port areas during the US operation targeting President Nicolás Maduro. Fires broke out, power was cut in parts of the town and homes were left badly damaged near La Guaira.
Accounts of the human toll vary. Venezuelan authorities confirmed at least one civilian death and several serious injuries at the apartment site, while other sources cited much higher casualty figures across multiple locations. The United States said its forces suffered only minor injuries. No final civilian death toll has been confirmed.
Blow to China From Loss of Venezuela Oil Blunted by Hoard at Sea Bloomberg.com
from news.google.com
China Courts Ireland to Mend Strained Ties with EU Modern Diplomacy
from news.google.com
As if on cue, the Jew-hating left has descended into conspiracy, absurdly blaming Israel for a U.S. military operation against the Nicolás Maduro regime—an accusation as deranged as it is revealing. The claim is nonsense, yet Israel has every reason to support the action: under Maduro and Hugo Chávez, Venezuela severed ties with Israel, relentlessly attacked it in international forums, welcomed Iran and Hezbollah to build terror, money-laundering, and drug-trafficking networks across Latin America, and drove its once-thriving Jewish community into near extinction. Now, Venezuelan officials openly invoke antisemitic tropes—calling the operation “Zionist”—while Western activists and influencers echo the slander, proving once again that when a tyrant falls, the reflex of the Jew-haters is not to celebrate freedom, but to blame the Jews.
Xi warns bullying actions undermine global order after US raid Yeni Safak English
from news.google.com
The U.S. strike on Venezuela has renewed focus on the country’s oil sector, which includes some of the richest crude reserves in the world.
“We’re going to rebuild the oil infrastructure, which will cost billions of dollars, it will be paid for by the oil companies directly. And we’re going to get the oil flowing the way it should be,” President Trump said in a public address on Saturday following the attack, in which the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Here’s what to know about Venezuela’s oil industry.
Protests continue in Caracas after Maduro seized by U.S. news.cgtn.com
from news.google.com
US capture of Maduro tests limits of China’s diplomatic push Reuters
from news.google.com
Artificial intelligence is easily the most deceptive technological innovation of the 21st century. Its ease of use and the lightning-fast reflexes with which it spits out responses belie its enormous appetite for water and energy.ChatGPT took the world by storm when it launched in late 2023, signalling an era of intelligence demand marked by seamless, conversational interactions between user and machine But behind every smooth exchange lies a complex physical process. Modern AI is built on vast neural networks trained on trillions of words, images, and numbers. This training, to help models learn to predict the next word or recognise a pattern, involves processing colossal datasets repeatedly through graphics processing units, or GPUs. These chips, originally designed for rendering video game graphics, have become AI workhorses because they can perform thousands of mathematical operations simultaneously. But this speed comes at a price: intense heat.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez struck a more diplomatic tone than she had on Saturday, inviting the United States to “work together on a cooperative agenda.”
from www.nytimes.com
China Social Media Hails US Maduro Move as a Taiwan Template Bloomberg.com
from news.google.com
Zohran Mamdani, the young upstart of the US left, was sworn to take over as New York mayor for a term sure to see him cross swords with President Donald Trump.
from www.news24.com
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Monday that leader Kim Jong Un observed test-flights of hypersonic missiles and underscored the need to bolster the country’s nuclear war deterrent, as the country dials up weapons displays ahead of its major political conference.
North Korea reported on the drill a day after its neighbors said they detected multiple ballistic missile launches and accused the North of carrying out provocations. The tests came just hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed for China for a summit with President Xi Jinping.
‘They Won’t Survive’: GOP Lawmakers Reveal 2 New Trump Targets After Maduro Operation
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump launched a sharp attack on Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, accusing his government of producing and exporting cocaine to the United States.“Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday night that the United States is “in charge” of Venezuela after its mission that resulted in the arrest of Nicolas Maduro and the fall of his regime.
Initially hesitant to answer a question about who is running the country after Maduro’s ouster, saying it would be a “controversial” answer, Trump ultimately said, “We’re in charge.”
“We’re gonna run it. Fix it. We’ll have elections at the right time,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed back to the White House from Mar-a-Lago.