https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/venezuela-us-military-strikes-maduro-trump/

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https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/police-finland-arrest-2-connection-damage-undersea-telecom-128841367

HELSINKI -- Finnish authorities have arrested two people in connection with damage to an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland that occurred earlier this week between the capitals of Finland and Estonia, police said Thursday.

The damage was discovered early Wednesday in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone. The cable belongs to Finnish telecommunications service provider Elisa and is considered to be critical underwater infrastructure.

Helsinki police have opened an investigation into aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.

Officials placed two other people under travel bans as a result of the ongoing investigation, Helsinki police said in a statement Thursday.

The individuals’ connections to the ship was not immediately clear and police would not release their nationalities or other details.

The ship, named the Fitburg, was flagged in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It had been traveling from Russia to Israel. The 14 crew members hail from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and were detained by Finnish authorities.

Finnish National Police Commissioner Ilkka Koskimäki said earlier this week that the ship was dragging its anchor for hours when it was discovered in Finland’s exclusive economic zone. He noted investigators are not speculating on whether a state-level actor was behind the damage.

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-03/trump-says-venezuela-s-maduro-captured-and-flown-out-of-country-mjy3kziv

President Donald Trump said the US captured President Nicolas Maduro and flew him out of Venezuela after a series of airstrikes, an extraordinary escalation in his months-long campaign against the country.

“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” Trump wrote on social media.

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Colheram o Maduro.

https://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/2026/01/03/trump-diz-que-maduro-foi-capturado.ghtml

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https://www.wusa9.com/article/sports/golf/dc-public-golf-courses-trump-administration-lease-termination/65-6e2ee00e-2b2e-48bd-a99d-7015a40a57c9
WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior issued the termination letter Tuesday, severing ties with the nonprofit that has operated Langston Golf Course, Rock Creek Park Golf and East Potomac Golf Links — all on federal land — since 2020.

The move marks the latest effort by President Donald Trump to reshape the District, following mass federal layoffs, a law enforcement surge in the city and the recent Kennedy Center board vote to rename the cultural institution.

In the termination letter, Interior officials said the decision was based on National Links Trust's alleged failure to complete required capital improvements and to provide a satisfactory plan to address defaults under the lease. The department also accused the nonprofit of owing millions in unpaid rent.

National Links Trust officials say they are "fundamentally in disagreement with the administration's characterization" and "devastated" by the decision.

"We have always had a productive and cooperative working relationship with the National Park Service and have worked hand in hand on all aspects of our golf course operations and development projects," the organization said in a statement Wednesday.

National Links Trust Executive Director Damian Cosby called the termination "heartbreaking."

"NLT has spent a massive amount of dollars and time and effort into this DC golfing community and the broader community as a whole, because we truly believe, at the municipal level, these facilities are community assets and community centers," Cosby said in an interview with WUSA9. "It's heartbreaking to see that a lot of those efforts could potentially be halted."

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https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/loud-noises-heard-venezuela-capital-southern-area-without-electricity-2026-01-03/
Jan 3 (Reuters) - Airplanes, loud noises and at least one column of smoke were being heard and seen in Venezuelan capital Caracas in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to Reuters witnesses, and the southern area of the city, near a major military base, was without electricity.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised land operations in Venezuela, amid efforts to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to leave office, including expanded sanctions, a ramped-up U.S. military presence in the region and more than two dozen strikes on vessels allegedly involved in trafficking drugs in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

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https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/zohran-mamdani-new-york-city-mayor-takes-oath-of-office-old-city-hall-subway-station/

Zohran Mamdani officially took the oath of office as the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve, becoming the 112th mayor of New York City.

In a private ceremony at the abandoned Old City Hall subway station, Mamdani was sworn in by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The 34-year-old democratic socialist, who served in the 36th Assembly District representing the Queens neighborhood of Astoria, is now the city's first Muslim mayor and its first of South Asian descent.

"This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime," Mamdani said in a brief speech.

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https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-issues-1st-vetoes-2nd-term-including-bipartisan/story?id=128801089

President Donald Trump issued vetoes for the first bills of his second term, including a bipartisan bill intended to provide funding for a water infrastructure project in Colorado, a measure that passed the House and Senate unanimously.

The Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act was set to provide clean water to rural parts of Colorado.

"Enough is enough. My administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies," Trump wrote in a veto letter sent to Congress. "Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts and restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the fiscal health of the nation."

Trump also vetoed the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendment Act, a bipartisan bill that aimed in part to optimize water flow into part of Everglades National Park designated for the Miccosukee Native American tribe and to incorporate the Osceola Camp into the Miccosukee Reserved Area to improve the governing structure of the tribe.

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>https://nypost.com/2025/12/31/us-news/minnesota-somali-run-daycare-bizarrely-says-all-their-important-documents-about-child-care-were-stolen-in-mystery-break-in/

A Somali-run day care in Minneapolis is claiming somebody broke in and stole “important documents,” but cops say the facility didn’t report anything was actually taken.

The alleged burglary comes as the national spotlight shines on the unfolding multibillion-dollar fraud scandal involving Minnesota human services, with particular scrutiny on day care facilities run by Somali immigrants after dozens of people from the community have been busted for pilfering state funds.

Nasrulah Mohamed, manager of Nakomis Day Care Center, told reporters that a suspect entered through the kitchen at the rear of the facility, damaging a wall and breaking into the building’s office, sometime on Tuesday.

He said the alleged prowler stole “important documentation” including children’s enrollment information, employee documentation and checkbooks.

However “no loss was reported to officers,” according to a preliminary report by the Minneapolis Police Department.

MPD noted that the center later reached out with additional information, but the updated police report was not immediately available.

Video of the purported break-in shared by Nakomis Day Care showed a hole in the wall in what appeared to be a utility closet with nearly stacked piles of cinder blocks behind the drywall.

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https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/swiss-face-arduous-task-identifying-victims-deadly-bar-fire-2026-01-01/
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Dozens of young partygoers hurt in a New Year's Eve bar fire in Switzerland were transferred to specialist burn units across Europe with serious injuries on Friday after being hit by the devastating blaze, which has killed at least 40.
Initial findings showed the fire that spread among the mostly young crowd of revellers in Le Constellation bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana was likely caused by sparkler candles being carried too close to the ceiling, the local prosecutor said.
Meanwhile, investigators focused on the painful task of identifying the burned bodies, warning that this process was very sensitive and would take time.
So severe were the burns that Swiss officials said it could take days before they name all those killed in the fire. The official toll is 40 dead, while 119 have been injured, many of them very seriously. Those numbers are not final, officials said.
"Many of those injured are still fighting for their lives today," Valais area chief Mathias Reynard told a news conference.
Around 50 of the injured have been, or will be, transferred to burn units in hospitals elsewhere in Europe, he said. Germany and France are among the countries treating some of the injured.
Initial investigations suggest that the fire which tore through the Swiss ski resort bar started when 'fountain candles' were carried aloft too close to the ceiling, local prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said.
"Everything suggests that the fire started from the burning candles or 'Bengal lights' that had been attached to champagne bottles," she told the news conference, adding that, while this hypothesis was likely, it was not yet confirmed. "From there, a rapid, very rapid and widespread conflagration ensued."
The investigation was also checking whether the ceiling's insulation foam was to blame for the rapid spread of the fire.

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https://apnews.com/article/fbi-islamic-state-group-attack-charlotte-44f31a4463af3d68c3f9c5f2eaac8057
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The FBI said Friday it disrupted a New Year’s Eve attack plot targeting a grocery store and fast-food restaurant in North Carolina, arresting an 18-year-old man who authorities say pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group.
Christian Sturdivant was charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Investigators said he told an undercover FBI employee posing as a supportive confidant about his plans to attack people. Their online messages, along with a recent search of his home, indicated attacks would occur with knives and hammers, according to prosecutors and records.
Worried Sturdivant might attempt violence before New Year’s Eve, the FBI placed him under constant surveillance for days, including on Christmas, U.S. Attorney for Western North Carolina Russ Ferguson said.
Agents were prepared to arrest him earlier if he left his home with weapons, Ferguson said at a news conference in Charlotte. “At no point was the public in harm’s way.”

Sturdivant was arrested Wednesday and remained in custody after a federal court appearance Friday. An attorney representing him did not immediately respond to an email or phone message seeking comment. Another hearing was scheduled for Jan. 7.
The alleged attack would have taken place one year after 14 people were killed in New Orleans by a U.S. citizen and Army veteran who proclaimed support for IS on social media.
Searches of Sturdivant’s home and phone uncovered what investigators described as a manifesto detailing plans for the attack.
A handwritten note found in a trash can at Sturdivant’s home listed details of the planned attacks and the number of intended victims at a Burger King restaurant and unnamed grocery store, according to an FBI affidavit.

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> 12/31/2025
Happy New Year 2026 - I put this day for Part 26 on purpose.

A very TACO New Years: Trump chickens out from the National Guard from multiple areas.
> https://www.sfgate.com/article/21270403.php
Happy New Year!
> https://www.dw.com/en/new-years-eve-live-world-ushers-in-2026/live-75348280
Trump to add his arch to Washington D.C.
> https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ar-AA1Tm91O
London NYE panic as people told not to there.
> https://www.express.co.uk/news/2151921
What a new year!: People going back to the moon!
> https://archive.is/gsh0x
Houston has a serial killer problem.
> https://www.the-sun.com/news/15713982

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U.S. Finds Ukraine Didn’t Target Putin in Drone Strike.
Disclosure of the findings comes as Trump appeared to play down the Russian claim of an attempted drone attack.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-finds-ukraine-didnt-target-putin-in-drone-strike-615ce4be
WASHINGTON—U.S. national-security officials said Wednesday that Ukraine didn’t target Russian President Vladimir Putin or one of his residences in an alleged drone operation, challenging Moscow’s assertion that Kyiv sought to kill the Russian leader.
That conclusion is supported by a Central Intelligence Agency assessment that found no attempted attack against Putin had occurred, according to a U.S. official briefed on the intelligence. The CIA declined to comment.

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https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/one-person-killed-iran-protests-over-economic-woes-2026-01-01/
DUBAI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Several people were killed during unrest in Iran, Iranian media and rights groups said on Thursday, as the biggest protests to hit the Islamic Republic for three years over worsening economic conditions sparked violence in several provinces.
The semi-official Fars news agency reported that three protesters were killed and 17 were injured during an attack on a police station in Iran's western province of Lorestan.

"The rioters entered the police headquarters around 1800 (local time) on Thursday ... they clashed with police forces and set fire to several police cars," Fars reported.
Earlier, Fars and rights group Hengaw reported deaths in Lordegan city in the country's Charmahal and Bakhtiari province. Authorities confirmed one death in the western city of Kuhdasht, and Hengaw reported another death in the central province of Isfahan.
The clashes between protesters and security forces mark a significant escalation in the unrest that has spread across the country since shopkeepers began protesting on Sunday over the government's handling of a sharp currency slide and rapidly rising prices.

Fars reported that two people had been killed in Lordegan in clashes between security services and what it called armed protesters. It earlier said several had died. Hengaw said several people had been killed and wounded there by security forces.
The Revolutionary Guards said one member of its affiliated Basij volunteer paramilitary unit had been killed in Kuhdasht and another 13 wounded, blaming demonstrators who it accused of taking advantage of the protests.
Hengaw said that the man, named by the Guards as Amirhossam Khodayari Fard, had been protesting and was killed by security forces.
Hengaw also reported that a protester was shot dead on Wednesday in Isfahan province in central Iran.

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The December 16, 2025, jobs report confirms that the stall observed since spring has hardened into a structural contraction. While the public narrative remains anchored to the headline “resilience,” a closer interrogation reveals that 2025 was the year we sub-primed our own workforce.

While headlines celebrated a soft landing, the underlying labor market was experiencing a phantom jobs reversal. January 2025 began with a surplus of 751,000 job openings; by December, the market moved into a deficit of 131,000 jobs—an 882,000 swing in labor-market balance. With Chair Powell’s December 10 admission of a 60,000 monthly overcount, the labor market has actually been contracting by 20,000 jobs per month since April.

We are also watching the real-time collapse of household solvency. The backbone of the American economy is being pushed from stable, professional roles into low-tier service work, resulting in an immediate 49% drop in income, and then financing their children’s basic nutrition with shadow debt. This isn’t just a failure of equity; it is a strategic economic blunder. You cannot stabilize a 2026 economy if you refuse to look at the demographic where the insolvency is actually occurring.

When workers are erased from the labor force, they don’t just leave empty desks; they leave empty tax rolls, and increasingly, unpaid debts. In 2025, we witnessed the early stages of an institutional bank run that fractured the financial system from both ends.

On December 12, 2025, the Federal Reserve validated this instability by initiating a $40 billion monthly liquidity injection to stabilize the banking system. This solvency crisis is inextricably linked to labor force erasure.

The results are in. Fixing the cracks in the economy is to stop erasing the people who hold it together. The bill is due and we will either pay it with investment or with stagnation.

https://fortune.com/2025/12/31/soft-landing-economic-narrative-wrong-black-women-unemployment/