Corax
White House says tariffs on China will rise to at least 104% on Wednesday on top of tariffs that were in place prior to Trump's second term, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says China made a mistake by choosing to retaliate and try to double down on their mistreatment of American workers and that President Trump has a spine of steel and will not break
World
Donald Trump says US will 100% annex Greenland, adds that there is good possibility that they can do it without military force but that he doesn't take anything off the table, comments that he doesn't think about what message the annexation will send to for instance Russia as Greenland is a very separate and different subject concerning international peace and security
The Trump administration warns European companies that DEI programs are banned if they want to keep their US government contracts, sends out questionnaire ordering the companies to certify their compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws
67,042 Afrikaners express interest in Donald Trump's plan to give them refugee status, most on the list are parents between 25 and 45 years of age, according to the US Embassy in South Africa
Donald Trump says that he has agreed with Vladimir Putin on immediate ceasefire on all energy and infrastructure the next 30 days, Trump writes on Truth Social that they will be working quickly to have a complete ceasefire and ultimately an end to the very horrible war, Russia comments that the key condition to preventing an escalation of the war would be the suspension of foreign military aid and foreign intelligence to Ukraine
Miscellaneous
American fast-food chain Steak 'n Shake announces that they will RFK their fries by frying them in beef tallow, says the fries are so much better that no one will be going back after trying them, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has been a vocal beef tallow advocate and has repeatedly argued against seed oils stating that they contribute to rising obesity rates
Australian James Harrison dead at 88, was known as the man with the golden arm as his blood plasma containing the rare antibody Anti-D saved the lives of 2.4 million babies, donated plasma between 18 and 81 years of age and held the world record for most blood plasma donated between 2005 and 2022
Father in Nebraska struggling to correct his daughter Caroline's name and get her social security number, the 2-year-old girl who spent more than a year in foster care as her mother was deemed unfit has the term "for government use only" on her birth certificate which keeps him from getting her insurance and is registered under the name Unakite Thirteen Hotel which the father says is a computer-generated name from the state
Media
The White House comments CNN:s fact check on Donald Trump's quote that the Biden administration spent USD 8 million on making mice transgender, writes that "The Fake News losers at CNN immediately tried to fact check it, but President Trump was right (as usual)", lists the six projects that sum up to USD 8.29 million
BBC apologizes and admits unacceptable flaws in the documentary Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone about children's life in Gaza after it emerged that the 13-year-old narrator is the son of Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says it is critical for trust in the BBC that a comprehensive and rigorous review happens quickly and that appropriate action is taken
Brazil orders ban of right-leaning video platform Rumble, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes says the platform has repeatedly and willingly not complied and for instance refused to take down Brazilian conservative Florida-based journalist Allan dos Santos' channel, Rumble which earlier this week along with Trump Media & Technology Group sued Moraes for infringing on the free speech protections of the First Amendment of the US constitution comments that the Brazilian censorship is unprecedented
AP sues three Trump administration citing freedom of speech regarding losing access to presidential events for not using the term Gulf of America, AP comments that the press and all people in the US have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says they will see them in court
The White House posts video on X showing illegal immigrants being deported and jingling handcuffs titling it "ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight", mixed reception for the post that got six million interaction and 6,000 retweets within two hours, Elon Musk retweets the post writing "Haha Wow"
TikTok shuts down in the US after the Supreme Court upheld a law passed in April preventing American companies from hosting or serving TikTok content unless it sells itself to a buyer from the US or one of its allies, the company says that Donald Trump has indicated working on a solution and Trump has also said he will most likely delay the ban for 90 days, the TikTok app has been used by 170 million Americans
The EU Commission asks X to hand over internal documents about its algorithms, the company has been accused of giving far-right posts and politicians greater visibility over other political groups, EU digital commissioner Henna Virkkunen says they will not hesitate to ban or fine X if it was found to be in breach of the Digital Services Act
Politics
Polish team lead by billionaire Rafał Brzoska tasked by Prime Minister Donald Tusk submits its first 111 proposals on how to cut bureaucracy, the suggestions which were chosen among over 13,000 ideas and public voting are planned to start being implemented within 100 days
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defends Vice President JD Vance's speech at the Munich Security Conference, says Europe has been sacrificed on the altar of wokeness, bureaucracy and mercantilism and adds that Vance discussed deeper issues such as identity and freedom of speech, adds that we would live in a stronger Europe if those who were outraged had showed the same pride when Europe lost its strategic autonomy, tying its economy to autocratic regimes, or when European borders and our way of life were threatened by mass illegal migration
Friedrich Merz declares victory in the German snap election where his CDU/CSU finished first with a projected 29%, right-wing Alternative for Germany in second place with 20% ahead of center-left SPD with 16% which is the party's worst performance since it adopted its current name in 1890, AfD's chancellor candidate Alice Weidel calls the result a historic success and adds that she is open to participating in a coalition government with CDU/CSU although Merz has ruled that out
83-year-old Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell says he will not seek reelection, was first elected in 1986 and was the Senate's top Republican leader for 18 years, says representing the Kentuckian commonwealth seven times has been the honor of a lifetime but that he will not seek the honor an eighth time
Young voters drive the rise of Germany's right-wing AfD party which is expected to be the second largest party in Sunday's election, hundreds of young people line up in the eastern city of Suhl to listen to the party's extremist-designated Thuringia section leader Björn Höcke, 26-year-old Dante Reidel who says he idolizes Höcke and that his ideology represents Prussian virtues like diligence and discipline as well as cardinal virtues from antiquity
Karl Nehammer resigns as both Austrian chancellor and as leader of the conservative ÖVP after failing to form a new government along with the social democratic SPÖ, the talks caused by all parties refusing to work with right-wing FPÖ who came first in the September election with 29.2%, snap election now the next step which is welcomed by FPÖ which has increased its support to 35% according to a December survey
Opinion
Jayant Bhandari: India is about to return to its original state of corrupt, power-hungry sadism, the last remaining pieces of civilisation built by missionaries and the English will soon wither away, what's left is only a cargo-cult like adherence to Western values which still seems to fool many Westerners
EU's health ministers agree on recommending bans on smoking and vaping in many outdoor areas including cafe patios and beaches, all countries voted in favour apart from Germany and Greece which abstained, EU Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi comments that the agreement is a crucial step towards the goal of a tobacco-free generation in Europe
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy: Recent Supreme Court decisions make clear that numerous regulations are unconstitutional because they were not enacted by Congress, we will help Donald Trump identify such regulations so that he can immediately repeal them, this will also cause severe cuts to agencies and major cost savings
Jeff Bezos: Media fails to be seen as credible and is considered by most to be biased, it would be easy to blame others for our long and continuing decline in credibility but victim mentality does not help and I will not allow the Washington Post fade into irrelevance so changes are now needed for us to win this fight
Europe
French right-wing politician Eric Zemmour fined EUR 10,000 for contesting crimes against humanity by saying during a TV debate in 2019 that World War II leader Philippe Pétain had saved French Jews, Zemmour who was knocked out in the first round of the 2022 presidential elections and has several hate speech convictions was cleared in lower courts as Pétain was never convicted of crimes against humanity but the top appeals court overturned his acquittal and ruled that the alleged remarks might still constitute an offense
Marine Le Pen banned from running in the next French presidential election after being convicted of embezzlement, case concerns EUR 4 million paid by the European Parliament to the party's employed assistants
Ukraine attacks more than 20 villages in Russia's Belgorod region after being pushed back from Kursk, increasing Russian attacks in the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk as well as in Zaporizhzhia, both sides accuse each other of targeting energy facilities in breach of the agreement
30-year-old Ukrainian Roman D. arrested for the Thursday mass stabbing in Amsterdam where five people were injured, was arrested after a young English tourist ran him down and detained him until police arrived, motive under investigation
Poland plans to produce a million anti-personnel mines to fortify its borders with Russia and Belarus, the decision follows plans to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention which bans anti-personnel mines, Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Bejda says
Hungary's parliament passes a law in a 136-27 vote banning Pride events and allowing police to use facial recognition software to identify attendees, opposition lawmakers from the Momentum party ignite smoke bombs in the chamber during the voting, European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib calls the law a ban on fundamental rights and Amnesty says it is a full-frontal attack on the LGBTQ+ community
Hungary opposes EUR 20 billion EU aid package for Ukraine, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó says they will not be dragged into allowing Hungarian taxpayers' money to be used to finance arms shipments to Ukraine, adds that they support peace negotiations and that thanks to President Trump peace is the closest it has been in the past three years which makes Brussels' pro-war stance unacceptable
North America
Growing number of illegal immigrants being smuggled out ot US by coyotes, legal deportation entails detention and a 10 year entry ban as well as lost possessions which the migrants hope to avoid
Utah becomes the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water with similar measures being considered in Florida, Ohio and South Carolina, the move follows water fluoridation skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr being sworn in as health secretary and debate regarding possible risk to the intellectual development of children, the American Dental Association criticizes the law as being based on distorted pseudoscience and says the policy of adding fluoride is a proven public health policy which exists for the greater good of an entire community’s oral health
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that some 5,200 of USAID's 6,200 programs have been eliminated and that the review officially ends, says that tens of billions of dollars were spent in ways that did not serve and in some cases harmed the US core national interests, adds that the State Department will administer the remaining programs
Washington DC renames Black Lives Matter Plaza and paints over the yellow text covering the street, the decision follows a bill from Republican Andrew Clyde that would force a renaming and the text to be covered, Mayor Muriel Bowser says the mural inspired millions of people and helped the city through a very painful period but that focus must now be on economic growth and public safety
Donald Trump signs executive order designating English as the official language of the US, the order rescinds a Bill Clinton policy requiring agencies to provide assistance programs for people with limited English proficiency, comments that a nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society
Latin America
Chile's President Gabriel Boric visits Antarctica along with his defense minister to reaffirm his country's claim to sovereignty in the area, is the first Latin American leader to visit the south pole, the US state department says seven countries maintain territorial claims in the area but that US and most other countries instead recognize the Antarctic Treaty
Venezuela's government announces USD 100,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González, González in Spanish exile after the election where the opposition claim election fraud and has shown that tally sheets from the voting machines show they won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro, González' campaign announces international tour starting with meeting President Javier Milei in Argentina
Record low 114 homicides in El Salvador during 2024, down from 214 in 2023 and 6,615 in 2015, more than 83,000 arrested since 2022 when President Nayib Bukele's administration was granted a state of exception after street gangs killed 62 people in a matter of hours, Bukele extremely popular due to the improved safety
Asia
At least 16 Maoist rebels killed by Indian security forces in Chhattisgarh in escalating action against the decadeslong Naxalite rebellion where more than 10,000 people have been killed, Home Minister Amit Shah writes on X that they have recovered a massive cache of automatic weapons and vows to eradicate Naxalism before the 31st of March 2026
Two killed and several injured in Kathmandu as monarchy activists clash with police, Nepal officially abolished the monarchy in 2008 two years after King Gyanendra Shah was ousted due to his coup d'état but there has been a growing demand in recent months for him to be reinstated as king and Hinduism to be brought back as a state religion
At least 154 dead and the death toll is expected to rise in Myanmar and Thailand after 7.7 magnitude earthquake with epicenter near Myanmar's second-largest city Mandalay and aftershocks of up to 6.4 magnitude
Australian leaders call the surge in antisemitic attacks across the country a national crisis, more than 2,000 antisemitic incidents in Australia during the year after Hamas' attack on Israel which is three times the figure for the same period a year earlier, cars and schools set on fire or spray-painted with anti-Israel messages and arson attacks against a synagogue in Melbourne as well as against a Jewish child care center in Sydney, two nurses in a Sydney hospital suspended this week for saying on TikTok that they would kill Jewish patients or refuse to treat them
The Cook Islands signs comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with China, contents not disclosed with New Zealand prior to ratification despite repeated requests, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun says the relationship between China and the Cook Islands does not target any third party and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party
India sets up deregulation commission to further reduce the State's role in governance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says it is his conviction that there should be less interference of the government in the society, hundreds of compliances already ended and the income tax has been lowered and property rights have also been strengthened
Kim Jong Un declares that serving hot dogs constitutes treason and that people caught selling or cooking them could face time in labor camps, Korean-American hot dog hotpot budae-jjigae which was created from meats discarded by US soldiers during the 1950s as well as steamed rice cakes tteokbokki also banned recently
Africa
The Congo River Alliance including the M23 rebels pull out of peace talks, say EU sanctions earlier in the day against Rwandan officials and M23 undermine talks, were to meet the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Angola for direct negotiations
Economy
Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan leaves the company effective immediately, 74-year-old Håkan Samuelsson who served as CEO of the company between 2012 and 2022 will serve a two-year term while the group prepares to appoint a long-term successor, the move follows a statement from the company that 2025 will be a tumultuous and competitive year during which it might struggle to match its 2024 sales performance and profitability
Elon Musk says xAI merges with X in a transaction that values the AI company at USD 80 billion and the social media company at USD 33 billion, says the merger will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach
Cryptocurrency industry leaders meet with Donald Trump in the White House after Thursday's executive order creating a strategic reserve of cryptocurrency for the US following his vision of making the country the crypto capital of the world, Trump comments that there are high-IQ individuals around the table and that they feel like pioneers
Technology
Apple removes its end-to-end encryption data security tool ADP from British customers after the government demanded access to user data, the company says it's gravely disappointed but that they have said many times they never built a backdoor or master key to any of its products and never will
Technology for lab-grown eggs or sperm on could be a reality within a decade according to UK's fertility watchdog HFEA, the board says solo parenting where the egg and the sperm are created from the same individual should be banned as a complete extreme of incest but that multiplex parenting where for instance two couples produce two embryos and cells from these embryos are used to derive eggs and sperm to create a final embryo could be allowed as it has a social precedent in the form of blended families or those who maintain a relationship with non-anonymous donors, the risks of higher-risk pregnancies in older mothers as well as someone creating huge numbers of embryos are also debated
Science
Swedish-Chinese group of scientists breeds new rice variety that reduces methane emissions by 70%, says the rice yields 8.96 tons/hectare to be compared to the world average 4.71, Swedish microbiologist Anna Schürrer who contributed to the study says rice fields cause 13% of the humanly caused methane emissions and adds that rice growers while awaiting regulatory approvals can reduce methane emissions by 60% by using intestinal parasitic worms drug oxantel on the soil
Rising scurvy incidence in France since 2015 with a 34.5% increase in hospital admissions since March 2020, largest increase among children aged 4 to 10 from low-income families, the study that was published in Lancet connects the increase to the rising food prices driven by Covid-19 as some of the children had not eaten for several days
Ground squirrels observed hunting and eating vole in California, could be driven by an explosion in vole numbers with roughly seven times more voles than the 10-year average reported, squirrels are in general flexible regarding food and eat insects as well as hatchling birds but have never been seen hunting adult mammals before