In his first speech on the Senate floor, in November 2015, Sasse essentially gave a lesson on the Constitutional order and on the abject failure of modern-day Congress to assert its authority against the administrative state and the executive branch. It’s a remarkable speech, given only after he’d spent a year in the chamber and spoken with many of his colleagues to understand what was going on. 

No one in this body thinks the Senate is laser-focused on the most pressing issues facing the nation. No one. Some of us lament this fact; some are angered by it; many are resigned to it; some try to dispassionately explain how they think it came to be. But no one disputes it. 

As a result, he also said, “The people despise us all.” 

The point of the Senate’s long terms, Sasse concluded, is to “shield lawmakers from obsession with short-term popularity to enable us to focus on the biggest long-term challenges our people face.” And the character of the chamber matters, he explained, “precisely because it is meant to insulate us from short-termism . . . from opinion fads and the short-term bickering of 24-hour-news-cycles. The Senate was built to focus on the big stuff. The Senate is to be the antidote to sound-bites.”

Read it all.

Former senator Ben Sasse is battling cancer.

Losing him would be one more sign that a certain kind of conservatism—and a certain kind of politics—is disappearing, writes @MikeCosper.https://t.co/5clU0XfODE

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) February 20, 2026

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on Friday wiping out a chunk of President Donald Trump’s tariff regime is a triumph for the Constitution’s separation of powers and the individual liberty that it protects.

The decision by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. says nothing about whether the tariffs are good or bad policy. But it recognizes that they are a major tax, and that raising revenue is a “distinct” power that belongs to Congress. There’s a reason the 18th century American revolutionary slogan was “no taxation without representation.” Taxing citizens without consent from their elected representatives is antithetical to the American project.

Congress never approved the worldwide tariffs at issue in the case. Trump told the court they were authorized by a 1977 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. No president has used IEEPA to impose tariffs, but it contains the phrase “regulate … importation.” Trump said that was sufficient authorization for him to throw out the rest of the tariff schedules and set import taxes however he pleased.

Roberts saw the flimsiness of that reasoning. “Based on two words separated by 16 others,” he wrote, “the President asserts the independent power to impose tariffs on imports from any country, of any product, at any rate, for any amount of time. Those words cannot bear such weight.” Indeed. The executive branch can’t be allowed to grab hundreds of billions of dollars from the American people on such a thin legal basis.

Read it all.

The Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate the Trump administration’s broad tariffs strips the president of a central instrument of his foreign policy, undercutting his ability to coerce global leaders and reshape world order in his second term.https://t.co/mktSe8eQIw

Starting with the 2024 decision that gave President Trump substantial immunity from prosecution and continuing through a score of emergency orders provisionally greenlighting an array of his second-term initiatives, Mr. Trump has had an extraordinarily successful run before the Supreme Court.

That came to a sudden, jolting halt on Friday, when Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for six members of the court, roundly rejected Mr. Trump’s signature tariffs program. It was the Supreme Court’s first merits ruling — a final judgment on the lawfulness of an executive action — on an element of the administration’s second-term agenda. It amounted to a declaration of independence.

It also served as another in a series of clashes between the leaders of two branches of the federal government cut from very different cloth: the controlled, cerebral chief justice and the biting, brazen president.

Read it all.

The Supreme Court’s Declaration of Independence https://t.co/c3j3a7tlnQ via @NYTimes

— Luba Howard 🇺🇦 (@marynlm) February 20, 2026

About 100 US military personnel have arrived in Nigeria as Washington scales up an operation to target Islamist insurgents, a Nigerian defence spokesperson said.

US President Donald Trump has accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants in the northwest.

Nigeria denies discriminating against any religion, saying its security forces target armed groups that attack both Christians and Muslims.

Nigeria says 100 more U.S. military personnel arrive to tackle Islamists https://t.co/FWHI11SmzI https://t.co/FWHI11SmzI

Asked whether enough has been done to build a sense of pride in nation since Brexit, Bishop North said: “No, I think I see almost the same division now.

“I see it lived out and played out in different ways. But I still see many people who feel embarrassed to speak about pride in nationhood, pride in the Royal Family and in the Armed Forces, as if that is somehow a language of the past.”

He added: “So I think we still have a really important national conversation about what it means to be British in such a complex global backdrop.” Bishop North urged leaders in the Church and in Westminster to do their bit to restore national pride as he called for Britons to have the courage to “reclaim” national symbols.

He urged people not to be ashamed of “some of the traditions around Britishness and Englishness, and for that not to be a source of embarrassment anymore.”

Read it all.

📄 Bishop of Blackburn defends Leave votershttps://t.co/KSLLqgMEIE @AJNewbury94 pic.twitter.com/OSbDGXWSMx

— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) February 19, 2026

It’s hard to recall a regulator who has done as much damage to medical innovation in as little time as Vinay Prasad. In his latest drive-by shooting, the leader of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine division rejected Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine without even a cursory review. This is arbitrary government at its worst.

The FDA rarely refuses to review a drug or vaccine application. Our sources say the FDA has rejected only about 4% of applications without a review, typically when they are missing important information. That wasn’t the case with Moderna.

Dr. Prasad spiked Moderna’s flu vaccine because its Phase 3 trial was putatively not “adequate and well-controlled.” He quibbled that the control group in Moderna’s late-stage trial didn’t receive the “best-available standard of care.” He decides what is “best.”

Moderna launched a global randomized controlled trial in September 2024 with 41,000 participants, half of whom received its vaccine. The other half received a standard flu vaccine as a control. The FDA blessed its trial design, and agency staffers gave Moderna a thumbs up to apply for approval last August based on the results. Its vaccine was 27% more effective at preventing symptomatic cases of flu and 49% more effective against hospitalization than the standard flu vaccine.

Read it all.

The WSJ Editorial Board weighs in:
“It’s hard to recall a regulator who has done as much damage to medical innovation in as little time as Vinay Prasad. In his latest drive-by shooting, the leader of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine division rejected Moderna ’s mRNA flu…

— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) February 13, 2026

Every February, Americans take a day off of work to celebrate the presidents — the chief executives whose ideas, policies and foibles have helped to shape our history. So it’s only fitting that you take a moment to test your knowledge about these 44 prominent Americans with a 20-question quiz from “Presidential,” the Washington Post podcast that explores the presidents’ lives and legacies.

Read it all.

-‘The unparalleled perseverance of the armies of the United States through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight long years was a little short of a standing miracle.’

This terracotta bust of George Washington was completed in 1785 by Jean-Antoine Houdon. ⁣Eleanor Parke Custis and her husband considered this bust "the best representation of Gen. Washington's face they had ever seen." ⁣

Read more about the bust: https://t.co/oDpn0aYJYC pic.twitter.com/iEzZbLc54P

— Mount Vernon (@MountVernon) April 28, 2024

By the article establishing the executive department it is made the duty of the President “to recommend to your consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” The circumstances under which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject further than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are assembled, and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges that as on one side no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests, so, on another, that the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the preeminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.

Read it all.

The last portrait of George Washington. Drawn by Charles de Saint-Memin, when the ex-president was in Philadelphia in November, 1799, organizing plans for an army to defend the United States from the French. pic.twitter.com/ACcUyW0ied

— Salina B Baker (@SalinaBBaker) January 12, 2025

Washington’s Birthday was celebrated on February 22nd until well into the 20th Century. However, in 1968 Congress passed the Monday Holiday Law to “provide uniform annual observances of certain legal public holidays on Mondays.” By creating more 3-day weekends, Congress hoped to “bring substantial benefits to both the spiritual and economic life of the Nation.”

One of the provisions of this act changed the observance of Washington’s Birthday from February 22nd to the third Monday in February. Ironically, this guaranteed that the holiday would never be celebrated on Washington’s actual birthday, as the third Monday in February cannot fall any later than February 21.

Contrary to popular belief, neither Congress nor the President has ever stipulated that the name of the holiday observed as Washington’s Birthday be changed to “President’s Day.”

Read it all.

The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Australia are closed today in recognition of George Washington's birthday.
Today, we commemorate a Founding Father and the first President of our country and reflect upon his legacy, which is especially important this year as we mark the 250th… pic.twitter.com/OkGBgaFah2

— U.S. Embassy Australia (@USEmbAustralia) February 15, 2026

Anthropic’s artificial-intelligence tool Claude was used in the U.S. military’s operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, highlighting how AI models are gaining traction in the Pentagon, according to people familiar with the matter.

The mission to capture Maduro and his wife included bombing several sites in Caracas last month. Anthropic’s usage guidelines prohibit Claude from being used to facilitate violence, develop weapons or conduct surveillance. 

​​”We cannot comment on whether Claude, or any other AI model, was used for any specific operation, classified or otherwise,” said an Anthropic spokesman. “Any use of Claude—whether in the private sector or across government—is required to comply with our Usage Policies, which govern how Claude can be deployed. We work closely with our partners to ensure compliance.”  

The Defense Department declined to comment.

Read it all.

BREAKING: The Pentagon used the Anthropic's Claude tool in its military operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, per WSJ pic.twitter.com/1u2r1TfK3E

— Exec Sum (@exec_sum) February 13, 2026

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has dominated Japanese politics since its founding in 1955, ruling with only two brief interruptions. Never has it won as decisively as it did in a snap election on February 8th, when it took almost 70% of the seats in parliament’s powerful lower house. Takaichi Sanae, the triumphant prime minister, now has a historic chance to transform her country. She must not squander it.

To live up to the expectations that her electoral gamble and huge victory have created, Ms Takaichi needs to think bigger and broader. She cannot treat her time in office as routine, focused on short-term relief to ease the pain of today; she must take Japan’s long-term demographic and economic challenges head on. She should also recognise that her country has a crucial role to play as a stabilising force in a turbulent world. And she must be a leader for all of Japan, not only for her right-wing loyalists. She must, in short, gamble all over again.

She has the backing. Support for Ms Takaichi came from across the country. The LDP secured 316 seats in the 465-seat lower house, up from 198, giving it a two-thirds supermajority, which will allow it to override an upper house it does not control. Ms Takaichi tapped into Japanese voters’ desires for both security and change. She offered hard-nosed realism for a hard-edged era. She also personifies a break with the old guard. She is the plain-speaking child of a middle-class family, not the buttoned-up scion of a political dynasty, like many of her predecessors. And she is a woman, the first to lead democratic Japan.

Read it all.

Japan’s prime minister has earned a once-in-a-generation chance to remake her country. Will she seize it? https://t.co/ywtiNsPrWq

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) February 12, 2026

As the Trump administration stymies hundreds of commercial solar and wind projects nationwide, legislators in 24 states want to literally put the power in the hands of the people by allowing modest solar energy systems on balconies, porches and backyards.

Last year, in an unanimous vote, Utah became the first state in the nation to pass a law allowing residents to plug small solar systems straight into a wall socket. These systems, which retail for around $2,000, produce enough electricity to power a laptop or small refrigerator.

In just a matter of months, legislators in 23 other states have announced similar bills, including California and New York. If passed, the legislation would eliminate one of the technology’s biggest barriers in the United States: homeowners or renters could install plug-in panels systems, in most cases up to 1200 watts, without approval from their local utility.

Proponents also hope the bills speed the development of a set of safety standards that could open the floodgates to wider adoption.

Read it all.

NYTimes: 24 States Weigh Legislation To Allow You To Make Your Own Electricity With Small, Plug-In Solar Power Systems https://t.co/4EU7CMaxaw

— PA Capitol News (@PaCapitolNews) February 11, 2026

The first four months of fiscal year 2026 got off to an expensive start for the U.S., according to the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) .

The CBO released a report yesterday detailing that, for the first third of FY26 (which began in October), the U.S. government operated at a deficit, and so borrowed $696 billion. That included $94 billion in January alone, and works out to an average of $43.5 billion for each of the 16 weeks of the four months since.

While America’s government spending outweighs its revenue generation, its finances are also negatively compounded by the interest payments needed to maintain its debt. Total national debt now sits at more than $38.5 trillion. U.S. GDP is about $31 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Read it all.

"America borrowed $43.5 billion a week in the first four months of the fiscal year, with debt interest on track to be over $1 trillion for 2026" https://t.co/2PBD5escW8 pic.twitter.com/rTJXR6L30A

— Scott Lincicome (@scottlincicome) February 10, 2026

‘In large corporations and administrations, justification and self-protection have become the primary motive in place of achievement. In this world, intuition is not talked about openly, but relied on surreptitiously.’

–Gerd Gigerenzer, The Intelligence of Intuition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023)

Gerd Gigerenzer:

Why simple rules of thumb often outperform complex models.https://t.co/FrPo8Csqfd

— GuruAnaerobic (@GuruAnaerobic) March 2, 2021

I am not given to sentimental displays of patriotism. I own a Team U.S.A. soccer jersey because I love the sport, but that may be my only apparel featuring the flag. I have been to my fair share of Fourth of July parades and fireworks displays, but I am also familiar with Frederick Douglass’s 1852 speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” which was delivered on July 5 to acknowledge those not included in the freedoms celebrated on July 4.

Douglass contrasted the lauding of freedoms won while enslaving large portions of the populace. He said, “The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me.” This Fourth of July, he said, “is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.”

Like many of us, I know well our country’s contradictions.

Despite this, I am a sucker for the Olympics. Seeing our athletes decked out in the red, white and blue during the opening ceremony, or witnessing their tears on the podium as the anthem plays, stirs even my heart, almost despite myself. I experience something approaching national pride when my fellow citizens accomplish feats far beyond my ability.

With the Winter Games kicking off, this year feels different. The shame I feel for how our country is treating its citizens — and those who long to be its citizens — is hard to ignore….

Read it all.

I wrote an article about cheering for the USA Olympic team while opposing many of the actions of team MAGA for @nytopinion https://t.co/Tcv0jvHqOY

— Esau McCaulley (@esaumccaulley) February 6, 2026

The U.S. birthrate has declined to record lows in recent years, well below population replacement rates. So the news that the vice president and second lady are having a fourth child is welcome—and significant—news indeed, for several reasons.

First, there is a great cultural importance to influential people having more children. Even in local communities, pregnancy can be “contagious” because humans are social animals. When one lives in a career-minded metropolis where couples having only one or two children (if any) is the norm, there can be intense pressure to fit in and focus on careers, nights out, travel, accumulation of goods, and so forth to avoid having children. Conversely, visit any thriving church community and observe how, when large families are the norm, people who join that community are more likely to have more children themselves.

The effect could very well work at scale. When our leaders (from statesmen to idolized celebrities) do not marry and have children, there is a message coming from the top that avoiding children is a behavior to be imitated. So when our most visible leaders make the choice to be open to life and welcome new children, there could be a meaningful cultural effect. JD Vance is the vice president, likely the next Republican candidate for president, and therefore the soon-to-be leader of the post-Trump GOP. Perhaps a public announcement welcoming a fourth child coming from one of the most prominent and powerful people in the country will start to change the cultural norm back to welcoming more children. As Katy Faust said in response to the news, “four is the new two.” 

But there is another important takeaway from the Vance baby announcement. The Vance family draws a stark contrast to what the vice president has long lamented: a disturbing trend of a childless ruling class. 

Read it all.

Goodbye, Childless Elites
by Frank DeVito @therightfrankd https://t.co/SCHzpso7MG pic.twitter.com/5ZZwSCF32C

— First Things (@firstthingsmag) February 3, 2026

Those who believe in Elon Musk are convinced both by his vision to go where no one has ventured before and his ability to pay for it—what some call the “Elon backstop”. Mr Musk’s announcement on February 2nd that he will merge SpaceX, which builds rockets and sells satellite broadband, with xAI, his artificial-intelligence lab, was not short of ambition. The world’s richest man declared that the new company would “extend the light of consciousness to the stars”. Back on Earth, however, it is getting harder to see how Mr Musk’s numbers add up.

The transaction values the new entity at $1.25trn; investors in SpaceX will be entitled to 80%, with the remainder going to xAI’s owners (Mr Musk holds a controlling stake in both). The stated rationale behind the tie-up is that the companies will work together to launch a fleet of data centres into space, giving xAI a big advantage in the race to develop cutting-edge models while furnishing SpaceX with a new line of business. More immediately, combining the two could further boost interest in a public listing expected this summer.

By bringing SpaceX and xAI together, however, Mr Musk is saddling a money-spinning space champion with a loss-making AI laggard. At the same time, he is reshaping Tesla, the carmaker he runs, into a “physical-AI company” focused on self-driving taxis and humanoid robots. If the latest wave of AI proves as transformative as some expect, these bold gambles might just pay off. If not, Mr Musk’s business empire could well be in jeopardy.

Read it all.

The fates of xAI, SpaceX and Tesla are increasingly intertwined https://t.co/UlUWKowPVk

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) February 4, 2026

European security officials believe two Russian space vehicles have intercepted the communications of at least a dozen key satellites over the continent.

Officials believe that the likely interceptions, which have not previously been reported, risk not only compromising sensitive information transmitted by the satellites but could also allow Moscow to manipulate their trajectories or even crash them.

Russian space vehicles have shadowed European satellites more intensively over the past three years, at a time of high tension between the Kremlin and the west following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

For several years, military and civilian space authorities in the west have been tracking the activities of Luch-1 and Luch-2 — two Russian objects that have carried out repeated suspicious manoeuvres in orbit.

Read it all.

European security officials expressed concern that the likely interceptions risk compromising sensitive information and could allow Moscow to manipulate their trajectories or even crash them. https://t.co/LLZBrsTe5V pic.twitter.com/YOVTYH7ezK

— Financial Times (@FT) February 4, 2026

President Trump announced on Friday that he was nominating Kevin M. Warsh to serve as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, positioning the former central bank governor to take a pivotal role in steering an institution that has faced a barrage of attacks from the administration over its reluctance to more aggressively lower interest rates.

In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump praised Mr. Warsh, saying, “He will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best.”

“On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting’ and will never let you down,” the president wrote.

Mr. Trump repeated that line during remarks at the White House and said that while he did not get a commitment from Mr. Warsh to cut rates, he expected that he would do so.

Read it all.

President Trump picks a reinvented Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Fed. Warsh, who served on the US central bank's Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011, would succeed Jerome Powell when his term ends in May. As a Fed governor from 2006-11, Warsh called for higher rates even… pic.twitter.com/qtG5DGUtUv

— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) January 30, 2026

Investors are betting the Trump administration will run the economy “hot” ahead of midterm elections, with buoyant stocks and a weaker dollar reflecting expectations of strong growth and rising inflation.

A string of robust economic data has defied predictions of a slowdown in the US, sending credit spreads to the tightest levels of the century and helping stocks hit fresh record highs this month.

At the same time, fund managers said there is a growing belief that President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, deregulation push and campaign for lower interest rates will add more fuel to the economy this year, as the president seeks to bolster support ahead of November’s congressional polls. “There is a carefully engineered plan to have the US economy humming into the summer,” said Arif Husain, head of global fixed income at T Rowe Price.

Read it all.

Investors bet on ‘hot’ US economy heading into midterm elections https://t.co/Qs7rCZ017g

— Financial Times (@FT) January 28, 2026

The line from Thucydides, “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”, is getting quite the airing of late. You are meant to nod gravely along to it, as though it expresses a bitter but universal truth about international relations.

Does it, though? The phrase implies that a country becomes more aggressive as it grows more powerful. Well, the US was never mightier than it was around the time of Trump’s birth in 1946, when it made half of the manufactured goods in the world and had a nuclear monopoly too. With all this power, the US didn’t “do what it could” to the weak. Instead, it set up the Marshall Plan and Nato, those masterpieces of enlightened self-interest. It rebuilt Japan and Germany as pacifist democracies. The belligerent turn in American behaviour has in fact come during its relative decline.

Leadership explains some of this, in that Harry Truman was “better” than Trump, but only some. The rest is structural. It is easier for a nation to be magnanimous from a great height. Paranoia and aggression set in when that position slips. As such, we should expect a volatile US until it gets used to the role of being a, not the, superpower. Britain and France got there in the end, despite having to fall much further.

No one ever quotes the other bit of the famous Dylan Thomas poem about decline. After nagging the reader to “rage against the dying of the light”, he concedes that giving up makes more sense: “wise men at their end know dark is right.”

Read it all (subscription).

Always beware a declining superpower – https://t.co/4Xah6qhSiO via @FT
Like a wounded tiger, always most dangerous in that state

— Marshall Auerback (@Mauerback) January 21, 2026

 Mr. Trump is a performer, not an orator, and the rambling monologues he delivers bear little resemblance to Pericles’ tightly worded speeches. Still, even as the president repeatedly confused Greenland for Iceland, drifted into irrelevant anecdotes, and scattered inaccurate statistics, he owned the room and everyone in it. But entertaining isn’t persuading, and Mr. Trump won few hearts and minds in Davos….

The West is going through a period of deep and disruptive change, and the political establishments on both sides of the pond have been shaken to the core. More disruption is coming as the accelerating tech revolution transforms our economies and external challengers press ahead with their revisionist projects. Under the circumstances, changes within the Western alliances are unavoidable. But change doesn’t have to mean dissolution.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte seems to grasp this. Mr. Trump emerged from a meeting with Mr. Rutte following the speech to post on Truth Social that they had found the basis for a long-term agreement over Greenland that met key White House demands. For now at least, the trans-Atlantic alliance has survived.

Read it all.

Trump’s speech was the hottest ticket at Davos. And thanks to Mark Rutte, the Western alliance just might survive. https://t.co/OkcyFGqmzh

— Walter Russell Mead (@wrmead) January 21, 2026

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated the Kremlin’s commitment to its original war demands against the background of expected peace talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 20, and falsely accused Ukraine of beginning the war by attacking Russia. Lavrov gave a speech and held a press conference outlining Russia’s foreign policy in 2025 and reiterated Russia’s commitment to addressing the so-called “root causes” of its war in Ukraine.[23] Lavrov and other Kremlin officials have repeatedly defined these “root causes” as NATO expansion and alleged discrimination against Russian people, the Russian language, and the Russian Orthodox Church (a Kremlin-controlled arm of influence) in Ukraine.

Lavrov also reiterated on January 20 the Kremlin’s rejection of any peace deal that does not cede all of “Novorossiya” to Russia and that provides Ukraine with security guarantees from Europe. Novorossiya is an invented region that the Kremlin often claims is “integral” to Russia and includes areas of eastern and southern Ukraine beyond the oblasts that Russia has illegally annexed. Lavrov explicitly rejected the US-Ukrainian-European 20-point peace plan and listed demands inconsistent with terms in the original US-proposed 28-point peace plan, including the demand for territories that go beyond those that Russia has illegally annexed. Lavrov also rejected a possible temporary or permanent ceasefire in Ukraine because Ukraine could “then attack the Russian Federation again” — falsely accusing Ukraine of having attacked Russia in the past, whereas Russia has been the one to initiate all military aggression against Ukraine.

Senior Kremlin officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, have repeatedly demonstrated that Russia will not be satisfied with a peace settlement that does not meet Russia’s uncompromising terms or that only pertains to Ukraine and does not radically restructure NATO. Lavrov’s January 20 statements set conditions for Russia to justify to domestic audiences its rejection of any terms that emerge from talks at the Davos Summit.

Read it all.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated the Kremlin’s commitment to its original war demands against the background of expected peace talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 20, and falsely accused Ukraine of beginning the war by attacking… https://t.co/gmPCvKZMuR pic.twitter.com/RGNWNVcPXS

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) January 21, 2026

As Abernathy tells it—and I believe he is right—he and King were first of all Christians, then Southerners, and then blacks living under an oppressive segregationist regime. King of course came from the black bourgeoisie of Atlanta in which his father, “Daddy King,” had succeeded in establishing himself as a king. Abernathy came from much more modest circumstances, but he was proud of his heritage and, as he writes, wanted nothing more than that whites would address his father as Mr. Abernathy. He and Martin loved the South, and envisioned its coming into its own once the sin of segregation had been expunged.

“Years later,” Abernathy writes that, “after the civil rights movement had peaked and I had taken over [after Martin’s death] as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,” he met with Governor George Wallace. “Governor Wallace, by then restricted to a wheel chair after having been paralyzed by a would-be assassin’s bullet, shook hands with me and welcomed me to the State of Alabama. I smiled, realizing that he had forgotten all about Montgomery and Birmingham, and particularly Selma. ‘This is not my first visit,’ I said. ‘I was born in Alabama—in Marengo County.’ ‘Good,’ said Governor Wallace, ‘then welcome back.’ I really believe he meant it. In his later years he had become one of the greatest friends the blacks had ever had in Montgomery. Where once he had stood in the doorway and barred federal marshals from entering, he now made certain that our people were first in line for jobs, new schools, and other benefits of state government.” Abernathy concludes, “It was a time for reconciliations.”

Read it all (my emphasis).

It’s a tragedy that 60 years later most American students can’t even understand MLK or why his writing and speaking were so powerful.

He brought the entire weight of the Western, Christian, classical tradition to make his case. In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail King casually… pic.twitter.com/vrtdMlgEzU

— Jeremy Wayne Tate (@JeremyTate41) January 19, 2026

Late in the afternoon of Jan. 8, angry Iranians took to the streets in large numbers nationwide—from Tehran to Isfahan to the religious city of Mashhad and dozens of smaller cities and towns—chanting and spray-painting slogans that called for the fall of the Islamic Republic and “Death to the dictator.” 

This time, the regime forces were ready to play a more lethal role in quelling the protests. Paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the voluntary Basij militia in plainclothes were deployed in large numbers across the country, often armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles. In one instance in west Tehran, security forces were seen with a heavy machine gun mounted on a pickup truck, according to footage verified by Storyful,  which is owned by Journal parent News Corp.

From her campus, Aminian headed out with a group of friends to join a protest. The turning point came around 8:30 p.m. That’s when Iranian authorities shut down the internet across the country and escalated the crackdown, according to witnesses, relatives of victims and human rights groups.

“We are pretty confident that a massacre happened starting late Thursday night throughout the country,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. “It was a complete war zone.”

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‘A Massacre Happened’: The 24 Hours That Bloodied Iran https://t.co/apuKUyfYYA

— Souad Mekhennet (@smekhennet) January 15, 2026

The Iranian regime views the protests as a proto-revolution that it must crush completely and immediately. Some Iranians are resisting the regime, in some cases violently, which reinforces the regime’s view that the protests retain the potential to transform into a revolution. The regime will likely succeed in quelling this resistance if it can retain the loyalty of security forces and prevent those who are resisting the regime from acquiring the wherewithal to challenge the regime’s ability and willingness to sustain its crackdown. The regime has abandoned any effort it made in the beginning of this protest movement to distinguish between legitimate economic protests and illegitimate anti-regime protests. Iranian media and officials, including those who expressed sympathy for protesters in the beginning of this protest movement, are categorically describing protesters as “terrorists.”[1] Iranian Justice Minister Amir Hossein Rahimi stated on January 14 that any protester who has participated in protests after January 8—which is when the rate and scope of the protests expanded dramatically—is guilty of taking part in an “internal war.”[2] Rahimi’s statement highlights how the regime has stopped showing any tolerance toward protests, as it did to an extent in the beginning of the protest movement, and views any protest as a serious threat to the regime.

The extent and extremity of the regime’s use of violence to quell the protests further demonstrate that the regime views the protests as a proto-revolution. Reports from eyewitnesses and protesters in Iran describe an unprecedented degree of regime brutality toward protesters. Iranians told BBC Persian on January 11 that the scale of deaths and injuries in the current protest movement is “unprecedented and incomparable” to previous protest waves.[3] Amnesty International reported on January 14 that regime security forces have committed “unlawful killings…on an unprecedented scale.”[4] Western media outlets have reported protester death toll estimates between 2,000 and 20,000.[5] These numbers surpass the approximately 1,500 protesters who were killed in 2019 and approximately 550 protesters who were killed during the 2022-2023 Mahsa Amini movement.[6] A US-based human rights organization also estimated that the regime has arrested over 10,000 individuals in the current wave of protests thus far.[7] The regime previously arrested around 7,000 individuals in the 2019 protests and 20,000 individuals during the Mahsa Amini movement. The regime arrested 20,000 individuals over a roughly three-month period, whereas the regime has arrested 10,000 individuals in the past two and a half weeks.

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Latest on Iran: The Iranian regime views the protests as a proto-revolution that it must crush completely and immediately. Some Iranians are resisting the regime, in some cases violently, which reinforces the regime’s view that the protests retain the potential to transform into… pic.twitter.com/gY5Ys6hJbB

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) January 15, 2026

Most years, presidents don’t have much impact on the economy; it is just too big and complicated.

This year won’t be like most years. President Trump is taking unprecedented steps to run the economy hot, and there is an excellent chance he’ll succeed.

Washington has three big levers that affect growth: fiscal policy (taxes and spending), monetary policy (interest rates) and credit policy (the ease of borrowing). Historically, they were not coordinated: Fiscal policy followed the congressional cycle, monetary policy was set by an independent Federal Reserve and credit policy reflected often random decisions by regulators.

This year, all three are dialed toward stimulus, reflecting a single-minded focus by Trump and congressional Republicans on faster economic growth. They hope that will deliver victory in the November midterm elections.

In the process, they are compromising other goals: taming debt, Fed independence and long-term financial stability. The consequences of that come later.

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Under my taxonomy, there are 3 macro policy levers: fiscal, monetary and credit. This year, Trump has dialed all 3 towards stimulus in order to run the economy hot. This is unprecedented, and will probably work. The costs come later. https://t.co/7RTaSK2I5D

— Greg Ip (@greg_ip) January 14, 2026

The last time Iran was convulsed by nationwide protests, in 2022, the Arab world was transfixed. The Islamic Republic had spent decades building a network of powerful allies that came to dominate the region. Many Arabs wondered if the prospect of regime change in Tehran offered a chance to throw off Iran’s yoke in their own countries.

Pan-Arab news outlets, often funded by Gulf monarchies, egged on the protests with sympathetic, round-the-clock coverage. Arab diplomats kept their counsel in public but sounded ebullient in private. At one point Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, accused Saudi-backed media outlets of inciting further unrest and demanded that the kingdom rein in their coverage. “Otherwise you will pay the price,” he warned.

The protests in Iran today arguably pose an even greater threat to the regime than those in 2022—yet the reaction in the Arab world has been surprisingly muted. Evening-news broadcasts this month have been led, routinely, by stories other than Iran. Many officials sound nervous when they comment, if they say anything at all. Two things account for the change in tone: Iran’s diminished status, and the Gulf’s growing fear of chaos.

The Israeli wars that followed the massacre of October 7th 2023 have wrecked Iran’s network of proxies. Hizbullah, its once-powerful ally in Lebanon, has been badly weakened and still faces near-daily Israeli air strikes. Bashar al-Assad’s pro-Iranian regime in Syria is no more. Iran itself is reeling from 12 days of Israeli and American bombardment in June. As for Salami, he no longer makes threats: he was killed by an Israeli air strike at the beginning of that war.

All of this makes the fate of the Islamic Republic seem less urgent.

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The protests in Iran today arguably pose an even greater threat to the regime than those in 2022—yet the reaction in the Arab world has been surprisingly muted https://t.co/cQUYYF21oh

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) January 14, 2026

Chinese researchers have developed a form of hybrid rice that can replicate itself through seeds that are clones, preserving high-yield traits generation after generation, according to the development team. The scientists say their breakthrough could transform global agriculture by dismantling the biggest barrier to hybrid rice production: the need for farmers to buy expensive new hybrid seeds every season.

As hundreds of millions of people around the world face acute food insecurity, hybrid rice has promised dramatically higher yields: nearly four times more in parts of Africa compared to traditional varieties. If all rice farmers could plant the new hybrid variant, the world’s rice production could double, according to some industry estimates.

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China creates world’s first clone-hybrid rice that could double global output

Team developed 6 apomictic rice varieties tested over multiple generations in Hainan and Zhejiang provinceshttps://t.co/pPPqMIDlYQ

— Shehzad Younis شہزاد یونس (@shehzadyounis) January 7, 2026