Snow and ice are expected to coat the South less than a week after rare snowfall peppered spots of Florida and Georgia.
The United States’ South is expected to be hit by a major weather system over the coming weekend, with icy weather anticipated to begin Friday and last through Sunday. Snow and ice are expected as far south as Houston, Texas, and as far east as Virginia Beach. Rain is likely to blanket much of the Deep South.
Projected amounts of precipitation are unreliable at this point as current models vary and are likely to change in the coming days, according to the <a href="https://nashvillesevereweather.com/2026/01/19/potential-for-snow-this-weekend/">Nashville Severe Weather</a> blog. But the models generally show wintery conditions covering a large part of the south from Friday to Sunday, potentially wreaking havoc on any weekend travel plans.
“It is still early, but models are suggesting that multiple cities in the South could see at least some winter weather. They could get everything: rain, snow, ice or a combination of them all,” <a href="https://weather.com/storms/winter/news/2026-01-19-rain-snow-ice-mix-south-southeast">The Weather Channel</a> reports.
Freezing weather may extend in some regions as well, so any snow that does land is likely to stick around and compound any effects from the storm itself.
Wintery weather across the South is expected to ramp up significantly on Friday, with snow falling in parts of north Texas up into the Great Plains region. By Friday night, the area of potential snowfall is likely to stretch from Colorado to Virginia and North Carolina.
Into the weekend, the system is expected to tilt slowly down into the Gulf Coast of Texas and up into the Northeast, with much of the South staying under the system. Wintery conditions on Saturday night could stretch from Houston up to New York City.
The storm system that will potentially blanket the South comes less than a week after wintery weather hit Georgia and parts of northern Florida – a rare event for the area. A separate system hit the Northeast at the same time, snarling traffic and causing significant air travel delays, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/winter-weather/winter-weather-travel-mlk-weekend-rcna254664">NBC News</a>.
The twin storm systems placed roughly 55 million people under winter weather alerts. Air traffic in the United States face delays with roughly 7,700 flights within, into, or out of the United States delayed, and more than 500 canceled, according to <a href="http://flightaware.com">FlightAware.com</a>. In Michigan, snow and ice-covered roads <a href="https://x.com/foxweather/status/2013306132475806039">contributed</a> to a 100-car pile up.

Snow Hits New York

Snowpocalypse 2026: Severe Winter Weather Expected To Blanket The South

General

Severe Weather

U.S.

United States

Weather

The United States is on the verge of reigniting last year’s trade war with Europe after President Donald Trump threatened eight European countries with tariff hikes over Denmark’s refusal to sell Greenland.
A trade deal Trump secured in July of last year with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is unlikely to move forward after Trump on Saturday <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115911344443637897">threatened</a> 25% tariffs against eight EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom and Norway.
The European People’s Party is the most influential bloc in the European parliament, <a href="https://results.elections.europa.eu/en/seats-political-group-country/2024-2029/">holding</a> 188 of 720 seats. Party President Manfred Weber said in a statement that the parliament cannot move forward with the trade deal the EU agreed to last year because of threats from the United States.
“The EPP is in favour of the EU–U.S. trade deal, but given Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage. The 0% tariffs on U.S. products must be put on hold,” <a href="https://x.com/ManfredWeber/status/2012607273370087621">said</a> Weber.
The deal by Trump and von der Leyen last year would eliminate tariffs on goods from the United States to the EU, and cap U.S. tariffs on European products at 15%. Because of Trump’s trade threats over Greenland, officials in the bloc want to freeze the trade agreement and potentially pull other economic levers against the United States as well.
French President Emmanuel Macron intends to ask the EU to use the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument, known as the trade “bazooka,” against the United States. The instrument would allow the bloc to take significantly more steps against the United States, such as placing limits on intellectual property protections and restricting investment.
“He will be in contact all day with his European counterparts and will ask, in the name of France, the activation of the Anti-Coercion Instrument,” Macron&#8217;s office <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/macron-to-urge-eu-to-use-trade-bazooka-in-response-to-trumps-tariffs/">told</a> Politico Europe on Sunday.
In response to the escalating trade threats coming from Europe, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Sunday <a href="https://x.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/2012952767518650432">defended</a> Trump’s approach.
“I think right now with respect to Greenland, the president has a strong view that it&#8217;s a national security matter for the U.S. to have more control over Greenland, and I&#8217;m confident that in the end, he&#8217;s going to negotiate a deal that&#8217;s great for us and great for our partners,” said Hassett.

Ursula von der Leyen, Donald Trump

Europe Ramps Up Trade Fight After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland

Donald Trump

European Union

Global Politics

Greenland

World

On Tuesday, the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection held a hearing titled, “Defense through Offense: Examining U.S. Cyber Capabilities to Deter and Disrupt Malign Foreign Activity Targeting the Homeland.”
Chairman Andy Ogles (R-TN) opened the hearing by declaring that the United States can no longer rely solely on a defensive posture. Citing recent breaches like Salt Typhoon (targeting Congressional staff) and Volt Typhoon (targeting critical infrastructure), Ogles argued that adversaries — primarily China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea — operate with impunity because they face no meaningful consequences.
The consensus among the subcommittee and the witnesses was that the U.S. must shift toward a proactive, &#8220;industrial-scale&#8221; offensive strategy to alter the risk calculus of state-sponsored actors.
Joe Lin, the CEO of Twenty Technologies, Inc., provided a blunt assessment: the United States is currently losing the cyber war because it treats offensive operations as &#8220;bespoke,&#8221; elite activities while adversaries operate at &#8220;machine speed.&#8221;
Lin called for codifying operator tradecraft into automated software systems. He argued that one operator should be able to manage hundreds of targets simultaneously to match the scale of Chinese campaigns. He emphasized that &#8220;patching&#8221; alone will never secure critical infrastructure. Deterrence requires the demonstrated ability to impose asymmetric costs upstream before attacks reach U.S. soil.
Emily Harding, the vice president of the defense and security department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), focused on the &#8220;escalation ladder,&#8221; noting that adversaries currently control it because U.S. responses have been muted.
CSIS war games revealed that senior U.S. officials often freeze during cyber crises due to a lack of a shared framework for what constitutes an &#8220;act of war.&#8221; Harding proposed several key shifts: treating cyber-attacks that imperil life as kinetic attacks, flipping risk tolerance so that the default answer for an operation is &#8220;yes,&#8221; and creating a dedicated Cyber Force to consolidate talent.
Frank Cilluffo, the director of the McCrary Institute, argued that the U.S. has allowed adversaries to define its strategy. He pushed for &#8220;operational collaboration,&#8221; where the private sector — which owns the vast majority of infrastructure — is treated as a partner in active defense rather than a passive victim. He noted that campaigns like Salt and Volt Typhoon are &#8220;pre-positioning&#8221; efforts designed to be triggered during a future kinetic conflict (e.g., a Pacific contingency).
Drew Bagley, the chief privacy officer at CrowdStrike, offered a nuanced view, reinforcing the necessity of defense while supporting targeted offense. While he cautioned against a &#8220;federated&#8221; or &#8220;vigilante&#8221; hack-back regime due to risks of collateral damage, he supported more persistent disruption of malicious infrastructure. He recommended that CISA and the private sector maintain a prioritized list of threat actors to be dismantled systematically through coordinated law enforcement and military action.
The subcommittee discussed the severe workforce shortage. Witnesses noted that while thousands of personnel were lost during recent agency &#8220;right-sizing&#8221; (DOGE-related shifts), the solution isn&#8217;t just &#8220;more bodies.&#8221; AI is being used by the PRC to automate espionage; the U.S. must adopt &#8220;Agentic AI&#8221; to defend and counter-attack at the same speed. Suggestions included a &#8220;Cyber Reserve&#8221; (similar to the National Guard) and a &#8220;Teach for America&#8221; style program for cyber professionals to serve in rural areas in exchange for loan forgiveness.
Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) raised the critical issue of undersea cables, through which 95% of global data flows. There is currently no &#8220;single home&#8221; in the government for undersea cable security. Harding and Bagley called for an increase in repair ships and the use of AI-driven maritime surveillance to identify &#8220;anomalous&#8221; ship patterns (like &#8220;fishing&#8221; vessels lingering over cable lines) before they can sabotage infrastructure.
A major takeaway was the need to move past &#8220;tit-for-tat&#8221; cyber responses. Witnesses argued that if China hits a U.S. water plant, the U.S. shouldn&#8217;t necessarily hit a Chinese water plant; it should use diplomatic, economic, or kinetic tools to hit a &#8220;pain point&#8221; that the adversary actually values.
Ogles concluded by signaling a &#8220;forward-leaning&#8221; posture, emphasizing that the Monroe Doctrine now extends into the digital realm. The subcommittee intends to pursue &#8220;operational collaboration&#8221; between the private sector and government to ensure that any breach of American digital boundaries carries a significant, punishing price.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LZkm35vQv68?si=KYHJSUF6_LaMvLZS" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Faceless hackers and malware hackers use laptops with dangerous digital code on binary code background.

Beyond Defense: Congress Wants To Industrialize U.S. Cyber Offense

China

Congress

Cybersecurity

President Donald Trump calls off all meetings with the Islamic regime — suggesting he may come to the aid of Iranian protestors, inflation holds steady as the administration touts an affordability push, and Congress tosses around a funding package to keep the lights on until October.
It’s Wednesday, January 14, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trump-pressures-tehran-economy-gains-momentum-1-14-26/id1576594336?i=1000745114820" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Puts Iran On Notice</h2>
President Trump put Tehran on notice on Tuesday, cutting off discussions with Iranian leaders and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-iranian-protests-intensify-as-citizens-demand-end-to-ayatollah-rule?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Daily+Wire&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=LIVE+UPDATES%3A+Trump+Tells+Iranians+%E2%80%98Help+Is+On+Its+Way%E2%80%99+As+Death+Toll+Climbs">telling</a> protesters: “Help is on its way.” Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday that “the killers and abusers” in Iran “will pay a big price.” He urged protesters to continue their resistance and to take over institutions. The president also recommended that any Americans in Iran leave as soon as possible. Meanwhile, deaths during the protests appear to have surged past other recent instances of mass demonstrations in Iran. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency estimates that more than 2,000 people have been killed. The Saudi-funded outlet Iran International estimates a much higher death toll at around 12,000. Thousands more have been arrested. Reports say that 26-year-old Erfan Soltani is expected to be hanged on Wednesday after the government found him guilty of “waging war on God.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Labor Department Report Shows Inflation Cooling</h2>
The latest Labor Department report released Tuesday showed that inflation continues to cool, once again defying expert predictions. The department released its highly anticipated CPI report for December, which showed inflation at 2.7% – tied for the lowest since March 2021. The pace of inflation has fallen dramatically since the 9% peak in 2021. Across former President Joe Biden’s four years in office, the average number was about 5%. The report surprised experts, who had projected a slightly higher number. EJ Antoni, chief economist at The Heritage Foundation, said the report likely understates the cooling, as the indicators used by the Labor Department lag behind reality.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Rep. Brad Finstad Talks Congress’s Latest Funding Package</h2>
The House is set to take up a two-bill funding package this week, after the Senate advanced it, as the government faces an end-of-month shutdown deadline. The bipartisan legislation would fully fund agencies like the State and Treasury departments, the IRS, and the federal courts through October, but it currently omits funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Minnesota GOP Rep. Brad Finstad told Morning Wire that one of the priorities of the bills is to “get some fiscal sanity back in our country.” The current version includes a 16% reduction in spending. “It&#8217;s an opportunity for us to kind of right-size government,” said Finstad. The package also aims to curb fraud by defunding some USAID programs and increasing reporting standards.

MRN_260114_V1

Morning Brief: Trump Puts Iran On Notice, Economy Gains Momentum & Funding Fight Looms

Morning Brief: Iran On Notice, Inflation Cools, And Congress’ New Spending Package

Department of Labor

Inflation

Iran

Morning Wire

The current demonstrations against the Iranian regime are the most consequential challenge to the government’s legitimacy since the birth of the Islamic theocracy in 1979.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, spoke to Morning Wire about the protests rocking the country. Iranians who have joined the anti-government protests in recent weeks are directly challenging the legitimacy of the cleric-controlled system.
“Iranians pushed past reform, Iranians pushed past the ballot box and found the street to be the best way to contest the state and make their case, not just to their fellow compatriots and citizens, but to the world that they seek wholesale political change – not evolution, not musical chairs at the top, not another fig leaf, not putting lipstick on a pig,” said Taleblu.
Large-scale protests against the regime’s legitimacy have occurred since 2017. The current iteration appears so far to have come the closest to achieving the regime change called for in recent years.
The current round of protests is “the most important challenge to the regime&#8217;s legitimacy from the street in the past 46 years,” according to Taleblu. “It has all the hallmarks of what we&#8217;ve seen over the past years – wholesale political change being the goal, very tough anti-regime and national slogans being the goal. But also more importantly, it has a very broad demography and very broad geography.”
One of the unique features of the current protest is the calls for the return of the shah and the dynasty that ruled Iran prior to the theocratic dictatorship that took over in 1979. It remains unclear how widespread that support is and whether the Pahlavi dynasty — the line continued in exile by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi — can be viewed as a realistic option to replace the clerics who lead the Iranian regime.
Pahlavi himself has said that he could serve as a bridge between the clerical regime and a new democratic or republican Iran. Pahlavi’s self-perception is also shared by many protesters, who see the exiled prince as a potential stabilizing force between the fall of one regime and the rise of another, more popular one, according to Taleblu.
“The most important question is not if-and-when the regime falls, but how the regime falls, what role the West plays, what role Washington plays, what kind of linkage there is between external opposition and internal opposition? These are all important factors because how the regime falls will tell you if there&#8217;s evolution, if there&#8217;s devolution, or if there is revolution. And this is something that we cannot be indifferent to,” said Taleblu.
If the rule of the ayatollahs in Iran crumbles, the new regime could be democratic, which would be in the best interests of the United States and the Iranian people, Taleblu said. The shape of the new regime is, in large part, dependent on the extent of support the protesters receive from outside the country. With minimal external support, the country is likely to be ruled by the military, which currently answers to the clerics.

Iranian community in Spain

Iran’s Theocracy Rocked By Most Serious Uprising In Decades

Anti-ICE protests break out around the country as the story surrounding the woman shot dead by a federal agent in Minneapolis unfurls, and President Donald Trump considers his options as Iranian protestors feel the force of the regime.
It’s Monday, January 12, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minneapolis-fuels-unrest-trumps-iran-plan-1-12-26/id1576594336?i=1000744783823" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">New Footage Released In ICE Fatal Shooting</h2>
Nationwide protests <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-ice-agent-fatally-shoots-agitator-as-chaos-erupts-in-minneapolis?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Daily+Wire&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=4&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=LIVE+UPDATES%3A+As+Protests+Rage%2C+New+Video+Footage+Proves+Renee+Good+Was+%E2%80%98Stalking%E2%80%99+ICE">continued</a> following a deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis. Cell phone <a href="https://x.com/AlphaNews/status/2009679932289626385">footage</a> obtained by Alpha News has given more context to the shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Good. As the ICE agent approaches Good, who’s sitting in the driver&#8217;s seat, her wife taunts him. Seconds later, as other agents demand that Good get out of her car, her wife yells, “Drive, baby, drive.” You can then see Good backing up her car, turning the wheels to the right, and then accelerating forward. The officer lets out a scream as he’s seemingly hit by the vehicle as he fires three shots. Republicans generally felt that the footage further vindicated the officer and proved it was a case of self-defense. Many on the Left continued to double down on their criticism of the officer. Over the weekend, Democratic lawmakers flooded the airwaves to slam the Trump administration and ICE.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Weighs U.S. Action After Iran Cracks Down On Protesters</h2>
President Trump is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-iranian-protests-intensify-as-citizens-demand-end-to-ayatollah-rule?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Daily+Wire&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=LIVE+UPDATES%3A+Trump+Weighs+Intervention+As+Iran+Protests+Enter+Third+Week">reportedly</a> weighing action in Iran as the regime cracks down on protests that have roiled the country since late December. The Iranian government shut down internet access and banned international phone calls late last week. Over the past few days, the estimated death toll has risen from a few dozen to hundreds or even thousands killed by Iranian security forces bolstered by Iran’s terror proxies outside the country. Trump is reportedly weighing how to respond to Iran’s violent tactics. Tehran has said any potential strike will be met with retaliation against American and Israeli forces in the region. Israel has said its military stands ready for anything.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Iran Expert On Chance Of Regime Change</h2>
The uprising in Iran poses the threat of becoming even more bloody – but also presents the possibility of a more stable, democratic Middle East. Behnam Ben Taleblu, the senior director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, spoke to Morning Wire about the possibility of regime collapse and what could come next. According to Taleblu, the current round of protesting is the “most important challenge to the regime&#8217;s legitimacy from the street in the past 46 years.” On the chance that the Islamist regime falls and is replaced by a more democratic government, Taleblu said it’s possible, but it depends on receiving aid from outside and on the form that assistance takes. “The most important question is not if and when the regime falls, but how the regime falls,” he said.

MRN_260112_V1

Morning Brief: Minneapolis Fuels Unrest & Trump’s Iran Plan

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Minneapolis

A person saying she was inside Iran was able to share disturbing details about what is taking place inside the country as the dictatorial regime cracks down on protests across the country.
The insider was able to connect with Elina Shirazi, a senior political correspondent at the Daily Mail, over text during a gap in the countrywide internet blackout enforced by the Iranian government. During the brief exchange, the insider described troubling developments on the crackdown and protesters’ hope for international assistance in their struggle against the regime.
Since the regime crackdown on protesters began in earnest late last week, estimates of the death toll have ranged from hundreds to thousands. One text from the insider suggests that the real number is somewhere in the thousands.
“At least 1k only in tehran [sic],” the insider said. “Dead.”
“100 people [dead] in Shahrak Karevan in Afsarie area,” the insider added.
The hope of the protesters lies in “US and Israel intervention,” the insider said. “Without them we cannot succeed.”
“We need foreign power intervention. Institutions like [the] UN [have] proved to be useless doing nothing at [these] important moments in totalitarian countries like Iran. It has been [the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp’s] custom. People protest. IRGC shut down the internet and start mass killing,” the insider continued.
“US intervention is not another act of imperialism! Iranian people want to call the police. … There are people shot dead!” other messages said. “We cannot do it alone and without weapons against a regime that has shown no shame [in] mass killing its Iranian [civilians].”
The insider said that protesters are waving the flag of Iran under the Pahlavi monarchy, which ruled iran as shah before the family was exiled in 1979. Protesters are chanting “javid shah,” which means “long live the shah.” The phrase was considered unutterable not long ago, but has surged in popularity among protesters in the past few weeks.
The insider said an attack from Israel or the United States against the regime would “help the morale” of protesters, at least. The insider also expressed some hope that the protesters calling for regime change and the downfall of the Islamic dictatorship are having some success.
“The population is massive. We are occupying streets in every cities in the country,” the insider said. 
“But the regime has no shame killing everyone,” the following message said. “At what cost?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨INSIDE IRAN: My conversation today, day 15 of the blackout protests, with someone inside Iran. Please watch and share as there is little communication coming out right now. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#iran</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/iranprotests?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#iranprotests</a> <a href="https://t.co/iEJoZAFXr6">pic.twitter.com/iEJoZAFXr6</a>
— Elina Shirazi (@elinashirazi) <a href="https://twitter.com/elinashirazi/status/2010430938862452777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2026</a></blockquote>

Pro-Iranian protest in Lisbon

A Dispatch From Inside The Iran Protests

Israel

Minneapolis protests turn violent after a shooting involving an ICE agent turns fatal, the United States seizes two oil tankers attempting to run the Venezuelan blockade, and the Trump administration releases dramatically new dietary guidelines.
It’s Thursday, January 8, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minneapolis-ice-shooting-fallout-shadow-fleet-tankers/id1576594336?i=1000744265992" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">ICE Officer Fatally Shoots Woman Who Drove Car Toward Him</h2>
A 37-year-old woman was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning by an ICE officer. The chaotic scene was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/violent-agitator-who-tried-to-run-over-ice-agents-in-minneapolis-fatally-shot-by-feds-dhs-says">captured</a> on video and replayed across major network news for the rest of the day. The video showed a woman in her vehicle appearing to block the street. ICE agents approached her car and told her to get out of the vehicle. She disregarded the agents, backed up her car, then drove forward toward an ICE agent. One angle appears to show the car making contact with an ICE officer before the fatal shot was fired. Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz urged nationwide demonstrations against ICE and ordered the state’s National Guard to prepare for deployment. The Trump administration defended the ICE agents, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem saying the woman attempted to “weaponize her vehicle” and was shot in self-defense.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">U.S. Seizes Venezuela-Tied ‘Dark’ Tanker Flying Russian Flag</h2>
The Trump administration continues to exert pressure on Venezuela, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-united-states-strikes-venezuela-captures-president-maduro">seizing</a> two oil tankers on Wednesday, one flying under a Russian flag. As part of its effort to evade American sanctions, Venezuela has deployed a so-called “dark” or “shadow fleet” of oil tankers that often sail outside of legal shipping lanes and deploy false flags. The U.S. Coast Guard seized one such vessel on Wednesday after it had evaded capture last year when it sailed from Venezuela to Iran. Mid-journey, the Bella 1, as it is called, began flying a Russian flag and changed its registration to Russia. Russia even intervened diplomatically with the United States, urging the U.S. to end the pursuit. Russia sent several vessels to escort the tanker, but the U.S. military seized it anyway. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the crew of that vessel is “under full investigation and criminal charges will be pursued against all culpable actors.” Moscow claimed the ship had been given lawful permission to fly under a Russian flag and slammed the seizure as “piracy.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">RFK Jr. Flips The Food Pyramid</h2>
Fulfilling another MAHA promise, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rfk-flips-the-food-pyramid-and-announces-massive-changes-to-dietary-guidelines">flipped</a> the food pyramid and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hhs-scraps-old-alcohol-guidance-says-drinking-can-be-socially-healthy">announced</a> sweeping changes to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). The food pyramid has been completely flipped to prioritize healthy fats and protein and limit or avoid ultra-processed foods. During a press conference on Wednesday, Kennedy and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the “war” on “healthy fats” is over and recommended that Americans include nutrient-dense protein in every meal, such as eggs, poultry, seafood, and red meat. At the bottom of the pyramid – now the smallest part of the pyramid – are fiber-rich whole grains, but the DGA emphasizes that refined carbohydrates should be avoided. The guidance also says to “avoid highly processed, packaged, prepared, or ‘ready-to-eat’ foods,” as well as “sugar-sweetened beverages, like soda, fruit drinks, and energy drinks.”

MRN_260108_V2

Morning Brief: ICE Shooting In Minneapolis, U.S. Seizes Oil Tankers & RFK Jr. Flips Food Pyramid

Department of Health and Human Services

Kristi Noem

Minnesota

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Russia

Tim Walz

Venezuela

President Donald Trump puts Iran and its proxies on notice, the judge in the Charlie Kirk case rules on the side of transparency, and the United States sees a historical single-year drop in murders.
It’s Tuesday, December 30, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trump-warns-tehran-judge-releases-kirk-case-hearings/id1576594336?i=1000743164684" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2>Trump Hosts Netanyahu At Mar-a-Lago</h2>
President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago on Monday as both countries face new tensions with Iran. The meeting came as Trump makes an end-of-year push on some of his foreign policy priorities. After the meeting, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-he-supports-israel-attacking-iran-again-as-he-welcomes-netanyahu-to-mar-a-lago">said</a> that the United States would step in if Iran attempted to rebuild its military, especially its nuclear weapons program. Trump and Netanyahu also discussed the future of Gaza. The president said that “there will be hell to pay” if Hamas refuses to disarm so his peace plan can move forward.
<h2>Judge Orders Release Of Hearing In Kirk Case</h2>
A Utah judge has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-orders-transcripts-audio-to-be-made-public-from-hearing-for-accused-charlie-kirk-assassin?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Judge+Orders+Transcripts%2C+Audio+To+Be+Made+Public+From+Hearing+For+Accused+Charlie+Kirk+Assassin">ordered</a> the release of sealed hearings in the trial against Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson. On Monday afternoon, during a hearing on the extent of media access in this case, Fourth District Judge Tony Graf Jr. ordered the release of transcripts and an audio recording from a previously closed-door session held in October. Graf ruled that, given the case&#8217;s high profile, the public has an interest in certain portions of the hearing. He said those portions that could risk the safety of anyone involved in the case can be redacted. Meanwhile, Turning Point USA continues to press forward with Kirk’s conservative mission. Reports indicate that more than 32,000 students have signed up, and the organization is now opening dozens of chapters daily.
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<h2>Murder Rate Plummets In 2025</h2>
According to a new report, 2025 saw the largest single-year drop in murders in American history. There was roughly a 20% drop in homicides from 2024 to 2025, according to the Real Time Crime Index. The drop was 13% from 2023 to 2024. Crime surged in 2021 due to the pandemic, according to the Department of Justice. Democrats have mainly attributed that increase to lockdowns; Republicans say that left-wing policies fueled the rise and led to soft-on-crime officials reaching influential positions in the justice system.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump

Morning Brief: Trump Warns Iran & Charlie Kirk Murder Revelations

Benjamin Netanyahu

Charlie Kirk

Crime

Turning Point USA

Sony Pictures Entertainment announced they will be acquiring majority ownership of the iconic Peanuts IP, including the beloved characters Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the gang created by Charles M. Schulz. 
The purchase price was around $457 million for the 41% stake held by WildBrain in Peanuts Holdings LLC, bringing Sony’s total stake to 80%. The Schulz family continues to have a 20% stake, per <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/sony-acquire-peanuts-457-million-deal-1236612363/">Variety</a>.
“Since 2018, SMEJ has been proud to be part of the partnership behind ‘Peanuts,’ an iconic global entertainment brand with a 75-year legacy of delighting audiences worldwide,” Shunsuke Muramatsu, president and group CEO, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), said in a statement. “With this additional ownership stake, we are thrilled to be able to further elevate the value of the ‘Peanuts’ brand by drawing on the Sony Group’s extensive global network and collective expertise.”
“We are deeply committed to carrying forward the legacy of Charles Schulz and the Schulz family,” he added. “Together with SPE, and backed by WildBrain’s continued partnership, we will continue to embrace new opportunities to ensure that ‘Peanuts’ remains a relevant and beloved presence across generations—reaching new audiences and sharing the timeless charm of the ‘Peanuts’ gang for years ahead.”
Sony said they planned to keep the characters in the spotlight.
“With our combined strengths, we have the unique capability and extraordinary opportunity to protect and shape the future of these beloved characters for generations to come,” Sony Pictures President and CEO Ravi Ahuja said of the acquisition.
Peanuts began as a syndicated daily and Sunday comic strip featuring the misadventures of Charlie Brown and his friends. The comic strip originally ran from 1950 to 2000 and is considered one of the most popular and influential comic strips in history, with 17,897 strips published in all.
Some of the most popular Peanuts projects include the animated holiday specials “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” In 2015, 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios released “The Peanuts Movie.&#8221;

Snoopy, Lucy, Charlie Brown, & Linus in Peanuts

Sony Pictures To Take Majority Control Of ‘Peanuts’ Franchise

 Sony Pictures To Take Majority Control Of 'Peanuts' Franchise

Business

Cartoon

Entertainment

Kristin Cabot, the woman who went viral over the summer after being caught in an intimate moment with her boss Andrew Byron on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, has some harsh words for Gwyneth Paltrow.
The former HR exec gave multiple interviews this week and went over some details about the event and aftermath. Cabot was shocked at the level of public outrage over her alleged infidelity, and seemed especially offended that Paltrow joined in the fray.
&#8220;I was such a fan of her company [Goop], which seemed to be about uplifting women,” Cabot told The Times U.K. “And then she did this. I thought, ‘How dare she after the beating she got for all the conscious uncoupling stuff.’ What a hypocrite.”
Cabot said she got rid of all her Goop products as a form of protest.
The former Astronomer employee was referring to Paltrow’s relationship with her ex-husband, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, and how she referenced their separation using unique terminology.
Cabot also made other revelations during the interviews, including insisting that it was her first time ever kissing her former boss and claiming that their relationship was never sexual. The New Hampshire native also revealed that her then-husband, Andrew Cabot, was at the infamous concert. He said in a statement that the couple was estranged at the time of the incident.
Both Cabot and Byron left their positions at the tech company in the wake of the scandal.
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Paltrow <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/astronomer-hires-gwyneth-paltrow-to-be-temporary-spokesperson-after-kiss-cam-drama">put out a commercial</a> for the company just days after the kiss cam drama blew up on social media. “I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer,” the &#8220;Avengers: Endgame&#8221; actress said in the video.
“We’ve been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation,” she went on, poking fun at how the company had gone viral overnight.
Astronomer became a household name after Cabot, the former Chief People Officer for the company, was spotted embracing the CEO. After getting caught on the kiss cam, the two quickly stepped away from each other and out of frame after realizing they were being broadcast to the entire stadium at the July 16 Coldplay show in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
That moment became a pop culture sensation and led to multiple spoofs on social media and at professional sporting events.
Cabot claims she’s been stalked, harassed, doxxed, and has received death threats after the scandal. &#8220;My kids were afraid that I was going to die and they were going to die,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/style/coldplay-concert-couple-kiss-cam-woman.html">told</a> The New York Times.

Gwyneth Paltrow

Viral Coldplay Kiss Cam Woman Speaks Out, Is Furious With Gwyneth Paltrow

Music

viral video

As President Donald Trump mediates discussions between Russia and Ukraine, experts are largely united in assessing the negotiation as a supremely difficult diplomatic balancing act, but opinions differ on just how to handle it.
“Consider the magnitude of this negotiation–a major nuclear power is at war with its southern neighbor. It is a war that Russia considers existential. And of course, it is likewise existential to the Ukrainians, who are enduring the bloodiest war in Europe since 1945,” Morgan Murphy, a former Trump White House official who is running for U.S. Senate in Alabama, told The Daily Wire.
“Looking at the players and scale involved, it’s fair to say that this is the toughest negotiation for any American president since the Cuban Missile Crisis,” he added.
As president, Trump is responsible for first seeing to the interests of the United States. Experts questioned by The Daily Wire agreed that the interests of the United States lie in an end to the war. But experts voiced varying opinions on the priorities that Trump should focus on in the negotiation.
The price for Russia’s aggression must be steep, according to Retired Air Force General Bruce Carlson. Likewise, the price for peace cannot unduly limit Ukraine’s ability to protect itself from the potential of future attacks.
“Putin is a tyrant who only understands one thing: power. Any peace deal must provide unmatched consequences for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Carlson told The Daily Wire.
One of the previous frameworks of a peace deal proposed by the Trump administration included a cap on Ukraine’s military, a clause that sparked backlash from Ukraine and European officials. Carlson is sympathetic to the Ukrainian outrage.
“The only acceptable caps on Ukraine’s military size would be those based on Ukraine’s own security analysis,” said Carlson.
“Following an acceptable solution to ending this senseless war and Russia’s demonstration that it will adhere to the conditions of a peace agreement, economic sanctions on Russia would be lifted, and relations with America, Ukraine, and our NATO allies reset,” he added.
Carrie Filipetti is the executive director of the Vandenberg Coalition and an alum of the first Trump administration. She said that Russia must be penalized enough to deter future aggression, or else Europe, Ukraine, and the United States may be thrown back into another conflict soon.
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“The tenets of an ‘America First’ peace deal are clear: As America, we want to end forever wars, and that means future wars, too. The costs have to be high enough for Putin that his calculus is permanently changed to stop threatening U.S. national security interests and the sovereignty of his neighbors,” Filipetti told The Daily Wire. She also said that the penalties need to be severe enough to make China hesitate over starting a conflict over Taiwan.
“Another critical issue for any deal is that Russia must no longer be able to threaten Ukrainian churches or Ukrainian children,” added Filipetti. “President Trump has been a huge fighter for hostages around the world, and Ukrainian children are being held hostage right now in Russia. And as First Lady Melania Trump has championed, we must ensure Putin returns the tens of thousands of kidnapped Ukrainian children who are currently in so-called ‘re-education’ camps across Russia.”
Corruption in the Ukrainian government has been one of the chief hindrances to Ukraine’s war effort. Experts said the corruption should not in itself be the determining factor in the United States&#8217; decision to aid Ukraine.
“No one wants to see corruption. But war is the greatest evil in the world, and corruption is not to be unanticipated. I’m very impressed with how the Ukrainians are dealing with it,” said Carlson.
Murphy pointed out that corruption has been endemic to Ukraine for many years &#8212; long before the war began. He referenced a recent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/world/europe/ukraine-corruption-zelensky.html">article</a> in The New York Times that alleged deep corruption within Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle.
“The New York Times should pause to consider why so many scandals in Washington, D.C., over the past decade have some tie to Ukraine — from Burisma paying Hunter Biden $83,000 a month to the Clinton Foundation and uranium sales to Russia to the DNC working with Ukrainian embassy staff to dig dirt on Trump’s campaign manager. It all touches Ukraine,” said Murphy.

Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky

What’s An ‘America First’ Peace Plan For Ukraine And Russia? We Asked The Experts.

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

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