January 10, 2026 - Short News

No alarm over Washington - why the “doomsday plane” was nothing unusual!!

The E-4B aircraft, often referred to as the “doomsday plane,” landed in Washington on January 8 - and warnings of an impending catastrophe immediately began circulating. This excitement is unfounded. Washington, more precisely Andrews Air Force Base, is the regular home and main base of this aircraft. It is stationed there, maintained there and moved routinely. The aircraft does exist for extreme scenarios, but that does not mean every flight is a sign of a crisis. Like any complex aircraft, it must regularly take to the air so that technology, crew and systems remain operational. Such movements are part of normal operations and take place several times a year. The current landing differs in no way from previous routine flights. There were no accompanying measures, no heightened military readiness, no public warnings. The growing unrest is not caused by the aircraft itself, but by overinterpretation. Fear is being generated where there need not be any.

“Happy Trump” on the lapel - and yet never satisfied

Donald Trump appeared on Friday in the East Room of the White House with a new detail on his suit: a small lapel pin depicting himself, which he called “Happy Trump.” It was worn beneath the usual U.S. flag that presidents traditionally wear on their lapels. When asked, Trump said someone had given him the pin as a gift. It showed him with an oversized head and an open mouth, a depiction that was immediately compared online to a bobblehead figure. Trump did not say who had given it to him. What was striking was less the accessory than his comment about it. Trump said he was never happy and never satisfied. He would only be so when America was great again, even if, in his view, the country was close to that goal. As he spoke, he held his lapel outward, looked at the pin and then glanced at reporters with a narrow smile. The moment occurred during a meeting with representatives of the oil industry, focused on future control over Venezuela’s energy resources.

The scene felt light, almost casual, but stood in contrast to the substance of the meeting and the political situation. A president who emphasizes that he is never satisfied wears a figure of himself that claims exactly the opposite. Trump offered no further explanation. None was needed.

Judge halts funding freeze - Trump administration temporarily checked

A federal judge has barred the Trump administration from temporarily blocking federal funds for child care and social programs in five Democratic-led states. Affected are California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, which had told the court of “chaos in ongoing operations.” The federal government had frozen billions of dollars, citing unsubstantiated suspicions that benefits might have flowed to people without legal status. It provided no evidence. The presiding judge, Arun Subramanian, did not rule on the legality of the measure but made clear that the status quo must be protected for at least 14 days while the case proceeds. The funds in question include programs for child care, direct assistance for low-income families and funding for social services. Together, the five states receive more than ten billion dollars annually from these programs.

New York Attorney General Letitia James called the ruling an important victory for families who had been plunged into uncertainty by the administration’s actions. At the same time, the administration froze additional funds for Minnesota and increased political pressure on the state. President Donald Trump and his administration have repeatedly targeted Minnesota in recent weeks. The legal dispute shows how directly social safety systems have become instruments of political power struggles.

Trump threatens to seize Greenland - “whether they want it or not”

Donald Trump has once again declared that the United States would “do something with Greenland,” whether the people there or the government of Denmark wanted it or not. He said he preferred a deal the “easy way,” because otherwise Russia or China could take control, which the United States would not accept. If no agreement were reached, he would pursue the “hard way,” without explaining what that would entail. Greenland is not an unclaimed territory, but part of the Kingdom of Denmark with its own government and clear rules under international law. Trump’s statements openly call this order into question. The idea that a territory could be taken against the will of its population marks a clear break with diplomatic norms.

Notable is the casual tone in which Trump simultaneously emphasized that he was a “fan” of Denmark. The statement combines friendly rhetoric with a threat. For Greenland, this means growing uncertainty. For Europe, it represents a new stress test. What is presented as a strategic argument amounts to political pressure.

Putin threatens Ukraine with total military escalation

The Russian president appeared in military uniform and issued an open threat to Ukraine. If Kyiv were to reject peace, Russia would, in his words, achieve all of its objectives solely through military force. He explicitly spoke of the full enforcement of Russian interests within the framework of the so-called special military operation. The statement leaves no room for negotiations or compromise. It makes clear that Moscow is prepared to further escalate the war. The wording was directed not only at Ukraine, but also at Western supporters. Appearing in uniform amplified the demonstrative character of the message. Diplomatic signals were absent. Instead, Putin relied on intimidation. The threat marks another hardening of the Russian line. For Kyiv, it means additional pressure. For Europe and the United States, turbulent times.

Washington National Opera leaves the Kennedy Center

The Washington National Opera has decided to move its performances out of the Kennedy Center, abandoning a venue where it has performed since 1971. The move is seen as the clearest artistic rejection yet of President Donald Trump and his efforts to reshape the Kennedy Center according to his own vision. The decision is not an organizational shift, but a deliberate response to political influence. A decades-long tradition is being interrupted to mark distance. For many artists, the venue is no longer a neutral space. The opera is drawing consequences and choosing rupture over accommodation. As a result, the Kennedy Center loses one of its core ensembles. The move makes visible how sharply the conflict between art and politics has intensified. It is a clear signal of independence.

Criticism of oil deal - consumer advocates warn of a gift to corporations

Trump presses oil companies to invest in Venezuelan oil production - Donald Trump opened a meeting with top oil industry executives in the East Room of the White House with a side glance at construction work rather than energy policy. He said there were more executives he would have invited if there were a ballroom, then there would be more than a thousand guests. Shortly thereafter, he stood up, left the table with corporate representatives and government officials, and walked to a window. There he looked out at the construction of his large ballroom on the site where the East Wing once stood. Standing alone, his back to the room and the cameras, he commented on the view. “What a view,” he said, gesturing toward a door leading to the future ballroom. He then turned around and remarked that it was an unusual moment to take a look. He invited the assembled media to do the same. None of the journalists followed the invitation. The brief appearance shifted attention away from the actual purpose of the meeting. No substantive commitments or decisions were announced at that moment. The meeting began with amazement at construction work rather than with figures and plans.

A U.S. consumer organization accuses the Donald Trump administration of opening access to Venezuelan oil for energy companies while shifting risks onto the general public. Energy expert Tyson Slocum of Public Citizen spoke of violent imperialism and said Trump’s apparent goal was to hand control of Venezuela’s oil to billionaires. The financial risks of extracting and exporting the heavy crude, he said, would largely fall on U.S. taxpayers, while profits would remain with corporations. For people in the United States suffering from high heating and electricity costs, no relief was in sight. While the administration ensured that industry would be protected, nothing would change for households. Trump met with leading representatives of the oil industry at the White House on Friday and hopes for investments of up to 100 billion dollars to fully reactivate Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. Critics see no plan for affordable energy, but a political decision favoring large companies whose costs would ultimately be borne by others.

Trump declares Europe weak - and himself the only deterrent

Donald Trump has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin fears not Europe, but exclusively the United States under his leadership. Europe no longer matters to Putin, he said, has fallen behind and is no longer politically credible. The continent has changed, Trump said, and is now a different place than before. This change, he added, was problematic and self-inflicted. He sharply attacked European immigration policy and warned that great caution was needed there. Otherwise, conditions could emerge that would no longer be reversible. He added that he wanted to put it politely, but that there were places in Europe that were no longer recognizable. With these statements, Trump portrays Europe as weak and directionless. At the same time, he elevates himself as the sole political factor deterring Moscow. He did not mention collective security structures or transatlantic partnerships. Instead, he reduced international politics to personal strength. The remarks fit into a worldview in which Europe appears not as an ally, but as a cautionary example.

How Kamchatka in Russia became a center of poaching

Kamchatka in Russia’s far east, long a symbol of abundance of salmon and other fish species, is today a place where fish has become a luxury for many local residents, even though the region supplies more than half of Russia’s Pacific salmon and catch volumes have risen sharply again in recent years, because most of the catch leaves the peninsula immediately after harvest and goes to mainland Russia or abroad, while local shops have little regional fish available or only at prices the population cannot afford, a reality visible even at official celebrations where imported fish dominates.

Industrial fishing is controlled by a few large companies that dominate coastlines, river mouths and processing routes and, according to statements by former inspectors, disregard closed seasons, block spawning routes and neutralize oversight through bribery, with key companies intertwined with high-ranking politicians, particularly Senator Boris Nevzorov. Small fishers are subject to strict rules on catch limits and equipment, violations are harshly punished, while large operators effectively have free rein, leading many residents to lose practical access to legal fishing and turning poaching into an everyday survival strategy. Seasonal workers from other regions earn well in processing and move on, while towns in Kamchatka bleed out, lose population and see infrastructure decay. At the same time, Russia’s war against Ukraine and the policies of President Vladimir Putin worsen the situation, because export revenues, state control and loyalty have become more important than regional supply or environmental protection, while resources are increasingly directed toward the needs of war and the state budget. Indigenous special rights are increasingly used to sell larger catch volumes, creating a legal gray zone and intensifying social tensions, while black markets flourish and prices rise. Conservation, stock recovery and fair distribution remain secondary, so that Kamchatka today shows how resource wealth in Russia, without effective oversight and fair rules, does not create prosperity, but poverty, dependency and a normalization of illegality.