Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news — make a quick donation to Truthout today! “I just don't understand how we provide votes for a bill that funds the extent of the depravity,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told CNN Thursday. But the top Democratic leaders, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY) both appeared to have little interest in discussing how their party can use the appropriations process as leverage to rein in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies that have taken part in President Donald Trump's mass deportation operation. Both Schumer and Jeffries sharply criticized Wednesday's shooting and the Trump administration's insistence that, contrary to mounting video evidence, the ICE agent who shot Good was acting in self-defense. With Congress facing a January 30 deadline for approving government spending packages — and with public disapproval of ICE at an all-time high — several lawmakers have said this week that right now is the “appropriate time” to rein in the agency in any way the Democrats can. Republicans will need Democratic support to pass a spending bill in the Senate, where 60 votes are required. oh cool the guy responsible for failing to protect our healthcare by orchestrating a total cave-in to Republicans is also caving in on the murder of americans by gestapo death squads LOVE IT https://t.co/q0xEWNsTOX The Senate leader said only that he has “lots of problems with ICE” when asked whether he would support abolishing the agency — a proposal whose support has gone up by 20 percentage points among voters in just one year, according to a recent survey. Sharing a clip of Jeffries' remarks to reporters about the agency's funding, historian Moshik Temkin said that “people need to understand that at its core ICE is a bipartisan project, increasingly funded and normalized over multiple Democratic administrations and congressional majorities, and a few of them (not this guy) are starting to realize how foolish, weak, and misguided they were.” Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are among the progressive lawmakers calling on the Democrats to demand reduced funding for ICE — even if it means another government shutdown months after the longest one in US history late last year, which began when the Democrats refused to join the GOP in passing a spending bill that would have allowed Affordable Care Act tax credits to expire. “We can't just keep authorizing money for these illegal killers,” Jayapal told Axios. Ocasio-Cortez told the Independent that Democrats should “absolutely” push to cut funding. On the podcast The Majority Report, Emma Vigeland and Sam Seder called on progressive Democrats to demand Schumer's ouster in light of his refusal to take action to rein in ICE as its violence in American communities escalates. It's time for Democrats to oust Chuck Schumer from leadership pic.twitter.com/ByWMJ495zb “Change the news cycle and show that you'll be an opposition party,” said Vigeland. As Trump cracks down on political speech, independent media is increasingly necessary. Truthout produces reporting you won't see in the mainstream: journalism from the frontlines of global conflict, interviews with grassroots movement leaders, high-quality legal analysis and more. Help Truthout catalyze change and social justice — make a tax-deductible monthly or one-time donation today. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day.

If you think our work is valuable, support us with a donation of any size. To say press freedoms in the U.S. have taken a knock during the first year of Donald Trump's second term would be a gross understatement. Perhaps the most glaring example is the Department of Defense's new policy requiring journalists covering the Pentagon to sign a pledge promising not to use any information that hasn't been explicitly authorized. But the Trump administration's attacks on a free press have also included other tactics, like the effort to dismantle Freedom of Information Act processes across federal departments. The administration's explicit attempts at censorship work alongside the more insidious ways in which press freedoms are eroded, like the right-wing capture of legacy media institutions and social media platforms by ideologues and billionaires. “To be clear, all presidents and all elected officials have always objected to their coverage,” David Loy, legal director with the First Amendment Coalition, a nonpartisan nonprofit that seeks to promote and protect press freedoms, told Truthout. These attacks on press freedoms don't stop at the federal level, however; they are also being inflicted by local governments seeking to undermine already-embattled local media. In Northern California's Shasta County, for example, the region's registrar of voters, Clint Curtis, singled out a local media outlet for exclusion on a press release distribution list after the publication had reported on serious questions about his proposed changes to the electoral process. It hasn't been all bad news, with the courts remaining a vital bulwark against such attacks. In November, Marion County in Kansas agreed to offer an apology and pay a $3 million settlement to end a lawsuit stemming from police raids on the small Marion County Record newsroom and two homes in August of 2023, including that of Record vice president and associate publisher, 98-year-old Joan Meyer, who died of a heart attack the following day. In October, a California district court judge sided with the Los Angeles Press Club in striking down an attempt by the Los Angeles Police Department to lessen use-of-force restrictions against journalists covering protests across the city. Against this backdrop, the small and scrappy news outlet that serves the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma — the fourth-largest federally recognized tribal nation in the U.S. — offers a stark lesson of what happens when cherished press freedoms are lost altogether, as well as a blueprint for how to restore and protect these important civic checks and balances. It's the first tribal nation to tweak their constitution to cement and secure an independent press in this manner. The road to that moment was a long and rocky one, characterized by corruption in high office, a small newsroom hamstrung by government censorship, and a community forced to reckon with the potential loss of a key mechanism for holding their leaders accountable. “Part of being a good journalism outlet is always advocating for press freedom and the First Amendment rights of our citizens,” said current Mvskoke Media Director Angel Ellis. “And now, we are in better shape to do that advocacy work and deliver the news as we should.” The nation has been served by a monthly newspaper since 1970, The Mvskoke News, which is now housed at Mvskoke Media, an editorial and creative outlet. But not everyone appreciated this public accounting, especially those in charge. Ellis broke a major government corruption story in 2011 about the misuse of tribal gaming funds. It won her an award from the Native American Journalists Association, but Ellis's department manager fired her for insubordination shortly after this coverage went to print. At the time, it was one of just a handful of tribal nations to have enacted such a law. Even today, only about 11 of the 574 federally recognized Native American tribes are protected by some sort of press freedom, either by a law written into their books or by a court ruling defending that nation's independent news coverage, said Ellis. In 2017, Mvskoke Media investigated the tribal council speaker, Lucian Tiger III, for sexual misconduct, in an explosive story that rattled the tribal nation. Many of Mvskoke Media's reporters — whose digital communications were suddenly open for scrutiny by government leadership — resigned, appalled at being professionally handcuffed. And the newsroom's ability to check power remained limited under a law that could once again be revoked. In a democracy where governmental authority isn't properly held accountable, elections are among its most corruptible parts. If the wheels of democracy were to spin unimpeded, an independent free press was vital. A constitutional amendment would cement it in stone. Come the elections of 2021, Muscogee citizens got their chance to weigh in. And news organizations are run by people who do the job and people need to be paid,'” said Ellis, describing “hundreds and hundreds of hours of outreach speaking candidly one-on-one” with the community. Her work paid off in September 2021, when the Muscogee Creek Nation voted for the free press constitutional amendment by a whopping 76 percent. Its passage came with immediate tangible effects, for both Mvskoke Media and the Muscogee Creek Nation as a whole. Since then, “democracy has been carried out in a very cohesive and boring manner,” said Ellis. The constitutional amendment built a firewall between Mvskoke Media and government officials. “There's nothing threatening coming down the pipeline, but we don't want to rest on our laurels,” said Ellis. As part of that proactive approach, Ellis has found the publication independent legal counsel. “If they ever wanted to come and shut our doors, they could have,” said Ellis, about the impetus behind the location change. Were they able to shut us down in terms of our digital electronic functions?” said Ellis, replaying some of her fears. In response, the organization has adopted its own independent IT system. Although the newsroom still receives statutory funding, about 60 percent of its money now comes from merchandizing: think sweatshirts, hoodies, and t-shirts. Mvskoke Media operates two brick-and-mortar gift shops, and while it doesn't have a commercial printing press, it has printers perfectly suited for commercial business cards, flyers, and brochures. “We started out with about $10,000 worth of just t-shirts. And now, we've grown that into over half a million dollars of revenue.” “As we sit today, I only have five,” said Ellis. When you lose 90 years-worth of experience in a newsroom, it's damn near impossible to replace that.” Ellis has taken her story to newsrooms large and small around the U.S. imparting words of hard-earned wisdom. Another is to eschew the old profit-driven funding model built around advertising. “I've trained some very prestigious newsrooms and my message is always this: ‘Indigenize your process and get away from the capitalism,'” said Ellis, who explained that while the Mvskoke Media still accepts advertising dollars, it's far from a central focus of their revenue-building efforts. “It's always in the nature of power to resist accountability,” said Loy, offering a reminder that press freedoms need eternal vigilance. Truthout is funded almost entirely by readers — that's why we can speak truth to power and cut against the mainstream narrative. But independent journalists at Truthout face mounting political repression under Trump. We rely on your support to survive McCarthyist censorship. Please make a tax-deductible one-time or monthly donation. This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), and you are free to share and republish under the following terms: Dan Ross is a journalist whose work has appeared in Truthout, The Guardian, FairWarning, Newsweek, YES! Magazine, Salon, AlterNet, Vice and a number of other publications. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day.

“We don't want to be Americans, we don't want to be Danish, we want to be Greenlanders,” said the group, which included the island's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen. “The future of Greenland must be decided by Greenlanders.” Stressing the desire of the people of Greenland, a former Danish colony, to have self-determination, they said: “No other country can meddle in this. The statement was signed by Nielsen, his predecessor as prime minister, Múte B Egede, and Pele Broberg, Aleqa Hammond and Aqqalu C Jerimiassen. At a meeting with oil and gas executives at the White House earlier on Friday, Trump had said Greenland was crucial for US national security. “We're not going to have Russia or China occupy Greenland. So we're going to be doing something with Greenland, either the nice way or the more difficult way,” he told reporters. Trump is “actively” discussing making a potential offer to buy the island with his national security team, the White House confirmed earlier this week. Trump said on Friday: “If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have a Nato right now.” When asked whether his priority was preserving the alliance or acquiring Greenland, he previously told the New York Times: “It may be a choice.” Asked about Trump's statement, the head of Nato's forces in Europe, US Gen Alexus Grynkewich, said he did not wish to comment on whether the alliance – which includes Denmark – would survive without the US. But he responded on Friday by saying Nato was far from being in a crisis. “There's been no impact on my work at the military level up to this point … I would just say that we're ready to defend every inch of alliance territory still today,” he said. “So I see us as far from being in a crisis right now,.” But Trump told reporters on Friday that a lease agreement was not enough.

President Donald Trump continued his threats towards Greenland on Friday, as he insisted that if the United States did not act Russia or China could occupy it in the future. Trump said that if he is unable to make a deal to acquire the territory “the easy way,” then he will have to “do it the hard way.” “We are going to do something in Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor,” Trump told reporters at the White House. Greenland's party leaders, including the opposition, issued a joint statement saying: “We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders. The US president and his White House officials have been discussing a range of options on how to bring Greenland under US control amid renewed interest in the strategically significant Danish-controlled territory, and has not ruling out a military intervention. The governments of Greenland and Denmark continue to publicly and privately insist it is not for sale. It remains unclear how other NATO members would respond if the US decided to take Greenland by force. In a joint statement the leaders of France, Germany, the UK, Italy, Poland and Spain said Greenland belongs to its own people. “I would like to make a deal the easy way but if we don't do it the easy way, we're going to do it the hard way. And by the way, I'm a fan of Denmark too. He claimed that the move was necessary to prevent Russia or China from taking Greenland at some point in the future. Asked about a recent report that the US was weighing making payments to Greenlanders to convince them to join the US, Trump said, “I'm not talking about money for Greenland yet.” It's absolutely certain that we don't want that,” one resident of the capital city of Nuuk, Simon Kjeldskov, told Reuters. Another resident, Juno Michaelsen, said: “Any number in the world and we will say no. The top Washington-based diplomats for Greenland and Denmark met with White House officials on Thursday. Denmark's Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen and Greenland's head of representation to the US Jacob Isbosethsen met with Trump advisers, diplomats familiar with the matter told CNN. Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen alongside four other party leaders once again rejected Trump's calls to acquire the semi-autonomous territory in a statement release Friday night and seen by Reuters. Greenland's parliament last met in November and had been scheduled to meet again on February 3.

Iranian state TV is reporting on security force casualties while portraying control over the nation. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled a coming clampdown, despite U.S. warnings. Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with the Iran's attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge. “Proceedings must be conducted without leniency, compassion or indulgence.” U.S. President Donald Trump offered support for the protesters, saying on social media that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered support for the protesters. The State Department separately warned: “Do not play games with President Trump. Saturday marks the start of the work week in Iran, but many schools and universities reportedly held online classes, Iranian state TV reported. Internal Iranian government websites are believed to be functioning. State TV repeatedly played a driving, martial orchestral arrangement from the “Epic of Khorramshahr” by Iranian composer Majid Entezami, while showing pro-government demonstrations. “Field reports indicate that peace prevailed in most cities of the country at night,” a state TV anchor reported. “After a number of armed terrorists attacked public places and set fire to people's private property last night, there was no news of any gathering or chaos in Tehran and most provinces last night.” A timeline of the protests in Iran and how they grew That was directly contradicted by an online video verified by The Associated Press that showed demonstrations in northern Tehran's Saadat Abad area, with what appeared to be thousands on the street. State television also aired footage of a funeral service attended by hundreds in Qom, a Shiite seminary city just south of Tehran. Iran's theocracy cut off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls on Thursday, though it allowed some state-owned and semiofficial media to publish. Qatar's state-funded Al Jazeera news network reported live from Iran, but they appeared to be the only major foreign outlet able to work. Iran's exiled former crown prince Reza Pahlavi, who called for protests Thursday and Friday, asked in his latest message for demonstrators to take to the streets Saturday and Sunday. He urged protesters to carry Iran's old lion-and-sun flag and other national symbols used during the time of the shah to “claim public spaces as your own.” Who is Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former Iranian crown prince calling on citizens to protest? Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some protests, but it isn't clear whether that's support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran's theocracy. Airlines have cancelled some flights into Iran over the demonstrations. Turkish Airlines earlier announced the cancellation of 17 flights to three cities in Iran. Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Bones and skulls visible in the back seat of a car near an abandoned cemetery on Philadelphia's outskirts led police to a basement filled with body parts, which authorities say were hoarded by a man now accused of stealing about 100 sets of human remains. Officers say a Tuesday night arrest culminated a monthslong investigation into break-ins at Mount Moriah Cemetery, where at least 26 mausoleums and vaults had been forced open since early November. Some of them were pieced together, some were just skulls on a shelf,” Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said. Most were in the basement, authorities said, and they also recovered jewelry believed to be linked to the graves. In one case, a pacemaker was still attached. Police say Gerlach targeted mausoleums and underground vaults at the 1855 cemetery. It's considered the country's largest abandoned burial ground, according to Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, which helps maintain the 160-acre landmark in Yeadon that's home to an estimated 150,000 grave sites. Jim Morrison's stolen grave bust found after 37 years Police had been looking into the string of burglaries when an investigator checked Gerlach's vehicle plates and found he had been near Yeadon repeatedly during the period when the burglaries occurred. Police say the break-ins centered on sealed vaults and mausoleums containing older burials, which had been smashed open or had stonework damaged to reach the remains inside. He was arrested as he walked back toward his car with a crowbar, police said, and a burlap bag in which officers found the mummified remains of two small children, three skulls and other bones. Gerlach told investigators he took about 30 sets of human remains and showed them the graves he stole from, police said. “Given the enormity of what we are looking at and the sheer, utter lack of reasonable explanation, it's difficult to say right now, at this juncture, exactly what took place. We're trying to figure it out,” Rouse told reporters. Judge accepts guilty pleas from Colorado funeral home owners who acknowledged abusing 191 corpses Gerlach was charged with 100 counts each of abuse of a corpse and receiving stolen property, along with multiple counts of desecrating a public monument, desecrating a venerated object, desecrating a historic burial place, burglary, trespassing and theft.

Online campaign for US woman shot and killed by ICE agent in Minneapolis significantly surpasses initial $50,000 goal An online campaign meant to financially support the family of Renee Nicole Good – the US woman shot to death Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent – raised more than $1.5m before organizers closed it Friday. “We are here brokenhearted and in awe of your generosity.” In a substantial show of public support, the campaign – verified by GoFundMe as legitimate – had generated more than 30 times that amount when it was closed Friday. Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot to death as she tried to drive her car away from federal agents conducting an immigration sweep in Minneapolis at the behest of the Trump administration. Video taken by the agent who shot Good showed her saying everything was “fine” and “I'm not mad at you” while he approached and she was behind the wheel of a car stopped across a street. Then a different ICE officer demanded she open her door and grabbed its handle. The officer at that point shot Good multiple times, fatally wounding her while a voice on video is heard saying: “Fucking bitch.” The ICE agent who killed Good has been identified as Jonathan E Ross. Minnesota officials and residents have sharply rebuked the Trump administration's narrative that Good was engaging in domestic terrorism when Ross killed her. Some congressional Democrats have threatened to withhold funding for the Department of Homeland Security that contains ICE. Thousands have protested near the site of Good's killing, which was less than a mile from where Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd in plain view of a cellphone camera five years earlier, igniting worldwide protests. “We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness,” Rebecca Good's statement said.

Neil Woodyer was on top of the world heading into 2026. After U.S. President Donald Trump captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, asserting Mr. Trump's control over the country and its vast oil reserves, he quickly pivoted to Colombia and called its President, Gustavo Petro, “a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.” “He's not going to be doing it for very long,” Mr. Trump said, suggesting Mr. Petro was on borrowed time. Colombian President Gustavo Petro holds a demonstration against the Trump administration and in defence of his country's sovereignty.Andres Rot/Getty Images Latin Americans also have thick skin after decades of coups and dictatorships, so daily life hasn't ground to a halt. Yet Mr. Trump also can't be ignored, considering he is creating uncertainty for the more than 650 million people who live in Latin America and the Caribbean. It's a puzzle for Canadian resource companies that have poured tens of billions of dollars into the region over the past three decades. Teck Resources Ltd., First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., Sherritt International Corp., Pan American Silver Corp. and Aris are all heavily invested across the region. Thanks to sudden new aggression from Mr. Trump, that instability is now roaring back. If anything, some chief executive officers and investors see opportunity. People are very suspicious of them when it comes to investment,” Mr. Woodyer said. He also doubts that the U.S. will force a regime change in Colombia. “They also understand that there is actually an elected government in the country.” Bank of Nova Scotia chief executive officer Scott Thomson echoed that sentiment at an investor conference this week. “Longer-term, this is a good thing for the Western Hemisphere. But it's still early days and sustained U.S. pressure for regime change across multiple countries could destabilize the region for years, rather than produce calm. In a sense, nobody should be surprised that Mr. Trump is suddenly acting with wanton aggression. In November, the U.S. released a new National Security Strategy, and it lays out the President's desire for much more influence in Latin America. The doctrine was then-president James Monroe's vision in 1823 to keep Europe out of Latin America, while agreeing to stay out of European affairs across the Atlantic Ocean. Mr. Trump has essentially reworked that ethos for the present day, and it is being dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine.” But this time, the focus isn't so much about keeping Europe at bay as it is about China. China has built and acquired critical infrastructure assets, including a brand new billion-dollar megaport in Peru. It's possible the two countries will fight for control by using cheques as carrots, but lately Mr. Trump and his homeland security adviser, Stephen Miller, have shown a proclivity for aggressive tactics. But the rival superpower isn't going to roll over. “Ousting China won't be easy for the U.S.,” said Rafael Ch, a senior analyst for Latin America at Signum Global Advisors, a geopolitical consultancy. Mr. Trump also wants to diminish the influence of other hostile foreign actors such as Hezbollah and Russia, which exert influence in Venezuela and Cuba. And he views Mexican drug cartels as direct threats to the U.S., and his security strategy involves flexing military might to defeat them, “including where necessary the use of lethal force.” Venezuela, for instance, was unique before Mr. Maduro was captured, and the potential for civil instability in his wake makes it even more of an outlier. “I don't think you can overestimate how much of a ticking time bomb the situation is right now,” said Rebecca Hanson, a professor with the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida, who has spent years studying Venezuela's rival gangs, armed groups and military leaders, who are all now vying for power. There is also an open question of whether Mr. Trump will want anything in return for his influence, and how open he is to sharing Latin America's riches with the region's own people. In Venezuela, he's already taking oil to the U.S. that was trapped by a naval blockade. Oddly enough, the newfound uncertainty is a reminder of why many Latin American countries opened their borders to foreign investment in the first place. But after some brutal economic downturns, countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Chile started privatizing state assets and opened their borders to outside investment, giving foreigners the same investment protections as locals. During Venezuela's Apertura Petrolera, or oil opening, in the 1990s, foreign producers such as Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp. poured money in, but then Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1999 and he eventually seized control over most of those operations. The country's downfall continued under Mr. Maduro, who narrowly won election in 2013, and shored up his support over time by using state assets to enrich military generals and political allies. But there has been real progress elsewhere, and Canadian companies are in on it. Beyond the miners, Saputo Inc. bought one of Argentina's major dairy processors in 2003 and is now a major dairy products exporter in the region; Brookfield Corp. owns power generation and transmission assets in Brazil and Colombia; and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has owned a major natural gas pipeline in Peru. As Latin American countries developed, their standards of living soared. Miners know, for instance, that Peru, which has had six different presidents since 2020, it isn't the same as Canada or Australia. Assets in less stable jurisdictions “typically trade at lower valuations because of the risks associated with the change of government,” said Onno Rutten, a resource portfolio manager with Mackenzie Investments. A similar logic applies to Cuba, another country on Mr. Trump's hit list. But even in a positive long-term scenario, the transition period could be messy. “There are lots of territories the government did not have a handle on,” she said, and there's no telling what the armed groups who run them are going to do now. Mr. Maduro, she added, also shored up his support by giving military heads and political allies private contracts. They're not going to simply give these up and lose out on their riches without a fight. And even though the U.S. is a superpower, any intervention won't be taken lying down. Christopher Ecclestone is a mining strategist at Hallgarten & Co. in London, but he previously lived in Buenos Aires and is extremely skeptical of the idea that Mr. Trump could effectively use military force in Mexico to solve the drug problem. “If Trump thinks he's going to do anything about cartels, there will be rows of American heads on flyovers over freeways in Mexico,” he said. If there is more chaos in Latin America, the private sector support Mr. Trump boasts of may not materialize. “Oil companies are going to be very wary,” Mr. Ecclestone said. “They operate at the international level in all sorts of places that are dodgy, but they're used to doing it on a low-profile basis.” “But these big companies are just looking around saying, ‘No, that's not how we operate. The U.S. Senate has already advanced a motion that would block the President from more military action in Venezuela without congressional approval, and without some sort of military force on the ground, his dream of controlling Venezuelan oil may never come true. But one thing is very clear: The uncertainty he sows is now spreading across Latin America, and anyone with business ties to the region has to add a new risk premium and more flexibility to their financial models. “If you can find the right way to operate in the country, as we did in some of the West African countries, then you could go a long way,” Mr. Woodyer said, referencing his past experiences managing operations in Mali and Burkina Faso. Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Launched in September 2022 by Ukraine's Military Intelligence, the 24-hour "I Want to Live" hotline helps Russian soldiers willingly surrender themselves or their units to the Ukrainian army. Iraq's Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine, Tarek Kazem, told Ukrainian officials that Baghdad is concerned about young Iraqis being drawn into the ranks of the Russian military. The commission will work in coordination with Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council and is intended to curb recruitment efforts and address related legal violations. “The Iraqi side also noted that under the country's Criminal Code, mercenarism carries severe liability up to life imprisonment,” Kazem said. In December alone, more than 150 foreign nationals from 25 countries were identified as having been recruited into the Russian army, with about 200 more preparing to join, said Oleh Ivashchenko, the former head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service. Financial incentives, simplified access to Russian citizenship, and amnesty for convicted criminals are among the main motivations for foreigners joining Russia's military, Ivashchenko said. Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. Russia, Iran, China and South Africa are participating in the drills, called "Will for Peace 2026," with Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia joining as observers. "We are surging investment into our preparations (...) ensuring that Britain's Armed Forces are ready to deploy, and lead, the multinational force (in) Ukraine, because a secure Ukraine means a secure U.K.," U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said. Ukraine's Air Force reported intercepting 94 of the 121 drones launched by Russia overnight. Russia also launched one ballistic missile from its Kursk region. Russian authorities in Volgograd Oblast reported a drone attack overnight on Jan. 10, that sparked a fire at an oil facility in the region's Oktyabrsky district. "We are going to do something with Greenland, whether they like it or not," Trump told reporters. "Because if we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor." "This is a man who must be stopped," John Healey told the Kyiv Independent. Four people were killed and 25 others injured in Kyiv after Russia launched a mass attack across Ukraine overnight on Jan. 8-9. Rescue workers were among the victims of Russia's double-tap strike. Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyi reported that a critical infrastructure facility in the region was hit.

GENEVA, January 10. /TASS/. Today's European leaders have not lived through world wars and therefore lack the historical perspective needed to properly assess the situation around Ukraine, Swiss politician, journalist, writer, and member of the Geneva cantonal parliament Guy Mettan told TASS in an interview. "With the exception of [Hungarian Prime Minister] Viktor Orban, [Slovak Prime Minister] Robert Fico, and [Belarusian President] Alexander Lukashenko, none of the current European leaders are capable of conducting a rational analysis of the situation," he said. According to Mettan, today's European leaders "did not experience World War II and came of age only at the end of the Cold War." As a result, "they possess neither the historical background nor the geopolitical competence required to manage complex situations," he explained. In his view, true courage on the part of Europeans under the current circumstances "would be to acknowledge that they have chosen the wrong path and to do everything possible to bring the war" in Ukraine to an end. Mettan stressed that the conflict is devastating Europe and Ukraine "far more than it is affecting Russia.".

Russian authorities in Volgograd Oblast reported a drone attack overnight on Jan. 10, that sparked a fire at an oil facility in the region's Oktyabrsky district. Debris from a downed drone reportedly fell on the territory of an oil depot, igniting a fire at the site. Volgograd Oblast Governor Andrey Bocharov said Russian air defense units were responding to what he described as a drone attack targeting the oblast. Ukraine routinely launches deep strikes against military and industrial facilities in Russia, primarily relying on domestically developed drones. Russia's oil and gas production has continued to come under attack as Kyiv attempts to cripple Moscow's primary source of funding for its war in Ukraine. Volgograd is located about 354 kilometers (220 miles) from Ukraine's eastern border with Russia and approximately 500 kilometers (310 miles) from Ukrainian-controlled territory near Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast. Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. Russia, Iran, China and South Africa are participating in the drills, called "Will for Peace 2026," with Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia joining as observers. "We are surging investment into our preparations (...) ensuring that Britain's Armed Forces are ready to deploy, and lead, the multinational force (in) Ukraine, because a secure Ukraine means a secure U.K.," U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said. Ukraine's Air Force reported intercepting 94 of the 121 drones launched by Russia overnight. Russia also launched one ballistic missile from its Kursk region. Russian authorities in Volgograd Oblast reported a drone attack overnight on Jan. 10, that sparked a fire at an oil facility in the region's Oktyabrsky district. "We are going to do something with Greenland, whether they like it or not," Trump told reporters. "Because if we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor." "This is a man who must be stopped," John Healey told the Kyiv Independent. Four people were killed and 25 others injured in Kyiv after Russia launched a mass attack across Ukraine overnight on Jan. 8-9. Rescue workers were among the victims of Russia's double-tap strike. Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyi reported that a critical infrastructure facility in the region was hit.

The UK will spend nearly $270 million on equipping troops it plans to deploy in Ukraine after a ceasefire is reached, British Defense Secretary John Healey announced during a trip to Kiev on Friday. Russia has repeatedly said it would not allow Western soldiers to be stationed in Ukraine and has warned that it would treat foreign troops as legitimate targets. Nevertheless, Healey said the funds would be invested in units intended to form part of a multinational force aimed at providing “long-term security guarantees” to Ukraine. “We are surging investment into our preparations following the prime minister's announcement this week, ensuring that Britain's Armed Forces are ready to deploy and lead the Multinational Force Ukraine, because a secure Ukraine means a secure UK,” Healey said. Ukrainian Defense Minister Denis Shmigal said after the meeting that the UK would begin producing 1,000 Octopus interceptor drones per month in February and deliver them to Ukraine. Despite their continued support for military aid, some European countries, including Germany and Italy, have refused to commit to sending troops to the country. NATO members Hungary and Slovakia have declined to send weapons to Kiev, urging the West to focus on diplomacy instead. The US, which has been attempting to mediate a truce between Russia and Ukraine, has also ruled out sending American soldiers to the country. The Russian Foreign Ministry reiterated on Thursday that Moscow would treat “the stationing of military units, sites, depots and other Western infrastructure in Ukraine as a foreign intervention posing a direct threat to Russia's security.” Read RT Privacy policy to find out more.