Everything is connected
“This is tyranny,” Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s attorney general, told me. “There is no other way to put it. We’re all shocked by it. Nobody ever thought America would look like this. We now don’t have to speculate as to what American fascism looks like. It’s right outside the door.”
Source:
NYT: In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/opinion/trump-minneapolis-ice.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FlA.h9nY.5zovniwEgSkO&smid=url-share
NBC News is reporting that Trump is increasingly complaining to aides about Canada’s vulnerability to adversaries in the Arctic.
As Trump works toward annexing Greenland, he has intensified his criticism of what he sees as Canada’s similar inability to defend its borders against any encroachment from Russia or China.
Greenland is not a marginal issue for Europeans. Threats against it cut to the heart of the idea of Europe, of sovereignty, international law and trust. Key European leaders recently stressed they are united in their position that it is up to Denmark and Greenland to decide their own fate — and no one else. The potential for a crisis is real, and what is most confounding is that this would be a crisis that is entirely unnecessary and easily avoidable.
Threatening to annex territory belonging to a NATO ally strikes at the very foundation of the alliance. NATO is not merely a military grouping; it is a community of liberal democracies that has endured precisely because its members trust — and do not threaten — one another. They consult, negotiate and resolve disputes peacefully. This shared political culture is not a luxury — it is NATO’s greatest strategic asset. It sets us apart from those that depend on threats and tricks to keep their “friends” together.
Canada has drawn up plans to send a contingent of soldiers to Greenland for military exercises with other NATO allies in the face of threats from the US president to annex the semi-autonomous island controlled by Denmark.
Two senior government officials told The Globe and Mail that the Canadian Armed Forces is awaiting final political approval from Prime Minister Mark Carney before the soldiers are flown to Greenland.
In separate reporting, two senior Canadian officials told CBC News that a set of contingency plans were drawn up last week and presented to the federal government.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday, January 18, 2026, defended the president’s calls for the US to take over Greenland amid concerns from European allies that an annexation would destroy NATO relations.
The president’s intensifying focus on Canada behind closed doors, whose relationship with the US has been deeply strained since he came into office, comes as he transforms some of his longtime criticisms of America’s neighbours in the Western Hemisphere into actions aimed at expanding US power in the region.
Protecting Canada’s northern border is a key part of Trump and his top aides’ vision of “solidifying” the Western Hemisphere, as one of the US officials put it. As the Americans see it, the acquisition of Greenland would also benefit Canada.
The US Department of War has ordered some 1,500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, US defence officials told The Washington Post on Saturday, January 18, 2026.
The soldiers are from two infantry battalions with the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, based in Alaska and specializes in cold-weather operations.
Alan Jones, a former Assistant Director of Operations for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) discusses the threats Canada faces, intelligence sharing, and whether or not the US poses a threat to Canada now and the extent to which that might affect intelligence sharing between Canada and the US.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday, January 16, 2026, urged US aircraft operators to “exercise caution” when flying over the eastern Pacific Ocean near Mexico, Central America and parts of South America, citing “military activities” and possible satellite navigation interference.
The warning was issued in a series of Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) issued by the FAA. They say, “Potential risks exist for aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight and the arrival and departure phases of flight.” The alerts are in effect for 60 days. Such notices are issued routinely in any region where there are hostilities nearby.
Source: AP https://apnews.com/article/faa-flight-warnings-pacific-ocean-dd0cbe105d75f6d8acf16f02884865c0
Lithuanian authorities accused Russia’s GRU military intelligence service on Friday, January 16, 2026, of masterminding the attempted arson attacks of a plant that supplies radio wave scanners to Ukraine’s army.
The group that coordinated the attack was made up of Colombian and Cuban citizens living in Russia, and had attempted similar arson attacks. They had targeted oil infrastructure in Romania, construction warehouses in Poland and buses, a post office, and a cinema in the Czech Republic.
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