On matters of national security
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.
Greenland, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Venezuela ‒ In a wide-ranging conversation with DW Washington Bureau Chief Ines Pohl, retired US General Ben Hodges offers a blunt and deeply critical assessment of the US’ current foreign and security policy.
Hodges warns of serious damage to NATO, questions the lack of long-term strategy behind recent military actions, and explains why Ukraine is far from losing — and why that still matters for Europe’s security.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday, January 15, 2026, there are strong reasons to believe a group connected to Russian secret services was behind a December cyberattack on Poland’s power grid last month.
“There are many reasons to believe… that they were prepared by groups directly linked to the Russian services, I don’t want to speculate, but I don’t think we have any doubts about the sources of inspiration,” Tusk told a press conference.
Continue reading “Russia behind cyberattack on Polish energy infrastructure”
Amid continued threats by Trump to annex Greenland, the territory of Denmark, a fellow NATO member, multiple outlets report Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Canada are sending troops to Greenland.
The deployment is not meant to spark a confrontation against the US, but a measure to ensure the common security interests of all NATO partners.
Around 4:40 a.m. on Jan. 6, just a few days after the US capture of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, armed men intercepted a bus carrying civilians and several policemen on the main highway near Tibú, a town on the Colombian side of the border with Venezuela. They ordered passengers to hand over their phones for inspection, and then proceeded to kidnap five police officers.
The assailants were members of the National Liberation Army, or E.L.N., a Colombian guerrilla group that started off mounting a leftist insurgency in the 1960s but has since expanded into criminal enterprises. As many as half of its roughly 6,300 fighters are now based in Venezuela, where they have, at least until this month, enjoyed an alliance of mutual convenience with the government.
Continue reading “Something is brewing along the Colombia‒Venezuela border”
US Secretary of War Hegseth announced Monday January 12, 2026 that Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok will be integrated into Pentagon classified systems and will join Google’s generative AI engine in operating within the Pentagon’s infrastructure.
The current administration’s aggressive embrace of developing AI technology contrasts sharply with former President Joe Biden administration’s cautious approach, which emphasized safeguards and responsible-use guidelines.
Continue reading “Pentagon is integrating Grok AI into classified networks”
2025 was the third hottest on record and stood on the cusp of surpassing a major climate threshold globally, according to new data from Copernicus, the European climate agency.
The data indicates 2025 was about 1.47 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels, following 2024’s record-setting 1.6 degrees. When 2023 is added to the mix, it’s the first three-year period on record to exceed 1.5 degrees, the data suggests.
