On matters of national security
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.
The US on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, seized an oil tanker in the North Atlantic – between Scotland and Iceland – that had evaded its effort to crack down on Venezuela’s energy exports, capping a pursuit that had lasted more than two weeks and raised tensions with Russia.
At about the same time, US forces boarded another oil tanker in international waters near the Caribbean. The raids suggest the Americans intends to keep up the pressure on Caracas. “They tried to seize the tanker and it evaded them,” says Matthew Wright of Kpler. “They did not want to set a precedent.”
Continue reading “Americans seize Russian oil tanker in the North Atlantic [Upadted]”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright at the Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference in Miami on Wednesday January 7, 2026, said the US intends to maintain significant control over Venezuela’s oil industry, including by overseeing the sale of the country’s production “indefinitely.”
“Going forward we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace,” Wright said.
Continue reading “US plans to control Venezuela oil sales ‘indefinitely’”
Russia is intensifying covert attacks on key infrastructure in Germany in a campaign of hybrid warfare that Berlin views as a possible prelude to a wider conflict, according to a confidential defence ministry document titled ;Operationsplan Deutschland (OPLAN),’ obtained by Bloomberg.
As Germany positions itself as NATO’s main hub in Europe, it expects to be first targeted by Russia covertly via hybrid attacks on energy and defence infrastructure. The document summarizes guidelines for cooperation between different levels of government and institutions in case of conflict with Russia.
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The far-left ‘Volcano’ extremist group claimed responsibility for the January 3, 2026 arson attack on a power station which affected 45,000 residences, shut down mobile phone connections, cut heating during freezing weather, stopped trains and forced hospitals to switch to back-up generators.
Berlin’s mayor said on Monday January 5, 2026, that the German capital’s core infrastructure needed better protection.
Continue reading “Berlin power outage affecting 45,000 homes blamed on political extremists”