The U.S. has been veering toward fascism for some time. That is why my family and I decided to leave for Canada last March: Canada is a diverse and healthy democracy. Yet in my short time here, I have observed an alarming level of naïveté about what is happening south of the border.
It seems many Canadians have simply not adjusted to the fact that they live next to a fascist state whose president has imperial designs on Canada.
Category: International Security
International Security includes military and diplomatic measures that nations and international organizations ‒ such as the United Nations and NATO ‒ take to ensure their safety and security.
DeepSeek AI is popular in China, Belarus, Cuba, Russia, Syria, Iran and much of the Global South
DeepSeek benefited from being open, free, and strategically distributed in regions often excluded from the first wave of AI adoption. This dynamic also highlights how open‑source AI can function as a geopolitical instrument, extending Chinese influence in areas where Western platforms cannot easily operate.
China’s artificial intelligence start-up Deepseek has quickly gained market share in many developing nations, surpassing US models that are popular in the West.
Trump: “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
Trump declared on Wednesday evening that his power as commander in chief is constrained only by his “own morality,” brushing aside international law and other checks on his ability to use military might to strike, invade or coerce nations around the world.
Asked in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times if there were any limits on his global powers, Mr. Trump said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
Continue reading “Trump: “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.””
Americans halt all assistance to Somalia
The US has suspended all assistance to the government of Somalia, alleging, without evidence, that officials destroyed a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse and seized “donor-funded food aid”.
US state department made the statement via the social media.
Israeli policy in West Bank ‘resembles apartheid’
A UN Human Rights report published Wednesday, January 7, 2026, concludes that Israel is violating international law prohibiting racial segregation and apartheid in the occupied West Bank. The findings reveal “a systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank.”
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned, “This is a particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation that resembles the kind of apartheid system we have seen before”.
Continue reading “Israeli policy in West Bank ‘resembles apartheid’”
The Americans do not plan to use ground troops in Venezuela
US Secretary of State Rubio and US War Secretary Hegseth on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, told lawmakers, in a closed-door briefing to the Senate, the Trump administration does not plan to use ground troops in Venezuela, but American military will remain deployed around Venezuela indefinitely to provide “leverage” in stabilizing the region, according to more than a dozen lawmakers who attended the event.
“They are talking about stealing the Venezuelan oil at gunpoint, for an undefined period of time, as leverage to micromanage the country,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat. “The scope and insanity of that plan is absolutely stunning.”
Trump said Wednesday – in a nearly two-hour interview with the NY Times – that he expected the US would be running Venezuela and extracting oil for its reserves for years, adding that the interim government in Venezuela is “giving us everything that we feel is necessary.”
During the wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Mr. Trump did not give a precise time range for how long the United States would remain Venezuela’s political overlord.
Leo Shane III, Connor O’Brien, and Joe Gould, Politico: Trump officials tell Congress: No troops in Venezuela https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/07/senators-venezuela-maduro-congress-00714417
David E. Sanger, Tyler Pager, Katie Rogers, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, NYT: Trump Says U.S. Oversight of Venezuela Could Last for Years https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/us/politics/trump-interview-venezuela.html
The Americans pull out of 66 international bodies, including key UN climate treaty
Trump on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, signed an executive order suspending US support and participation in 66 organizations, agencies, and commissions, most of which are UN-related.
Non-UN organizations on the list include the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the Global Counterterrorism Forum.
The Trump administration categorized them as catering to diversity and “woke” initiatives.
Trump’s decision to withdraw from organizations that foster cooperation among nations to address global challenges comes as the US administration has launched military efforts or issued threats that have rattled allies and adversaries alike, including the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and pressing their intention to own Greenland.
Trump attacks NATO’s reliability
Setting: Rising tensions as the Trump administration continues to apply pressure in it’s desire to acquire Greenland.
Trump on Wednesday January 7, 2026, attacked NATO’s reliability, claiming he was not convinced the alliance would come to the aid of the US in a crisis.
Americans seize Russian oil tanker in the North Atlantic [Upadted]
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]”
US plans to control Venezuela oil sales ‘indefinitely’
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’”