Sunday, January 11, 2026
Iran threatens to hit Israel if US intervenes; Israel said to be on high alert
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-january-11-2026/
Iran warns US President Donald Trump that any US attack would lead to Tehran striking back against Israel and regional US military bases as “legitimate targets,” Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf tells parliament.
Israel is on high alert for the possibility of a US intervention to support a nationwide anti-regime protest movement in Iran, sources say.
The ‘Putinization’ of US foreign policy has arrived in Venezuela
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/03/putin-russia-us-foreign-policy-venezuela
Trump is no longer bending the rules – he is demolishing them, with consequences far beyond Caracas
Trump’s belief in his own global omnipotence, and his desire to grab the territory and natural resources of other countries has been held in check until now by his fear of entanglement in foreign wars. He claimed (falsely) to have ended eight wars, and his greatest ambition in 2025 seemed to be winning the Nobel peace prize. Less than a month ago he was brandishing a hastily confected substitute, the Fifa peace prize. That act of self-abasement by world football’s governing body looks even more absurd now than it did when Trump grabbed the gold medal and put it around his own neck.
The international laws and norms Trump has barged through had already been loosened by previous US administrations. The operation most closely resembles the 1989 invasion of Panama and forced surrender of its strongman, by the first Bush administration.
In his press conference on Saturday, Trump added Cuba to the list of countries in his sights, suggesting it was “very similar” to Venezuela “in the sense that we want to help the people in Cuba”. His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, added that Havana should feel “concerned” in the wake of the events in Venezuela.
It accelerates the slide from a mostly rules-based world to one of competing spheres of influence, to be determined by armed might and the readiness to use it. One US commentator, David Rothkopf, called it the “Putinization of US foreign policy”.
Judge blocks Trump administration from freezing $10B in child care funds
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/01/10/trump-childcare-funds-minnesota-california/
The temporary order will keep aid flowing to five Democratic-led states for 14 days as a lawsuit against the government moves ahead.
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from freezing about $10 billion in federal funds for child care grants and family assistance earmarked for five Democratic-led states over what it had said were concerns around fraud.
Minnesota investigators say child care centers accused of fraud are operating normally as governor drops reelection bid
The 43-minute video, posted to YouTube the day after Christmas by a 23-year-old conservative content creator, claimed with little evidence Somali-run child care centers in Minnesota were fraudulently taking funding meant to provide child care for low-income families. The video, boosted by Vice President JD Vance and tech billionaire Elon Musk, quickly racked up millions of views.
Investigators last week visited all of the child care centers accused of fraud in the video, and all were operating as expected, state officials say.
The state’s initial findings cast doubt on the claims of fraud articulated in the viral video. Still, investigations into alleged wrongdoing are ongoing.
Israel closely monitoring Iran protests, sees turning point for regime change
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ryjliblsze
Israel is closely watching the unfolding protests in Iran, with experts on Iranian affairs saying, “If there was ever a real chance for the Iranian people to topple the regime, it’s now.”
Protesters in Tehran describe seeing ‘bodies piled up’ in hospitals after crackdown by authorities
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/10/middleeast/tehran-iran-protests-deaths-arrests-intl
A woman in her mid-60s and a 70-year-old man described seeing people of all ages out in the streets of the Iranian capital on Thursday and Friday. On Friday night, however, security forces brandishing military rifles killed “many people,” they said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Trump weighing new strike options on Iran
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/420701
US President Donald Trump has in recent days been briefed on new military strike options against Iran, as he weighs whether to follow through on his threat to respond to the regime’s violent crackdown on protesters, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing multiple US officials familiar with the discussions.
Officials said the President has not made a final decision but is seriously considering authorizing a strike in response to Iran’s suppression of demonstrations sparked by widespread economic grievances. He has been presented with a range of possibilities, including potential strikes on nonmilitary sites in Tehran, the officials told The Times, speaking on condition of anonymity.
On Thursday, in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Trump said, “What they've done in the past, they've started shooting the hell out of people. And all of a sudden, people without any weapons whatsoever standing there and get machine guns, gunning them down, or they grab, take them to prisons and then hang them and kill them. So they played rough. And I said, if they do that, we're going to hit them very hard. We're going to hit them hard."
Trump added, “We're ready to do it. If they do that, we're going to hit them hard. And so far, for the most part, there's been some of it, but for the most part, they haven't. There have been people killed. Some of them, the crowds are so big that some of them have had, were stomped on. Literally. It was terrible."
Saturday, January 10, 2026
Suspect arrested for indecent acts on patients at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/crime-in-israel/article-882886
A 23-year-old man was arrested for allegedly assaulting patients at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. Authorities are investigating possible additional victims.
The 23-year-old suspect from Har Homa allegedly entered the hospital dressed in attire resembling that of the medical staff and presented himself as an authorized hospital employee.
Slowest Labor Market in Years Leaves Job Seekers Stuck
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/job-market-cooling-labor-department-6d4204ed?mod=hp_lead_pos1
Job hunts get more desperate, as workers cobble together part-time gigs, raid 401(k)s and get waitlisted by DoorDash
America’s unemployment rate is low. But so is its job growth. That means Americans without stable, full-time work are locked out of a job market that has settled into a low-hire, low-fire stasis.