For today, links to an article of commentary from MintPress News, and to three reports: from National Public Radio, Middle East Eye, and the Associated Press; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for MEDIA 1-7-26 and up or down for IRAN, WEST BANK, GAZA, VENEZUELA and UKRAINE.) — MCM

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FROM JAN. 9  Kidnapping, or ‘capture’? by Alan MacLeod | MintPress News  U.S. President Trump said “kidnapping” was an appropriate term for the Jan. 3 abduction of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, but corporate media around the world refrain from using the word. And managers at BBC instructed its staff to “avoid using ‘kidnapped’” in their reports. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JAN. 10  How does NPR report on Venezuela? Reported by Sarah McCammon and Eyder Peralta | NPR  Eyder Peralta, NPR international correspondent, on racing to the Venezuela border after the U.S. captured Nicolás Maduro, and the obstacles keeping journalists from getting into the country. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Israeli social media erupts with calls for overthrowing Iran’s government, by Nadav Rapaport | Middle East Eye  TEL AVIV — Israeli social media has filled with open calls for the overthrow of the Iranian government, as protests spread across the Islamic Republic and authorities imposed a near-total internet blackout. READ MORE . . .

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Retouched images of Netanyahu’s wife, distributed by the state, ignite a fiery ethics debate, by Julia Frankel | AP  Critics say the issue is that the circulation of the images in official government announcements distorts reality, violates ethical codes and risks compromising official archiving and record-keeping efforts. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.

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For today, a link to commentary from Middle East Eye; other articles are accessible by clicking on its name below. (Scroll down for WEST BANK 1-5-26, and up or down for IRAN, MEDIA, GAZA, VENEZUELA and UKRAINE.) — MCM

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As genocide continues in Gaza, the West Bank is pushed into a new Nakba. From Middle East Eye.  Israel‘s genocide of the Palestinian people has never been confined to Gaza alone. READ MORE . . .

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For today, a link to commentary from the Floutist via Consortium News; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names below. (Scroll down for GAZA 1-5-26, and up or down for IRAN, MEDIA, WEST BANK, VENEZUELA and UKRAINE.) — MCM

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FROM JAN. 8  An abyss of lawlessness, by Patrick Lawrence | The Floutist / Consortium News  It is a long time now since the paying-attention among us began speaking of the fundamental lawlessness of our time. The Israelis prompted this discourse by their daily barbarities against the Palestinians of Gaza after Oct. 7, 2023. The Western powers compounded the shock of that savagery as they supported the Zionist terror machine — militarily, materially, politically, legally, diplomatically. READ MORE . . .

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For today, links to two articles of commentary: from the Floutist via Consortium News, and from MintPress News; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names below. (Scroll down for VENEZUELA 1-10-26, and up or down for IRAN, MEDIA, WEST BANK, GAZA and UKRAINE.) — MCM

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FROM JAN. 8  An abyss of lawlessness, by Patrick Lawrence | The Floutist / Consortium News  Now the Trump regime, with its invasion of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on Jan. 3, its abduction of President Nicolás Maduro, and its plans to occupy the nation and appropriate its petroleum reserves, has cast aside all thought of law, American and international alike. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JAN. 9  A brief history of U.S. kidnappings of foreign leaders, by Alan MacLeod | MintPress News  The Trump administration’s abduction of President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3 follows the kidnappings of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (2002); of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab (2020); of Panamanian President Manuel Antonio Noriega (1990); and of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (2004) — and the almost-kidnapping of Bolivian President Evo Morales (2013). READ MORE . . .

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For today, a link to commentary from the Floutist via Consortium News; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names below. (Scroll down for UKRAINE 1-10-26, and scroll up for IRAN, MEDIA, WEST BANK, GAZA and VENEZUELA.) — MCM

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FROM JAN. 8  An abyss of lawlessness, by Patrick Lawrence | The Floutist / Consortium News  Donald Trump is running the same empire that Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama, and Biden ran. He is merely running it differently — more openly coercive, more nakedly dependent on power alone — because we are in a different time, and imperial America is now late-imperial America. READ MORE . . .

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For today, links to three reports and a video clip: from Agence France-Presse, Reuters, the Associated Press, and National Public Radio; others or at least headlines are accessible by clicking on their initials below. (Scroll down for VENEZUELA 1-9-26 and SYRIA and UKRAINE.) — MCM

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Trump signs emergency order to protect U.S.-held revenue from Venezuela oil. From AFP. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order protecting U.S.-held money derived from sales of Venezuelan oil, after the ouster of Nicolas Maduro. Trump has made clear that tapping Venezuela’s vast oil reserves was a key goal in the U.S. ouster of Maduro. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AFP report in French, and HERE for headlines of others.

FROM JAN. 9  A reading list to better understand this moment in Venezuela. Reported by Alejandra Marquez Janse, Mary Louise Kelly and William Troop | NPR  Venezuelan journalist and author Paula Ramon in Caracas offers a reading list for anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of Venezuela at this moment. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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For today, links to two reports: from the Associated Press and the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for SYRIA 12-28-25 and up or down for VENEZUELA and UKRAINE.) — MCM

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Syrian security forces enter Aleppo neighborhood after clashes with Kurdish fighters, by Ghaith Alsayed | AP  ALEPPO, Syria — Syrian security forces today began deploying in a neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo after days of intense clashes with Kurdish fighters that killed and wounded dozens. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.

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Turkiye seeks to join Saudi–Pakistan defense pact mirroring NATO: report. From the Cradle. Since the start of the so-called Arab Spring in 2011, Turkiye has closely allied with Qatar. Both countries strongly supported the Muslim Brotherhood to destabilize the region, including in Syria, Libya, and Egypt. READ MORE . . .

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For today, links to two reports: from Reuters and the Associated Press; others or at least headlines are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for UKRAINE 1-9-26 and scroll up for VENEZUELA and SYRIA.) — MCM

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Winter pierces Kyiv homes after Russia knocks out heat. From Reuters. KYIV — Kyiv residents huddled against bitter winter cold inside their unheated apartments today as engineers struggled to restore power, water and heat knocked out in the latest salvo of Russian strikes. READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian drones set fire to Russian oil depot after Moscow launches new hypersonic missile. From AP. KYIV — A Ukrainian drone strike sparked a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s southern Volgograd region, regional authorities said today. READ MORE . . .

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For today, links to four reports: from the Associated Press, Middle East Eye, and the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for YEMEN 1-8-26 and for VENEZUELA, UKRAINE, PHOTO, and 9/11 TRUTH.) — MCM

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Separatist group in southern Yemen announces dissolution after its leader flees to the UAE, by Fatma Khaled | AP  CAIRO — Yemen’s main separatist group and its institutions will be dismantled effective today, the group’s secretary-general said, following weeks of unrest in areas of southern Yemen and a day after its leader fled to the United Arab Emirates. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others. Click HERE for report from Middle East Eye, and HERE for a Jan. 8 report from the Cradle.

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How Oman went from mediator to silent Saudi partner in Yemen fight, by Sean Mathews | Middle East Eye  For years, as fighting raged in Yemen, neighbouring Oman strained to keep its profile as a neutral mediator among warring sides. But when UAE-backed separatists swarmed into a Yemeni region on its border, Muscat took sides. A western and Arab diplomat said that Oman shared . . . READ MORE . . .

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For today, links to nine reports (to in Spanish only): from the Associated Press, Agencia EFE, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their initials below. (Scroll down for VENEZUELA 1-8-26 and up or down for YEMEN, UKRAINE, PHOTO and 9/11 TRUTH.) — MCM

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U.S. intercepts fifth sanctioned tanker as it exerts control over Venezuelan oil distribution, by Konstantin Toropin and Aamer Madhani | AP  WASHINGTON — U.S. forces boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea on today, the U.S. military said, as the Trump administration continues to target sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.  Click HERE for report from EFE in Spanish only, and HERE for others. 

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Trump meets with oil executives at the White House on Friday, seeking investments in Venezuela, by Josh Boak | AP  WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House today in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on . . . READ MORE . . .

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As Trump promises Venezuelan renaissance, locals struggle with crumbling economy, by Regina Garcia Cano and Matt Sedensky | AP  CARACAS — At a sprawling street market in Venezuela’s capital city, utility worker Ana Calderón wishes she could afford the ingredients to make a pot of soup. READ MORE . . .

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After Venezuela frees fewer than 1% of prisoners, activists try to stay hopeful, by Regina Garcia Cano and Megan Janetsky| AP  GUATIRE, Venezuela — A day after Venezuela ’s government pledged to free a “significant number” of prisoners, a local human rights group said only eight people had been released, or less than 1% of the citizens and foreigners the group says are detained for political reasons. READ MORE. . .  Click HERE for a Jan. 8 AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.

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Three from NPR. “Trump to meet with U.S. oil executives for help reviving Venezuela’s oil industry,” by Scott Horsley; “Trump says the U.S. could be in Venezuela for ‘years.’ What that could look like,” by Danielle Kurtzleben and A Martínez; and “A long U.S. stay in Venezuela? What past interventions reveal,” by Steve Inskeep. Click HERE for links to all three, and others.

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