The oxygen you breathe depends on a tiny ocean ingredient Science Daily (Kevin W)
#COVID-19/Pandemics
The Price of Denial Anthony Leonardi (fk)
Climate/Environment
Ocean Temperatures Just Hit a Dire New Record Scientific American
🌊🌡📈
Extratropcial Sea Surface Temperatures were record high in 2025 for both hemispheres again.
This is the third year in a row!
Note the different y-axes. @ECMWF ERA5 data. pic.twitter.com/eq7zd06r2g
— Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8) January 9, 2026
La Niña Collapse Begins: How a Major Pacific Flip will Reshape the 2026 Weather Patterns Severe Weather
HISTORIC HEAT WAVE IN ASIA
Record heat from Middle East to Japan
In CHINA records are already falling:
23,1C Changyang, January hottest day ever
Next days several thousands of records will fall allover Asia,in the most record breaking event in Asian history. https://t.co/gMUWh7Rn94
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 12, 2026
Climate, pests and pollution fuel crop losses across India SciDevNet
Scientists detect hidden plastic clouds hovering over Chinese cities Independent
Water
Drinking water crisis blows up in India after deadly disease outbreaks Independent
Tunisia gripped by severe water scarcity APA News
Western Cape faces mounting water crisis as consumption spikes and municipalities across the province sound alarm IOL
China?
China’s US embassy decries ‘coercion’ after Trump slaps 25% tariffs on Iran trade partners South China Morning Post (guurst)
Carney heads to Beijing as Trump’s America First agenda forces Canada into trade rethink Guardian (Kevin W)
Japan
Japan to dig deep-sea rare earths to curb China dependence Hurriyet Daily News
Koreas
North Korea warns of ‘terrible consequences’ after drone incursion The Times
North Korea slams Japan’s push to revise 3 key national security documents Korea Times
Africa
Pakistan’s Reportedly Planned Arms Deal With Sudan Presages Problems For The UAE In Africa Andrew Korybko
South of the Border
‘The real ringleader’: the Venezuelan security chief with a $25m bounty on his head Guardian (resilc)
Lula’s Investment in Anti-Fascist Brazilian Films Wins Big at Golden Globes Mike Elk
European Disunion
Greenland says it cannot accept US takeover ‘under any circumstances Guardian (resilc)
Republican introduces bill seeking to make Greenland 51st state The Hill (Kevin W)
We had said the military might constraint Trump on Greenland because NATO:
BREAKING: Trump Ordered the Military to Plan an Invasion of a NATO Ally
The Generals Said No.
The Mail on Sunday reports Donald Trump instructed the Joint Special Operations Command to prepare a detailed plan for invading Greenland.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff are resisting.… https://t.co/RcaGJK9GAn pic.twitter.com/XNWczslEsc
— Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ (@shanaka86) January 11, 2026
Germany planning ‘Arctic Sentry’ Nato mission to protect Greenland Telegraph (resilc)
Tech billionaires behind Greenland bid want to build ‘freedom cities’ Responsible Statecraft
Trump is ready to grab Greenland. The EU should move first – and offer it membership Guardian. Micael T: “Germany’s Archidiot has an idea.”
* * *
EU loans-for-arms payments to start in March, bloc defence chief says Financial Times
No end in sight for Germany’s economic crisis Telegraph
Marine Le Pen returns to court for appeal of graft conviction France24
Old Blighty
UK records ‘unprecedented’ surge in people seeking debt support after Christmas Tribune Online
Israel v. The Resistance
“Winter blankets for refugee children.” Patrick Lawrence
War has pushed Gaza’s children to the brink – “like the living dead” Science Daily
Israel launches new strikes in southern Lebanon after issuing evacuation order France24
Israel Is Still Demolishing Gaza, Building by Building New York Times
Yemen’s southern forces ‘refuse’ to unite under Saudi coalition Middle East Online
* * *
US Cargo Planes Have Flooded the Persian Gulf Since the First of December Larry Johnson
Iranians rally in support of government as Tehran blames US and Israel for violence Middle East Eye (resilc)
Russia supplied the hardware.
China published the playbook.
Iran just proved it works.
Starlink: 80% packet loss.
Expert monitoring Iranian internet for 20 years: “I have never seen such a thing in my life.”
The “LEO satellites are unjammable” consensus?
Dead.
Wall Street… https://t.co/nxVpXHE2GC pic.twitter.com/Jd9S7y0dOG
— Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ (@shanaka86) January 11, 2026
Seyed M. Marandi: Violent Riots & a Massive War Coming Glenn Diesen, YouTube. Important.
Regime Change Riots In Iran Fail Faster Than Expected Moon of Alabama (Kevin W)
The Economic Roots of Iran’s Protests>Project Syndicate via Zeteo
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine’s Power Grid Woes Worsen, + New Oreshnik BDA Simplicius
The Coalition of the Willing has achieved nothing Ian Proud
Erm, from Politico’s morning European newsletter:
GETTING INTO THE ROOM: The unthinkable is now being thought in the European Union: Should the continent begin peace talks with a war criminal? As Donald Trump intensifies his efforts to end Moscow’s war, the bloc is faced with choosing between opening its own diplomatic channels with Russian President Vladimir Putin, or risk letting the U.S. dictate the terms of an eventual peace deal in Ukraine.
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
LAWYER: Cops Have a NEW “Social Score” to Label You a Threat Hampton Law, YouTube. Usefully tells you which settings to disable/enable on your iPhone or Android to reduce data extraction. Even though I had told my tech woman to do that, she had missed some. Surprised it does not recommend turning off WiFi save when you specifically want to use it (yours truly is perfectly happy to pay for connectivity for the sake of my privacy, which I infer is a outlier practice). My ride share app asks I turn on WiFi to facilitate geolocation, which despite GPS, is pretty poor otherwise. I prefer to type in my pickup.
UK Expands Online Safety Act to Mandate Preemptive Scanning of Digital Communications Reclaim the Net (AG)
Imperial Collapse Watch
U.S. Attacked Boat With Aircraft That Looked Like a Civilian Plane New York Times (resilc)
One Big Downside of Trump’s Military Successes American Conservative. resilc: “Like in Yemen?”
From Ireland to Gaza, starvation has been normalised Middle East Eye
Trump 2.0
The Burger Reich Strikes Back Charles McBryde (Micael T)
New High of 45% in U.S. Identify as Political Independents Gallup (resilc)
Washington’s New Lobbyists: Paid Online Influencers With Few Rules Wall Street Journal
Trump v. Powell
Former Fed chiefs attack DoJ probe into Jay Powell Financial Times. Lead story
Gold and Silver Storm to Records as Fed Hit With DOJ Subpoenas Bloomberg
Trump’s latest assault on Fed is a gift to China Asia Times (Kevin W)
ICE on the Rampage
Many tweets with videos of ICE abuse are having embedding blocked like this one. But some can be more widely shared:
You know who else went door to door? Hitler’s Nazis who arrested my friend Werner Reich when he was 14 years old and put him in 3 death camps. He lectured till the day he died to warn us about THIS https://t.co/YXDzVGZK9S
— Sandi Bachom 📹 (@sandibachom) January 13, 2026
My First 72 Hours in Minneapolis and How I Got an ICE Agent to Scream “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” Christopher Armitage
“PSYCHOTIC!” JD Vance vs Ryan BATTLE Over New ICE Video Breaking Points, YouTube. Punching down is a sign of weakness
Immigration Agents Terrified of ICE Backlash After Shooting Ken Klippenstein
“Stupod B*tch”: GoFundMe for Minnesota ICE Agent Is Chilling New Republic (resilc)
US Border Agents Intentionally Stepped in Front of Moving Vehicles to Justify Shooting at Them Nation
US trashed Somalia, can we really scold its people for coming here? Responsible Statecraft
Health Care
Republican Attacks on the Affordable Care Act Give Democrats an Opportunity to Court Small Business Washington Monthly
Democrats en déshabillé
This Rural Congresswoman Thinks Democrats Have Lost Their Minds. She Has a Point. New York Times
Our No Longer Free Press
California’s Palestine Exception to 1st Amendment is Fought in Courts by Progressives Juan Cole (resilc)
#Breaking. Adelaide Writers Festival has been cancelled for this year. And they apologise to Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah for how the decision was represented.
Full report to come in the @SMH pic.twitter.com/dsHgFpsJzV
— Peter FitzSimons (@Peter_Fitz) January 13, 2026
Economy
Geopolitics redraws the trade map. Geopolitical tensions between the US and Venezuela underscore the vulnerability of the global economy and trade to political conflict Bangkok Post
Mr. Market is Giddy
Global Rate Paths Splinter as Trump Drives Change at the Fed Bloomberg
AI
Let’s be honest, Generative AI isn’t going all that well Gary Marcus
Malaysia and Indonesia become the first countries to block Musk’s Grok over sexualized AI images Associated Press
Class Warfare
Picking Workers’ Pockets: Unfair, Deceptive and Abusive Practices by Earned Wage Payday Lenders National Consumer Law Center
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus:
When your best friend is a steer 💙 (yes he’s been told many times to be careful) pic.twitter.com/bL90IYu9KJ
— Danielle Scheele (@ScheeleDanielle) January 10, 2026
A second bonus:
This marmot is letting his owner have him bathed pic.twitter.com/cEjO25Ey7w
— Nature Unedited (@NatureUnedited) January 11, 2026
And a third:
Newborn baby tiger cub with its mom
— Science girl (@sciencegirl) January 11, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
