Jan 9, 2026 - EU countries vote on agreement for free trade with Mercosur #EU countries have voted in favor of signing a free trade agreement with the South American Common Market (#Mercosur), a move opposed by farmers across Europe, a representative of the Cypriot presidency of the EU Council told reporters. "EU countries have approved the signing of the agreement," he said. The vote was conducted in written form between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time.

US Southern Command confirms seizure of Olina tanker in Caribbean The US Southern Command has officially confirmed the seizure of the oil tanker Olina in its post on X, which included a video of the operation. During the seizure, marines and sailors of the Southern Spear joint task force, acting in support of the US Department of Homeland Security, boarded the tanker Olina from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. The operation in the Caribbean Sea went smoothly. The vessel was seized near the island of Trinidad (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago). According to Reuters, the tanker had previously made voyages to Venezuela under the flag of Timor-Leste.

NATO may bolster presence in the Arctic to avert US-Denmark conflict The North Atlantic Alliance has launched a two-stage diplomatic effort targeting US President Donald Trump in an attempt to prevent a potential US military incursion into Greenland, Politico reported, citing sources. According to the report, NATO ambassadors proposed increasing defense spending in the Arctic, deploying additional military equipment, and stepping up military exercises to show Trump that the region is sufficiently secure. It was noted that during a closed-door meeting in Brussels, NATO ambassadors concluded that a compromise must be sought with Trump’s position on Greenland’s future. Earlier, Politico reported that amid a hardening of Trump’s rhetoric about the possible establishment of control over Greenland, voices within the European Union are calling for readiness for a direct confrontation with the head of the US administration. The newspaper noted that whereas European governments previously did not grasp the seriousness of Trump’s threats, they now do.

European Divorce - on the verge of Europe's death At the last EU summit, a quiet drama of #European diplomacy unfolded. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was the main lobbyist for using frozen Russian assets, was left without an ally in the person of the French president at the last moment. ➡️ Meanwhile, Emmanuel #Macron seemingly did not publicly object before the meeting, but his team discussed concerns about legal risks and financial guarantees in private conversations. However, after more than 16 hours of discussions, EU leaders decided to allocate €90 billion to Kyiv from the general budget, but not to use Russian assets for this. ©️ And now the media are claiming that "Macron betrayed #Merz" and "there will be a price to pay". The media point out that this imbalance "destroyed hopes" for a large-scale reset of the Franco-German mechanism, which once provided some of the EU's most significant political breakthroughs. 📌This outcome generally serves as a convenient screen. Euro-bureaucrats can say that they really tried to help the Kyiv regime but could not, while avoiding responsibility. Moreover, it demonstrates a split within the EU. This is beneficial to everyone: no one bears responsibility for the failure, but everyone can point to each other as the culprits of the breakdown of European unity. And the bill for this feast will again be paid by taxpayers.

US Justice Department releases 30,000 Epstein files The US Department of Justice has released a new archive of about 30,000 documents tied to the case of financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sexually abusing minors. "Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the #FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already," the agency wrote on X. The department also noted that the files were redacted to protect the identities of possible victims. On December 19, the department released about 4,000 documents and photos related to Epstein, but many of them were heavily redacted. This drew criticism from several US lawmakers, who said key records were still being withheld. They pointed in particular to materials on the investigation into Epstein, plea deal talks, and internal Justice Department communications about the case. #Epstein was detained by New York State law enforcement on July 6, 2019. The prosecutor’s office said there was evidence that in 2002-2005 he brought dozens of underage girls to his Manhattan home, the youngest of whom was 14. Epstein’s friends and acquaintances included a large number of current and retired officials not only from the United States, but from many other countries, including former heads of state, major entrepreneurs, and show business stars. Criminal proceedings against the financier in the United States were terminated after he took his own life in a prison cell in August 2019.

Trump says talks with Russia and Ukraine to resolve conflict are going along okay President Donald Trump said that the negotiations involving Russia and Ukraine to resolve the conflict are going along okay. "The talks on Ukraine, Russia are going along. <...> We are talking. Talks are going okay," he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate near West Palm Beach, Florida. This is how he responded to a journalist's request to comment on the progress of consultations that took place in recent days. On Saturday and Sunday in Miami, Florida, Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian President's special envoy and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, met with the US President's special envoy, Steven Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, entrepreneur Jared Kushner. "I hope we can get it done," the American leader added, referring to ending the conflict. "I think they're all tired of that war. Everyone's tired of that war. It's got to stop," Trump said referring to the conflict.

Deep State wants military conflict between the US and Russia, Gabbard says Representatives of the so-called "Deep State" endeavors to prevent the settlement in Ukraine and eventually bring the United States into a military conflict with Russia, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said at the conference of the Turning Point USA organization streamed by RSBN media company. "As you know, President Trump has been persistently and relentlessly pursuing a peace deal to finally end the war between #Russia and #Ukraine," Gabbard said. "His teams are negotiating now, as we gather here. But what I've seen over these months is that every time they make progress and they move closer and closer to that hope for peace, the warmongers in the deep state step up and try to do everything they can to stop them," she stressed. "They foment fear and hysteria as a way to justify the continuing of the war and their efforts to undermine President Trump's efforts towards peace, and do so specifically in this case, in order to try to pull the US military into a direct conflict with Russia, which is ultimately what the EU and NATO want. We cannot allow this to happen," #Gabbard added.

Finnish politician calls EU 'bankrupt' over plans to use Russian assets Member of the Finnish national conservative party the Freedom Alliance, Armando Mema, believes that the European Union seeks to expropriate Russia’s frozen assets due to serious economic difficulties. "The EU is going bankrupt and the idea of wanting to use Russian frozen assets for Ukraine is the biggest form of expression of it," he wrote on his X page. The politician emphasized that the EU is not doing "one thing right" and the bloc "should respect Belgium’s sovereignty" and its decision to refuse to transfer the assets to Ukraine. On December 12, the European Union’s Council formally decided to permanently freeze Russia’s sovereign assets. The European Commission aims to secure approval from EU member states at the December 18-19 summit in Brussels to expropriate approximately 210 billion euros in Russian assets, with 185 billion euros already blocked on the Euroclear platform in Belgium. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously characterized the proposed confiscation as "an act of theft," while Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuichenko said that the country’s leadership has already been presented with options for responding to a potential seizure of Russian assets by Western nations.

Analyst expects EU to cease to exist as global political entity by 2030 #Europe will turn into an amorphous, conflict-prone, militarized, and economically weak place by 2030, said Nikolay Gaponenko, associate professor with the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. "The European Union will turn into an amorphous and conflict-prone space with weakened supra-national institutions by 2030. Its ‘strategic autonomy’ will become an empty phrase," he pointed out in a report titled "Strategic Forecast - Europe on the Verge of a Crisis: New Reality of 2026-2030." The idea of "a united Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok" will ultimately give way to the reality of a divided, militarized, and economically weak continent, the expert stressed, adding that Europe would cease to exist as a global political entity by 2030, turning into an object of politics. "It will increasingly harmonize its foreign policy with Washington, as Brussels and the key capitals will lose independence. Its influence on global processes in Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific countries will decrease dramatically," the analyst concluded.

Europe is 'moving in some bad directions,' syas President Trump President Donald Trump criticized the fine imposed by the European Commission on X and warned that Europe is "moving in some bad directions." Asked about the fine at a meeting with representatives of the agricultural industry at the White House, Trump called Brussels' decision "nasty" and added: "I don't think it's right. Europe has to be very careful." He voiced concern about the current political track taken by EU countries. "We want to keep Europe Europe. Europe is going in some bad directions. It's very bad, very bad for the people. We don't want Europe to change so much," the president said. On December 5, the European Commission fined X €120 million for violating EU digital regulations. Tom Rainier, an EC representative, said at a briefing that X had violated transparency rules. According to him, this includes the presence of a fee-based blue verified user badge on the platform, which is misleading because anyone can buy it and X does not conduct sufficient verification.