Peter Thiel Donates $3 Million to Oppose Proposed California Wealth Tax

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Venture capitalist Peter Thiel gave $3 million on Dec. 29 to a committee aligned with business groups seeking to block a proposed California ballot measure that would impose a new tax on billionaires. The contribution, disclosed publicly in January 2026, went to Californians Against Higher Taxes, a committee run by the California Business Roundtable. Organizers … Read more

Monumental tomb discovered in Turkey might be of royal from King Midas’ kingdom

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Lead: Archaeologists have uncovered a monumental tumulus at Karaağaç in northwestern Turkey that dates to the late eighth century B.C. The burial mound, rising more than 100 feet (30 m) above the surrounding plain and crowned by an internal wooden-chamber tomb, contained high-quality grave goods dated to about 740–690 B.C. Excavators say the architecture and … Read more

How ICE Raids in Minnesota Tie to a Years-Old Feeding Our Future Fraud

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Lead: In early January, the Department of Homeland Security surged more than 2,000 agents into the Twin Cities as part of what officials called the largest DHS operation ever, citing immigration enforcement and fraud investigations. The deployment followed renewed attention to a multi-year fraud probe tied to Feeding Our Future, a Minneapolis nonprofit accused of … Read more

BRICS Naval Drills Near South Africa: Why They Matter and Why India Sat Out

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Lead The weeklong “Will for Peace 2026” naval exercises began on 9 January 2026 off Simon’s Town, South Africa, with warships from China, Russia, Iran and South Africa taking part. Organizers say the drills focus on rescue, maritime strike and technical exchanges and are intended to reassure shipping lanes amid rising global maritime tensions. India … Read more

Donald Trump won’t take Greenland by force, Lord Mandelson says – BBC

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Lead Lord Mandelson told the BBC that he does not expect US President Donald Trump to mount a military seizure of Greenland, arguing advisers would warn that such a move would harm US interests and Nato cohesion. The comments came after renewed public focus on Greenland this weekend, following Trump’s remarks that the US should … Read more

Bride and Groom Killed by Gas Explosion in Islamabad

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Lead: A gas-cylinder explosion at a house in Islamabad at 07:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Sunday killed eight people, including a newlywed couple, and injured more than a dozen, police said. The couple had been sleeping in the home after their wedding celebration the previous day when the blast caused the roof to collapse … Read more

Trump urges Cuba to ‘make a deal’ as Venezuelan oil and money face cutoff

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Lead President Donald Trump has publicly warned Cuba to “make a deal” or face the end of Venezuelan oil and financial flows, following a US operation on 3 January that seized Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, in Caracas. Mr. Trump said on Truth Social that shipments of roughly 35,000 barrels a day and other funds that … Read more

Colombian singer Yeison Jiménez among 6 dead after plane crash in central-eastern Colombia – ABC7 Los Angeles

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Lead: A private aircraft crashed on Saturday, January 10, 2026, in the Paipa–Duitama area of Boyacá, central-eastern Colombia, killing all six people aboard, officials said. Among the dead was popular singer Yeison Jiménez, 34. The aircraft, registered N325FA, had been en route to Medellín when it went down; local authorities declared mourning and investigators have … Read more

University of Minnesota Top Grads ‘As Good, Maybe Better’ Than Harvard, Blankfein Says

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Lloyd Blankfein, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, told the Big Shot podcast two weeks ago that the very best students at large public universities can match or exceed the top students from Ivy League schools. He pointed to colleagues who attended non‑Ivy institutions — Gary Cohn (American University) and David Solomon (Hamilton College) — to … Read more

Kentucky 92, Mississippi State 68 — Wildcats Rally in Lexington (Jan 10, 2026)

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Lead On Jan. 10, 2026 in Lexington, Ky., Kentucky rallied from a 12-point deficit to defeat Mississippi State 92-68. Otega Oweh led the Wildcats with 22 points and five of Kentucky’s season-high 14 steals while Malachi Moreno added a near triple-double with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Mississippi State’s six-game winning streak ended; … Read more

Bocelli and Mariah Carey to Open Milan Cortina Olympics

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Who: Tenor Andrea Bocelli and pop superstar Mariah Carey will perform. When: the opening ceremony is set for Feb. 6, 2026. Where: Milan’s San Siro stadium, with live segments beamed from Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo. What: a three-hour spectacle that will stage the Parade of Athletes, feature tributes and performances, and is expected to draw … Read more

Linus Torvalds’ Latest Open-Source Project Is AudioNoise — Made With Vibe Coding

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Over the winter holidays, Linux creator Linus Torvalds published a new open-source project named AudioNoise, a GPLv2-licensed collection of random digital audio effects hosted under torvalds/AudioNoise on GitHub. The project attracted attention after a Phoronix reader pointed to README notes saying a Python audio visualizer was largely produced through so-called “vibe coding,” specifically citing Google’s … Read more