ICYMI: Jan. 5-11
Your weekly roundup and blogroll.
No material this week. I’ve got three weeks left to finish up a major project I’m working on, and then I promise it will be back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Blogroll
Story of the Week
Trump, Venezuela and the doctrine that wouldn’t die, Greg Grandin, Financial Times (Jan. 8)
It makes sense that Venezuela would be the first essay in [Donald] Trump’s revived Monroe Doctrine, since for more than a century — long before Hugo Chávez or Nicolás Maduro arrived on the scene — the country has been a conflict zone, a place where fights over debt, borders, sovereignty and resources helped give shape to what became international law. Now Trump’s assault on Venezuela — not just the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, but the killings of the speedboat operatives, the unilateral sanctions placed on Venezuelan oil, the naval blockade — is but part of his larger campaign to render that law void…
What worked in the Venezuela raid was the performance: the visible reaffirmation that the US could still act unilaterally, still punish defiance, still impose costs, including apparently the demand for tribute in the form of tankers laden with millions of gallons of crude valued at $2.8bn, and not be held accountable for liability.
The reduction of the Monroe Doctrine to coercion and plunder is, despite Trump’s and Hegseth’s assertions to the contrary, a sign of weakness, of a regional hegemon that can’t effectively organise its hinterlands, much less respond to challenges it lays out for itself, especially countering Chinese influence.
Alberta
Podcaster accused of harassing former AHS board member says he was hired by Edmonton lawyer, court records show, Tu Thanh Ha, Globe and Mail (Jan. 6)
Alberta school divisions remove handful of titles from shelves as new school library rules take effect, Janet French, CBC News (Jan. 6)
Edmonton doctors call on Alberta to declare state of emergency as hospitals overflow, Alanna Smith, Globe and Mail (Jan. 7)
Another Building Purchase by Sam Mraiche Raises Questions, Charles Rusnell, The Tyee (Jan. 8)
Former head of AHS says she has faced campaign of intimidation since lawsuit against Alberta, Matthew Scace, Globe and Mail (Jan. 8)
Canada
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says he’s appointed Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland as an economic adviser, Catharine Tunney, CBC News (Jan. 5)
Ontario court rules Doug Ford must turn over personal phone records, Isaac Callan and Colin D’Mello, Global News (Jan. 5)
Yves Engler’s wife applies to join NDP leadership race after his bid to run was rejected, Marie Woolf, Globe and Mail (Jan. 6)
No, Indigenous people are not coming to take Canadians’ homes, Tanya Talaga, Globe and Mail (Jan. 8)
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud’s push to defund it, Rory White, Canada’s National Observer (Jan. 8)
Defence Department Brushed Aside ‘Bad Optics’ Of American Contracts, Alex Cosh, The Maple (Jan. 8)
New Brunswick is rolling out the red carpet for U.S.-backed extractive projects, Jacalyn den Haan and Robin Tress, The Breach (Jan. 9)
U.S.
Facing Challenge From Lander, Dan Goldman Prepares to Defend His Seat, Nicholas Fandos, New York Times (Jan. 6)
House votes to subpoena journalist over report on Delta Force commander, Scott Nover and Kadia Goba, Washington Post (Jan. 8)
Hochul and Mamdani Announce Plan to Make N.Y. Child Care Universal, Benjamin Oreskes, Eliza Shapiro and Grace Ashford, New York Times (Jan. 8)
For These Tribal Nations, Water Is a Through Line. And Now, a Threat. Charlotte Dulany, New York Times (Jan. 10)
Nationwide anti-ICE protests call for accountability after Renee Good’s death, Chandelis Duster and Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, NPR (Jan. 11)
Suspect arrested after fire damages Mississippi’s largest synagogue, Praveena Somasundaram, Washington Post (Jan. 11)
DOJ subpoenas Federal Reserve in escalating pressure campaign, Scott Horsley, NPR (Jan. 11)
World
Copper pipeline, Geoffrey York, Globe and Mail (Jan. 10)
Guantanamo detainee paid ‘substantial’ compensation by UK to settle torture complicity case, Danielle De Simone and Todd Beal, BBC News (Jan. 11)
He once criticised African leaders who cling to power. Now he wants a seventh term, Wedaeli Chibelushi, BBC News (Jan. 11)
Latin America
Why Trump Refused to Back Venezuela’s Machado: Fears of Chaos, and Fraying Ties, Tyler Pager, Anatoly Kurmanaev and Julian E. Barnes, New York Times (Jan. 5)
Behind the DOJ’s politicized indictment of Maduro: a CIA-created ‘network’ and coerced star witness, Max Blumenthal, The Grayzone (Jan. 5)
After Venezuela, Trump Says Cuba Is ‘Ready to Fall’, Maria Abi-Habib, New York Times (Jan. 5)
Colombia’s President Feared a U.S. Attack. Then Trump Called. Annie Correal, Max Bearak and Genevieve Glatsky, New York Times (Jan. 9)
Risky business, Tim Kiladze and Niall McGee, Globe and Mail (Jan. 10)
Communist government in Havana strikes defiant pose after US president vows to cut off energy lifeline, Joe Daniels and Steff Chavez, Financial Times (Jan. 11)
Middle East
Despite Gaza ceasefire, war still deadly along Israel’s ‘Yellow Line’, Abbie Cheeseman, Siham Shamalakh, Hazem Balousha, Lior Soroka and Amaya Verde, Washington Post (Jan. 8)
Syria declares ceasefire in Aleppo after fresh clashes with Kurdish forces, Mahmoud Hasano, Karam al-Masri, Khalil Ashawi, Jana Choukeir, Huseyin Hayatsever and Orhan Qereman, Reuters (Jan. 8)
The exiled royal urging Iranians on to the streets, Andrew England, Financial Times (Jan. 9)
Iranians defy intensifying crackdown as Trump weighs options, Andrew England and Henry Foy, Financial Times (Jan. 11)
Death toll from protests in Iran increases as Trump says Iran wants to talk, Associated Press (Jan. 12)
Tech
Every data centre is a U.S. military base, Paris Marx, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Jan. 5)
‘Add blood, forced smile’: how Grok’s nudification tool went viral, Amelia Gentleman and Helena Horton, The Guardian (Jan. 11)
Meta blocks 550,000 accounts under Australia’s social media ban, Tiffanie Turnbull, BBC News (Jan. 11)