THE NEW YORK TIMES – SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2026

Justice Dept. Is Said to Begin Criminal Inquiry Into Minnesota Leaders

The investigation into Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey is a major escalation in the state-federal battle over the conduct of immigration agents in Minneapolis.

The People of Minneapolis vs. ICE: A Street-Level View

Video Analysis of ICE Shooting Sheds Light on Contested Moments

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Unbending Over Time

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has built his 37-year rule on uncompromising repression. His answer to the current protests is no different.

What to Know About the Protests in Iran

Trump Has Machado’s Nobel Prize, but Neither Got What They Really Wanted

President Trump has María Corina Machado’s medal, but he is not recognized as the Nobel laureate. She did not win his endorsement to become Venezuela’s president.

In Spain’s ‘Little Caracas,’ Venezuelan Exiles Are Still Waiting

In the largest Venezuelan community outside the Americas, many cheered Nicolás Maduro’s capture, but were adapting to the fact that his allies remained in charge.

Orion Magazine – WINTER 2026 – Nature & Culture

ORION MAGAZINE: The Winter 2026 Issue features  the elusive cryptid—creatures that, despite mysterious sightings, dedicated societies, and extensive mythologizing, have not been scientifically proven to exist. Across the issue, writers grapple with questions of belief: Why do we want to believe in the things that we do? What might our enthusiastic focus on creatures like Bigfoot be preventing us from seeing, and protecting, in the real world? What do the stories we tell about the natural world really reveal about ourselves? Ranging from the playful to the impassioned, the fantastical to the deadly serious, Cryptids: On the Trail of Bigfoot and Other Improbable Beasts offers a tour through a menagerie both real and imagined. Inside:


  • Jeff VanderMeer asks what the widespread fascination with Bigfoot might be preventing people from appreciating in the world around them
  • J. Drew Lanham wades into the debates about the extinction of the ivory-billed woodpecker
  • Tove Danovich investigates a bizarre pattern of cattle mutilations in the West
  • Katherine Cusumano dives into the myths and the muck of the Gowanus Canal
  • Lance Richardson retraces the steps of Peter Matthiessen in his legendary quest for the snow leopard

National Geographic Magazine – January 2026

February 2026 Issue | National Geographic

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Can Science Build a Better Beer?’ – How breakthroughs in the lab could upend a global industry…

Revealing the hidden kingdom of seahorses

On a Bahamian island, in a landlocked lagoon, the planet’s densest collection of seahorses is offering scientists new insights into the secret lives of one of the world’s most mysterious fish.

Inside the sacred wolf hunts of western Mongolia

The mission to keep the borderlands wild

Searching for life across the planet’s frigid frontiers

Is the grumpy-faced Texas horned lizard cute enough to survive?

These sunken ceramics ushered in a new era for archaeology

THE NEW YORK TIMES – FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2026

Battles Over Truth Rage Online Amid Iran’s Internet Blackout

The shutdown of online discourse within Iran has allowed both the government and its critics to flood social media with disinformation campaigns and fake images.

A Ragtag Network of Activists Is Piercing Iran’s Digital Barricades

Venezuelan Opposition Leader Gives Trump Her Peace Prize Medal

The opposition leader María Corina Machado gave the prize to President Trump at the White House. The Nobel Committee has said that the honor is not transferable.

C.I.A. Director Meets With Venezuela’s Interim President in Caracas

Emergency Call Transcripts Record a Crisis Unfolding in Real Time

The killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent was instantly reported to the Minneapolis Police. The calls reflect shock, fury and confusion.

Renee Good Was Concerned About ICE, a Lawyer Says, but Wasn’t Following Agents

THE ECONOMIST MAGAZINE – JANUARY 17, 2026 PREVIEW

THE ECONOMIST MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Horror in Iran’…

What the collapse of Iran’s regime would mean

Thousands have died and America has threatened to strike back against the horror there

America’s gunboat capitalism will make the world poorer

And Donald Trump’s use of companies as a tool of state will make it no safer

A private memo from central banks to governments

You come at the king (of finance), 

Without democracy, Donald Trump’s Venezuelan oil quest will fail

Sidelining the democratic opposition and its leader, María Corina Machado, would be a mistake

America has coped with worse things than Donald Trump

Lessons from history for the next three years

WASHINGTON EXAMINER MAGAZINE – JAN. 14, 2026

WASHINGTON EXAMINER MAGAZINE: ‘The Trump Doctrine’ – Why Trump Had To Act In Venezuela….

Why Trump trained his sights on Venezuela

by Sean Durns

✪ Exit Tim Walz, stage Biden: Another Democrat has clung to power past his expiration date

by Scott W. Johnson

✪ Minnesota’s Somali taxpayer swindle: Welfarism plus immigration without assimilation is a toxic mix

by David Harsanyi

✪ Washington’s echo: America and Europe at a crossroads once more 

by Daniel Ross Goodman

✪ Linda McMahon hits the road: Promoting patriotism and dismantling the Education Department

by Salena Zito

THE NEW YORK TIMES – THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2026

Trump Vows to Make Venezuela Rich. It Will Take More Than U.S. Cash.

History suggests that the price of oil and a wider distribution of wealth are as important as foreign investment.

President Trump to Meet With Venezuela’s Opposition Leader

Maduro’s Enforcer Faces an Uneasy Transition, and a Bounty on His Head

Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s interior minister, is accused by U.S. prosecutors of drug trafficking and is linked to repression at home.

Trump Says Iran Is Stopping Its Killings of Protesters as U.S. Moves Troops

Nonessential personnel were moved from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, an American site that could be a target of Iran if President Trump ordered an attack.

Chinese Universities Surge in Global Rankings as U.S. Schools Slip

Harvard still dominates, though it fell to No. 3 on a list measuring academic output. Other American universities are falling further behind their global peers.

Federal Agent Shoots Man in Minneapolis, Prompting Tense Protests

The agent shot a Venezuelan man who was resisting arrest, an official said. Protesters and law enforcement clashed for hours, as officials urged people to go home.

NATURE MAGAZINE – JANUARY 15, 2026

Volume 649 Issue 8097

NATURE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Little Red Dots’ – Enigmatic objects in the distant Universe could be young black holes in a cocoon of gas…

Putting immune cells into ‘night mode’ reduces heart-attack damage

Drugs that limit the activity of cells called neutrophils could make heart attacks less severe without compromising the immune system.

Ancient ‘snowball’ Earth had frigidly briny seas

Ocean temperatures well below freezing in Earth’s deep-past glacial phases imply some very salty waters.

Disappearing ‘planet’ reveals a solar system’s turbulent times

What was originally thought to be a planet orbiting the Fomalhaut star was probably just the fallout of a wild collision.

Getting to the (square) root of stock-market swings

A huge data set has confirmed a long-theorized relationship between the size of stock trades and the impact on prices.

LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS – JANUARY 22, 2026 PREVIEW

LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS: The latest issue features…

The Party’s Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping by Joseph Torigian

The Red Emperor: Xi Jinping and His New China by Michael Sheridan

On Xi Jinping: How Xi’s Marxist Nationalism Is Shaping China and the World by Kevin Rudd

Short Cuts: On Venezuela

Cicero: The Man and His Works by Andrew R. Dyck


Buckley: 
The Life and the Revolution that Changed America by Sam Tanenhaus

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – JANUARY 16, 2026 PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘The New Age of Empire’

We’re just a couple of weeks into 2026 and already it feels like an eternity has passed.

From Venezuela to Greenland, a blitz of revanchist US foreign policy moves by Donald Trump has thrown the world into turmoil. Domestically, it’s little better: in Minneapolis, the killing last week of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent – who was defended aggressively by Trump – prompted shock and fury across America.

While some argue that recent events simply represent a more honest, open approach towards US policy goals than in the recent past, others believe such brazen expansionism profoundly threatens the world order.

In a terrific essay this week, our senior international correspondent Julian Borger argues that these events signal a shift away from the postwar rules-based order and into a new age of global imperialism where, alongside Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Xi Jinping’s China, powerful nations use overtly brute force to achieve their objectives.

Spotlight | Iran protests: ‘The streets are full of blood’
After several days of protests amid an information blackout and a brutal crackdown, demonstrators recount their experiences on the frontlines to Deepa Parent and William Christou

Technology | Elon Musk’s pervert chatbot
‘Add blood, forced smile’: Amelia Gentleman and Helena Horton investigate how Grok’s AI nudification tool went viral

Feature | Trump’s assault on the Smithsonian
The US president has vowed to kill off ‘woke’ in his second term in office, and the venerable cultural institution a few blocks from the White House is in his sights. Charlotte Higgins reports

Opinion | As the bombs fell, my family planted hope in a garden in Gaza
Amid constant danger, Taqwa Ahmed ­al-Wawi’s seed-planting was a tiny act of resistance, offering food – and a sense of achievement among the devastation

Culture | Interview with Park Chan-wook
The South Korean film director talks to Steve Rose about cultural dominance, the capitalist endgame and why we can’t beat AI

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious