TV News LIES

Ukraine was a priority, not the priority, as Germany’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul touched down in Washington early this week.

Russia’s war is entering a more fragile phase, European anxiety is rising, and Berlin wanted to hear directly how firmly the US still sees itself anchored to Kyiv’s defense.

The visit came just days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Europe to “raise the price of the war in Ukraine” to force Russia into accepting a ceasefire – a signal that patience in Berlin is wearing thin.

Wadephul’s meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio opened with Ukraine, according to officials familiar with the talks, reflecting Germany’s concern that the conflict might slip amid a crowded global agenda.

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It might be Trump time in Venezuela.

Just days after jokingly endorsing his secretary of state to serve as president of Cuba, President Donald Trump indicated on Jan. 11 that he might be interested in a similar role in another nation in the Western Hemisphere.

Trump shared a doctored Wikipedia page calling himself the "Acting President of Venezuela" in a Truth Social post, less than 10 days after U.S. forces captured the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores on Jan. 3.

Delcy Rodríguez, the country’s vice president under Maduro who was sworn in as Venezuela's new interim president last week, has said she wants to collaborate with the U.S. administration.

"We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence," she said in an Instagram post on Jan. 4.

Maduro and his wife have been arraigned in a Manhattan federal court on charges including drug trafficking and have pleaded not guilty. They are in U.S. custody in Brooklyn.

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Deep strike units of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) destroyed three Lukoil drilling rigs in the Caspian Sea during the evening of Jan. 11, according the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU)

Apart from the three Lukoil drilling platforms in the Caspian Sea, a Russian Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system in the occupied Luhansk region, and a Russian army warehouse in the Kherson region were hit.

Ukrainian Defense Forces struck three Lukoil drilling rigs in the Caspian Sea, namely the V. Filanovsky, Yuri Korchagin, and Valery Graifer rigs. These facilities are used to support the Russian occupation army,” the General Staff reported on its Facebook page.

The strikes have been confirmed and damage assessment is underway.

The Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system launcher destroyed in the vicinity of the village of Baranycheve in the occupied f Luhansk region. According to the General Staff, this medium-range air defense system is designed to combat aerodynamic targets.

Also, “in order to reduce the enemy’s logistical and combat capabilities,” the statement read, “a strike was carried out on a warehouse of the materiel and technical unit of the 49th Army of the occupiers in the area of the village of Novotroitsk (Kherson region).”

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Scandinavian countries circled the wagons on Sunday and took a defiant posture against President Donald Trump’s continued threats to capture Greenland by force if Denmark refused to make a deal and sell its territory to the US.

Speaking at the “People and Defense” Annual Conference hosted by his country, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson lamented Trump’s “threatening rhetoric” and promised that “Sweden, the Nordic countries, the Baltic states, and several major European countries stand together with our Danish friends.”

He went on to say that a US takeover of Greenland would be “a violation of international law and risks encouraging other countries to act in exactly the same way”.

Also attending the defense symposium in Sweden was Alexus G. Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe and a General in the US Air Force, who delivered an address there about threats to the Alliance’s security in the Arctic.

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President Donald Trump said he's considering military options in Iran and following through on his threat to attack the Iranian regime after anti-government protests in the country have turned increasingly deadly.

"The military is looking at it, and we're looking at some very strong options. We'll make a determination," Trump told reporters Jan. 11 aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington after spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Protests in Iran, which have entered their third week, have resulted in hundreds of deaths, drawing the condemnation of human rights organizations.

"Well, they’re starting to ‒ it looks like it," Trump said when asked if Iran has crossed a red line. "There seems to be some people killed who weren’t supposed to be killed. These are violent ‒ you can call them leaders, I don’t know if they’re leaders. I guess they rule with violence. But we’re looking at it very seriously."

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Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least 13 people, according to health officials, as U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to announce his Board of Peace to oversee the fragile ceasefire.

Health officials and family members said at least one child was among the dead in northern Gaza following several strikes there as well as east of Gaza City. All 13 people were killed on Thursday.

Israel’s army said Friday that it struck Hamas infrastructure and fighters in southern and northern Gaza in response to a failed projectile launched by militants from the Gaza City area.

The phased ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains in its initial stage as efforts continue to recover the remains of the final Israeli hostage in Gaza.

Officials say that Trump is expected to announce next week his appointments to his Board of Peace, which he has said he will head, marking an important step forward for his Middle East peace plan. The process has moved slowly since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect nearly three months ago.

The U.S. official and another official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov would be the board’s “designated” director-general. Mladenov is a former Bulgarian defense and foreign minister who served as the U.N. envoy to Iraq before being appointed as the U.N. Mideast peace envoy from 2015-2020. During that time, he had good working relations with Israel and frequently worked to ease Israel-Hamas tensions.

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