National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG

Mass. Bill Would Reduce Number of Miles Residents Could Drive in Order to Meet State Climate Mandates | 5 Jan 2026 | A bill is advancing through the Massachusetts State House that would seek to reduce the amount of miles residents travel in their personal vehicles in order to meet state climate mandates. An Act Aligning the Commonwealth’s Transportation Plan with its Mandates and Goals for Reducing Emissions and Vehicle Miles Traveled (S. 2246) was filed by state Sen. Cynthia Stone-Creem (D-Norfolk & Middlesex) and is based on existing laws and regulations in Colorado and Minnesota and is meant to bring Massachusetts in line with its [insane] climate mandates. “The bill would also require MassDOT to set goals for reducing the number of statewide driving miles, which would be considered when EEA sets greenhouse gas emissions limits and sublimits,” a summary of the legislation says. No specific figure was listed in the bill for how many driving miles per person will be reduced, but it does task the Transportation Secretary with establishing the official vehicle travel reduction goal “for the year 2030 and for every fifth year thereafter.”

Trump says U.S. will temporarily run Venezuela, ‘not afraid of boots on ground’ if necessary | 3 Jan 2026 | President Trump told the nation the U.S. would now take over running Venezuela, after strongman Nicolas Maduro was captured “in the dead of night.” “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition,” Trump said at a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort as he provided new details on the stunning military operation. “We’re going to run it, essentially” through the transition, he said. The logistics of a U.S.-run Venezuela were still being worked out, but Trump said it might involve military “boots on the ground.” “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to,” the president said. “We had boots on the ground last night, at a very high level, actually.” Later, Trump added, “We’re going to have [a] presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil.”

Trump tells Post that U.S. troops won’t be in Venezuela if Maduro VP ‘does what we want’: ‘We have a second wave’ | 3 Jan 2026 | President Trump told The Post in an exclusive interview that U.S. troops won’t be stationed in Venezuela so long as ousted strongman Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, “does what we want” in the aftermath of a daring U.S. raid that captured Maduro. Trump made the clarification moments after a press conference where he said that “we are going to run the country” ahead of a democratic transition, introducing the prospect of a U.S. occupation. Asked by The Post if “U.S. troops [will] be on the ground helping run the country,” Trump said: “No, if Maduro’s vice president — if the vice president does what we want, we won’t have to do that.” “We’re prepared,” Trump added. “You know, we have a second wave that’s much bigger than the first wave.”

Rubio: There’s Not a War in Venezuela, Maduro’s Capture Was ‘Law Enforcement Function’ | 4 Jan 2026 | Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. arrest of Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, was a “law enforcement function.” Rubio said, “There’s not a war. I mean, we are at war against drug trafficking organizations and not a war against Venezuela. We are enforcing American laws with regards to oil sanctions. We have sanction entities. We go to court, we get a warrant and seize those boats with oil and that will continue, and we will continue to reserve the rights to take strikes against the drug boats that are bringing drugs toward the United States that are being operated by transnational criminal organizations including the cartel. Of course, the leader of that cartel is now in U.S. custody and facing U.S. justice in the Southern District of New York and that’s Nicolás Maduro…” He added, “This was, at essence, at its core, a law enforcement function. Okay, the Department of Justice, dating back in the Biden administration that had a 25 million reward for his capture. And so, we have a reward for his capture, but we’re not going to enforce it.”

Maduro attorney once represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange | 5 Jan 2026 | Barry Pollack, the Washington-based attorney who once represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, will defend deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Pollack appeared with Maduro on Monday as he pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan federal courtroom days after U.S. forces arrested Maduro and his wife during a military raid in the South American nation. Pollack said he will challenge the legality of Maduro’s arrest in his own country by a foreign power. At Monday’s court proceeding, Pollack said he anticipated extensive legal wrangling over what he termed Maduro’s “military abduction,” signaling the defense will argue Saturday’s operation was unlawful, Reuters reported.

Trump says Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, wife ‘captured’ after large-scale strikes | 3 Jan 2026 | Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured by U.S. forces during a “large-scale” nighttime military operation early Saturday, President Trump announced. “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump ordered airstrikes on military sites around the Venezuelan capital of Caracas with at least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft reported in the region, which began around 2 a.m. local time amid heightened tensions between Maduro and the U.S. The strikes rocked sites in the state of Miranda, where Caracas is located, and nearby Aragua and La Guiera, sending plumes of smoke and fire into the air and causing power outages.

CIA ‘carries out drone strike’ on Venezuelan drug port in first U.S. land attack inside the country | 29 Dec 2025 | The CIA is responsible for carrying out the first U.S. land strike in Venezuela on a port facility believed to have been storing drugs bound for America, sources claim. President Donald Trump confirmed the Christmas Eve strike on Monday, days after he casually discussed in a radio interview the attack on a facility “where the ship comes from.” The strike, which took place on a port dock authorities believe was the home base of the alleged drug vessels that the U.S. military has been targeting in the Caribbean and Atlantic over the last three months, signaled a further escalation of tensions between the two countries. Multiple sources have now told CNN that the drone strike was carried out by the CIA, after Trump refused to weigh in on the theory.

Zelensky appoints descendant of Nazi collaborator as economic adviser | 5 Jan 2026 | Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has appointed Chrystia Freeland, a Canadian-born descendant of a documented Nazi collaborator, as his economic development adviser. Announcing the appointment in a Telegram post on Monday, Zelensky praised Freeland as “an expert” on economic issues with “significant experience in attracting investment and carrying out economic transformations.” Freeland has been a central figure in Canadian politics for more than a decade, holding ministerial posts in international trade, foreign affairs, and finance. She resigned as minister of transport in September of last year to become Canada’s special envoy for Ukraine’s reconstruction. Known for her staunchly anti-Russia stance, she has repeatedly condemned Moscow over the Ukraine conflict and defended Western sanctions.

HHS Makes Sweeping Changes to Childhood Vaccine Schedule | 5 Jan 2026 | Federal health officials today outlined sweeping changes to the U.S. childhood immunization schedule. The changes create a new framework that keeps all currently recommended vaccines available and fully covered while moving several vaccines into a category designed to emphasize shared decision-making between families and clinicians. The new recommendations reduce the number of vaccines recommended as routine for all children to 11 from 17, a move The New York Times called a “seismic shift” in federal vaccine policy. HHS said the change follows a directive from President Donald Trump, who issued a presidential memorandum on Dec. 5, 2025, instructing the agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to review whether other developed nations protect children more effectively.

Mask mandates and Covid-era crackdowns return as ‘super’ virus spreads uncontrollably and New York sees the most cases ever | 31 Dec 2025 | The ‘super flu’ is exploding across the US, with some states seeing more cases than ever before… The newest figures, which are updated through December 20, show “very high” flu transmission in 21 states, with New York City, New York state, New Jersey, South Carolina, Louisiana and Colorado reporting the highest rates. Due to the surge, hospitals are enacting Covid-era restrictions on visitors and bringing back mask mandates to slow the spread of the dangerous new flu strain H3N2 subclade K, which experts believe is behind the flu’s meteoric rise. Duke Health in North Carolina announced this week it will limit hospital visitors starting January 6, 2026, to just two people ages 12 and over per patient. And Iredell Memorial Hospital in North Carolina said beginning this week, it will not allow anyone under 14 to visit.

Alleged JD Vance home vandal is son of wealthy doctor, Dem donor – who recently changed name to Julia | 5 Jan 2026 | The deranged hammer-wielding alleged vandal accused of busting several windows at Vice President JD Vance’s home in Cincinnati is allegedly the son of a prominent millionaire family — and appears to have been going by “Julia” in recent weeks. William DeFoor, 26, was arrested early Monday after allegedly shattering four windows at Vance’s home. Police said that DeFoor was attempting to break into the home around midnight. The Vances, who moved into the vice president’s official residence in Washington, D.C., after the inauguration, were not in Ohio at the time. It’s unclear whether DeFoor identifies as transgender or nonbinary, but he recently appeared to be posting under the name Julia DeFoor. Cops listed the suspect’s name as William, and his gender as male.

FBI disrupts alleged ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve attack plot targeting NC grocery store, fast food restaurant | 2 Jan 2026 | The FBI disrupted an alleged plot to attack people inside a grocery store and fast food restaurant in North Carolina on New Year’s Eve in support of the Islamic State terrorist group, prosecutors revealed Friday. Christian Sturdivant, 18, of Mint Hill — a town outside Charlotte — was arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson said. Prosecutors said the alleged plot was foiled after Sturdivant recently began communicating online with an individual he “believed to be affiliated with ISIS [I-CIA-SIS] but in reality was a government online covert employee,” who is referred to in a criminal complaint as “OC.” In one of the communications on Dec. 14, Sturdivant allegedly sent the OC an image of two hammers and a knife.

Trump: Gov. Walz not seeking reelection ‘because he was caught’ | 5 Jan 2026 | Minnesota Governor Tim Walz made official a report that emerged late Sunday night: He will not seek a third term in office. Four months ago, he announced that he was seeking reelection, but a lot has changed since then. Mainly, a widespread investigation with ongoing fraud in Minnesota under his watch. Walz gave a statement Monday announcing he wouldn’t seek reelection, but didn’t take any questions. Hours later, President Donald Trump reacted to the Walz news on social media. He said Walz isn’t running again, “because he was caught.” “Minnesota’s Corrupt Governor will possibly leave office before his term is up but, in any event, will not be running again because he was caught, REDHANDED, along with Ilhan Omar, and others of his Somali friends, stealing Tens of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars. I feel certain the facts will come out, and they will reveal a seriously unscrupulous, and rich, group of “SLIMEBALLS.” Governor Walz has destroyed the State of Minnesota, but others, like Governor Gavin Newscum, JB Pritzker, and Kathy Hochul, have done, in my opinion, an even more dishonest and incompetent job. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!”

House GOP bill could trigger self-deportation for Somali refugees amid Minnesota fraud probe | 6 Jan 2026 | A House Republican is seeking to tighten the screws on the U.S. immigration system in the wake of multiple investigations into alleged fraud within Minnesota’s social services system. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, introduced a bill on Tuesday that would terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for people from Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Somalia. Immigrants from those countries currently in the U.S. on refugee status would be forced to self-deport within 180 days of the bill’s enactment. “It’s important that we ensure that those entering our country are properly vetted, and they clearly have not been properly vetted. So what we are trying to do is ensure that we address this, we stop this,” Hunt told Fox News Digital.

Over 1,000 arrested in ‘massive’ Minnesota operation, including murderers, rapists, ped-philes | 5 Jan 2026 | Federal authorities have arrested more than 1,000 in Minnesota, including alleged murderers, rapists, ped-philes and gang members, after sending a surge of agents to the state in its “massive” response to the rampant fraud still being uncovered. Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that since the agency “surged law enforcement” to Minnesota last week, it “has already made more than 1,000 arrests of murderers, rapists, ped-philes, and gang members.” DHS said that among those arrested was a Somali criminal illegal alien named Liban Ali Osman, 43, who the agency said was convicted of robbery in Columbus, Ohio. Osman was sentenced to three years in prison and has had a final order of removal since May 17, 2011.

Trump cuts off $10B in funding to five blue states for child care, social services over fraud fears | 5 Jan 2026 | The Trump administration is cutting off more than 10 billion in social services and child care funding meant for a handful of Democratic-led states over concerns that the benefits were fraudulently funneled to non-citizens, officials told The Post Monday. The Department of Health and Human Services will freeze taxpayer funding from the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, and the Social Services Block Grant program. At least 7.35 billion in TANF m-ney will be prevented from going to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York. The CCDF funding block of nearly 2.4 billion affects all those states.

Daycare scandal sparks fears Minnesota’s elections have been rigged as ‘loophole made for fraud’ is exposed by Elon Musk | 31 Dec 2025 | A shocking undercover video by a citizen journalist has blown the lid off Minnesota’s Somali-owned daycares — empty buildings raking in taxpayer funds. But as Donald Trump dispatches federal agents to crackdown on the crisis, there are fears that the fraud might bleed [obviously has bled] into America’s most hallowed system: its elections. Kamala Harris, running alongside Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, won the state in 2024 by just over 138,000 votes, a thin 4.2 percent margin. Lawmakers are now demanding whether permissive voting regulations have left the Land of 10,000 Lakes drowning in election fraud. Minnesota has over the last month emerged as ground zero in Donald Trump’s battle against illegal immigration amid staggering reports of fraud in the Somali community… Now, amid concerns over a systemic culture of fraud, lawmakers in Washington are demanding measures be taken to enshrine the sanctity of Minnesota’s elections. Of particular concern is an election law that allows a registered voter to “vouch” for up to eight people seeking same-day registration without an ID.

Shocking unearthed footage shows parents pretending to drop kids off at a Minnesota day care center | 30 Dec 2025 | Shocking unearthed video from a 2018 state fraud case shows Minnesota parents dropping their children off at a day care center and then leaving with the kids moments later — as authorities probe a rampant billion-dollar fraud scheme in Minneapolis. In the surveillance footage, dated 2015 and obtained by Fox 9, parents are seen signing their kids into the facility so providers could bill the state for full days of care for children who didn’t actually attend. On some days, no families would even show up at all, but the day cares would still claim reimbursements from the government, the outlet reported at the time. The alleged phony day care centers also gave kickbacks to parents involved. Another video obtained by Fox 9 shows a man handing an envelope to a parent with an alleged kickback payment for participating in the scheme.

Divine intervention? Priest gets credit for Steelers’ win | 5 Jan 2026 | Apparently, God is a Steelers fan. Baltimore rookie kicker Tyler Loop’s 44-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right as time expired in the Steelers’ 26-24 win Sunday night at Acrisure Stadium. That was dramatic enough. To make it even more so, the critical miss came in the same end zone where, two hours before the game, the Steelers enlisted the help of a higher power. Just in case, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt weren’t enough. A priest sprinkled holy water in the end zone and, yes, it was the same end zone where Loop missed his kick. “I saw someone tweet earlier that a priest blessed the field. I think that worked,” tight end Pat Freiermuth said after the game.