China’s “artificial sun” just broke a fusion limit scientists thought was unbreakable

Date:

January 4, 2026

Source:

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters

Summary:

Researchers using China’s “artificial sun” fusion reactor have broken through a long-standing density barrier in fusion plasma. The experiment confirmed that plasma can remain stable even at extreme densities if its interaction with the reactor walls is carefully controlled. This finding removes a major obstacle that has slowed progress toward fusion ignition. The advance could help future fusion reactors produce more power.

Greek flights restart after radio loss grinds airport operations to halt

Air traffic was disrupted and there was no way to communicate with aircraft over the airspace, authorities said.

Passengers queue and wait with luggage at a departure hall of the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Spata near Athens, on January 4, 2025 [AFP]

Third of Londoners suffer 'hygiene poverty'

BBC

People are choosing between food and basic hygiene products, campaigners said

14 hours ago

Kumail Jaffer

 Local Democracy Reporting Service

Almost a third of Londoners aged 16 to 55 cannot afford basic hygiene products, leaving them unable to live normally, a charity has warned.

Archaeologists Discovered an Underground Inca Labyrinth, Confirming a Centuries-Old Rumor

Tim Newcomb
Sun, January 4, 2026 at 6:31 AM PST

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:

• The existence of a tunnel network under the ancient Peruvian city of Cusco had been rumored for centuries.
• At times stretching more than a mile, the labyrinth connected the Temple of the Sun to key points, such as a fortress.
• Incan builders made use of what’s known as the cut-and-cover method of crafting tunnels.

After Trump's gangsta grab of Caracas, Greenland comes next because he absolutely needs it

The Greek Courier

By Yiannis Damellos

In Trump's hostile takeover of the World, Greenland is next on the agenda because he asserts that it is absolutely necessary for the United States. But the last few days, he focused on exerting control over Venezuela, attempting to dismantle the established Bolivarian regime led by acting President Delcy Rodríguez—all in an effort to gain access to the nation’s oil reserves. As this approach mainly serves to rally his base while he seeks to strengthen his position ahead of the midterm elections, he disregards the significant impact his actions have on international law and order.

Corporations Invested In Lawsuits Before Venezuela Invasion

Jan 3, 2026

Trump’s removal of President Nicolás Maduro could tilt international court proceedings and provide a windfall to corporate plaintiffs.

Just weeks before the American military operation in Venezuela to capture President Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. energy giant Halliburton filed an unusual lawsuit in international court claiming the Venezuelan government owed them damages for U.S. sanctions against the country.

Iranians rally in Tehran as violence intensifies in western regions

ASIA / PACIFIC

Issued on: 04/01/2026
Sporadic protests over economic and political grievances broke out inTehran on Saturday, local media reported, while clashes escalated in western Iran. The demonstrations, which first kicked off last Sunday and have since spread across the country, have left at least 12 dead, including security forces.

Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle, the Talk of Athens

The former fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., and the former wife of Gov. Gavin Newsom, is working hard and pushing deals with American business interests. She’s also up late at parties.

By Elisabeth Bumiller

Reporting from Athens

Jan. 4, 2026

It was a splashy arrival. Kimberly Guilfoyle, the new United States ambassador to Greece, landed in Athens on the private jet of a multimillionaire Greek American businessman. She caused a sensation at a Thanksgiving week dinner in a partly sheer black evening dress. When she presented her diplomatic credentials to the Greek president, Constantine Tassoulas, she told him she had previously been to Greece on a “fabulous honeymoon, but …” and then trailed off.

Thousands stranded across Europe as Greece airspace disrupted

Aleks Phillips, Nikos Papanikolaou

Thousands of passengers are stranded across Europe after a communications failure forced Greece to close its airspace, causing widespread cancellations and delays.

Officials are working to understand why radio communications were disrupted on Sunday morning, prompting the temporary suspension of arrivals and departures.

Numerous teenagers among the dead identified in Swiss bar blaze, police say

By John Revill
January 4, 2026

Summary

• Number of dead identified rises to 24
• Youngest victim identified is 14-year-old Swiss girl
• Pope sends message to mourners
• National day of mourning planned for Friday

ZURICH, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Teenagers as young as 14 and 15 were among those who died in the New Year's Eve bar fire that killed 40 people in Switzerland, police said on Sunday, as the Pope offered his sympathies to the victims and their families.

The truth about affordability

Leaders | Cost of living
Voters in rich countries are angry about prices. Politicians could make things worse
Dec 30th 2025

SLOP, PARASOCIAL and rage bait were contenders for word of the year in 2025. In 2026 an early favourite for that title, at least among pollsters and election strategists, is “affordability”, often paired with the word “crisis”. Having at last found a slogan that seems to work against the spell of Trumpism, Democrats will talk of little else between now and the midterms in November. In Europe, which is better at reposting American memes than coming up with fresh ones, there is talk of a cost-of-living crisis. A transatlantic consensus is forming that prices are out of whack. But are they?

Trump Is the Jan. 6 President

Opinion

By The Editorial Board

Dec. 31, 2025

It was a day that should live in infamy. Instead, it was the day President Trump’s second term began to take shape.

Five years ago, on Jan. 6, 2021, a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, hoping to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election. After the sun set that day, Congress reconvened to certify Joe Biden’s victory. The rioters lost, and so did Mr. Trump, who had summoned them to Washington and urged them to march to the Capitol. The Trump era seemed to have ended in one of the most disgracefully anti-American acts in the nation’s history.

After capturing Maduro, Trump hints at military action in Cuba, Mexico and Colombia

Andrew Childers, Josephine Walker

Hours after the U.S. invaded Venezuela to seize President Nicolás Maduro, President Trump sent a warning to the governments of Mexico, Cuba and Colombia that their countries could be next.

Famous economist makes unexpected claim about cryptocurrency: 'Nobody is using it for anything legitimate'

"There is essentially no legitimate use for crypto."
by Geri Mileva
January 3, 2026

Viewers of a TikTok clip about cryptocurrency are locked in a heated debate after a famous economist claimed no one is using crypto for anything legitimate. Aside from contentions on the legality and practicality of use, some viewers have also raised concerns about its environmental impact.

BBC: Captured Venezuelan leader Maduro arrives in New York after US strikes

BBC News
Summary

• Donald Trump says the US launched strikes on Venezuela and captured its President Nicolás Maduro
• Maduro and his wife landed at Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York state before being taken by helicopter to Manhattan; Trump earlier shared a photo of Maduro blindfolded on board the USS Iwo Jima
• President Trump says the US is going to "run" Venezuela "until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition"
• Some in Venezuela believe that Trump isn't serious about shoring up Venezuela for a democratic future, but rather to plunder its oil wealth, writes Tom Bateman
• In an address on state television, Venezuela's Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez says Maduro is the country's only president
• Maduro has been indicted in New York on drugs and weapons charges. He has previously denied being the leader of a drug cartel
• Venezuela has declared a national emergency, denouncing "extremely serious military aggression"

Is Venezuela The Latest Victim in the Geopolitical Carving of Power Between the 3 Superpowers, and Are Ukraine and Taiwan next?

The Greek Courier

By Yiannis Damellos

A new theory is emerging regarding the recent developments in Venezuela. Apparently, this situation is not an isolated case but rather part of a broader agreement among major powers that delineates spheres of influence: Venezuela for the U.S., Ukraine for Russia, and Taiwan for China. Notably, the silence from Russia and China following Maduro's capture indicates a tacit acceptance of this arrangement.

Maduro hater María Corina Machado Calls Supporters to Await U.S. Signal for Civil War After His Capture

The Greek Courier 

By Yiannis Damellos

January 3, 2026

Ultra-right-wing media favorite and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado released a letter to the Venezuelan people following the capture of leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a U.S. operation overnight on Saturday. In her message, she urged her supporters to wait for a signal from the Americans to initiate a civil war in Venezuela aimed at overthrowing the legitimate Bolivarian government and handing control of the country to oil companies and Trump.

Investigation opened into the managers of the Swiss bar where a fatal fire killed 40

More than 100 people were injured in the blaze that broke out about 1:30 am on Thursday at the Le Constellation bar in the Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana.

Jan. 3, 2026, 7:46 AM PST
By The Associated Press

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland — Swiss authorities have opened an investigation into the managers of the bar where a fire at a New Year’s party left 40 people dead, police said Saturday.