Monochrome catering was all the rage at the VIP screening on Saturday for Ratner’s officially sanctioned $75m feature-length documentary about the First Lady. Have the photos whetted your appetite?

This week sees the release of Melania, Amazon’s official feature-length documentary about Melania Trump. Melania was directed by Brett Ratner, and has a reported $40m production budget. And, obviously, you’re probably not going to watch it.

Of course you’re not. Coming days after the killing of Alex Pretti by a US Border Patrol agent, an authorised vanity project about the current wife of a globally unpopular political leader – and directed by a man accused of sexual assault by multiple women, and whose production and release carried the smell of institutionalised media timidity – seems like just about the least appealing prospect ever. But, hey, any excuse for a party, right?

Continue reading...

© Photograph: @i.am.link/Instagram

© Photograph: @i.am.link/Instagram

© Photograph: @i.am.link/Instagram

The bromance between U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney is over. The president is back to jeering at the prime minister after Carney’s “hegemon” speech in Switzerland. And Liberals are back in their election comfort zone, acting as defenders of Canada against American hostility, as Brian Lilley discusses with Stuart Thomson and Tasha Kheiriddin, editors of Postmedia’s Political Hack newsletter. It worked so well for Carney during the last election, they say this could be just the thing for him to call an election to try for a majority. They get into the advantages and risks, and the problem for Conservatives, who are still trying to regroup from the last time they got flattened by this drama. (Recorded Jan. 23, 2026.) Read More

President Donald Trump deployed border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota Monday amid widespread unrest in the Twin Cities.

Former ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski urged his followers on Threads to "stand up to fascism" as outrage grew over a Border Patrol-involved shooting.

Donald Trump assembles energy leaders to discuss Venezuela strategy after Nicolas Maduro's removal, targeting world's largest oil reserves for development.

Donald Trump lauded the UK’s military after Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged the US president to apologize for downplaying the role of NATO troops in the war in Afghanistan. Read More

Trump's NATO challenges push European defense spending pledges, but analysts say continent still lacks command experience to operate independently.

Pardons come as president and Republicans seem intent on investigating fraud in Democratic-run states

Donald Trump’s mass pardoning of those convicted in connection to the January 6 insurrection raised eyebrows last year, but more recently his pardons have appeared to have a particular focus: to grant clemency to those convicted of fraud.

Since taking office, Trump has pardoned dozens of people convicted of white-collar crimes, including several billionaires, with most of the 13 pardons he quietly issued this month granting clemency to people convicted of fraud.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Ukrainian and Russian officials left rare direct talks last weekend in a somewhat optimistic mood. But Russia may be simply stalling for time, analysts said.

© Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Ukrainian president’s remarks come as Russia praises trilateral talks but warns against expectations of ‘significant results’

The European Commission got also asked about the regular US criticism that it is “targeting” US big tech companies and that, in doing so, it undermines free speech.

Digital spokesperson Regnier replied:

“Again, we don’t target any company … based of its origin.

Now on your censorship point: I think if anyone dares to compare freedom of expression with child sexual abuse material or freedom of expression with undressing women digitally without their consent, then they are not fully aligned with Europe or absolutely not aligned with Europe. We don’t even live on the same planet.

“No comments to be made on this US internal matter. But, of course, we deplore any loss of innocent lives.”

“I have said innocent lives, but it’s not for us to judge, innocent or not innocent. Any life lost, we deplore it, in general, and it is, of course, for the justice system in the US to establish the facts.”

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Mindaugas Kulbis/AP

© Photograph: Mindaugas Kulbis/AP

© Photograph: Mindaugas Kulbis/AP

Les attaques récentes de Donald Trump contre l’Europe ont réveillé les consciences de nombreux pays européens qui militent désormais pour réduire leur dépendance aux États-Unis. Dans un communiqué envoyé le 26 janvier 2026, Bercy annonce avoir pour projet de lancer son propre outil de visioconférence d’ici 2027, pour réduire son exposition à d’éventuels coups de pression.

The World Health Organization claimed that the U.S. withdrawal makes the nation and the entire globe "less safe" and that it hopes the U.S. "will return to active participation in WHO."

Plus, High January is the new Dry January.

© Dave Sanders for The New York Times

Political violence timeline reveals shocking attacks on Republicans, Democrats and foreign embassy workers with "assassination culture" on the rise.

Current and former officials describe growing frustration and disillusionment with the Trump administration’s approach, even as they support the goal of immigration enforcement.

© Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The New York Times

State and local prosecutions could produce deterrent effects that are so desperately needed now.

© Roberto Schmidt/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

On immigration raids, the shooting death of Alex Pretti and where we go from here.

© Mark Peterson/Redux

Concerns about the affordability of education, housing, health care, having a family and retirement are driving economic anxieties, a New York Times/Siena poll found.

© The New York Times

Record 45% of Americans now identify as independents, but they're not moderate — they're angry citizens rejecting a broken political system and seeking change.

Interim leader Delcy Rodríguez is liberalizing the economy without dismantling her predecessor’s repressive apparatus, raising questions about her aims.

© The New York Times

Une université texane a interdit Le Banquet de Platon. Le texte, considéré comme l'un des fondateurs de la philosophie antique, est jugé trop woke.

ICE agents encounter violent protests in Minnesota and other cities as federal immigration enforcement faces opposition from Governor Tim Walz and local officials.