ISRAEL - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been ordered to prepare for a possible simultaneous war against Iran, Lebanon, and the West Bank, according to Israeli Channel 12. One scenario reportedly includes an “explosive operation” against Tehran, which is currently facing widespread Israeli-backed cost-of-living protests. The preparations are part of a four-year long-term plan led by IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, the broadcaster revealed on Wednesday. On top of war readiness, they also reportedly include plans to develop capabilities to attack both satellites and ground targets from space. Officials in West Jerusalem expect Iran to attack Israel to “prevent the dissolution” of the Iranian government under the pressure of the protests, Channel 12 said.

ISRAEL - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a new attack plan on Iran, while the Israeli army has entered a state of maximum alert. Israeli sources reported today that Netanyahu approved the new attack plan, dubbed the “Iron Strike.” According to the Israeli channel i24news, the Israeli army has gone on high alert amid fears that Iran might redirect its fire toward Israel. The Israeli intelligence branch is also conducting military exercises. The channel reported that “Netanyahu presented during the meeting the results of his discussions with US President Donald Trump during their recent meeting in Florida,” noting that “Netanyahu outlined priorities for action against Iran and the timing of operations.”

USA - America’s artificial intelligence (AI) boom is colliding with an older, slower-moving entity: the nation’s ageing electrical grid. From Virginia’s data-center corridor to multi-state electricity markets, analysts, government agencies, and AI insiders say the scramble to handle technology’s expanding power demands will be an uphill battle. At the same time, big tech companies and data centers are working to reduce the impact of AI’s expansion on the United States’ grid infrastructure. Some experts believe changes and significant investment are needed to reduce grid stress and possible energy shortages. A primary driver of this concern is the explosion in data centers being built across the United States to support rapid AI buildout.

MIDDLE EAST - The Islamic State is becoming more dangerous again. The West should be terrified. Britain and its allies must try to do what it can with what little it has to fight the Hydra’s many heads. Over the weekend, while the United States was capturing the Venezuelan president, Britain and France struck targets linked to the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Britain hit a suspected cache of arms, and MoD press releases talked with suppressed excitement of the Typhoon jets and the Paveway munitions used. “Target engaged” satisfactorily. We’re in a new era of the war against the Islamic State. The new Syrian government of Ahmed al-Sharaa has formally signed up to the Global Coalition against the Islamic State.

USA - Maduro’s capture proves the US president has ripped up the international rulebook. The ignominious capture of Nicolás Maduro proves, if nothing else, that America no longer bothers with pretences. Trump was never going to take his case to the UN or rally his allies behind the cause of defenestrating Maduro. American interests, he decided, required the removal of Venezuela’s dictator, so Trump sent the US Delta Force, an elite military unit renowned for involvement in high-stakes rescue and capture missions, to accomplish exactly that. Nothing else mattered. Britain and its neighbours will need to rebuild their own military strength and turn Trump’s unconstrained power and sheer unpredictability to their advantage. If the assault on Caracas blows away the last delusions, forcing us to deal with the world as it really is, rather than the one we might wish for, it might yet do some good.

USA - Trump’s Venezuela gamble could redraw the global balance of power. Two days on from Donald Trump’s extraordinary capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the dust has barely begun to settle. Maduro is appearing today in a New York court where he will be charged with “narco-terrorism” and conspiracy to import cocaine, which can carry life sentences under US law. But Maduro is not the only loser in all of this. Iran, Russia and China have all lost a valuable client - one who sold them oil, bought their weapons, and provided them with a beachhead on America’s doorstep.

EUROPE - Once you are reliant on a foreign force for safety and a foreign power for prosperity, you are no longer completely sovereign. “The rest of the world”, Tony Blair’s foreign policy advisor Robert Cooper wrote two decades ago, “reacts to America, fears America, lives under American protection, envies, resents, plots against, depends on America. Every other country defines its strategy in relation to the United States”; and in turn, the United States defines its foreign policy aims as effective “invulnerability”.

VENEZUELA - Heavy Gunfire in Caracas, anti-aircraft artillery firing non-stop – armed groups moving through the city, clashing with government troops. Monday night erupted in heavy firefights in Caracas, more specifically in areas of Miraflores, where the presidential palace is located. This comes a mere hours after the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, was formally sworn in. Rumors have been circulating that Maduro’s right-hand man, Diosdado Cabello, was planning a coup d’état against Rodríguez. Apparently, her first decisions were not to the liking of the generals of the highly ideological Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela. Diosdado controls many of the ‘colectivos of Venezuela’, far-left, heavily armed paramilitary groups operating independently of the Government.

(This is a breaking story – watch for developments.)

GREENLAND - Donald Trump has set his sights on a US takeover of Greenland after capturing Nicolas Maduro and saying he would run Venezuela. “We do need Greenland, absolutely,” the US president told The Atlantic magazine, adding that the Danish territory was “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships”. He said officials in his administration would decide what happened to Greenland, which Mr Trump has claimed the US must annex for its security. “We need it for defence,” he said of Greenland. Responding to the latest threat from Mr Trump, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s prime minister, said: “That’s enough now.” “No more pressure. No more insinuations. No more fantasies of annexation,” he wrote on Facebook late on Sunday. “We are open to dialogue. We are open to discussions. But this must happen through the proper channels and with respect for international law.”

COLUMBIA - Donald Trump has issued a stark warning against the President of Colombia after he spoke out against US strikes on Venezuela, which saw President Nicolas Maduro captured and taken to the States. Speaking at a press conference in his Mar-a-lago residence in Florida, the President announced that the United States would "run" Venezuela until a "proper transition" could take place. He also declared that US oil companies would "start making money" for the country, and warned detractors that the US was poised to stage a "much larger" second attack if it was needed. The attack, which took place in the early hours of January 3, has drawn condemnation from allies of Venezuela, including Iran and Russia, as well as nearby Colombia. In an official statement, the Government of Columbia said that they had "deep concern" about the "escalation of tension" in South America.

IRAN - US President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to come to the aid of protesters in Iran if security forces fired on them, days into unrest that has left several dead and posed the biggest internal threat to Iranian authorities in years. "We are locked and loaded and ready to go," he said in a social media post. The United States bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in June, joining an Israeli air campaign that targeted Tehran's atomic programme and military leadership. Responding to Trump's comments, top Iranian official Ali Larijani warned that US interference in domestic Iranian issues would amount to a destabilisation of the entire Middle East. Iran backs proxy forces in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

VENEZUELA - Venezuela has entered one of the most volatile chapters in its modern history following the dramatic removal of President Nicolás Maduro by US forces, an event that has sent shockwaves through Latin America and the international community. According to reporting by the Daily Mail, the sudden power vacuum has resulted in Vice President Delcy Rodríguez stepping forward as Venezuela’s interim leader, triggering fierce debate over legitimacy, sovereignty, and foreign intervention. Rodríguez, a longtime ally of Maduro and a central figure within the Bolivarian government, addressed the nation shortly after the operation. In a defiant televised speech, she rejected any suggestion that the United States now holds authority over Venezuela and reaffirmed her loyalty to the detained president.

CHINA - President Donald Trump’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro sparked widespread discussion on Chinese social media, with many users saying the operation offered a template for how Beijing could handle tensions with Taiwan. Trump’s operation against the Venezuelan strongman shot to the top of China’s Weibo late Saturday, with the topic gaining some 440 million views on the X-like platform. Many commentators were quick to make comparisons between the fate of the South American nation and that of the self-ruled democracy Beijing has vowed to claim. “I suggest using the same method to reclaim Taiwan in the future,” one user said in reply to a post with more than 700 likes. “Since the US doesn’t take international law seriously, why should we care about it?” said another user.

VENEZUELA - President Maduro’s abduction puts a question mark over his country’s oil reserves and suggests a return to US realpolitik that will make leaders from Iran to Denmark nervous. Venezuela is a member of Illiberal International, the club of autocratic and sanctions-busting states that work together to restrict American influence in their respective regions. It is an axis of sanctions busters — Russia, China, North Korea and Iran as well as Venezuela — and they smirk every time a tanker of banned oil slips past western monitoring networks and transfers its cargo. The countries share military intelligence, are protected by Russian and Chinese vetoes at the UN security council, reach defence and trade agreements outside international scrutiny and see themselves as immune from western criticism of human rights abuses.

GERMANY - The German military has characterized hybrid measures such as cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns as preparatory stages leading up to a military conflict, Politico has claimed, citing a classified document. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Berlin has pursued rapid militarization, citing a perceived Russian threat. Moscow has consistently denied harboring aggressive plans toward its Western neighbors. In a piece on Tuesday, the media outlet reported that the assessment was contained in the Operational Plan for Germany (OPLAN), which presumably lays out the steps the country would take in the event of war. According to Politico, the confidential document says that hybrid attacks “can fundamentally serve to prepare a military confrontation,” as distinct from being mere background operations. In May, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to make the country’s military the “strongest conventional army in Europe.”