Latest news for 12 January 2026

GERMANY

Can’t touch this.

According to Bloomberg, Germany and the UK are leading talks with European partners to set up a joint NATO mission on Greenland to protect the Arctic. Meanwhile, Danish outlets say the top diplomats from Denmark and Greenland will meet their US counterpart (Rubio) in DC on Wednesday (Bloomberg $)

Comment: Outlets are duly reporting this proposed NATO mission as something to comfort a Trump 2.0 worried about Arctic security, but it’s really about deterring him.

MYANMAR

Sham elections.

Voters returned to the polls on Sunday for the second stage of Myanmar’s sham elections. (France24)

Comment: The ruling military junta hopes the vote will help consolidate its legitimacy at home and abroad, as it regains the battlefield initiative (with help from Beijing and Moscow) against Myanmar’s various ethnic militias.

CHINA

Crossfit.

Warships from China, Iran, and Russia have arrived in South Africa for joint ‘BRICS Plus’ naval exercises. (Reuters)

Comment: Interestingly, India and Brazil appear to have opted out of the joint drills altogether. They’ll point to scheduling or other reasons, but this might be more about not poking Trump in the eye while talks continue to stabilise their US trade ties.

UKRAINE

Power under fire.

Authorities have restored electricity, water, and heating to most parts of Kyiv after Russian strikes again hit critical civilian infrastructure. In response, a Ukrainian drone struck yet another oil depot financing Putin’s war. (The Independent)

Comment: This looks like a classic Putin asymmetric response to Trump’s tanker seizure last week — can’t hit the US back, so hit Ukraine instead. Meanwhile, Putin’s use of the hypersonic Oreshnik missile against Ukraine’s western city of Lviv is an attempt to intimidate Ukraine’s European backers: ie, imagine what else we can hit.

PHILIPPINES

Rubbish collapse.

Authorities have launched an investigation after a landfill landslide left at least four dead and dozens missing. (BBC)

Comment: Waste disposal is a hot issue in the Philippines — long seen as an easy source of foreign exchange, some legislators now want foreign waste imports banned.

CUBA

No oil, no deal.

President Trump has warned that Cuba won’t receive any more oil from Venezuela, urging the island’s leadership to “make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE”. (Al Jazeera)

Comment: This effectively broadens the US embargo on Cuba, and ratchets up the (already high) pain beyond the regime. It’s a bet the island’s rulers will buckle now in a way they haven’t in seven decades.

SYRIA

Infighting.

Syria’s main Kurdish faction (the SDF) has agreed to a ceasefire with the Islamist-led government so SDF forces can evacuate from Syria’s second city, Aleppo. Clashes broke out last week after talks to incorporate the SDF broke down again. (Guardian)