January 8th, 2026 | Weekly Issue
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Maduro Tells Manhattan Court That He’s Innocent of US Charges and Still the President of Venezuela
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Dave DeCamp - January 5th 2026
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Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, also attended the hearing and appeared to have been injured during the US raid
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Two days after being abducted by US forces during a US attack on Caracas, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appeared before a US federal judge in Manhattan on Monday and said he was still Venezuela’s rightful leader.
“I’m innocent. I’m not guilty,” Maduro told Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who is 92 years old. “I am a decent man. I am still president of my country.” The Venezuelan leader also said he was a “prisoner of war.”
Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, also appeared before Hellerstein and appeared to have been injured during the US raid, based on reporting from The New York Times.
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Children Killed and Wounded by Israeli Airstrike on Tent in Southern Gaza
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Dave DeCamp - January 5th
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An Israeli airstrike hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi camp in southern Gaza on Monday, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, as the IDF continues its daily violations of the US-backed ceasefire deal.
Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported that the strike killed at least two people, including a child. WAFA had a higher death toll, saying a total of four people were killed in the attack, and others were injured.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) posted a photo on X on Monday of himself and President Trump posing with a hat that reads “Make Iran Great Again” amid threats of another US and Israeli war against Iran.
“Another great day with [President Trump], who has brought America back, stronger than ever, at home and abroad. God bless our Commander in Chief and all of the brave men and women who serve under him,” wrote Graham, who traveled back to Washington from Florida with the president aboard Air Force One.
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President Trump Poses With Sen. Graham and a ‘Make Iran Great Again’ Hat
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Dave DeCamp - January 5th
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Kim Oversees North Korean Hypersonic Missile Test
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Kyle Anzalone - January 5th
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North Korea claimed it conducted a successful test of a hypersonic missile.
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“A sub-unit under a major firing strike group of the Korean People’s Army conducted a missile launching drill on January 4,” a statement in North Korean state media said. “The drill was conducted as part of the operational evaluation of the sustainability, effectiveness, and operation of the DPRK’s war deterrent while evaluating the readiness of the hypersonic weapon system, verifying and confirming its capability for fulfilling mission and developing the missile soldiers’ firing capability.”
Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the missile test. “To be honest, our such activity is clearly aimed at gradually putting the nuclear war deterrent on a highly developed basis.” He continued, “The reason why it is necessary is exemplified by the recent geopolitical crisis and complicated international events.”
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On Monday, Israel issued evacuation orders for four villages in southern and eastern Lebanon, saying they were to be targeted to hit Hezbollah and Hamas infrastructure in the area. Those villages included Kfar Hatta, Ain al-Tineh, al-Manara and Annan.
The first two villages were alleged to be Hezbollah sites, and the later two Hamas sites. Though Israel routinely claims everyone and their brother in southern Lebanon is secretly a Hezbollah operative, the claim of villages hosting Hamas is unusual, as the group isn’t known to have a substantial presence in Lebanon beyond the refugee camps.
The orders led large numbers of civilian families to flee the villages, and buildings in all four villages were hit in the course of the next few hours. The al-Manara strike reportedly hit a home that once belonged to former Hamas figure Sharhabil Sayed.
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Israel Pounds Southern, Eastern Lebanon, Claims to Target Hamas and Hezbollah
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Washington D.C. Censors Peace on Billboards
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David Swanson - January 5th
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“Peace” seems to be permitted in subway stations in Washington, D.C., as long as it doesn’t appear to mean anything. World BEYOND War has a project to put peace billboards up around the world. It has had lots of successes and met lots of censorship. Success (that is, getting companies to be willing to take our money and put up our ads) is easiest if “peace” can be imagined to mean something acceptable like “a warm smile” and not anything like “the absence of war.”
For example, in November and December 2022, a holiday season, we persuaded Outfront Media, which handles the ads in the Metro stations in Washington, D.C., to put up ads reading “PEACE ON EARTH.” We snuck in a quasi-mention of war through the URL of our website in fine print at the bottom: WORLDBEYONDWAR.org.
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Listen to Scott's latest interviews with journalists, academics and activists.
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Antiwar News with
Dave DeCamp
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Dave breaks down the news 5 days a week.
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Featuring guests each week breaking down world conflicts and US foreign policy.
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"War is the health of the State." - Randolph Bourne, 1886 – 1918
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akeaton@antiwar.com
323-512-7095
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