AI systems are moving from novelty to infrastructure. They write, code, search, and increasingly act on our behalf.

That speed has put a spotlight on a harder question: how seriously are AI companies managing the risks that come with more capable models?

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Niccolo Conte, visualizes and compares the safety scores of major AI companies using data from the AI Safety Index published by the Future of Life Institute, which scores companies across six key metrics.

Which AI Companies Prioritize Safety Most?

Based on the scores across six key metrics of AI safety, Anthropic, the creators of Claude, scored highest overall with a C+.

Anthropic was the only company that scored an “A” grade in two categories, with an A- in both governance and accountability along with information sharing.

The table below shows the overall grade of each AI company in terms of safety, along with their grades in specific safety categories.

Following Anthropic was OpenAI, creators of ChatGPT, which received a C grade overall. The only category it scored higher than Anthropic in was in the current harms category, partially thanks to the fact that OpenAI was the only company with a published whistleblowing policy at the time of the report’s publication.

Chinese companies Zhipu.AI and DeepSeek both received failing grades overall, though the report notes that China’s stricter national AI regulations may explain their weaker performance on Western-aligned self-governance and transparency metrics.

Understanding “AI Safety” and Why it Matters

A useful AI safety program is more than a promise to “be responsible.” It shows up as concrete processes: documented evaluations, clear thresholds for when to pause or limit deployment, and a trail of public reporting that lets outsiders understand what was tested and why.

Companies that score well tend to communicate more about how they handle model behavior, misuse risks, and incident response.

In contrast, lower-rated firms often appear opaque—either disclosing less overall or providing safety statements that are hard to verify.

In highlighting companies’ weak points when it comes to AI safety, the report from the Future of Life Institute notes that the AI industry is both fundamentally unprepared for its stated goals of reaching artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Along with this, it states that AI capabilities are accelerating far faster than risk management practices, and the lack of a regulatory floor means companies can cut corners on safety in order to get ahead in the race towards AGI.

To learn more about AI companies, check out this graphic on Voronoi that charts the skyrocketing revenues of Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI.

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,

The Trump administration has launched what officials described as the largest immigration enforcement operation ever Tuesday in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, initiating the deployment of federal agents and officers in a crackdown tied to widespread fraud investigations allegedly involving mainly Somali residents.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem participating in an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on Jan. 6, 2026, that resulted in the arrest of Tomas Espin Tapia, a fugitive wanted for murder and sexual assault in Ecuador. (DHS)DHS

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was on the ground early Tuesday as the sweep started, adding to the number of top federal officials focused on the state as federal investigations expand this week.

The Department of Homeland Security has made more than 1,000 arrests of illegal immigrants, many with criminal convictions, in Minnesota, including 150 in Minneapolis Monday, the agency reported.

“We have the largest immigration operation ever taking place right now,” acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons told Newsmax on Tuesday.

Federal agents and officers were going door to door at businesses in the area suspected of being involved in illegal hiring and fraud, Lyons said.

“We’re not leaving until the problem is solved,” DHS wrote on X Tuesday.

DHS and ICE did not return requests to confirm how many agents and officers were involved in the operations.

According to Noem, Minnesota authorities are not allowing immigration officers to access state detention centers to detain illegal immigrants with pending deportation orders. A large number of federal officers was needed after a lack of local support, Noem indicated in a social media post Tuesday.

“You won’t steal from Americans or break our laws and get away with it,” Noem said.

Included in Tuesday’s arrests was Tomas Espin Tapia, a fugitive wanted for murder in Ecuador, DHS reported.

Tapia illegally entered the U.S. in October 2022 and was released into the country by the Biden administration, according to the agency.

Tapia’s criminal history also includes sexual assault in Connecticut and previous convictions in Ecuador for robbery and extortion.

Mong Cheng, a criminal illegal immigrant from Laos who was convicted of homicide, vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, assault, and arson, was also among those arrested Tuesday, DHS reported.

Immigrant rights groups and elected officials in the Twin Cities area reported an increase in sightings of federal agents, especially around St. Paul.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz blasted the immigration operation, calling it “ridiculous.”

“Nobody is fooled into thinking this bafoonery [sic] is a reasonable use of taxpayer dollars,” Walz wrote on X. “It should not take 50 ICE agents to arrest one guy in a library.”

Walz dropped his reelection bid Monday as federal agencies expanded investigations into alleged systemwide social services fraud in the state.

The former vice presidential candidate said he needed time to concentrate on combating fraud.

As Warren Buffett popularized: “Price is what you pay, value is what you get”.

As Visual Capitalist’s Jeff Desjardins details below, just because someone pays the most, doesn’t mean that they extract the biggest payoff from a product or service.

Today’s visual from Our World in Data that compares life expectancy with healthcare spending per capita hints at exactly this paradox.

The Data on Life Expectancy vs. Healthcare Spending

Below is the data for 51 countries for the year 2023:

The clear takeaway is that while most high and upper-middle income countries cluster around the same trajectory, the United States is a clear outlier.

On average, the countries on the above list have a life expectancy of 79.74 years for a cost of $3,986 per person, while the U.S. has a life expectancy of 79.3 and spend of $12,023 per person.

Peer countries (Canada, UK, Germany, Japan, France, Italy) spend about half of what the U.S. does on healthcare per capita on average, but all have better life expectancy outcomes.

Why is the U.S. an Outlier?

While the U.S. excels in advanced and specialized medical care, life expectancy outcomes are held back by lifestyle and social factors rather than clinical capability.

Higher rates of obesity, chronic disease, opioid overdoses, gun violence, and traffic fatalities all weigh on average lifespan.

At the same time, healthcare access is uneven, with large gaps by income, race, and geography. As a result, additional spending often goes toward higher prices and end-of-life care, producing diminishing returns in overall life expectancy.

View the highest and lowest life expectancy rates around the world in this map.

It’s only fitting that two days after we got the weakest US Manufacturing ISM print in over a year, earlier this morning we got a diametrically opposite report from the Service sector, which according to the Institute for Supply Management expanded in December at the fastest pace in more than a year, fueled by solid demand growth and a pickup in hiring. As the chart below shows, while the Service sector grew at the fastest pace since October 2024, the Manufacturing sector contracted at the fastest pace since November 2024.

The Institute for Supply Management’s index of services rose 1.8 points to 54.4, the highest since October 2024 (recall readings above 50 indicate expansion in the largest part of the economy). The December figure exceeded all projections in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Ironically, it printed at the exact same time as the latest JOLTs report which as we noted earlier, printed below all Wall Street estimates.  

New orders expanded by the most since September 2024 and a measure of business activity, which parallels the ISM’s factory output gauge, climbed to a one-year high. Export bookings grew at the fastest pace in more than a year. Meanwhile, ISM’s index of prices paid for services and materials showed the slowest growth in nine months. The supplier deliveries index fell 2.3 points from the highest level in a year.

Authored by Rob Smith via RealClearMarkets.com,

Now that Epiphany has begun and Christmas is over, perhaps it’s time to stop being so excessively nice to “groups” that do the most damage to an orderly and civilized world. The greater good requires us to hurt some feelings.  Remember in Star Trek when the Klingons attacked the USS Enterprise and Captain Kirk raised a force field so enemy weapons couldn’t penetrate the ship? That is precisely what the clever jackals on the Left have done to public discourse.

A generation ago, importing 100,000 Somalis into Minneapolis would have been rejected outright, because Westerners were still permitted to speak plainly about Somalis, their culture, and Islam. Today, that conversation is impossible. The Left has erected a rhetorical force field to shield its political interests from its most dangerous enemy: the truth.

No societal problem can be solved unless the remedy addresses reality. Speak a truth—no matter how calmly or sincerely—and you are instantly branded a racist, homophobe, white supremacist, misogynist, fatphobe, xenophobe, and bigot. Yet by every objective metric, certain groups of people simply aren’t very smart—100% demonstrable through IQ data, test scores, and long histories of non-achievement. Men and women are biologically, emotionally, and cognitively different. But the force field forbids me from saying that liberal white women are clinically insane due to biological brain differences, or that saving the Republic may require repealing the 19th Amendment. Oops—I said it. Instead of screeching “misogyny” and shutting down speech, how about a debate? Prove me wrong. In New York, ninety percent of them voted for Mamdani!

Spare me the Indian land acknowledgements and the performative inability to acknowledge who actually founded this country. By modern standards, every living American is a white supremacist. The Western world created virtually everything of value. Anyone here not living in a grass hut, speaking a language without an alphabet, and eating grasshoppers has voluntarily assimilated into Western European culture because they recognize it as—yes—supreme.

So can we finally discard “intersectionality,” that pathetic framework where every group that sucks demands handouts while blaming the groups that don’t suck for their failures? The only way to help groups that suck is to tell them they suck—and that improvement requires emulating those who don’t. What, exactly, is wrong with being xenophobic when the culture in question is a rotten, thieving, low-IQ Islamic culture that has been terrorizing the West for 1,400 years?

The wizards atop Leftist orthodoxy make the rules for everyone else—rules designed to insulate themselves from criticism and preserve political hegemony. If you tell dysfunctional groups the truth and then leave them alone, they tend to improve. Anyone who has spent time among the liberal elite knows their public virtue signaling about forbidden language is a sham. In private, they readily admit the truths they forbid others from stating. Somehow, they’ve convinced their hordes of useful idiots to believe what they themselves do not.

Acknowledging objective reality—things that are undeniably true—is not hate speech. We’ve been bullied into silence by the threat of being labeled a hater. And yes, there are plenty of things I hate—crime, waste, stupidity, fraud, dishonesty, Duke University—but I don’t hate people. Thinking liberal white women shouldn’t vote is not hatred. It’s recognition that they lack Aristotelian logic, the cornerstone of sound government and durable civilizations. I’m trying to protect them—from destroying the country and from having their suburban homes confiscated by red-star-wearing commissars, or worse, being sold into sex slavery by neighborhood mullahs. Calling insanity what it is an act of love.

Every day on social media we see videos of inner-city youths bum-rushing retail stores and looting with impunity. Total mayhem. Yet the force field prevents criticism—let alone identification of the culprits. Something is profoundly wrong with this culture, and the only cure is ruthless denunciation and an end to enabling dystopia. That, too, is love.

As one of the world’s great wordsmiths, I resent being told what words I may or may not use. Imagine if, during World War II, the Japanese informed MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz that they couldn’t deploy the Marines or aircraft carriers—or else be called a bad name—and our leaders complied. Wars are not won by surrendering your most effective weapons. Sometimes the forbidden word is le mot juste. It says exactly what needs to be said—and with style.

Take the word RETARD. I enjoy it mostly because I’m told I can’t say it. I use it sparingly, but with precision.  

Donald Trump used it to describe Tim Walz.

He didn’t apply it cruelly to a child with Down syndrome, yet the MSM and the Left lost their minds. Heads exploded. It was glorious.

The Somali community managed to pull off a $9 billion scam right under Tim Walz’s nose.

“Tampon Tim” claims ignorance. If that’s true, there is no more accurate word in the English language than retard.

Speech codes lead to national self-destruction. Truth—especially when delivered in sharp, colorful tones—is the best weapon in the war of woke insanity.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang emphasized in his Monday CES keynote that memory will be a major value driver across the AI universe, a view that aligns with our observation in 2H25 that data-center buildouts are aggressively absorbing DRAM and HBM capacity. With supply already tight and pricing soaring, this environment is translating into earnings tailwinds for memory producers, prompting UBS to say last week that the current memory upcycle could “turbo-charge” Samsung Electronics’ profits.

“For storage, that is a completely unserved market today,” Huang told the audience at CES on Monday. “This is a market that never existed, and this market will likely be the largest storage market in the world, basically holding the working memory of the world’s AIs.”

Chipmakers led gains on Tuesday after Huang highlighted storage as an “unserved market,” with SanDisk soaring as much as 28%. Storage companies Western Digital and Seagate Technology also posted double-digit percentage gains.

Mizuho trading-desk analyst Jordan Klein told MarketWatch that Huang’s comments are “bullish” for memory companies. He noted that Huang discussed “how important memory will be for AI use cases and inferencing, such as long reasoning and [key-value] cache to recall all user inquiries with agentic AI.”

SanDisk and other memory and storage companies are “key beneficiaries” of the push for “AI inferencing and AI at the edge” in 2026, Bank of America analysts led by Wamsi Mohan told clients recently.

Chatbots: soaking up all the world’s power, water and memory pic.twitter.com/L2mcdcLSko

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 24, 2025

Mohan expects tech firms to retain large amounts of data for training, analytics, and compliance purposes, with demand for storage “skyrocketing in tandem.” In particular, he noted the growing demand for EVs, drones, surveillance, and sports technology.

Also, last week, UBS analyst Nicolas Gaudois highlighted to clients the uptick in memory is expected to “turbo-charge earnings” for Samsung’s memory business. The report is available in full here.

The latest DDR5 DRAM pricing on Amazon!

Last month, Goldman analyst Maho Kamiya told clients that mounting concerns about soaring memory prices pose new risks for Nintendo, which manufactures consumer electronics such as the popular Switch 2.

The great memory crunch has arrived.

Update (Wednesday):

Following President Trump’s overnight Truth Social post that Venezuela would transfer “30 to 50 million barrels of high-quality, sanctioned oil” to the U.S., Energy Secretary Chris Wright outlined next steps for both the oil and the sales proceeds during remarks at a Goldman Sachs conference.

Earlier, Wright was featured at the Goldman Energy, Clean Tech & Utilities Conference in Miami. He told the audience, including executives from Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and other major oil and gas majors, about the Trump administration’s plans for Venezuela’s oil sector following last weekend’s regime change led by America’s Delta Force operators (implying the toppling of Nicolás Maduro).

Wright opened the discussion by describing the “horrific” two-decade decline of Venezuela under the Maduro socialist regime. He said the country was once “one of the shining stars” of South America but, under socialist rule, descended into a hellhole of narcoterrorism.

“We want to change the game in Venezuela, fix the country so it’s a productive member of the Western Hemisphere. So it’s an ally of the United States and a major oil supplier to the world. But the old ways weren’t working. This started with an oil blockade. They [Maduro’s socialist regime] get money two ways: selling oil and selling drugs,” Wright explained.

He continued, “We ultimately want to be cut off completely from drugs and grow the selling of oil. But in the short term, there was a blockade – a major cash flow source – that pinched the heads of Venezuela to get them out of power.”

Wright went on to describe Venezuela’s oil market in a post-Maduro world: “Now we have a different arrangement. Instead of the oil being blockaded, as it is right now, we’re going to let the oil flow. Sell that oil to U.S. refineries and to markets around the world to improve global oil supplies. But those sales will be conducted by the U.S. government, with the proceeds deposited into accounts controlled by the U.S. government. From there, the funds can flow back into Venezuela to benefit the Venezuelan people.”

“We need to use the leverage from those oil sales to drive the change that simply must happen in Venezuela, so it is no longer a drug threat, a kidnapping threat, a gun-running threat, or an enabler of our adversaries in the hemisphere. Venezuela has been a train wreck for the U.S. and the American people, and under Trump’s leadership, we are committed to changing and restoring it in a way that benefits not only Americans, but Venezuelans as well,” he said.

On the subject of Venezuelan energy infrastructure, Wright emphasized that it is “not good.” He said, “Decades of underinvestment and corruption have degraded infrastructure, and it’s not just oil and gas; it’s also the power grid.”

Switching gears, Wright called climate change spending probably one of the biggest malinvestments in human history. He said approximately $10 trillion has been invested globally “fighting climate change,” and asked what the return has been: “For $10 trillion, we got solar up to 1.2% of global energy and wind at 1.4%. Collectively, that’s just 2.6% of global energy.”

Wright added that where grid penetration of green energy is high, power prices have skyrocketed, citing Germany, the UK, and California as examples, resulting in deindustrialization.

About halfway through the conversation, Wright discussed the surge in power demand driven by data center buildouts and other electrification trends across the U.S.

“My biggest concern is the electricity grid,” Wright noted. He described climate-crisis policies as a “delusion,” saying the grid went from producing cheaper and cheaper power to now producing increasingly more expensive power.

Wright blasted blue states for their terrible ‘green’ energy policies, saying this has been one of the driving forces behind the power bill crisis.

He said, “Demand growth of the power grid is one way to drive down power prices.” In other words, build more power plants.

On the nuclear power front, Wright said the nuclear power industry was “destroyed” by climate change policies and “regulatory misunderstandings”…

“If we want to reshore manufacturing and win the AI race, we have to add 100 gigawatts of reliable capacity that is there at peak demand,” Wright said near the end of his conversation at the Goldman conference.

Very informative talk from Wright.

We suggest readers listen in full.

* * *  

Update (2035ET): 

Brent crude futures fell after a Truth Social post from President Trump said officials in Venezuela will transfer “30 to 50 MILLION barrels of high-quality, sanctioned oil” to the U.S.

“This oil will be sold at its market price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States,” Trump said.

He added, “I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan immediately. The oil will be taken by storage ships and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States.”

In markets, Brent crude fell 2.3% on supply concerns but has since clawed back some of the losses.

An earlier Bloomberg report detailed how Chevron contracted 11 tankers scheduled to arrive later this month at the Venezuelan government-controlled ports of Jose and Bajo Grande.

We’re sure the Strategic Petroleum Reserve could use some of that Venezuelan crude oil…

*    *    * 

Via Middle East Eye

The US ambassador to the United Nations on Monday said that enemies of his country cannot be allowed to control vast oil reserves, such as the ones in Venezuela under President Nicolas Maduro.

Mike Waltz spoke less than two hours before Maduro made his first court appearance, not far from UN headquarters in Manhattan. Maduro is charged with narco-trafficking, among other charges, and has pleaded not guilty. “We’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be used as a base of operation for our nation’s adversaries,” Waltz said. “You cannot continue to have the largest energy reserves in the world under the control of adversaries of the United States, under the control of illegitimate leaders, and not benefiting the people of Venezuela.”

He insisted, however, that despite the US president himself saying that his administration will be “running” Venezuela, the US will not be “occupying” the Latin American nation. “There is no war against Venezuela or its people,” Waltz told the UN Security Council (UNSC). “We are not occupying a country.” 

US President Nicolas Maduro entered a not guilty plea in a federal courthouse in New York City on Monday, following his abduction by the US in the early hours of Saturday morning. 

US attorney general Pam Bondi said Maduro has been charged with “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States”. 

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against him and his wife, Cilia Flores, in 2020, under the first Trump administration. Five other defendants were named in the document, but not Flores. 

Bondi has since shared an unsealed indictment that charges Flores and the couple’s son, who was not abducted with them, with trafficking drugs. Flores is also accused of ordering kidnappings and murders, and accepting bribes.

In the US, an unsealed indictment is effectively the withholding of formal criminal charges until the suspects have appeared in court. On Monday, Flores also appeared in court next to her husband and pleaded not guilty. 

Maduro’s stunning abduction from Venezuela by US forces in the early hours of Saturday has been condemned by allies Russia and China, both of which are among the five permanent and veto-wielding members of the UNSC. 

But the US also has that power, meaning there will likely be no accountability at the UN for its actions. The body’s secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has already said he fears there may have been a violation of international law in abducting a head of state from a sovereign country.

UN member states must “refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state”, the body’s charter says. 

A statement from Guterres on Monday, read by UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo to the UNSC, said he is “deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in [Venezuela], the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted”. 

He added that the UN will support all efforts at dialogue between the US and Venezuela. For his part, Venezuela’s ambassador to the UN, Samuel Moncada, said the abduction was “an illegitimate armed attack lacking any legal justification”.

The death count from the US attack on Venezuela has risen to 80, including civilians and members of security forces, according to a senior Venezuelan official who said the number could rise further, The New York Times reported on Monday. 

The Trump admin’s talking points on what was behind the Venezuela intervention have been shifting…

Pete Hegesth, “We spent decades, purchased in American blood and got nothing economically in return”

“Now we can ensure we can access to additional wealth”

In case you had any doubt, it’s all about oil pic.twitter.com/cac90Iid8x

— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) January 5, 2026

US special forces abducted Venezuela’s president from the capital, Caracas, early on Saturday, as American fighter jets bombed key military installations and bases across the country. Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, said the US seizure of Maduro had “Zionist undertones”. 

Rodriguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president, has been appointed by the Supreme Court to lead the country on an interim basis.

Update (0920ET):

U.S. European Command (EUCOM) confirmed on X that the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Department of Defense, seized the Russian-flagged oil tanker Marinera (formerly Bella 1) for violating U.S. sanctions.

“The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court after being tracked by the USCGC Munro,” EUCOM said.

The @TheJusticeDept & @DHSgov, in coordination with the @DeptofWar today announced the seizure of
the M/V Bella 1 for violations of U.S. sanctions. The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro. pic.twitter.com/bm5KcCK30X

— U.S. European Command (@US_EUCOM) January 7, 2026

EUCOM continued…

pic.twitter.com/E0hii3A6Zo

— U.S. European Command (@US_EUCOM) January 7, 2026

Read the earlier updates: Russian warships and submarines are nearby.

*   *   * 

Update (0855ET):

NBC News reports that the U.S. Special Forces operation in the North Atlantic to seize a Russian-flagged oil tanker, the Marinera (formerly Bella 1), was successful.

U.S. officials told the outlet that the Marinera “has been secured” following a dramatic, weeks-long chase on the high seas.

The U.S. seized two oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela last month as part of President Trump’s gunboat diplomacy. But why would a U.S. Coast Guard cutter and surveillance planes chase an empty, rusted, Russian-flagged tanker across the Atlantic unless there was potentially something far more valuable on board?

*   *   * 

Update (0814ET):

The Russian outlet RT News has posted footage that appears to show U.S. military forces attempting to board the Russian-flagged tanker Marinera early Wednesday morning in the North Atlantic.

❗️ Military forces, presumably American, are attempting to board Russian-flagged civilian tanker ‘Marinera’ RIGHT NOW — RT source

RT has obtained first exclusive visual confirmation of the boarding attempt https://t.co/lWf62lN7hH pic.twitter.com/rn9xfLmNxi

— RT (@RT_com) January 7, 2026

Reuters reports that the U.S. is “attempting” to seize the Venezuela-linked oil tanker after a two-week chase involving a U.S. Coast Guard vessel and surveillance aircraft.

From like an hour ago or more, as the Americans got into position to attempt boarding.

A massive swarm of RAF jets were patrolling around the north sea, potentially shadowing the Russian Naval fleet on route to escort it. pic.twitter.com/DxxioNbLw6

— Lee Mitchell (@Lee_Mitchell91) January 7, 2026

More color on the operation from the outlet:

The officials, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, said the operation is being carried out by the Coast Guard and the U.S. military.

They added that Russian military vessels, including a submarine, were in the general vicinity when the operation took place.

Marinera made an abrupt heading change as the US MH-6 Little Bird, the 160th SOAR’s smallest helicopter, approached the vessel. 

MARINERA (9230880) just made a sudden southbound turn at 11:26 UTC at 60.9386, -16.37014. Decelerated from 9kn to 8kn speed. pic.twitter.com/dH8BnpF6r5

— TankerTrackers.com, Inc. (@TankerTrackers) January 7, 2026

This is what the “Donroe” doctrine to clean up the Western Hemisphere looks like. However, certainly appears that conflict fears are on the rise … 

*   *   * 

In what can only be described as straight out of a Cold War techno-thriller, The Hunt for Red October vibes, the U.S. Coast Guard is chasing a rusting oil tanker formerly known as Bella 1, now renamed Marinera, flying the Russian flag about 300 miles south of Iceland as it heads toward the North Sea.

On Tuesday, Russian outlet RT News posted an exclusive video on X showing Marinera being chased by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter in the North Atlantic.

BREAKING WORLD EXCLUSIVE: RT obtains FIRST footage of Russian-flagged civilian Marinera tanker being CHASED by US Coast Guard warship in the North Atlantic https://t.co/sNbqJkm5O5 pic.twitter.com/XtbBML3a6j

— RT (@RT_com) January 6, 2026

The Wall Street Journal then reported overnight that Russia is countering the Trump administration’s attempt to seize Marinera by deploying a submarine and other warships to escort the allegedly now-empty tanker.

The chase in the North Atlantic follows last month’s incident near Venezuelan waters, when the tanker – then stateless and flying a false flag – was subject to a U.S. judicial seizure order. As the Coast Guard attempted to board, the crew switched the ship’s registration to Russia, prompting Moscow to demand that the U.S. halt its pursuit.

Trump’s gunboat diplomacy in the Caribbean, along with a broader push for Western Hemisphere defense – what some have called the “Don-roe Doctrine” – has set the tone for the year: U.S. forces intend to control the seas in the Americas, not China and not Russia.

One key question is why Washington is hyper-focused on this particular tanker, given that the global dark fleet numbers more than 1,000 tankers hauling sanctioned crude worldwide. The ship’s quick registration in Russia, without inspection or formalities, may only suggest that the tanker, which departed Venezuelan waters, could be carrying other cargo bound for Russia.

One month after ADP reported a dismal -29K private payrolls print for November, tied for the worst month since March 2023, and just in time to validate the Fed’s latest rate cut, moments ago ADP reported that in December, the US added 41K payrolls, which while a solid jump from last month’s -29K, missed consensus estimates of a +50K print. 

The breakdown showed continued weakness in manufacturing jobs, which shrank by 3K in December, offset by a 44K increase in Service jobs, despite another notable drop in Information (-12K) and Professional/Business services (-29K) jobs. Also notable is that all the weakness was in the Western region (read California) where 61K jobs were lost, while a breakdown of establishments by size saw solid hiring by small and medium companies, offset by a modest 2K increase amid Large companies.

“Small establishments recovered from November job losses with positive end-of-year hiring, even as large employers pulled back,” said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson.

There was more good news for the Trump admin which appears to have halted the sharp deterioration in the labor market: year-over-year pay for job-stayers rose 4.4% in December, unchanged from November while jobchangers saw their pay growth accelerate to 6.6% from 6.3%.