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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said on Sunday that the U.S. is engaged in an ‘ongoing war’ with Venezuela following what he described as recent U.S. actions involving the country.

During an appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ Paul said the U.S. continues to be in conflict with Venezuela over its oil.

‘That is an act of war, it’s an ongoing war, to continue to take their oil, ongoing war, to distribute it,’ Paul said.

‘I still hope it works out for the best, but we are still involved in an active war with Venezuela,’ he continued.

The senator added that ‘we still have hundreds of ships with a 100% blockade of the coast.’

This comes after the U.S. operation to attack Venezuela and arrest its president, Nicolás Maduro, and the Trump administration’s subsequent seizing of an oil tanker from the country.

Venezuela is one of the biggest producers of oil, and its oil industry has become a focus of the Trump administration. Officials said oil sales to the U.S. will start immediately with an initial shipment of about 30 million to 50 million barrels and that the shipments will continue indefinitely.

‘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 previously wrote on Truth Social.

Trump has also said that the U.S. would continue ‘running’ Venezuela for much longer than a few months. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have said it will take time for Venezuela, now led by interim acting President Delcy Rodriguez, to reach a place where it can hold elections.

More than half of U.S. voters oppose the Trump administration running Venezuela, according to a poll from Quinnipiac University.

Paul is part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who want to limit Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela after the U.S. military’s recent move to strike the country and capture Maduro, which the Kentucky Republican has said amounts to war.

The group attempted to pass a War Powers resolution last week to block the president from additional intervention without congressional approval, but the effort failed in the Senate.

‘The only problem about a war powers vote now is that, since it hasn’t happened, there are a lot of Republicans who say, ‘Oh, that’s prospective. I’m not going to tie his hands prospectively,” Paul said on Sunday. 

‘The problem is, if you wait until after an invasion, whereas the administration argues, we don’t know it’s a war until we count the casualties. That’s sort of a crazy definition of war, because our job is to initiate or declare war,’ he added.

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Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina announced on Sunday that he met with Israel’s Mossad Director David Barnea.

‘Just met with my good friend David Barnea, Director of Mossad. Wow, these people are clever. God Bless America. God Bless Israel,’ Graham wrote in a post on X, which includes a photo of himself and Barnea smiling and giving a thumbs up.

The Mossad’s website explains, ‘The institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad) is a national organization responsible for covert activity abroad.’

‘Lindsey Graham holds secret talks with MOSSAD boss in Israel,’ RT wrote in a post on X while sharing a screenshot of the U.S. lawmaker’s post about meeting with the Israeli official. ‘Is he speaking for all of America?’

The outlet’s website states, ‘RT is an autonomous, non-profit organization that is publicly financed from the budget of the Russian Federation.’

Graham shared the RT post and wrote, ‘To my Russian friends, chill out. I’ve known David for a very long time. He’s looking to buy property in South Carolina and I wanted to give him my two cents’ worth. In case you haven’t noticed, President Trump is in charge.’

Graham also met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials during his trip to the Jewish state.

‘Great visit with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his team at one of the most consequential moments in recent memory. America has no better friend than the State of Israel,’ Graham said in a post on X.

Graham also met with Netanyahu in Israel last month.

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Towards the end of the fifth season of ‘Stranger Things,’ the character of Will Byers gathers his family and friends together. He has good reason. They need to prepare for the final battle against Vecna, a terrifying, skinless monster with a penchant for mass murder and apocalyptic terrorism. But instead, Will comes out as gay.

This is perhaps the most anticlimactic moment in television since Pam woke up to reveal that the entire tenth season of ‘Dallas’ had been a dream. In laborious and earnest tones, Will takes four minutes to tell everyone that he just isn’t into girls. Cue the inevitable chorus of solidarity from his friends and a warm group hug. Given that this series is set in the 1980s, a more realistic approach would have been for them to storm out and declare Will to be more disgusting than Vecna.

This has happened so often in Hollywood that it’s become the norm. A storyline is upended to promote the ideological obsessions of the present. We’ve had a Black Cleopatra, a lesbian kiss in the ‘Toy Story’ spinoff ‘Lightyear,’ empathetic, home-loving orcs in Middle Earth, and a robot in an animated series of ‘Transformers’ declaring its pronouns as ‘they/them,’ as though mechanized killing machines are sensitive about their gender identities.

A key aspect of storytelling is verisimilitude. Movies can present completely unreal worlds, but unless an audience buys into the internal logic, they quickly lose interest. Consider the recent Netflix series ‘Ripley,’ in which a major male character is played by a female actor who identifies as ‘nonbinary.’ The characters don’t notice that she’s a woman, and we’re expected to play along. It insults our intelligence and completely derails an otherwise brilliant series.

If we want to save the arts, we must return to the universal. We have to remember that we’re meant to be entertainers, not high priests of a new religion that nobody asked for.

The audiences know it, too. The ‘coming out’ episode of ‘Stranger Things’ is currently the lowest-rated episode on IMDb. The recent live-action remake of ‘Snow White,’ with its emphasis on diversity rather than murderous stepmothers and subterranean dwarves, reportedly lost over $115 million for Disney. 

The all-female leads of ‘The Marvels’ might have made a few executives feel good about themselves, until it turned out to be the franchise’s biggest bomb of all time. And after poor test screenings, HBO’s big-budget wokefest ‘Batgirl’ was shelved altogether.

So, while executives pat themselves on the back for their ‘virtue,’ their studios are plunged into debt. According to public filings, as of late 2025, Disney’s debt is roughly $35.3 billion and Warner Bros. Discovery’s debt stands at approximately $33.5 billion. Cinema attendance continues to decline, with annual box office receipts in North America struggling to reach $9 billion. In a world where production and marketing costs have skyrocketed, these numbers represent a dying industry.

It turns out that audiences prefer to be entertained rather than hectored. If people wanted a sermon, they’d probably just stick to church. I’ll make a prediction right now: if things don’t change, they won’t be making movies on those legendary big studio lots in five years’ time — they’ll be selling them off as prime real estate for luxury condos. You can’t continually patronize and insult your customers and expect to keep the lights on.

Since the rise of the ‘woke’ movement, and its total domination of the creative industries, anyone with a conservative point of view has been punished and even blacklisted. 

Artists are meant to be the most free-thinking people in the world, but the industry demands conformity above all else. Worse still, the woke fixation simply doesn’t tally with the views of the general public, most of whom don’t want their children being indoctrinated by studios smuggling in ideology and propaganda under the guise of entertainment.

Contrary to what the self-identifying, morally superior, adjacent elites want you to believe, the woke ideology has never been popular with the public. It represents the luxury beliefs of the privileged few, those who spend most of their time pontificating about ‘social justice’ and ‘environmental responsibility’ while flying in their private jets and ingesting enough cocaine to keep the cartels of Mexico living like kings.

The good news is that the American people aren’t waiting for permission from the big studios anymore. We are seeing a massive explosion of alternative media. Whether it’s independent streaming platforms, podcasts or creator-owned networks, a new frontier is being built.

Audiences are migrating to where they can find authenticity and truth. They’re supporting creators who prioritize strong storytelling over ‘the message.’ While the legacy studios are busy building ‘safe spaces’ for their writers, and scolding audiences for not being sufficiently ‘progressive,’ we are building a new industry for the people.

Hollywood used to be about what brought us together. Now, it’s about what divides us. They’ve traded the Dream Factory for an Indoctrination Lab, and the American people are voting with their wallets and their remote controls.

If we want to save the arts, we must return to the universal. We have to remember that we’re meant to be entertainers, not high priests of a new religion that nobody asked for.

If that doesn’t happen, get ready to see a lot of ‘For Sale’ signs on those studio gates.

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As protests spread across Iran and security forces intensify their crackdown, former political prisoners are warning that what is visible on the streets represents only a fraction of the violence unfolding behind prison walls.

In interviews with Fox News Digital, three former detainees described a system designed not just to punish dissent, but to break it through solitary confinement, beatings, medical neglect and threats of execution. Their accounts span nearly two decades, from the 2009 uprising to the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement and the current wave of unrest, pointing to what they describe as a consistent and escalating pattern of abuse.

Maryam Shariatmadari, one of the faces of the ‘Girls of Revolution Street’ protests against Iran’s mandatory hijab laws, was sentenced to one year in prison in March 2018 for what authorities described as ‘encouraging corruption by removing her hijab.’

Speaking this week, Shariatmadari said the scale of the current protests has pushed the regime beyond its capacity to detain demonstrators.

‘According to the testimonies of eyewitnesses, the suppressive forces of the Islamic Republic … are delivering ‘final shots’ to wounded protesters, killing them on the spot,’ she said. ‘This has been unprecedented over the past 47 years and indicates that the number of detainees has become so large that the Islamic Republic no longer has the capacity to hold them and is killing them without any form of trial.’

She said that while detainees in earlier uprisings were transferred to prisons or unofficial ‘safe houses,’ authorities expanded detention during the 2022 ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests to schools, ambulances and food transport vehicles.

‘They used ambulances and food transport vehicles to detain protesters, something I believe to be unprecedented in human history,’ Shariatmadari said.

Inside detention facilities, she described systematic abuse.

‘These include beatings, transfers to prisons without separation based on the type of offense, and the deliberate incitement of other inmates to harass and abuse us,’ she said.

One of her most traumatic experiences occurred during interrogation.

‘I was ordered to remove my clothes and remain completely naked for a body search while cameras were present,’ Shariatmadari said. ‘I knew that men were watching me, and I could hear their voices.’

She also recalled being denied urgent medical care after an injury.

‘Only after approximately 24 hours was I taken to a hospital to undergo surgery,’ she said. ‘I believe this happened as a result of media pressure and public support.’

Eight hours a day, blindfolded

Shariatmadari’s husband, Mehdi Ghadimi, a freelance journalist who worked with reformist newspapers Etemad and Shargh, was arrested in January 2023 during protests and taken to an undisclosed location. He spent nearly his entire detention in solitary confinement.

‘I was interrogated twice daily, morning and afternoon, for eight hours with my eyes blindfolded,’ Ghadimi said.

In the final days of his detention, he was transferred to a shared cell, where he encountered detainees from across Iranian society.

‘I encountered students, workers, technical specialists and others who had been arrested during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement,’ he said.

According to Ghadimi, detainees accused of supporting the Pahlavi dynasty were beaten more severely.

‘Because their slogans and symbols supported the Pahlavi dynasty, they were beaten far more than the others,’ he said.

Based on his experience, he warned that current detainees are likely to face even harsher treatment.

‘I can only imagine that this time all detainees will face similarly brutal treatment,’ Ghadimi said, adding that Iran’s judiciary chief has publicly signaled a hard line.

Ghadimi, who fled the country in 2024, also cited figures circulating among activists claiming well over the 2,600 reported, likely dwarfing that number. He said the number of detainees is likely far higher than the 10,000 reported.

‘On the other side of those bars is hell’

Shabnam Madadzadeh, who was imprisoned during the 2009 uprising, said watching the current protests has revived memories of extreme brutality and raised fears of mass executions.

‘What immediately comes to my mind is the regime’s sheer brutality in torture and killing,’ Madadzadeh said.

She said detention facilities were already overflowing during the 2009 protests.

‘There was no space left for detainees. Even the solitary cells were overflowing with people,’ she said.

Madadzadeh recalled interrogators accusing nearly everyone arrested of links to the Mujahedin-e Khalq and described torture and beatings ‘to the point of killing.’

One threat made to her during interrogation still haunts her.

‘He told me: ‘If we are going to be overthrown, we will kill all of you. We will leave no one alive,’’ she said.

She warned that the current internet blackout has heightened the danger for detainees.

‘We truly do not know what level of brutality is currently taking place inside the prisons,’ Madadzadeh said, adding that information reaching her suggests the regime is seeking to carry out executions quickly.

Citing Iran’s past, she warned of the risk of mass killings similar to the 1988 executions of political prisoners.

‘Today, at a moment when the regime is on the brink of collapse, there is a real danger that such a massacre could be repeated,’ she said.

Madadzadeh said young detainees are likely facing forced confessions, mock executions and threats of sexual violence.

‘Whatever I do to you, no one will hear your voice,’ an interrogator once told her, she recalled.

She also emphasized the suffering of families searching for loved ones.

‘Families are moving between detention centers, prisons, morgues and cemeteries,’ she said. ‘This uncertainty itself is the greatest form of torture.’

As the protests continue, all three former prisoners said the outside world must not look away.

‘The first thing I expect the free world to understand is the true voice of the people inside Iran,’ Shariatmadari said. ‘The people of Iran are united in their demand for regime change and want to restore Iran to its former dignity, a dignity in which human rights and human worth were respected.’

Ghadimi echoed that warning.

‘Without a doubt, when the regime displays such open violence in the streets, even worse atrocities occur behind prison walls,’ he said. ‘I can only imagine that this time all detainees will face similarly brutal treatment.’

For Madadzadeh, the danger is immediate.

‘The world must respond decisively to this brutality,’ she said. ‘Every minute of delay costs lives.’

She called for concrete international action.

‘Force the regime to allow independent visits to prisons and to the secret detention centers run by the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence,’ Madadzadeh said. ‘Lives depend on it.’

Together, their testimonies paint a stark picture of Iran’s prisons as the hidden front line of repression and a warning that what remains unseen may be even more deadly than what is already visible in the streets.

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President Donald Trump announced the United States would impose 10% tariffs on multiple European countries unless Denmark agrees to the ‘complete and total purchase of Greenland,’ warning that global security and U.S. national defense were at stake.

Trump made the announcement in a lengthy Truth Social post on Saturday, arguing that the U.S. has subsidized Denmark and other European Union nations for decades by failing to charge tariffs and providing what he described as ‘maximum protection.’

‘We have subsidized Denmark, and all of the Countries of the European Union, and others, for many years by not charging them Tariffs, or any other forms of remuneration,’ Trump wrote.

‘Now, after Centuries, it is time for Denmark to give back — World Peace is at stake!’

Trump wrote that both China and Russia want Greenland and he said there was ‘not a thing that Denmark can do about it.’

‘They currently have two dogsleds as protection, one added recently. Only the United States of America, under PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, can play in this game, and very successfully, at that!’ Trump wrote. 

‘Nobody will touch this sacred piece of Land, especially since the National Security of the United States, and the World at large, is at stake.’

Trump said that Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland have ‘journeyed’ to Greenland, for ‘purposes unknown,’ posing a very dangerous situation for the safety, security and survival of our planet.

‘All of the above-mentioned Countries… will be charged a 10% Tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America,’ Trump wrote. 

On June 1, 2026, the tariff will be increased to 25%, he said. 

‘This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.’

In recent weeks, Trump has zeroed in on Greenland, the world’s largest island at a strategic crossroads in the Arctic, and floated the idea of tariffs being imposed on Friday. 

A semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, Greenland is home to a crucial U.S. military base and has taken on growing strategic importance as melting ice opens new shipping lanes and access to a wealth of natural resources.

In his Saturday post, Trump said the United States has tried to purchase Greenland for more than 150 years but that Denmark has repeatedly refused. 

He tied the push to modern weapons systems and the ‘Golden Dome,’ saying hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent on related security programs and that the system can only work at maximum efficiency if Greenland is included. 

‘The United States of America is immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these countries that have put so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them, including maximum protection, over so many decades,’ Trump wrote. ‘Thank you for your attention to this matter!’

Trump’s remarks come as his administration awaits a Supreme Court ruling on whether some of the tariffs he imposed in 2025 were legal.

Fox News’ Amanda Macias contributed to this report. 

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is calling for the end of the Iranian regime amid ongoing protests and as the country holds its breath to see if a 26-year-old protester will be executed, something President Donald Trump has said could trigger U.S. intervention.

‘I read with great sadness and heartache about the pending execution of Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old shopkeeper. He is facing death at the hands of the ayatollah simply for protesting in the street for a better life. His family is calling on the world to come to their son’s aid,’ Graham wrote in a post on X along with an article about Soltani.

‘I hope and pray that the execution does not go forward and this young man does not forfeit his life because he wants to live in freedom without fear,’ the senator added. ‘This regime must fall, and the Iranian people must have a better life.’

Graham said that he believes if the regime falls and the ‘murderous ayatollah running Iran’ is gone, the impact on the region ‘would be incredibly positive.’ He also warned, however, that if Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were to remain in power, it would be ‘a giant step backward into the darkness.’

Soltani’s story has spread in recent days as the unrest in Iran continues. The 26-year-old was arrested in Fardis and was sentenced to death after an expedited trial, according to ABC News, which cited Soltani’s second cousin, Somayeh.

‘As someone who is an activist myself and who has fought this regime for many years, I felt it was my right — and my duty — to be Erfan’s voice outside the country, despite all the pressure and sanctions that fall on families,’ Somayeh, who is based in Germany, told ABC News.

Iranians began protesting in late December amid worsening economic conditions. Earlier this month, the regime instituted a nationwide internet blackout, blocking demonstrators from contacting each other or the outside world amid international fears that protesters would be met with violence and death.

On Jan. 2, just days after the protests erupted, Trump said the U.S. was ‘locked and loaded’ and ready to take action if the regime used violence against demonstrators. One day after the threat was made, the U.S. captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, adding weight to Trump’s words, though no known action has been taken yet.

Trump claimed on Wednesday the administration was told ‘on good authority’ that the killing in Iran had stopped.

‘We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, and it’s stopped and stopping, and there’s no plan for executions or an execution,’ Trump said in the Oval Office. ‘So, I’ve been told that on good authority. We’ll find out about it.’

On Friday, he seemed to double down on the idea that the regime had stopped using violence when he issued a Truth Social post saying that Iran had cancelled over 800 scheduled hangings.

‘I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The fate of Soltani remains unclear, as does the prospect of U.S. intervention in Iran.

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A bipartisan, bicameral group of U.S. lawmakers set off to Denmark to reassure the NATO ally amid President Donald Trump’s push for a takeover of Greenland.

The group was mostly made of Democrats, but included two Republicans: Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Murkowski, Tillis, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., and Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., were among those who traveled to Europe for meetings with Danish and Greenlandic officials. Some members of the delegation are expected to go to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week.

‘The trip will highlight bipartisan support for our allies in the Kingdom of Denmark and discuss how to deepen this partnership in line with our shared principles of sovereignty and self-determination, and in the face of growing challenges around the world, especially bolstering Arctic security and promoting stronger trade relations between the two countries,’ a statement Shaheen issued prior to the visit read.

Coons, who led the delegation, underscored the lawmakers’ desire to ‘reaffirm Congress’ commitment’ to Denmark, calling it one of the U.S.’s ‘oldest, strongest NATO allies.’

‘A great day leading our bipartisan delegation to Copenhagen meeting with Danish and Greenlandic officials to reaffirm Congress’ commitment to one of our oldest, strongest NATO allies. In an increasingly unstable world In which our adversaries are cooperating, our alliances are more important than ever,’ he wrote in a post on X.

The visit comes as Trump’s renewed push for the U.S. to takeover Greenland continues to draw criticism from both sides of the aisle and some of America’s allies.

‘That rhetoric doesn’t just undermine our bilateral relationship, it undermines the NATO alliance at a time when our adversaries seek to benefit from division,’ Shaheen said during a speech at the University of Copenhagen.

The trip began before Trump announced on Saturday planned tariffs for Denmark and several European nations in a bid to force a deal for the U.S. purchase of Greenland. 

While the lawmakers were visiting, Denmark saw massive protests of crowds voicing their opposition to the U.S. taking the semiautonomous Danish territory. Thousands gathered across the country to show their solidarity with Greenland. The crowds chanted ‘Greenland is not for sale’ and held banners with slogans such as ‘Hands off Greenland,’ according to Reuters.

‘I am very grateful for the huge support we as Greenlanders receive… we are also sending a message to the world that you all must wake up,’ Julie Rademacher, chair of Uagut, an organization for Greenlanders in Denmark, told Reuters.

‘Greenland and the Greenlanders have involuntarily become the front in the fight for democracy and human rights,’ she added.

Trump has insisted that the U.S. needs Greenland for purposes of national security, saying that Russia and China were eyeing the island. 

During her speech at the University of Copenhagen, Shaheen argued that Trump’s approach is unnecessary, saying the U.S. already has pathways to secure its interests in the Arctic.

‘Anything the president might want — whether it is U.S. bases to defend against Arctic threats or critical minerals deals — the leaders of Denmark and Greenland have made clear they are happy to partner with us. So, the threats are not only unnecessary, they are also counterproductive, and they risk undermining the broader NATO Alliance in the process,’ Shaheen added.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, U.S. ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker pushed back against growing European backlash over Washington’s focus on Greenland after France announced new military exercises with Denmark, saying Arctic security is a core American defense interest and that Europe ‘has a tendency to overreact.’

Americans appear divided on the idea, however, with 86% of voters nationwide saying they would oppose military action to take over Greenland, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. The survey found that voters opposed any U.S. effort to buy Greenland by a 55%–37% margin, suggesting the idea has yet to gain broad support among American voters.

Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter and Amanda Macias contributed to this report.

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Iran’s supreme leader has publicly acknowledged for the first time that thousands of people were killed during recent anti-government protests, according to reporting from the BBC, as President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric and called for new leadership in Iran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the remarks during a public address Saturday, blaming the U.S. for the unrest and violence and saying some protesters died ‘in an inhuman, savage manner,’ the BBC reported.

The protests, which began in late December over economic conditions, later expanded into calls for an end to Iran’s ruling system. 

U.S.-based Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency estimates that more than 3,000 people were killed over roughly three weeks of unrest, though Iranian authorities have not released an official death toll.

According to the BBC, nationwide internet shutdowns have made independent verification difficult, with connectivity dropping to roughly 2% of normal levels, citing data from cyber monitoring group NetBlocks.

Videos authenticated by BBC Persian and BBC Verify show Iranian security forces firing on demonstrators during the unrest.

Trump told Politico on Saturday that ‘it’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,’ after being read a series of hostile posts from Khamenei’s X account accusing the president of responsibility for the violence.

‘What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before,’ Trump said, according to Politico. ‘Leadership is about respect, not fear and death.’

Trump went further in personal terms, telling Politico, ‘The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people.’

‘His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership,’ Trump added.

Trump has previously urged Iranians to continue protesting and ‘take over institutions,’ saying that ‘help is on its way,’ according to Politico. The president later said he had been informed that the killings had stopped.

‘The best decision he ever made was not hanging more than 800 people two days ago,’ Trump told Politico, when asked about the scope of potential U.S. military action.

In a series of posts on X posts, Khamenei accused Trump of responsibility for the violence, writing, ‘We find the US President guilty due to the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted upon the Iranian nation.’

In another post, Khamenei claimed that ‘America’s goal is to devour Iran.’

Trump has said in recent days he was looking at ‘very strong options’ including possible military involvement.

The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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The Government of Ontario, Canada, announced on Tuesday (January 13) that it was accelerating permitting and development on Canada Nickel Company’s (TSXV:CNC,OTCQX:CNIKF) Crawford nickel project near Timmins, as part of its “One Project, One Process” framework.

The designation will help the project attract C$5 billion in investment funding to develop the mine and a nickel processing plant that will provide materials for the stainless steel and electric vehicle markets.

Once complete, the mine will create 1,300 jobs and support an additional 3,000 workers throughout the community and supply chain.

On the international stage, Canadian representatives, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, travelled to China this week for a four-day visit in hopes of improving relations between the two countries.

Among the results of the visit was a softening of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles entering Canada. Under the new terms, Chinese companies will be allowed to sell up to 49,000 automobiles per year in Canada at a 6.1 percent tariff. In exchange, China has loosened its tariffs on Canadian canola to 15 percent, and removed all tariffs on canola meal, lobsters, crab and peas.

Additionally, the Canadian government announced on Friday (January 16) that it had reaffirmed a memorandum of understanding with China’s National Energy Administration. The MoU sees both countries strengthen cooperation over energy initiatives and advance dialogue over the energy transition; conventional, clean and nuclear energy; and uranium resources.

South of the border, on Sunday (January 11) US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell issued a rare statement on his relationship with the Trump administration when he revealed that he had received subpoenas from the Department of Justice.

According to his remarks, US Attorney and Trump appointee Jeanine Pirro had opened an investigation into Powell’s oversight of the Federal Reserve’s building renovation project.

Although no charges have been laid, the investigation illustrates a deepening rift between the Fed Chairman and the Trump administration. Powell said he believes the investigation is related to the administration’s frustration over what it claims is a slow pace of interest rate cuts.

The president has previously stated his desire to replace Powell as the Fed’s chair, but because the Fed is independent, he can only do so with the support of Congress. While Powell’s term as chairman ends in May, his term as a Fed governor doesn’t end until January 2028, which may stymie Trump’s plan to gain greater control over the agency and its policy direction.

For more on what’s moving markets this week, check out our top market news round-up.

Markets and commodities react

Canadian equity markets were on the rise this week.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) gained 1.8 percent over the week to close Friday at 33,040.55, while the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) fared even better, rising 4.28 percent to 1,091.13. The CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) also gained ground, rising 2.61 percent to close at 188.29.

The gold price continued to trade at all-time highs this week, reaching US$4,639 per ounce amid heightened tensions in the Middle East over protests in Iran and as the US contemplated military involvement. Overall, it gained 2.32 percent during the week, closing the week at US$4,582.81 per ounce on Friday at 4:00 p.m. EST.

The silver price performed even stronger, trading above US$93 per ounce on Wednesday at new highs. Although the price pulled back slightly by the end of the week, it still posted a weekly gain of 16.08 percent, closing Friday at US$89.36.

In base metals, the Comex copper price recorded a 2 percent drop this week to US$5.88.

The S&P Goldman Sachs Commodities Index (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) rose 1.45 percent to end Friday at 562.91.

Top Canadian mining stocks this week

How did mining stocks perform against this backdrop?

Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Canadian mining stocks below.

Stocks data for this article was retrieved at 4:00 p.m. EST on Friday using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market caps greater than C$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.

1. Homeland Nickel (TSXV:SHL)

Weekly gain: 135.71 percent
Market cap: C$65.57 million
Share price: C$0.33

Homeland Nickel has a portfolio of nickel projects in Oregon, US: Red Flat, Cleopatra, Eight Dollar Mountain and Shamrock.

In addition, the company holds investments in mining companies with nickel projects, including Benton Resources (TSXV:BEX,OTCPL:BNTRF), Canada Nickel Company and Noble Mineral Exploration (TSXV:NOB,OTCQB:NLPXF).

Shares in Homeland surged this week following news on Tuesday that Canada Nickel’s Crawford project in Ontario was selected for the province’s “One Project, One Process” review framework, which will allow for an accelerated timetable for permitting and development of the asset.

Canada Nickel is Homeland’s top investment, holding 742,095 shares valued at C$1.08 million.

Homeland did not release news of its own this week, but its share price has also been supported by rising nickel prices, which climbed from a low of US$14,255 per metric ton in the middle of December to as high as US$18,785 on Wednesday.

2. Eskay Mining (TSXV:ESK)

Weekly gain: 89.66 percent
Market cap: C$108.21 million
Share price: C$0.55

Eskay Mining is an exploration company advancing its namesake project in the Golden Triangle region of British Columbia, Canada.

The property located in the province’s northwest sits on a land package of 130,000 acres, and hosts several gold and silver volcanogenic massive sulfide and magmatic nickel, copper and platinum group metals targets.

Final assay results from its summer 2025 sampling program at the site were released on November 7. The company said the batch consisted of 121 rock chip and channel samples, with 11 returning grades over 20 g/t gold and 31 with grades over 1 g/t.

At the time, the company said mineralization bears similarities to discoveries at Goliath Resources’ (TSXV:GOT,OTCQB:GOTRF) Surebet and Juggernaut Exploration’s (TSXV:JUGR,OTCPL:JUGRF) Big One projects. Eskay added that it can see a path to a maiden drill program in 2026.

The most recent news from Eskay came on Monday when it announced that Clinton Smyth had been hired as the company’s chief geologist for its 2026 exploration program. Smyth has spent 25 years in the industry working for Anglo American (LSE:AAL,OTCQX:NGLOY) and Minorco.

3. Batero Gold (TSXV:BAT)

Weekly gain: 86.36 percent
Market cap: C$23.61 million
Share price: C$0.205

Batero Gold is an exploration company focused on advancing its Quinchia project in the Department of Risaralda, Colombia.

The property is composed of one tenement covering 1,407 hectares, with an additional 155 hectare concession under application. A September 2022 mineral resource estimate was included in its management discussion and analysis for the year ending August 2025.

Across three zones, the project’s La Cumbre deposit hosts a contained measured and indicated resource of 2.2 million ounces of gold and 6.43 million ounces of silver from 51.73 million metric tons of ore with average grades of 0.5 g/t gold and 1.47 g/t silver.

The company has not released news in the past week, but its share price has surged amid significant gains in precious metals prices since the start of 2026.

4. Auric Minerals (CSE:AUMC)

Weekly gain: 82.14 percent
Market cap: C$11.22 million
Share price: C$0.51

Auric Minerals is a uranium exploration company focused on its Route 500 and Bub properties in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

The projects are both located in Labrador’s Central Mineral Belt, with Route 500 consisting of 441 mineral claims across 11,025 hectares and Bub consisting of 318 claims across 7,949 hectares.

The more advanced Route 500 project hosts surface showings with high-grade uranium mineralization, while Bub includes strong radiometric anomalies covering 30 square kilometers and 20 square kilometers.

Auric announced on December 31 that it had acquired a 100 percent interest in the English Lake, Otter Lake and Kan projects, all located in Labrador, in exchange for 22 million common shares at C$0.315 per share, 8 million warrants, cash payments of C$32,000 and a 2.5 percent net smelter return.

According to the same release, the company also amended its option agreements for the Route 500, Bub and Portage properties deal to waive its additional obligations, including future cash payments, share issuances, and exploration expenditures, in exchange for 500,000 shares to each of the optioners for a total of 1.5 million shares.

On January 8, Auric officially acquired 100 percent of the three properties after issuing the shares.

5. Patagonia Gold (TSXV:PGDC)

Weekly gain: 80.22 percent
Market cap: C$432.5 million
Share price: C$0.82

Patagonia Gold is a precious metals production and development company primarily focused on advancing its Cap-Oeste and Calcatreu underground projects in Argentina.

Located in Santa Cruz province, Cap-Oeste hosted open-pit mining operations until 2018. While Patagonia is working on the exploration and development of the underground resource at the site, it has been able to recover gold and silver from residual leaching on site.

According to the company’s website, a 2018 mineral resource estimate for Cap-Oeste reported measured and indicated values of 704,300 ounces of gold and 21.43 million ounces of silver from 10.56 million metric tons of ore with average grades of 2.07 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold and 63.2 g/t silver.

Its Calcatreu project, located in the Rio Negro province, is currently under construction. Calcatreu hosts a measured and indicated resource of 669,000 ounces of gold and 6.28 million ounces of silver from 9.84 million metric tons of ore, with average grades of 2.11 g/t gold and 19.8 g/t silver.

The most recent news from the company came on Thursday when it provided an update on construction activities at Calcatreu, which it has resumed following a holiday break.

In the announcement, Patagonia said it has extracted and stockpiled 40,000 metric tons of mineralized material from the Veta 49 pit. Of the material, the company said that 5,200 metric tons are expected to be stacked on the leach pad following electric leak detection tests later in January.

Additionally, Patagonia expects the carbon-in-column circuit construction will also be completed in January. After stockpiled material begins being leached and processed, the metal doré product will be sent to Canada to be refined in Ontario.

Patagonia expects to release an updated technical report for the project during the second quarter of the year.

FAQs for Canadian mining stocks

What is the difference between the TSX and TSXV?

The TSX, or Toronto Stock Exchange, is used by senior companies with larger market caps, and the TSXV, or TSX Venture Exchange, is used by smaller-cap companies. Companies listed on the TSXV can graduate to the senior exchange.

How many mining companies are listed on the TSX and TSXV?

As of May 2025, there were 1,565 companies listed on the TSXV, 910 of which were mining companies. Comparatively, the TSX was home to 1,899 companies, with 181 of those being mining companies.

Together, the TSX and TSXV host around 40 percent of the world’s public mining companies.

How much does it cost to list on the TSXV?

There are a variety of different fees that companies must pay to list on the TSXV, and according to the exchange, they can vary based on the transaction’s nature and complexity. The listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000. Accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000, while legal fees are expected to be over C$75,000 and an underwriters’ commission may hit up to 12 percent.

The exchange lists a handful of other fees and expenses companies can expect, including but not limited to security commission and transfer agency fees, investor relations costs and director and officer liability insurance.

These are all just for the initial listing, of course. There are ongoing expenses once companies are trading, such as sustaining fees and additional listing fees, plus the costs associated with filing regular reports.

How do you trade on the TSXV?

Investors can trade on the TSXV the way they would trade stocks on any exchange. This means they can use a stock broker or an individual investment account to buy and sell shares of TSXV-listed companies during the exchange’s trading hours.

Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.

Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

We also break down next week’s catalysts to watch to help you prepare for the week ahead.

In this article:

    This week’s tech sector performance

    Tech stocks experienced sharp swings this week, starting on relatively firm footing before a broad selloff midway through the period gave way to a late rebound in semiconductor companies.

    A Sunday (January 11) statement from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell put pressure on US stocks ahead of Monday’s (January 12) open, with ‘sell America’ sentiment prevalent among investors. Powell’s comments centered on a Department of Justice criminal probe into his testimony about Fed building renovations.

    Financial and payment companies, including major credit card issuers, also sold off at that time following political pressure for a cap on credit card interest rates. However, the overall reaction was muted during Monday’s trading session, with some early dips recovering fully, and indexes closing at record highs.

    Rotation continued to be a major theme this week, with money moving out of some mega-cap tech names and into chip stocks, small-cap companies and resource plays. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) (NASDAQ:AMD) rallied early on after being upgraded to “overweight” by KeyBanc Capital Markets on Tuesday (January 13). Citigroup (NYSE:C) also lifted its Intel rating to “neutral” from “sell.”

    Wednesday (January 14) brought heavy selling in tech stocks, with high-flying growth names seeing losses; however, Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) losses were comparatively mild.

    Chipmakers were the bright spot, with the real catalyst coming on Thursday (January 15) after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (NYSE:TSM) blowout quarterly results triggered a rally across chipmakers and chip equipment stocks, including Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), AMD and ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML), which hit a US$500 billion market cap on Thursday.

    This performance helped stabilize the broader tech space, although caution lingered.

    3 tech stocks moving markets this week

    1. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM)

    As mentioned, Taiwan Semiconductor reported blowout Q4 results and upbeat guidance on Thursday, fueled by relentless artificial intelligence (AI) demand. Revenue jumped 36 percent year-on-year, with management projecting 20 to 25 percent growth in 2026. Shares climbed 5.8 percent on the week.

    2. Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)

    Applied Materials gained 8.56 percent amid the broader semiconductor equipment surge.

    The company’s high-bandwidth memory revenues hit US$1.5 billion in its 2025 fiscal year. This new growth engine is tied directly to NVIDIA’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) GPU roadmap.

    3. KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)

    KLA, a key supplier of process control equipment to chip fabricators, rode the Taiwan Semiconductor tailwind, rising 11.99 percent for the week as investors bet on sustained CAPEX from foundries.

    Taiwan Semiconductor, Applied Materials and KLA performance, January 12 to 16, 2025.

    Chart via Google Finance.

    Top tech news of the week

                Tech ETF performance

                Tech exchange-traded funds (ETFs) track baskets of major tech stocks, meaning their performance helps investors gauge the overall performance of the niches they cover.

                This week, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) advanced by 5.04 percent, while the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ) saw a gain of 4.89 percent.

                The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) also increased by 3.76 percent.

                Tech news to watch next week

                Next week brings a packed slate of catalysts that could shape tech sentiment.

                Intel is set to report its Q4 earnings on January 22. Recent upgrades have the stock at 52 week highs, but investors will probe foundry progress and AI revenue traction for proof of a sustained turnaround.

                Davos starts on January 19, with AI and energy infrastructure front and center. Global leaders and tech executives will tackle data center power crunches and supply chain frictions, with potential hints on tariff policies.

                The US Supreme Court is due to deliver rulings on the morning of January 21, including challenges to Trump’s global tariffs, while the House Financial Services Committee will hold a markup on the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), with a floor vote possible soon.

                Key economic releases include retail sales on January 20, flash purchasing managers’ indexes and jobless claims on January 22 and existing home sales on January 23. These will test the soft landing narrative.

                Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

                This post appeared first on investingnews.com