A new UN report states that humanity has entered "global water bankruptcy," with societies depleting water faster than replenishment in rivers, soils, aquifers, and wetlands, affecting billions and making many systems irreparable due to overuse, pollution, and climate-driven changes like glacier melt and extreme weather swings. Impacts include 75% of people in water-insecure countries, rising conflicts (over 400 in 2024), major rivers failing to reach the sea, widespread land subsidence, shrinking lakes, and threats to food security as half of global food production relies on declining water storage areas. There has always been a looming concern that water is being taken for granted and is actually a scarce resource and perhaps the UN is on to something by using the metaphor of bankruptcy to describe the current situation.

The European Parliament voted 334-324 to refer the EU-Mercosur trade agreement to the EU Court of Justice for a review of its legality under EU treaties, effectively freezing the deal signed just days earlier and potentially delaying it by 18-24 months or more. Germany pushes strongly for provisional application despite opposition from France over agricultural impacts, while the Commission regrets the move but may still pursue provisional steps pending the ruling. The deal itself, in my opinion is a bad idea, but that aside, it will be increasingly important to remember how contentious these agreements are as Europe continues to consolidate power in the European Union.

Mamadi Doumbouya, who led a coup in 2021, has been sworn in as Guinea's civilian president, after winning the December 2025 election with 86.7% of the vote under a new constitution that allowed his candidacy. The African Union congratulated him on the peaceful, credible process, recommended lifting sanctions imposed post-coup, and supports Guinea's roadmap for reforms and reconciliation while navigating tensions with rules barring coup leaders from office. Increasingly in Africa we are seeing military leaders sustain power as societies return to normalcy from military rule. From a distance this seems like a recipe for creating a domestic environment where might makes right which will lead to constant jockeying for influence over the military at the expense of thinking broadly about governance.

Iran's parliament and military officials issued stark warnings that any attack on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would trigger jihad involving the entire Islamic world, in response to U.S. pressure and Trump's calls for new Iranian leadership amid violent crackdowns on protests. The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group is moving toward the Middle East region as tensions rise over Iran's handling of economic protests and mass arrests. Iran rightly has to see the U.S. pressure campaign as aiding an internal existential threat but it is somewhat hard to believe that if the supreme leader is toppled they would still have organizational capacity to launch meaningful strikes but then again perhaps it would be unwise to underestimate their capabilities in this moment.

President Trump has signed an executive order directing agencies to issue guidance within 60 days restricting large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes, while tasking the Justice Department and FTC with antitrust reviews of such acquisitions to curb competition against individual buyers. The move aims to preserve housing supply for families, address affordability, and prevent corporations from dominating neighborhoods, with limited exceptions for build-to-rent projects. It seems to me that single family housing has to be protected in this moment as the average American family is in no position to compete with massive global companies when it comes to purchasing homes that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. While this may ruffle the feathers of the free market brigade, I'm not of the opinion that market competition always yields the best outcomes.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that globalization has failed the West and the United States by offshoring jobs and prioritizing cheap global labor over American workers. He emphasized an "America First" model where U.S. workers come first and urged other nations to follow suit. This, I think, is the appropriate stance and has been a long time coming. The notion that we can gut the productive capacity of the country and have an economy based on managerial capacity and consumer spending was always bound to fail. The real question left is what comes next if the era of globalization, as far as the U.S. is concerned, has come to an end.

The full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in consolidated challenges to laws in Texas and Louisiana requiring public school classrooms to display Ten Commandments posters, with plaintiffs arguing the mandates violate the First Amendment's establishment clause by endorsing religion. The conservative-leaning court is reviewing prior blocks on the laws, which Texas defends as honoring historical heritage without coercion. Public schools can't function in the way conservatives hope that they can and we would be better served with politicians that were focused on how schools can ensure children can read, write and do arithmetic as opposed to how well they honor the dominant religious faith in the country.

The University of Arkansas withdrew its job offer for law school dean to Emily Suski citing concerns from stakeholders about her prior amicus brief supporting transgender student athletes in a Supreme Court case. The reversal followed her initial selection and sparked backlash over political influence in academic hiring. If we are to have public universities, and I think we should, then employment can't be subject to this type of political and cultural litmus test. Even if people disagree with her stance it is unclear to me how this is disqualifying from a job that she was apparently qualified for until school officials found out about her stance on trans athletes.

Industry reports have identified Google as the company pursuing a $1 billion data center at the Port of Little Rock, with 300,000 square feet planned and negotiations ongoing under NDAs since approvals in 2025. This adds to Google's major investments in Arkansas, highlighting the company’s expanding role in data center development. We continue to cover data centers because finding locations for them will show us a lot about who holds power in the country.

Mississippi legislators introduced the Robert G. Clark, Jr. Voting Rights Act to safeguard voting rights, including protections against dilution of Black voting power, bans on intimidation, and an independent commission for reviewing election changes. The bipartisan-backed bill responds to threats to federal protections and aims to ensure equal ballot access as a constitutional and moral priority. Mississippi has been killing the game lately a strong candidate for best performing state in the last couple of years. I often harp about how the Voting Rights Act at the federal level puts a tremendous amount of strain on our federal system but if people want to bolster protections it makes a lot of sense for them to try to implement state level legislation.