The Social Democrats fell to 23.2% nationally (down 4.5 points from the last local election) and lost control of Copenhagen City Hall for the first time since 1909, with the socialist Green Left (SF) candidate Sophie Hæstorp Andersen set to become the new lord mayor after securing 28.5% of the vote. Voter anger centered on the rising cost of living, cuts to welfare programs, a severe shortage of affordable housing that has driven rents sky-high, and widespread frustration with the party’s strict immigration policies that have alienated parts of its traditional working-class base. The shift is undeniably historic, but it strikes us as healthy for ruling parties to have their dominance challenged from time to time. Clearly, after a full century of the same thing, there is good reason to shake things up.

Lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable developed by Gilead Sciences, demonstrated 100% efficacy in preventing HIV among adolescent girls and young women in late-stage trials and 96% efficacy in trials involving men and gender-diverse participants. Eswatini launched the rollout with an initial 6,000 doses targeting sex workers, men who have sex with men, and adolescent girls, with PEPFAR committing to deliver 325,000 doses across ten African countries in 2026 and scaling up to cover at least 2 million people annually by 2027 despite ongoing negotiations over pricing and generic production. It is perhaps the deeply seeded paranoia in our own thinking that makes us cautiously cynical about the implementation of this drug. We can’t shake the feeling that the rollout of a twice-a-year shot meant to control the spread of HIV in Africa will not end up as simply a success story of humanitarian aid.

France finalized an agreement to supply Ukraine with up to 100 Rafale fighter jets, complete with long-range SCALP/Storm Shadow missiles, Meteor air-to-air missiles, advanced bombs, and integrated air-defense systems in a deal stretching to 2035 that will significantly upgrade Ukraine’s air capabilities. In Poland, authorities arrested two Ukrainian nationals who allegedly planted explosives on a critical freight railway line carrying Western weapons to Ukraine on direct orders from Russian intelligence services before fleeing to Belarus; Italy’s defense minister warned that Europe is facing a coordinated Russian hybrid warfare campaign involving sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation, and drone incursions. Europe is clearly at odds with Russia, and these escalating incidents only make WWIII predictions seem prescient as it remains unclear how or why tensions will de-escalate.

President-elect Trump reiterated that he is “absolutely” comfortable authorizing unilateral U.S. military strikes or special-forces operations inside Mexico to dismantle fentanyl-producing cartels, claiming such action would save millions of American lives and that Mexico lacks the ability to handle the threat itself. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded forcefully that any U.S. military intervention “is not going to happen,” emphasizing Mexico’s absolute sovereignty while expressing willingness to deepen bilateral cooperation on intelligence sharing, border security, and joint operations that respect national jurisdiction. Mexico is currently also experiencing uprisings from Gen Z protests, with youth expressing frustration over the inability or unwillingness of officials to instill the rule of law and end the reign of terror imposed by the cartels.

Under new guidance from Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, the central bank is shifting to a significantly lighter-touch supervisory model that cuts approximately 300 positions (30% of the supervision workforce), eliminates detailed risk assessments for smaller banks, and narrows the scope of climate-risk and fintech monitoring. The changes, effective immediately, reverse post-2008 reforms and have sparked warnings from consumer advocates and some Democrats that reduced oversight could increase the likelihood of future financial crises. The 2008 bailout was one of the most absurd abuses of government power in the country’s history. It is on us as consumers to choose banks that are healthy, fiscally conservative, and not corrupt, which is why embracing cryptocurrency is clearly the direction the bulk of Americans need to head in, and quickly.

The House voted 427-1 to pass legislation requiring the Department of Justice to declassify and publicly release nearly all remaining federal records related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking investigation and Ghislaine Maxwell’s prosecution within 30 days, with narrow exemptions only for active investigations or victim-identifying information. The bill cleared the Senate by unanimous consent last week after Trump reversed his earlier skepticism and publicly endorsed full disclosure, stating the American people “deserve to know everything.” We have little to add here except to say that transparency and a thorough investigation leading to substantive punishments for those involved in criminal operations is needed to signal to the American people that the institutions responsible for justice are not so heavily influenced by the powerful that the rule of law cannot remain intact.

A unanimous three-judge federal panel ruled that the Republican-drawn 2025 congressional map intentionally discriminated against Black and Latino voters in multiple districts across Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and South Texas, violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act through racial gerrymandering and vote dilution. The court ordered Texas to revert to the 2021 map for the 2026 elections, and the state immediately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Perhaps most interestingly, it was Texas that really kicked off the redistricting fervor, so there is something ironic about them, in the end, not getting to move forward with their own redistricting plans.

Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive proclamation formally designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and labeling the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and associated entities as transnational criminal organizations linked to the Brotherhood. The order prohibits state agencies from contracting with or providing benefits to designated groups and empowers the attorney general to pursue legal action to block land purchases and dissolve operations deemed supportive of these organizations within Texas. There has been increasing concern, particularly from those on the political right, about the growing influence of Islam in Texas politics, and this appears to be a response to that political pressure. However, we are unaware of any terrorist activities by the Muslim Brotherhood in Texas, making the reasoning behind the governor’s statement unclear and the justification for the label seemingly dubious at best.

A Trump-appointed federal judge signed off on a new state Senate map that redraws two Montgomery-area districts, creating one majority-Black district with 51.1% Black voting-age population where Black-preferred candidates won 88% of recent statewide contests. The remedial plan unpacks Black voters who had been concentrated into a single overwhelmingly Democratic district, satisfying the court’s earlier finding of Voting Rights Act violations. Part of the reason the Voting Rights Act is not a sustainable solution for racial oppression is that it advances particular interests rather than applying rules generally and broadly, which is inherently unfair. At the same time, as partisan actors who love to see more power put into Black hands, especially in the South, this ruling can also be seen as a win.

Following a Florida Supreme Court lawsuit accusing state officials of deliberately stalling signature verification, the Division of Elections issued the required certification letter confirming that the adult-use marijuana initiative sponsored by Smart & Safe Florida had collected over 660,000 valid signatures. The same amendment fell just short in 2024 with 55.9% support against intense opposition from Governor Ron DeSantis and Republican leadership; it will appear again on the 2026 ballot needing 60% to pass. It seems clear that eventually marijuana will at a minimum be decriminalized in all 50 states, so we are hopeful this ballot initiative in Florida demonstrates how red states can cope with the fact that the war on drugs, especially as it pertains to marijuana, is a silly manifestation of prohibition and cannot be propped up by trying to ignore hundreds of thousands of signatures and the will of the people.