Rockets Toward Taiwan

Hi Global Recap readers,

Honestly, I didn't think the Minnesota fraud story would get as much traction as it got over the weekend, but here we are.

For those curious, here's a followup. 👇🏼

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES
Minnesota Story Followup

1. Minnesota GOP legislators are calling for Walz's resignation, but some are questioning why the worst punishment he faces is mere resignation.

2. Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Tikki Brown, said past investigations did not uncover any fraud at “Quality Learing Center.”

   1. The center’s manager claims that independent journalist Nick Shirley visited outside of operational hours.

3. Sweet Angel Child Care in Minnesota lists a phone number that, at least at one point, matched the public office number for Governor Walz.

   1. Note: This DOES NOT implicate the Governor, but people have reacted in different ways—some finding it funny, others trying to draw a connection to him.

   2. The Google listing has since removed the number, though when I checked it personally it still displayed the Governor’s office line.

   3. By contrast, the phone number shown on the Minnesota DHS website is different and does not match the Governor’s office.

   4. Here’s a video of a person finding this out:

🇮🇹 ITALY
Italy Busts Hams
Charity Pipeline

Italian prosecutors say they arrested nine people for allegedly steering donations to Hamas through Italy-based charities.

How much? Investigators claim about €7 million raised over the last two years was diverted to Hamas-linked entities, and police seized assets worth more than €8 million.

• Arrests: The nine suspects were detained in an operation run with Italy’s anti-mafia and anti-terrorism units, according to prosecutors in Genoa.

• Allegation: Prosecutors say the group "belonged to and financed" Hamas, which the European Union designates as a terrorist organization.

• Money: The investigation centers on fundraising presented as humanitarian aid, with authorities alleging the funds were rerouted to Hamas-linked channels.

Hell to Pay

Speaking of Hamas: President Trump, speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, warned that Hamas must disarm “within a fairly short period of time,” as he said it had agreed to do under the broader ceasefire framework. He added that if Hamas does not disarm, “there will be hell to pay,” and claimed that many other countries supporting the deal would wipe them out.

🇮🇷 IRAN
Tehran Bazaar Strike Spreads

Iran’s strikes erupted into street clashes on Dec. 29, 2025, with security forces firing tear gas in Tehran as unrest also flared in Mashhad.

• Trigger: Just as we've been saying about economic factors being the key driver in most domestic political climate, recent Iranian strikes were sparked by economic panic. The Iranian Rial slid to roughly 1.4 million to a single U.S. dollar, and traders and shopkeepers started shutting doors in major commercial arteries, including Tehran’s Grand Bazaar.

  • Note: If you search USD to Rial on Google, you will see the official subsidized rate of around 42,125 Rial. However, this does not reflect what most people can actually get in the open market.

  • Iranian official data puts December year-on-year inflation at 52.6%.

• Street: In central Tehran, demonstrators moved through Jomhouri (Republic) Street and nearby areas like Naser Khosrow Street and Istanbul Square, pushing into government and market zones where police units used batons and tear gas to break up crowds.

• Chants: Protesters leaned hard into political slogans, including "Shameless! Shameless!" and "Death to the dictator," with videos showing crowds inside bazaar-area shopping complexes calling for unity and daring security forces to stand down. Some were even heard chanting "Reza Pahlavi" (the Iranian Crown Prince in exile) too.

• Spread: Mashhad, the northeastern city, saw clashes in central squares as riot police moved in with batons and protesters pushed back, signaling this was not just a Tehran moment but a multi-city escalation.

Executions Surge Past 1,500

But that's not the worst of it. Iran’s 2025 executions count has already blown past last year’s pace, with monitors saying the state is killing people at a sharply higher rate.

• Tally: Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) says it verified at least 1,500 executions by the start of December 2025, and believes more occurred afterward. In all of 2024, IHR verified 975.

• Opacity: There is no clean official scoreboard. Iranian authorities do not publish comprehensive execution figures, so outside groups are left stitching together cases from court documents, local reporting, and family or activist networks.

🇻🇪 VENEZUELA
Trump Hints At Land Strike

President Trump says the U.S. carried out a strike on a "big facility" tied to drug trafficking inside Venezuela. This is the first known U.S. attack on land since his anti-drug campaign against Venezuela kicked into higher gear.

• Claim: In an interview with John Catsimatidis on New York’s WABC, Trump said, "Two nights ago we knocked that out," describing a "plant" or "facility" connected to boats he said were moving narcotics.

• Silence: U.S. officials acknowledged he was talking about a drug facility in Venezuela and said it was eliminated, but offered no location, method, or agency. The military said it had nothing to share, the C.I.A. declined comment, and the White House also declined.

• Verification: There has been no public confirmation from Venezuela or other regional authorities, and no independent public accounting of what was hit, where it sat, or what it actually did in the supply chain.

• Clarification: However, speaking in West Palm Beach, Florida on Dec. 29, Trump said there was "a major explosion" at a dock where boats were allegedly loaded with drugs, adding that the "implementation area" was "no longer around."

• Confusion: A Christmas Eve fire at the Primazol chemical plant in Zulia sparked online speculation, but the company denied it was what Trump meant and said the blaze was quickly put out and under investigation, while nearby residents say that they heard an explosion and smelled chlorine.

🇨🇳 CHINA
Rockets Toward Taiwan

China fired rockets toward Taiwan and ran 10 hours of live-fire drills around the island, explicitly rehearsing a blockade on day two of its biggest war games to date.

• Timeline: China’s Eastern Theatre Command said live-firing—involving bomber aircraft, warships, and new amphibious assault ships—would run until 6 p.m. Tuesday (1000 GMT) across five sea-and-air zones around Taiwan and off China’s coast.

• Pressure: Taiwan’s defense ministry said 130 Chinese military aircraft and 22 navy and coast guard vessels operated around the island in the 24 hours up to 6 a.m., while Taiwan’s coast guard reported 14 Chinese coast guard vessels sailing near the contiguous zone and engaging in standoffs.

• Targeting: A senior Taiwanese security official said they are watching closely for missiles flying over the island, and said the drills look designed to practice hitting land-based targets such as the U.S.-made HIMARS rocket system, which can reach roughly 300 km (186 miles).

• Taipei: Taiwan’s defense ministry confirmed live-firing north of the island Tuesday morning and said debris entered its contiguous zone (24 nautical miles offshore).