Good morning, and welcome back. In today’s edition:

• 🇺🇸 “Donroe Doctrine”
• 🏈 Ravens fire Harbaugh
• 👵 Rise of “Grandma showers”

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.53-minute read (939 words).

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“If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.”

–Thomas Watson (1874-1956)

President Trump’s recent embrace of military interventionism in Latin America has led to widespread speculation about the potential for the US to exert similar control elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere.

Since Saturday’s US military raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump has renewed threats against Colombia, criticized Mexico’s leadership, and predicted Cuba’s government would fall.

• Trump also redoubled his previous demand to take over resource-rich Greenland from Denmark, potentially by “utilizing the US Military,” per White House comments yesterday.

It’s all part of the “Donroe Doctrine”

“We’re in the business of having countries around us that are viable, successful and where the oil is allowed to freely come out,” Trump told reporters on Sunday, referring to a national-security strategy the president has dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine.”

• According to the Trump admin’s National Security Strategy, published in December, the “Donroe Doctrine” represents a more aggressive reinterpretation of the 1823 Monroe Doctrine.
• President Monroe’s initial strategy established the entire Western Hemisphere as America’s sphere of influence, warning against any further interference from Europe.

The new “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine asserts that the US is justified to intervene in nations across the Western Hemisphere in order to counter the influence of “extra-hemispheric” powers like Russia, China, and Iran, as well as to “to protect our homeland and our access to key geographies throughout the region.”

Trump’s plan faces tests ahead

Regional experts say the US gov’t will likely face complications while overseeing Venezuela, a country of 28 million people that’s twice the size of California, with the potential for chaos if clear lines of leadership aren’t established quickly.

• Additionally, the Trump admin’s renewed comments in recent days about taking control of Greenland have been met with fierce pushback from Denmark, a NATO ally in control of the semiautonomous territory, as well as other European leaders.
• Danish PM Mette Frederiksen this week said any US military operation to seize Greenland would spell the end of the NATO military alliance.

Zoom out: Some analysts suggest America’s new strategy in the Western Hemisphere could embolden other major world powers, particularly China and Russia, to also push for more control over regions they view as problematic.

But other experts disagree, noting that those world powers already appear to feel unconstrained when it comes to gaining control over neighboring countries.

📊 Flash poll: In general, do you support or oppose the Trump admin’s new “Donroe Doctrine” regarding US influence in the Western Hemisphere?

• Support
• Oppose
• Unsure/other

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🤖 Nvidia unveiled new AI chip at CES 2026 designed to fulfill requests more quickly and cheaply than its predecessors; tech giant also unveiled a new tech platform for self-driving cars.
• 🏨 Hilton removes Minneapolis-area hotel from its system amid online backlash over the property’s refusal to house ICE officers coming to Minneapolis.
• 🍪 New Girl Scout cookie, a rocky road–inspired sandwich cookie called “Exploremores,” made its debut yesterday as the org’s annual treat-selling season kicked off.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈 Baltimore Ravens fired head coach John Harbaugh days after missing the playoffs; Harbaugh’s 18-year tenure with the Ravens included a Super Bowl victory in 2013.
• 🎭 Mickey Rourke declines $100,000+ in donations raised by his agency on GoFundMe after the actor was evicted from his LA home for unpaid rent; Rourke told fans to have their donations refunded.
• 🏎️ NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps to step down by the end of this month after inflammatory texts he sent regarding NASCAR owners came to light during the racing league’s federal antitrust trial last month.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🧠 Regularly volunteering can reduce humans’ rate of cognitive aging by around 15%–20%, per new study from UT Austin and UMass researchers.
• 🪼 Jellyfish appear to sleep for ~8 hours/day, take midday naps, and snooze more after a bad night’s sleep similar to humans, according to a new study published in Nature Communications.
• 🌌 Impossibly hot galaxy cluster has defied scientists’ predictions about how the universe should evolve, measuring five times hotter than expected, per new research.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🙏 Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) passed away at age 65; LaMalfa had represented northern California’s 1st Congressional District since 2013.
• 🏛️ White House marked the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol by releasing an official webpage that accuses former VP Mike Pence of "cowardice and sabotage," claims the 2020 election was stolen, and insists President Trump's supporters were peaceful.
• 🇮🇷 Anti-gov’t protests in Iran have intensified in their second week, with a human rights group saying at least 36 protesters have been killed during the last 10 days.

☝️Roborock debuted a new vacuum concept at CES 2026 called the Saros Rover, which features articulating legs that let it clean stairs as well as climb them. The robot was also shown stabilizing itself after being hit with tennis balls, and jumping over obstacles.

🤔 Did you know? The Caesar salad originates from Tijuana, Mexico, not Rome or anywhere else in Italy. In 1924, restaurateur Caesar Cardini (who hails from Italy) threw together the iconic salad on the fly to feed hungry patrons in Tijuana, and accidentally created a classic.

📰 Worth a read: Welcome to Sommarøy, the island without time

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• To influence people, do these 5 simple things
• The rise of “Grandma showers”
• This 100-year-old cake recipe lives up to the hype

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🎭 Will 2025 be remembered as a pop culture dud? With no real song of the summer and dozens of box office disasters, people may look back on it as a year of flops.

🧪 Science, b*tch!... Check out some of the most significant scientific experiments of the past year, from mastering antimatter to genetically modified pig donor organs.

👀 Watch: Was Alexander the Great really all that great? TedEd puts the conqueror on trial and questions his legacy. (6 mins)

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How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Your challenge is to guess whether the actual number is over or under the given value.

1. 🍔 650: Calories in a Big Mac
2. 🦴 200: Bones in the adult human body
3. 🚗 10 years: Average age of vehicles on US roads

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1. 🍔 Under; 580 calories
2. 🦴 Over; 206-213 bones
3. 🚗 Over; 12.6 years

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