Intelligence Brief: Global Events and Security (24-Hour Update)

🏗️ Critical Infrastructure

• An intentional fire damaged several cables near a power plant in southwest Berlin on early January 3, 2026, causing a power outage that affected approximately 45,000 households and 2,200 businesses. It is expected to take until January 8, 2026, to reconnect power for all customers.
  2026-01-03 – Activist Group Says It Was behind Berlin Fire That Cut Power to Thousands (link)
• Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) plans to suspend freighter operations for ten months between August 2026 and May 2027 to rebuild the cargo aircraft apron and recarpet the main runway.
  2026-01-05 – Mumbai Airport Plans to Suspend Freighter Operations for Ten Months (link)

🚨 Crime or Organized Crime

• A round was fired into the Mount Sinai Full Gospel Deliverance Center in Winston Salem, North Carolina, around 12:22 a.m. on January 1. An off-duty law enforcement officer working security was grazed on the hand, sustaining a minor injury treated at the scene. No suspect or motive has been identified.
  2026-01-05 – Shots Fired Into Winston Salem Church, Security Officer Injured (link)

💣 Activism Terrorism

• British and French warplanes conducted a joint operation on January 3, 2026, bombing a suspected underground facility in a mountainous area north of Palmyra, Syria, that was used by ISIS militants to store weapons and explosives.
  2026-01-03 – Britain and France Launch Strikes on ISIS facility in Syria (link)
• Somalia’s armed forces, in coordination with international partners, eliminated 29 al-Shabaab militants during an operation in the town of Jabad Godane in southeastern Somalia on January 1, 2026.
  2026-01-01 – Somali Army Kills 29 Militants in Operation against Al-Shabaab Online (link)
• The FBI arrested 18-year-old Christian Sturdivant in Mint Hill, North Carolina, on charges of attempting to provide material support to ISIS after he allegedly planned a deadly New Year’s Eve attack at a grocery store and a fast-food restaurant using knives and hammers.
  2026-01-02 – FBI Disrupts Alleged New Year’s Eve Attack, Man Charged with Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS (link)

💥 DVE (Domestic Violent Extremists) / EVE (Environmental Violent Extremist)

• A far-left activist group, Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group), claimed responsibility for the suspected arson attack in southwest Berlin that damaged high-voltage power lines. The group stated that the “fossil fuel economy” was the target of the action.
  2026-01-03 – Activist Group Says It Was behind Berlin Fire That Cut Power to Thousands (link)

🌍 Geopolitical

• Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to US drug- and terrorism-related charges in their first New York court appearance following their capture in a weekend operation.
  2026-01-06 – Childhood Vaccines, Uvalde Trial, and Island-Hopping Pigs (link)
• Maduro ally Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president of Venezuela, and the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting over the US military operation. President Trump suggested the US might launch a second military strike if the remaining administration members do not cooperate.
  2026-01-04 – Trump says second Venezuela strike possible if government does not cooperate (link)
  2026-01-03 – U.N. chief: Venezuela U.S. action sets ‘dangerous precedent’ (link)
• Protests in Iran against the ruling Islamic regime entered their ninth day (as of Jan 5), fueled by economic turmoil and the rial’s catastrophic freefall. Protesters are now chanting for the death of the Islamic Republic and the return of Pahlavi, with confirmed casualties mounting in the provinces.
  2026-01-05 – Iranian Regime Struggling To Survive as Protest Death Toll Rises (link)
• Opening statements are scheduled to begin today (January 6, 2026) in the trial of former school police officer Adrian Gonzales, who faces 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment for his response to the 2022 Uvalde school shooting in Texas.
  2026-01-06 – Childhood Vaccines, Uvalde Trial, and Island-Hopping Pigs (link)
• The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) flight restrictions in the Eastern Caribbean, imposed following US strikes in Venezuela, expired overnight, allowing US commercial flights to resume after hundreds of cancelations and delays.
  2026-01-04 – Airlines Scramble to Add Caribbean Flights after Airspace Restrictions Strand Tens of Thousands of Travelers (link)
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) overhauled its childhood vaccine schedule, reducing the number of recommended vaccines from 17 to 11. The changes remove recommendations for vaccines against flu, COVID-19, meningococcal disease, rotavirus, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B, suggesting parents decide on these in partnership with clinicians.
  2026-01-06 – Childhood Vaccines, Uvalde Trial, and Island-Hopping Pigs (link)
• Nigeria’s military urged civilians in the country’s northwest to avoid or tamper with unexploded ordnance at sites targeted by recent US-backed airstrikes against ISIS-linked camps.
  2026-01-02 – Nigeria Urges Civilians to Avoid Debris from US-Backed Strikes on Islamists (link)
• Russian drones heading toward Ukrainian ports on the Danube were detected on January 2, 2026, leading to a preventive alert in Tulcea County, Romania, and the scrambling of two F-16 fighter jets.
  2026-01-02 – RO-Alert in Tulcea: Russian Drones Detected; F-16 Jets Scrambled (link)

💻 Cyber

• The US capacity to counter foreign malign influence has deteriorated following the shutdown of key entities, including the FBI’s Foreign Malign Influence Task Force, the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, and the Foreign Malign Influence Center at ODNI.
  2026-01-02 – How the US Can Fight Foreign Malign Influence (link)
• America’s cyber defenses are falling behind, with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) operating without stable Senate-confirmed leadership and experiencing a loss of approximately one-third of its workforce.
  2026-01-05 – Time to restore America’s cyberspace security system (link)
• Chinese cyberattacks targeting Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, such as hospitals and banks, increased by 6% in 2025, reaching an average of 2.63 million attacks per day.
  2026-01-05 – Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan infrastructure averaged 2.6 million a day in 2025, report (link)
• New Zealand’s health ministry initiated a review following a cybersecurity breach of a privately owned website that hosts medical records for roughly one-third of the country’s population.
  2026-01-05 – New Zealand launches review of medical portal hack (link)