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Happy Tuesday! The Metro Richmond Zoo in Moseley, Virginia, recently welcomed Poppy, a baby pygmy hippo whose name was chosen in an online poll that garnered more than 116,000 votes from across the world. It’s an impressive PR feat for the month-old hippo, but she has a long way to go before she can compete with the viral sensation that is Moo Deng.
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation in a press conference Monday after weeks of intensifying opposition from members of his own Liberal Party. “Canadians deserve a real choice in the next election,” he told reporters. “It has become obvious to me, with the internal battles, that I cannot be the one to carry the Liberal standard into the next election.” Trudeau’s path to remaining in power narrowed when his finance minister stepped down in December, citing disagreements over spending in the face of a possible “tariff war” with the U.S., and New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh—a key ally keeping Trudeau’s party in power—committed to bringing a motion of no confidence against the Liberal government when Parliament returned. Trudeau, who has served as prime minister since 2015, will remain in office until a new party leader is selected.
- Congress certified President-elect Donald Trump as the winner of the U.S. presidential election on Monday, with Vice President Kamala Harris presiding over the joint session of the House and Senate. “Today, America’s democracy stood,” Harris said after the ceremony. Former Vice President Mike Pence—whom Trump pressured to overturn the election on January 6, 2021—hailed the “peaceful transfer of power” and the “return of order and civility to these historic proceedings.”
- U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration on Monday, claiming the president—who on Friday blocked a $14.9 billion merger between the two companies—had “ignored the rule of law to gain favor” with trade unions. They alleged that the Biden administration attempted, for “purely political reasons,” to prevent the Japanese firm’s acquisition of U.S. Steel through an unfair national security review process. Additionally, the companies filed a suit accusing the United Steelworkers union and Cleveland-Cliffs, a steel company that unsuccessfully tried to acquire U.S. Steel, of conspiring against any rival takeovers of U.S. Steel.
- North Korea on Monday test-fired a medium-range ballistic missile that flew nearly 700 miles before falling into the Sea of Japan, according to South Korean defense officials. The launch coincided with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Seoul for meetings with top South Korean leaders, including acting President Choi Sang-mok. It marked Pyongyang’s first ballistic missile test since November 5 and drew swift condemnation from South Korea, Japan, and the U.S., with Blinken describing the launch as “yet another violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
- President Joe Biden on Monday announced an executive action to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling across 625 million acres of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the Northern Bering Sea. The restrictions will likely have little immediate effect—drilling is currently limited or outlawed in several of the areas covered by the order. Trump pledged to reverse the decision, but the law that it invoked—the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, under which a presidential action is considered permanent—may make the move difficult for future administrations to undo.
- A federal judge held former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court on Monday for failing to respond to requests for information about his assets in a $148 million defamation lawsuit. The former Trump attorney was ordered in October to turn over personal assets to two Georgia election workers who won a defamation suit against him after he falsely claimed they committed election fraud in the 2020 elections. It’s unclear what penalties Giuliani, who is due back in federal court on January 16, will face as a result of the contempt finding.
- Michael Barr, the head of the top bank watchdog at the Federal Reserve, on Monday announced plans to step down from his position. Barr had been a proponent of more stringent regulations on banks throughout his tenure as vice chair for supervision, raising the specter of clashes with the incoming Trump administration. “The risk of a dispute over the position could be a distraction from our mission,” Barr said in announcing his decision, which will take effect on February 28.
Mozambique in Crisis
In the southern African nation of Mozambique, a 16-year-old protest anthem has given voice to a new generation of dissenters. The fiercely anti-government verses of “Povo no Poder”—or “People in Power”—can now be heard at demonstrations and riots throughout the country, as young people ...
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Worth Your Time
- In a feature for Ars Technica, Tim Stevens profiled Steve Young: a man working to keep the game of pinball alive from a nondescript complex near Poughkeepsie, New York. “Whether due to public sentiment, hostile legislation, or a simple lack of popularity, the entire silver ball industry has repeatedly teetered on the brink of collapse. Yet it has always come back, today again riding a wave of popularity driven by the successes of high-tech machines capitalizing on familiar brands like X-Men and Godzilla. Pinball arcades are springing up everywhere, but private ownership is also surging,” Stevens wrote. “But one man, Steve Young, not only obsessively collects vintage pinball machines himself but has also acquired the dusty stockrooms and manufacturing components from the since-failed brands that built them. Over the past 50 years, he has built the world’s greatest collection of rare parts and schematics that keep this detail-obsessed hobby humming. Along the way, he has also developed a unique way of running the business that has become The Pinball Resource.”
- For Ukrainians, Russia’s ongoing invasion touches all aspects of life—and the search for companionship is no exception. The team over at Tim Mak’s substack, The Counteroffensive, detailed the growing appeal of speed dating in wartime Ukraine. “The format is very popular among Ukrainians. Alisa Samusieva has been organizing speed dating events for over 12 years. During the full-scale invasion, the demand for speed dating has only increased. It is particularly useful for servicemen who, due to their military service, don’t have as much time to search for love,” they wrote. “As long as the war is on, all methods of finding love are valid, and speed dating might be the best option. In Kyiv, there are more and more public advertisements like the one below saying that it’s hard to fall in love when you’re going to the front tomorrow. But if not now, when?”
Presented Without Comment
President-elect Donald J. Trump on Truth Social, reacting to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation:
Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State. The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned. If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!
In the Zeitgeist
The second season of South Korean thriller Squid Game dropped on Netflix late last month and continues to top the streaming service’s charts. If you’ve already blown through all seven installments, rest assured a third (and final) season is on the way.
Toeing the Company Line
- In the newsletters: Kevin Williamson contemplated (🔒) why the American electorate invited Donald Trump back in, and Nick Catoggio wrote (🔒) about the right’s January 6 revisionism and rationalizing.
- On the podcasts: On Advisory Opinions, Sarah Isgur and David French preview Friday’s oral arguments in TikTok’s petition before the Supreme Court.
- On the site today: Cecilia Esterline explains how H-1B visas work and Kevin Williamson, in part 2 of his series on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, looks at how the agency regulates gun purchases through tax collection.
Charlotte Lawson is the editor of The Morning Dispatch, currently based in southern Florida. Prior to joining the company in 2020, she studied history and global security at the University of Virginia. When Charlotte is not keeping up with foreign policy and world affairs, she is probably trying to hone her photography skills.
Grayson Logue is a staff writer for The Dispatch and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the company in 2023, he worked in political risk consulting, helping advise Fortune 50 companies. He was also an assistant editor at Providence Magazine and is a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh, pursuing a Master’s degree in history. When Grayson is not writing pieces for the website, he is probably working hard to reduce the number of balls he loses on the golf course.
Cole Murphy is a Morning Dispatch Reporter based in Atlanta. Prior to joining the company in 2025, he interned at The Dispatch and worked in business strategy at Home Depot. When Cole is not conributing to TMD, he is probably seeing a movie, listening to indie country music, or having his heart broken by Atlanta sports teams.
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