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The NewsWorthy
Possible Greenland Deal, ICE's Next Target & Viral 'Buttons' Meme - Thursday, January 22, 2026
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Today is Thursday, January 22nd. We'll tell you what we know about Trump's framework for a Greenland deal and his new message to world leaders. Also, the latest state where ICE has started an immigration crackdown. And an update on what's expected to be the biggest winter storm of the season so far. Plus, Prince Harry gave emotional testimony in court. A bittersweet Sundance Film Festival kicks off today. And have you heard of 365 buttons? We'll explain the viral meme, those stories and even more news to know next. Welcome to the Newsworthy. All the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this. Much of the world breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday when President Trump said he would not use force to take control of Greenland. The president also told world leaders he would not impose tariffs on European countries, as he had previously said he would if they didn't let the US Take over. So what changed his mind? Well, Trump says he had a productive meeting with NATO secretary general and that the two of them form the framework of a future deal. The NATO spokesperson went into more detail, saying the framework focuses on securing the Arctic not by a takeover, but through the efforts of several allies. There are also some reports that give more specifics, saying Denmark could give the US Ownership over just small pockets of Greenland so the US could build military bases. But again, nothing is set in stone just yet. Before announcing the framework, President Trump had been facing a lot of backlash over his earlier threats. Hours before his announcement, the European Union's parliament stopped final approval of a critical trade deal Trump reached with the bloc last summer, though that's when Trump was saying during his speech at the World Economic Forum that he would settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland. As for what's next, President Trump says Vice President J.D. vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special Envoy Steve Witkoff will keep the Greenland negotiations going. Another immigration crackdown started this week, this time in Maine. The Homeland Security Department is promising to target the worst of the worst criminals who have, quote, terrorized communities. Though at least on the national level, a large share of people being held in ICE custody don't have any criminal convictions. And just like with many of the other surges, state and local officials are against this. For example, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said Maine would not welcome the aggressive tactics from ICE agents that have come under intense scrutiny in places like Minnesota. The Trump administration still defends ICE agents methods, saying they're only needed to establish law and order and ultimately keep people safe. At the same time, it's actually giving ICE agents more sweeping power. News outlets apparently got ahold of an internal memo telling ICE officers to use force to enter homes even without a judge's warrant, and that upends years of precedent and it's expected to face legal challenges. But the Homeland Security Department says it's actually nothing new and that ICE agents have always followed the law in the face of heightened tensions. Vice President J.D. vance plans to visit Minneapolis today while state and local officials are still calling on ICE agents to leave. President Trump says people will soon be prosecuted for what he called the Rigged 2020 election. Trump has repeatedly claimed former President Biden did not actually win, despite several courts and election authorities saying the opposite. And now he's taken his allegations to the world stage, repeating his claim about a stolen election at the World Economic Forum, though he did not go into more specifics about who is going to be prosecuted or what crimes they might be charged with. Remember, Trump was actually charged with trying to overturn the results of the election, and even though the charges have since been thrown out based on the fact that he would become a sitting president again, the lead investigator behind the case has said he's still convinced Trump is guilty and today that special counsel Jack Smith is set to publicly testify for the first time. Not a lot of new details are expected to come out, though, since lawmakers didn't get much new information out of Smith when they questioned him behind closed doors last month. Either way, President Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and he's insisted he was the victim of a political attack. The former special counsel is also expected to talk about the classified documents case, another one Trump says was political. A former police officer has now been found not guilty of abandoning or endangering children during what became one of the deadliest school shootings in US History. Adrian Gonzalez was one of the first officers to respond to Robb elementary in Uvalde, Texas, on that day back in 2022. Remember, about 77 minutes passed from the time authorities arrived on scene and when a tactical team was able to get into a classroom and kill the shooter. 19 children and two teachers ended up dying. Prosecutors said Gonzalez didn't try to engage, distract or delay the gunman until after children had been shot, despite being told of the shooter's general location on the other side. Gonzalez lawyers argued the prosecution was only born out of pain and frustration that the gunman couldn't be tried for his horrific crimes and that their client should not have to pay for them. The defense also said many other officials who arrived at nearly the same time also did not engage and that there was a lot of uncertainty and confusion. Well, in the end, the jurors sided with the defense. Another officer is also charged over the response to the shooting. His trial has yet to be scheduled. It's now looking like bitter cold, cold temperatures and significant snow and ice will impact more than 200 million people across the US this week. As one Defense Department meteorologist put it, we're about to witness a truly legendary winter storm. At this point, storm watches stretch across 1,700 miles from Eastern Arizona to Virginia and North Carolina, and those watches are likely to be expanded all the way to southern New England soon. The system is expected to start impacting people tomorrow across much of the Plains, Tennessee Valley, Midwest and Mid Atlantic. A full foot of snow is possible south of there. Like in Texas, people could end up seeing more than an inch of ice, snapping tree limbs and pulling down power lines. And that ice is not expected to melt until late next week as dangerously cold temperatures set in. Now, major energy providers from Texas to the Carolinas say they're preparing some college and major league sports teams are shuffling games, and people across 35 states are being told to stock up on essentials as soon as possible. More news is still ahead, but first a break to talk about our sponsor. In a world full of everything digital, I still look forward to the routine of getting the physical mail every day. There's just something about that real personal touch going outside with my son, waving to our neighbors, and even chatting with our mailman. I can always remember his name because it's Bill. You know, Bill delivering our bills. But I know, I know. I wish we could say no thank you to getting any bills or getting any junk mail, but that's why I'm a fan of Gunder. They create smart, targeted direct mail that people actually want. It's not junk. It's intentional, useful, well crafted mail going to the right audience for the products and services they need. 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Harry is one of several plaintiffs in the case alongside Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, who say the tabloids used unlawful methods in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including alleged phone hacking, bugging cars and homes, and paying police for information. On the stand, Harry was near tears, telling the court it's fundamentally wrong that the case is still dragging on and saying that by defending itself, the publisher is, quote, continuing to make my wife's life an absolute misery. Harry explained he didn't complain about stories at the time this all happened because of his role in the royal family, saying the expectation was to, quote, never complain, never explain. He also invoked his late mother, Princess Diana, saying her death and the press's treatment of her shaped his deep mistrust of the media. Publisher Associated Newspapers denies all wrongdoing, calling the claims preposterous and unsupported by evidence. The trial is expected to last several weeks, with more high profile testimony still to come. The world's largest nuclear power plant has now restarted for the first time since one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. It was 2011, when all of Japan's reactors had to be shut down because the most powerful earthquake it had ever recorded triggered a meltdown at Fukushima. They've come back online slowly since then, and yesterday the big milestone was at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant, which is run by the same utility that's in charge of the Fukushima plant. And this is the first reactor that utility has been able to resume production at since the Fukushima disaster. It's spent billions on safety upgrades, but many local people still have real safety concerns since just like the Fukushima plant, this one also sits in an isolated earthquake prone region. And in case of another disaster, getting away from it would be especially difficult since a recent quake severely damaged roads, making evacuation routes inaccessible. That said, other locals are welcoming the potential economic and employment benefits. The reactor could generate enough electricity to power more than a million homes. Jeff Bezos Space company Blue Origin is making a big move into satellite Internet. The company announced plans yesterday to launch a new communications network called TerraWave, aimed at enterprise data center and government customers. And the move puts Bezos up against Starlink, owned by Elon Musk, which already has thousands of satellites in space and millions of customers. It also means Bezos will be competing with Amazon, the company he founded, which is building its own satellite Internet service under the name Leo, while Blue Origin is best known for rocket launches and space tourism, Bezos has said he believes the company could one day be bigger than Amazon, even if it takes time to get there. Blue Origin says it plans to deploy more than 5,000 satellites, with the first launches expected in late 2027. Taylor Swift is making history again. She was inducted into the Songwriters hall of Fame this week, and at 36 years old, she's now the youngest woman by nearly a decade to be given the honor. But she's not the only songwriter entering the hall of Fame this year. Others announced in The Class of 2026 include Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss, Alanis Morissette, Kenny Loggins and Christopher Tricky Stewart, who wrote songs like Beyonce's Single Ladies, Rihanna's Umbrella and Mary J. Blige's Just Fine. The induction ceremony is slated for this summer. Today, the Sundance Film Festival begins for the last time in Park City, Utah, before heading to Boulder, Colorado next year. And this is actually the end of an era in more ways than one. The festival also plans to pay tribute to late actor and director Robert Redford, who founded the festival in 1978 and died a few months ago. And it will screen certain films that got their starts at Sundance. Of course, there will be plenty of new movies being screened as well. There are documentaries about singer Courtney Love, tennis star Billie Jean King, South African leader Nelson Mandela, and more. There are also 90 feature films premiering, for example the Invite, starring Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, and the Gallerist with Natalie Portman, Zach Galifianakis, Jenna Ortega and Catherine Zeta Jones, just to name a few. The festival runs through February 1st. By the way, you don't have to be there to watch the movies. Audiences can watch many of them online. Prices start at $35 for a single ticket. That's it for the main news. So now it's time for Thing to Know Thursday. But first a quick break to remind you that ClassPass is running a special promotion and I can personally tell you I'm a big fan of ClassPass. I love taking workout classes, but I don't always love having to choose only one place to work out. So I rather switch things up, try new things and get a little bit of every type of exercise that I enjoy. And with Class Pass, I can take barre, Pilates and yoga classes and even try out boxing, CrossFit, open gym time and more. And right now, if you sign up through the link I put in today's Episode Notes in your podcast app, you'll not only get a free one month trial, but you'll also get 20 more credits than their regular first time offer. This extra offer doesn't last long, so click the link in today's episode notes in your podcast app to try ClassPass for free. Now by clicking that link to get your free trial, you'll be supporting the newsworthy at no extra cost to you. Okay, now back to Thing to Know Thursday and today we're talking about 365 buttons, which could be the first big viral moment of 2026. It all started with a TikTok user named Tamara who said she's marking 2026 using 365 buttons. But exactly what she's doing with those buttons, well, that's anyone's guess. Her explanation was that buttons are a way of being more conscious of the passage of time. And when people asked follow up questions like do you collect them or do you wear them? Tamera wrote, hey, so it actually only has to make sense for me to do it, and I don't feel like explaining it to anyone else. Well, that phrase quickly caught on with the Empire State Building calling it a motto for the year. Tumblr declared 2026 the year of 365 buttons. Saturday night Live spoofed the whole thing on last weekend's episode, and the Philadelphia Eagles posted a video of a bucket full of team buttons, asking, all right, Tamera, now what? Some users are coming up with their own interpretations. Many have decided to move buttons from one jar to another. Others have taken up drawing a button each day or writing original songs. No matter what, they've made it clear buttons are in for 2026, but explaining yourself is out. Thank you so much for listening today. We'll catch you up on more news to know tomorrow. Until then, have a great day.