Greetings! Happy National Nothing Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

🇰🇷 South Korea’s Yoon gets 5 years for martial-law decree. A Seoul court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 5 years in prison. Judges tied the conviction to his December 3, 2024 martial-law order. Prosecutors said he sent troops toward the National Assembly to box in lawmakers. The court said the decree failed the legal test for a genuine emergency. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, though South Korea’s executions are effectively frozen. Yoon appealed, and the precedent may haunt whoever comes next.

🇧🇷 Lula hails EU-Mercosur pact, then skips the signing. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva praised the European Union (EU) deal with the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), a trade bloc comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia; full member Venezuela has been suspended since 2016. The agreement would cover about 720M people and roughly $22T in combined output. EU officials estimate exporters could save more than €4B a year once tariffs fall. Lula will not attend the ceremony, sending Vice President Geraldo Alckmin to Montevideo. French leaders warn farmers could be undercut by new imports. Ratification in both blocs could take years.

🕯️ ICE detainee’s death shifts from “suicide” to “homicide”. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, died January 3 at Camp East Montana near El Paso. ICE said he attempted suicide and staff intervened. Detainee Santos Jesús Flores said guards handcuffed him, tackled him, and used a chokehold. El Paso County’s medical examiner told the family a preliminary autopsy points to homicide by asphyxia. The tent facility sits on Fort Bliss and cost about $1.2B to build. The dispute turns detention policy into a crime-scene question.

👁️ Protester says close-range projectile cost him an eye. Kaden Rummler says a round hit him at a Santa Ana protest, blinding his left eye. He says he was protesting immigration raids and the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Rummler claims he lost depth perception and the ability to drive. Advocates cite more injuries tied to “less lethal” munitions at demonstrations. Federal officials say such tools are used when crowds resist orders or turn violent. Castaneda is among plaintiffs pushing courts to draw clearer lines.

💼 Wage garnishment for defaulted student loans gets another delay. The Education Department paused plans to withhold paychecks from borrowers in default. Officials said the delay gives people time to enroll in repayment options and avoid collections. Federal figures show about 5M borrowers are already in default. Under current rules, loans can default after 270 days of missed payments. The department began sending warning notices to roughly 1,000 borrowers in early January. Collections remain on the horizon.

🤖 ChatGPT ads are on the horizon, and the vibe is uneasy. OpenAI says it is planning an advertising model inside the chatbot. Chief executive Sam Altman has framed it as fuel for surging compute bills. The company says ChatGPT now reaches about 800M weekly users. Reports peg OpenAI’s valuation near $500B after recent fundraising. Critics worry ads could nudge answers, even with labels and guardrails. The chat window may soon come with sponsors, not just suggestions.

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That’s all for today!

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See you tomorrow!