5 Big News Stories Overnight - Wednesday, January 28, 2026

U.S.: Amazon Announces 16,000 Job Cuts

On Wednesday morning, Amazon announced 16,000 jobs, marking its second round of mass job cuts since October, when it shed 14,000 corporate roles.

"As I shared in October, we've been working to strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy," wrote Beth Galetti, Senior VP for Tech, in a memo that was shared on Amazon's blog. "While many teams finalized their organizational changes in October, other teams did not complete that work until now."

PHOTO: Anirudh, Unsplash

Global: U.S. World Cup Boycott Talk

Al Jazeera reports:

Former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter has backed a proposed fan boycott of World Cup 2026 matches in the United States because of the conduct of President Donald Trump and his administration at home and abroad.

Blatter is the latest international football figure to call into question the suitability of the US as a host country, calling for a boycott in a post on X on Monday.

Blatter supported the comments of Mark Pieth, a Swiss lawyer specialising in white-collar crime and anticorruption expert, who called on football fans to stay away from the US.

“If we consider everything we’ve discussed, there’s only one piece of advice for fans: Stay away from the USA!” Pieth, who also chaired the Independent Governance Committee’s oversight of FIFA reform a decade ago, said in an interview last week with the Swiss newspaper Der Bund.

U.S.: Calls for Kristi Noem's Removal

Democrats and now some Republicans are calling for the Secretary of Homeland Security's removal.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is calling for her ouster or threatening a possible impeachment.

PHOTO: State of South Dakota

U.S.: Belichick Snubbed from Hall of Fame

Sports Illustrated reports:

The Pro Football Hall of Fame process is broken. The voters have known it, and Bill Belichick is the unfortunate proof. 

On Tuesday night, reports surfaced that Belichick, an eight-time Super Bowl–winning coach, including six as a head coach with the Patriots, didn’t earn induction on his first attempt. Belichick is part of a five-man pool for the Senior, Coaches and Contributor candidates alongside New England owner Robert Kraft, Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, Steelers defensive end L.C. Greenwood and 49ers fullback Roger Craig. 

While it remains unknown who did become part of the Class of 2026, Belichick's exclusion is a blaring siren for the Hall of Fame. 

“I’m flabbergasted,” said Jason Cole, a longtime Hall of Fame voter. “I think we have a math problem and a larger issue where we are putting coaches, contributors and senior members in the same voting system. All five of them are put together to be voted upon. That creates some imbalance of how you perceive players versus non-players.”

U.S.: UPS Slashing 30,000 Jobs

CBS Reports:

United Parcel Service plans to cut up to 30,000 workers this year as it moves to cut costs, the delivery giant's chief financial officer said Tuesday. 

"In terms of semi-variable costs, we expect to reduce operational positions by up to 30,000," UPS CFO Brian Dykes said during a company earnings call. "This will be accomplished through attrition, and we expect to offer a second voluntary separation program for full-time drivers."

Dykes also mentioned other measures UPS is taking to reduce costs, including plans to close two dozen buildings in the first half of 2026 and efforts to "deploy automation" across the network.

Atlanta-based UPS has 490,000 employees around the world.