CHINA - Two major energy trade developments today highlight how the Western Alliance is quickly losing a grip on the world energy market, as an alliance between China, Russia, Iran and the Middle East Gulf Cooperation Council starts to take shape with actual trade exchanges that are not in dollars.
GERMANY - King Charles III called Russia's war in Ukraine a threat to Europe's democratic values in the first speech made by a monarch at the German parliament, but said allies like Germany and Britain can draw courage from their unity. Speaking mostly in German through the 30-minute speech, Charles underlined that "the scourge of war is back in Europe, the war of aggression against Ukraine has brought unimaginable suffering on so many innocent people."
USA - FNC’s Carlson: In Christianity, the price of admission is admitting that you’re not God. Christians openly concede that they have no real power over anything, and for that matter, very little personal virtue. They will tell you to your face that they are sinful and helpless and basically absurd. The trans movement takes the opposite view. Trans ideology claims dominion over nature itself. We can change the identity we were born with, they will tell you with wild eyed certainty.
USA - In the aftermath of the horrific Nashville transgender school shooting, most Americans are still trying to process what happened. Why did a 28-year-old woman, who identified as a man, shoot her way into a Christian school filled with young children and then proceed to murder three innocent 9-year-old kids in cold blood and three adults in their 60s?
CHINA - China spent $240 billion between 2000 and 2021 to “rescue” 22 countries struggling to repay predatory Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) loans, according to a report published on Tuesday. The report, titled “China as an International Lender of Last Resort,” was prepared by researchers from the World Bank, the Harvard Kennedy School, research lab AidData, and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
USA - With the threat of a World War 3 escalation into a nuclear conflict, while the world’s financial system is on the brink of collapse, it is easy to see why a local, regional news story about the weather will not make national headlines. But there is a local, regional story developing in California that I guarantee will eventually make national headline news, as the flooding continues with more heavy rain and snow this week, and with local officials declaring that in terms of the flooding and damage, “the worst is yet to come.”
ISRAEL - The United States needs to understand that Israel is an independent country and "not another star on the US flag," National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Wednesday morning in response to US President Joe Biden's comments on judicial reform. On Tuesday night, the US president said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be invited to the White House in the near future, and urged him to drop the judicial reform plan. "Like many strong supporters of Israel, I am very concerned. I am concerned that they get this straight. They can not continue down this road. I have sort of made that clear," Biden said to reporters.
USA - The White House offered praise Wednesday for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments in response to concerns from US President Joe Biden regarding the judicial overhaul being advanced by the Israeli government. The remarks by White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby appeared to represent an attempt by the Biden administration to lower the temperature after tensions between the US and Israel flared up a day earlier.
INDIA - It offers a diplomatic forum and development financing, outside of the Western mainstream. The acronym began as a somewhat optimistic term to describe what were the world’s fastest-growing economies at the time. But now the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — are setting themselves up as an alternative to existing international financial and political forums.
CHINA - The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Sunday cautioned the Philippines against strengthening military cooperation with the US, saying it will be used to serve Washington’s geopolitical agenda to the detriment of Manila’s own security. The latest warning from the Chinese embassy in Manila cited Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s decision last month to give US troops access to four additional military bases in the Southeast Asian country.
PHILIPPINES - Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the president of the Philippines, opened 2023 by making a visit to China. There, 14 bilateral agreements were signed between Manila and Beijing. Between the two, this sort of diplomacy is not unusual. They are close economic partners, with China being the Philippines’ largest export market and a critical source of inbound investment, especially as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
USA - The United States' commitment to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion appears to have rattled the stability of the domestic stockpile of missiles and munitions. The Biden administration has promised — as part of $33 billion sent in military aid for the besieged country so far — a US Patriot air-defense system will be sent to Ukraine, along with over 200,000 rounds of artillery, rockets, and tank rounds.
ISRAEL - Bending to a wave of mass protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his contentious judicial overhaul plan Monday and said he wanted 'to avoid civil war' by making time to seek a compromise with political opponents. The announcement appeared to calm some of the tensions that have fueled three tumultuous months of unrest. But it failed to address the underlying issues that have polarized the nation, and the antigovernmental protest movement vowed to intensify its efforts.