USA - Well, no one saw that coming... The New York Fed's Empire State Manufacturing Survey for January crashed from -14.5 to -43.7 - the worst print in the survey's history outside of the COVID lockdowns... The -43.7 print was a stunning 10 standard deviations below expectations of a bounce to -5.0... Under the hood, it was a bloodbath. New orders slumped more than 38 points to minus 49.4, the weakest since April 2020, while shipments dropped by the most since August. Worse still, the index of prices paid for materials increased to a three-month high... the spread between current reality and a hopeful future is at near record highs (record Ex-COVID-lockdowns)...

USA - Only around one-quarter of US adults believe that the ‘American dream’ of being able to succeed through hard work still holds true, down by nearly half from when the same question was asked in 2010, a new poll has revealed. The ABC News/Ipsos survey released on Monday found that just 27% of Americans still believe in the American dream, defined as: “If you work hard, you’ll get ahead.” This compares with 50% when the same poll was conducted 13 years ago, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The bleak results come at a time when Americans are growing increasingly pessimistic about the outlook for their country. A poll released in November showed that 76% of US adults believe the nation is heading in the “wrong direction.” Respondents cited the economy and inflation as their top concerns.

GERMANY - Berlin once again ground to a halt on Monday as thousands of farmers, truck drivers and others shut down the German capital, calling for the end of the globalist government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Culminating a week of nationwide demonstrations in which thousands of farmers took to their tractors to shut down typically busy highways and the thoroughfares of major cities, an estimated 5,000 tractors, trucks and over 10,000 people crowded into the centre of Berlin on Monday. The protests were sparked by the left-wing coalition government’s decision to solve a budget crisis with cuts to agricultural subsidies and eliminating tax exemptions for farmers on diesel, a measure that has been in place for over 70 years.

SWITZERLAND - The combined fortunes of the world's five richest men have more than doubled to $869 billion since 2020 while five billion people have been made poorer, anti-poverty group Oxfam said. An Oxfam report, which comes as business elites gather this week for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, found that a billionaire is now either running, or is the main shareholder of, 7 out of 10 of the world's biggest companies. Oxfam called on Monday for governments to rein in corporate power by breaking up monopolies; instituting taxes on excess profit and wealth; and promoting alternatives to shareholder control such as forms of employee ownership. It estimated that 148 top corporations made $1.8 trillion in profits, 52 percent up on 3-year average, allowing hefty pay-outs to shareholders even as millions of workers faced a cost of living crisis as inflation led to wage cuts in real terms.

SWITZERLAND - The 54th annual gathering of the World Economic Forum begins today in the small Alpine resort town of Davos. The invitation-only meeting brings nearly 2,800 leaders from 120 countries together to discuss the world's most pressing topics, such as climate change, artificial intelligence, and virus pandemics. After world leaders, politicians, business leaders, academics, NGOs, and religious leaders debate global problems and attempt to find 'solutions' to issues plaguing the world, there is an after-hours scene that is very dark, as we've explained previously: What's on the menu this year? Well, The New York Post described: "Caviar, magic mushrooms, gold-leaf desserts, A-list selfies, $2,500-per-night hookers and secret dinners." But anyone who wants to book an escort via matching platform "Titt4Tat" in the Davos region, or even in eastern Switzerland, will be disappointed. "All local service providers are completely booked during the WEF week," confirms owner B Konrad.

FRANCE - On the 9th of January, 2024, Gabriel Attal, who is often viewed as a protégé of President Emmanuel Macron, made a historic stride at 34 years old, as the youngest prime minister of France under the Fifth Republic. Attal has earned himself the moniker “Baby Macron” due to his youth and centrist political ideology which he shares with Macron. That is not all he shares with Macron as they are both alumni of Klaus Schwab’s Global Young Leaders. Attal was an early supporter of Macron’s En Marche movement in 2016, and following his departure from the Socialist Party already holds an impressive political portfolio for one so young and in just a few years.

UK - Britain will send 20,000 service personnel to one of Nato’s largest military exercises since the Cold War, as the alliance practises repelling an invasion by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps will announce the deployment of Army, Navy and RAF members to the 31-nation drill across Europe during a speech in London on Monday. In the Lancaster House speech, Mr Shapps is expected to say: “We are in a new era and we must be prepared to deter our enemies, prepared to lead our allies and prepared to defend our nation whenever the call comes. “Today our adversaries are busily rebuilding their barriers, old enemies are reanimated, battle lines are being redrawn, the tanks are literally on Ukraine’s lawn and the foundations of the world order are being shaken to their core. We stand at a crossroads.”

USA - The United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby who went viral for championing DEI [Diversity, equity, and inclusion] measures for pilots at the company is also a drag queen in his spare time. Kirby responded to a question about DEI measures at the company saying, "We have committed that 50 percent of the classes will be women or people of color." "Today only 19 percent of our pilots at United Airlines are women or people of color." In addition, photos posted by Libs of TikTok reveal that Maya Tallman, a trans-identifying male, is running the newly formed DEI Committee at the company. Tesla and X owner Elon Musk posted to X last week about all the DEI efforts in airline industry, saying... "Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? That is actually happening."

EUROPE - German shop owners thought they could circumvent the state ban on Sunday work. However, they miscalculated the piety of the state. However, not all European countries take Sunday rest so seriously. In the German state of Hesse, you may only work on Sunday in an essential job. Supermarket chain Tegut thought of a way to circumvent this ban: it opened a store without employees, PRO writes. Therefore, it did not violate the protection regulations for employees. However, the Hessian Administrative Court closed the supermarket, because it did break the mandatory Sunday rest in the state. The Administrative Court confirmed that Sunday protection is also about “the preservation of an essential cultural asset”, Tagesschau writes.

USA - The dramatic, if largely unpublicised, recovery in Arctic sea ice is continuing into the New Year. Despite the contestable claims of the ‘hottest year ever’ (and even hotter in 2024), Arctic sea ice on January 8th stood at its highest level in 21 years. Last December, the US-based National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) revealed that sea ice recorded its third highest monthly gain in the modern 45-year record. According to the science blog No Tricks Zone, the reading up to January 8th has now far exceeded the average for the years 2011-2020. It also exceeds the average for the years 2001-2010, and points directly upwards with regard to the average for the years 1991-2000.

ISRAEL - Without fanfare, the Israel Defense Forces is transitioning from phase 2 in the war against Hamas — the high-intensity stage of surging ground forces throughout Gaza — to phase 3, involving far more targeted operations, with a focus on the south of the Strip. The decision to do so is based primarily on the IDF’s assessment that it has succeeded in dismantling Hamas’s organized military structures in northern Gaza and in Hamas’s former heartland of Gaza City, leaving disorganized terror cells that have fallen back on independent guerrilla warfare tactics.

GERMANY - The German government sharply rejected on Friday allegations before the UN’s top court that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza and warned against “political instrumentalization” of the charge, as it announced it would intervene as a third party before the International Court of Justice. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement that Israel was “defending itself” after the “inhuman” onslaught by Hamas on October 7. He said Germany would intervene as a third party before the International Court of Justice under an article allowing states to seek clarification on the use of a multilateral convention.

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations healthcare agency — the World Health Organization (WHO) — has given transgender activists a majority of the seats in a panel that is drafting healthcare policies for children. One of the supposed experts displays a “Be Gay, Do Crimes” tattoo. Eleven members of the WHO’s 21-member panel have no formal medical training, seven are transgender, and just ten have a medical background, according to a report by Daily Mail. One of them is reportedly a controversial Canadian trans activist who has a strong influence on the Chinese app TikTok and says puberty blockers should be prescribed to all children, regardless of their gender identity, so they can “choose” their gender rather than being assigned one by society.

USA - Hollywood star Jodie Foster has made a rare public comment about her private family life, specifically her two sons, saying that lesbian parenting has complicated their understanding of masculinity. The two-time Oscar-winning actress also said TV has taught her sons that being a man means being an “asshole.” Foster said growing up in a lesbian household confused her sons’ sense of what it means to be male. “My two don’t like sports,” she said. “They like to watch movies and sit at home, and they’re really into their female friends. They’re super feminist. And there was a moment with my older one when he was in high school, when, because he was raised by two women – three women – it was like he was trying to figure out what it was to be a boy.”

SWITZERLAND - The world’s largest multinational corporations, bankers and finance agents are meeting in Davos at the World Economic Forum next week – gathering together with their political beneficiaries. However, as noted by Reuters, the biggest concern of the assembly of global influencers is the risk that Donald J Trump represents. There are trillions at stake. Ending the Ukraine war would be detrimental to the group; this is one of the immediate concerns they carry. President Trump negotiating a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine (or Israel/Hamas) conflict is against the interests of the multinationals.