Just over a week ago, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the U.S. government had hit the limit on total federal borrowing allowed by law, also known as the debt ceiling. Unless Congress raises or does away with the debt limit soon, the federal government will go into default, triggering a global financial crisis that economists estimate will destroy 6 million jobs and $12 trillion in household wealth.1
Congress can defuse this time bomb by simply raising the debt limit, as it has dozens of times over the years, under presidents of both parties.
But Kevin McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the other MAGA radicals now in control of the House of Representatives are refusing to raise the debt ceiling unless President Biden agrees to deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Read more at: https//www.eu-digest.blogspot.com
Daniel 9:24-27 is a detailed and complex prophecy that accurately dated the first coming of the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and discusses the establishing of the New Covenant and implications of events that will occur leading up to the time of Christ’s second coming.
First, let’s read this prophecy, Commonly known as the 70 weeks of Daniel: Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.
Ŕead more at: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/understanding-the-book-of-daniel/70-weeks-of-daniel/
This week, Morocco made a move that seemed to indicate increasing warmth toward Europe.
Morocco became the first African country to send heavy weapons to Ukraine. The country is delivering 20 renovated T-72B main battle tanks to the eastern European country.
The move is a significant change from Morocco's previously neutral stance on the Russia invasion of Ukraine as well as a clear turn towards Europe and the US. In the March 2022 vote at the United Nations that rejected Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Morocco and other African nations abstained.
According to an article by the Algerian news outlet, MENA Defense, Morocco had already agreed to send the tanks to Ukraine in April last year during a meeting at the German military base Ramstein. In return, the US had apparently promised to provide financial and military support.
Read more at: https://www.dw.com
The United States says it will send M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv as international reluctance to send modern military hardware to Ukraine's battlefront begins to erode.
The announcement follows Germany's confirmation on Wednesday that it will supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks and allow its partners to do the same.
This is being seen at the first stage in a coordinated effort by the West to provide more heavy weapons to Ukraine.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Tuesday set its symbolic "Doomsday Clock" closer to midnight than ever before, noting threats of nuclear war, disease and climate volatility had been exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The time on the clock was moved to 90 seconds to midnight for 2023. Midnight is supposed to symbolize the end of humanity.
The change in the clock comes after three COVID pandemic-assisted years at a previous record of 100 seconds to midnight.
Read more at: https://www.dw.com
France and Germany are celebrating their decades-long friendship with a day of talks Sunday on Europe’s security, energy and other challenges.
Germany’s entire Cabinet is in Paris for joint meetings during the 60th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty. And 300 lawmakers from both countries are coming together at the Sorbonne University to mark the treaty that sealed a bond that underpins today’s European Union.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz oversaw two rounds of talks at the Élysée Palace focusing on energy and economic policy and defence.
“Let us use our inseparable friendship ... to shape the present and future of our continent, together with our European partners,” Scholz said at the ceremony at the Sorbonne.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, the European peace project is at a “turning point,” he said.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com
A standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling has begun. It could become the country's most consequential political showdown this year, with global economic repercussions.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Thursday that the country has hit its borrowing limit and must take extraordinary measures to delay a catastrophic and once-unfathomable U.S. debt default.
We may witness months of escalating drama.
Read more at: https://www.cbc.com
Western
governments backing Kyiv in the Russo-Ukrainian war must wrestle with
four persistent questions: what is the risk Russia will use nuclear
weapons? Can diplomacy at this stage help end the war? Would a ceasefire
right now be welcome? Could a change in Russia’s government bring
peace?
Why did it happen? After its massive assault on Ukraine, Moscow has stumbled in the face of unexpectedly successful resistance, but it fights on. It has claimed to annex new Ukrainian territories, drafted hundreds of thousands, rhetorically brandished nuclear weapons and attacked energy infrastructure. Still, enabled by Western support, Kyiv has the upper hand.
Read more at: https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/eastern-europe/ukraine/b96-answering-four-hard-questions-about-russias-war-ukraine
Russian aggression and nuclear saber rattling have reminded us that the likelihood of nuclear war is a matter of both independent and interdependent probabilities. Paradoxically, reducing the probability of an all-out catastrophe requires that we learn to accept a certain degree of risk and uncertainty.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is gearing up for its annual meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos this week. It will be the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe that the event will return to its former scale last seen in 2020.
In the coming week, 50 heads of state and government from a mix of G20 and G7 countries are due to attend, as well as 200 cabinet ministers and 1,500 business leaders. All in all, 130 countries from around the world will be represented at the meeting in the picturesque town high in the Swiss Alps.
As with every previous meeting, the most pressing issues facing the world today will be up for discussion as the 2,700 invited speakers grapple to find potential solutions.
Read more at: https//www.euronews.com
During a speech at The Hague in the Netherlands, Annalena Baerbock called for a new type of court to "bring Russian leaders to justice".
She suggested using Ukrainian law to try senior members of the Russian government, but at a court based outside Ukraine with international judges.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine, which its prosecutor described as a "crime scene".
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com
GlobalData, an analytics and consulting company, has crunched the numbers to find out which is Europe’s most visited country.
France has often claimed the top spot over the years, and now it is also set to reclaim its title as the most visited country in the world.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, France was the most visited country in the world attracting 88.1 million visitors in 2019, according to GlobalData.
Spain claimed the top spot in 2021, but France is on track to overtake it, having welcomed 66.6 million international visitors in 2022.
“Alongside Italy and Spain, France represents a significant segment of the growth in Western Europe,” says Hannah Free, travel and tourism analyst at GlobalData.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com
The protest presented an early challenge to Netanyahu and his ultranationalist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has ordered police to take tough action if protesters block roads or display Palestinian flags.
Read more at: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-thousands-of-israelis-protest-against-netanyahus-legal-reforms-2/
General Sergey Surovikin was commander-in-chief of the "special military operation," as Russia still officially calls its war of aggression against Ukraine, for just three months. On Thursday, Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu demoted him to Deputy Commander. He will now answer to Russia's Chief of the General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, who will take over the leadership of Russia's military in Ukraine — nominally, at least.
This is not the first restructuring of the Russian chain of command since the start of the invasion, but the timing is surprising, as Russia is making small military advances for the first time in months. Military experts are divided over the reasoning behind it. They say that Surovikin has not actually committed any blunders during his time as Commander-in-Chief in Ukraine. He is also said to be reasonably popular with the troops, and to be on good terms with political hardliners. So why has he been replaced?
Read more at: https://www.dw.com
Standing shoulder to shoulder, the President of the EU Commission and the NATO secretary general pledged to pool their resources and expertise in a joint task force to counter threats to Europe’s infrastructure.
Ursula von der Leyen and Jens Stoltenberg held a news conference at the EU Commission College Seminar to announce a third joint declaration on NATO-European Union cooperation had been signed the day before.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com
On Sunday, demonstrators supporting Brazil's nationalist former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress and government buildings in Brasilia to overturn an election which brought leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to power earlier this month.
The rioters ransacked political buildings -- while parading the Brazilian flag with its motto 'ordem e progresso', 'order and progress' -- in a botched attempt to reverse the peaceful transfer of power.
The biggest assault on Brazil's democracy in decades, news of Sunday's uprising has sent shockwaves around the world. But what has most alarmed many are the echoes of the US uprising almost exactly two years prior, when supporters of Republican ex-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in Washington DC on 6 January in an attempt to prevent Joe Biden from taking office.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com
The European Union condemned the execution of two men in Iran on Saturday, amid anti-government protests sparked by the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman.
Mohammad Mehdi Karami, 22, and Mohammad Hosseini, 39, were hung after allegedly killing a paramilitary during nationwide protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in September.
Critics have questioned the validity of the charges against the two men, while pointing out that they were denied proper legal support in rushed, closed trials.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com
Representative Kevin McCarthy of California was voted House speaker on the 15th ballot just after midnight Friday. The final six holdouts in a group of ultraconservative Republicans voted “present,” lowering the threshold for him to win.
| Total | Dem. | Rep. | |
|---|---|---|---|
 McCarthy | 216 | 0 | 216 |
 Jeffries | 212 | 212 | 0 |
Germany will supply Ukraine with Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles and a Patriot missile battery, the government announced in a joint German-US statement on Thursday.
The news of Berlin and Washington pooling to provide Kiyv with further armoured vehicles came after a conversation between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden.
The US said it would provide Ukraine with Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles while Germany would also supply a Patriot air defence battery.
Ukraine has scored some battlefield successes since Russian forces invaded last February but has asked allies for heavier weapons to defend itself.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com
"This is the first time that Western-made armored vehicles are being delivered in support of the Ukrainian army," a French official said.
The official did not provide any further details about the amount of vehicles to be sent or when they would be delivered.
AMX-10 is an armored reconnaissance vehicle with a high level of mobility, with a carrying capacity of four crew.
Read more at: https//www.dw.com
The first day of the 118th Congress ended Tuesday without a new House speaker.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed to secure enough votes to become speaker of the House on three ballots Tuesday, heightening tumult around the new GOP majority. For the first time in a century, the House was unable to pick a speaker on the first vote.
Voting is expected to resume Wednesday.
Read more at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/02/house-speaker-vote-explained/10912271002/
Ukrainian forces fired six rockets from a HIMARS launch system and two of them were shot down, a defense ministry statement said. It did not say when the strike happened.
The strike, using a U.S.-supplied precision weapon that has proven critical in enabling Ukrainian forces to hit key targets, delivered a new setback for Russia which in recent months has reeled from a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
According to the governor of Russia’s Samara region, Dmitry Azarov, an unspecified number of residents of the region were among those killed and wounded by the strike on the town of Makiivka.
Russian military bloggers, whose information has largely been reliable during the war, said ammunition stored close to the facility had exploded in the attack and contributed to the high number of casualties.
Read more at: https://www.dw.com
The European Commission said on Thursday it "welcomes" US guidelines that allow European carmakers to benefit from Washington's subsidy spree for clean vehicles.
With its Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed over the summer and coming into force on 1 January 2023, Washington plans to lavish $367 billion (€344b) in state aid to boost US manufacturing and incentives for consumers to buy American products including cars, batteries and renewable energies.
Europe has denounced parts of the bill as discriminatory, fuelling concerns that the allies could enter into a trade war and demanded to be given the same access to the American market as Canada and Mexico during negotiations held in a newly-created Task Force.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and nuclear saber rattling against the West have revived a debate about nuclear weapons. Last year, when a United Nations treaty to ban such weapons outright entered into force, none of the world’s nine nuclear-weapons states was among the 86 signatories. How can these states justify possessing weapons that put all of humanity at risk? That is a pertinent question, but it must be considered alongside another one: If the United States were to sign the treaty and destroy its own arsenal, would it still be able to deter further Russian aggression in Europe? If the answer is no, one also must consider whether nuclear war is inevitable?
Read more at: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thebulletin.org/2022/10/nowhere-to-hide-how-a-nuclear-war-would-kill-you-and-almost-everyone-else/&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwiewsSbgtP8AhW4nWoFHVvOAFkQFnoECAkQAg&usg=AOvVaw33RID1QoBfVwwbGqh-CEYf