USA: Panel Approves Impeachment Articles and Sends Charges for a House Vote - by Nicholas Fandos

A fiercely divided House Judiciary Committee pushed President Trump to the brink of impeachment on Friday, voting along party lines to approve charges that he abused the power of his office and obstructed Congress.

After a fractious two-day debate steeped in the Constitution and shaped by the realities of a hyperpartisan era in American politics, the Democratic-controlled committee recommended that the House ratify two articles of impeachment against the 45th president. In back-to-back morning votes, they adopted each charge against Mr. Trump by a margin of 23 to 17 over howls of Republican protest.

Read more at: Panel Approves Impeachment Articles and Sends Charges for a House Vote - The New York Times

USA - the impeachment process: House Republicans' Trump impeachment strategy is simple: Distract, deceive and yell - by Kurt Bardella

House Republicans' Trump impeachment strategy is simple: Distract, deceive and yell

Read more at:
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/house-republicans-trump-impeachment-strategy-was-simple-distract-deceive-yell-ncna1100081

Aircraft Industry: Boeing 737 Max won't return to service before 2020

Boeing on Thursday abandoned its goal of winning approval this month to unground the 737 Max after chief executive Dennis Muilenburg met with senior U.S. aviation officials.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/boeing-wont-return-737-max-before-2020-1.5394335

Britain: Election results 2019: Tories on course to win majority - exit poll

First results are coming in, with the Tories gaining a seat from Labour, as the exit poll suggests Boris Johnson's party is on course for an 86-seat majority.

Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50765773

WTO: EU to give themselves new powers after WTO deadlock

Brussels might soon be able to bypass the US-crippled WTO to impose punitive tariffs on trade partners. The EU cannot afford to be "defenseless", said the bloc's trade commissioner Phil Hogan.

Read more at: 
https://www.dw.com/en/eu-to-give-themselves-new-powers-after-wto-deadlock/a-51646530

USA: 'Currently chilling': Greta Thunberg ridicules Trump's angry tweets

Trump posted insults about Thunberg weeks after his family was outraged over mention of teen son Barron at congressional hearing

Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/12/trump-angry-tweets-greta-thunberg-prompt-humorous-response-teen-activist?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Add_to_Firefox

The Netherlands: Chint switches on the Netherlands’ self-styled largest solar project - by José Rojo Martín

The Netherlands has recently marked the operational launch of one of the largest solar farms seen to date, a plant delivered in the country’s northeast by Chinese partners.

Chint Solar has now powered up the 103MWp Midden-Groningen Solar Park, built within eight months this year to the east of the city of Groningen.

The 315,000-panel installation was equipped by PV module maker – and Chint’s sister firm – Astronergy and is now supplying the Dutch grid from its 117-hectare site near the village of Sappemeer.

Construction got underway in February 2019 and was completed by the October 2019 deadline thanks to favourable weather conditions this summer, Chint explained.

Read more at: Chint switches on the Netherlands’ self-styled largest solar project | PV Tech

Great Power Politics: American, China, Russia, and the Return of Great-Power Politics

U.S. foreign policy is, by most accounts, in disarray. Headlines—including in these pages—proclaim the death of global American leadership. Famous columnists send regular dispatches from the frontlines of U.S. President Donald Trump’s supposed campaign against the postwar liberal order. The damage to Washington’s standing in the world, we are told, is irreparable.

But step back from the day-to-day commotion, and a different picture emerges. In truth, the United States is gearing up for a new era—one marked not by unchallenged U.S. dominance but by a rising China and a vindictive Russia seeking to undermine U.S. leadership and refashion global politics in their favor. This shift in Washington’s focus has been some time coming. Elements of it emerged, mostly in a reactive form, under President Barack Obama. The Trump administration has gone one important step further, recognizing that great-power competition warrants rebuilding U.S. foreign policy from the ground up, and it has based its formal strategy documents on that recognition. When future historians look back at the actions of the United States in the early twenty-first century, by far the most consequential story will be the way Washington refocused its attention on great-power competition. Beneath today’s often ephemeral headlines, it is this shift, and the reordering of U.S. military, economic, and diplomatic behavior that it entails, that will stand out—and likely drive U.S. foreign policy under presidents from either party for a long time to come.

Read more at: American, China, Russia, and the Return of Great-Power Politics

British Elections: Corbyn and Johnson deliver final messages as election polls narrow-by Heather Stewart and Rowena Mason

Jeremy Corbyn urged Britain to “shock the establishment” and “vote for hope”, while Boris Johnson pleaded with voters to back him and settle the issue of Brexit before Christmas, at the conclusion of a bruising election campaign.

Both leaders stressed that the result could be very close as they toured marginal seats across the country with just 24 hours to go before the ballot boxes open on Thursday.

In his message to voters on the eve of Thursday’s general election vote, Corbyn claimed the country stands at a “fork in the road,” with a “truly historic” choice between parties that have widely different values and policies.

Read more at: Corbyn and Johnson deliver final messages as election polls narrow | Politics | The Guardian

EU: Survey marks EU optimism on eve of UK's Brexit election - by Andrew Rettman

Most Europeans believe their country ought to stay in the EU, as British people prepare to vote in a Brexit-dominated election.
``
Some 59 percent of people told a European Parliament poll, published on Tuesday (10 December), that EU membership was a "good thing"

Read more at: Survey marks EU optimism on eve of UK's Brexit election

USA: 5 Great Places to Live in the United States

Most Americans would prefer to age in place, staying in the city or town where they already live, have raised families and made friends. But our hometowns aren’t always suited for older lifestyles, structurally or socially. Many cities across the U.S. are working to change that, putting in place initiatives to make life better for older residents. The AARP Bulletin dispatched journalists to five cities that are winning acclaim for their innovative work toward increased livability, to discover what every community can learn from their efforts.

Read more at: 5 Great Places to Live in the United States

USA - White House: In an Orchestrated White House Showtime Performance Trump Warns Russia Not To Meddle in U.S. Elections

President Donald Trump warned Russia not to interfere in U.S. elections in talks with Russia's top diplomat on Tuesday, the White House said, after meetings where the two sides made no visible progress on nuclear arms control.

Read more at :
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-russia/trump-warns-russia-not-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-white-house-idUKKBN1YE2A2

Iran protests 'a prelude to collapse of regime,' Nobel laureate predicts

The newest wave of unrest that has seized Iran in recent weeks has sparked an exceptionally brutal response that left thousands of victims in its wake.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iran-protests-nobel-laureate-1.5388733

WTO: U.S shuts down World Trade Organization appeals court

Global commerce lost its ultimate umpire Tuesday, leaving countries unable to reach a final resolution of disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and instead facing what critics call "the law of the jungle."

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/u-s-shuts-down-world-trade-organization-appeals-court-1.5390530

COP25: Who are the biggest climate winners and losers?

Climate change is a race against time. The Climate Change Performance Index published today shows which industrial countries are in the lead, and which are the biggest losers.

Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/cop25-who-are-the-biggest-climate-winners-and-losers/a-51603950

Ukraine: Russia, Ukraine agree to ceasefire by year-end at Paris talks

Russia and Ukraine have made progress on restoring peace in eastern Ukraine at a Paris summit mediated by Germany and France. In addition to implementing a ceasefire, the two sides also agreed to a prisoner exchange.

Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/russia-ukraine-agree-to-ceasefire-by-year-end-at-paris-talks/a-51602570

USA - Defense Spending: U.S. lawmakers reach deal on massive defense bill, eye Russia, Turkey, China

U.S. lawmakers announced an agreement on Monday on a $738-billion bill setting policy for the Department of Defense, including new measures for competing with Russia and China, family leave for federal workers and the creation of President Donald Trump’s long-desired Space Force.

It also calls for sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of a Russian missile defense system, and a tough response to North Korea’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Armed Services Committees agreed on a compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, after months of negotiations. It is expected to pass before Congress leaves Washington later this month for the year-end holiday break.

Read more at: U.S. lawmakers reach deal on massive defense bill, eye Russia, Turkey, China - Reuters

USA - the economy and the nation will face a "perfect storm" politically and economically:the 2020s will see 'real turmoil' as US debt woes come home to roost, says Gundlach - by Julia La Roche

Influential bond investor Jeffrey Gundlach, the CEO of $150 billion DoubleLine Capital, sees trouble brewing in the debt market, despite interest rates hovering near historic lows.

In a recent discussion with Yahoo Finance, Gundlach compared the current expansion to the boom that took place nearly 100 years ago. But the next decade will be the opposite of the roaring 1920s, he said, as the debt bomb the U.S. is sitting on becomes untenable in the next economic downturn.

"It's pretty interesting because the 20s in the 20th century, the 20s were super boom times. And weirdly, I think the 20s this time will be very much different than that, with real turmoil," the 60-year-old billionaire said in a recent wide-ranging interview with Yahoo Finance.

In Gundlach's view, the 2020s will see "the crescendo" of many unattractive trends that have been talked about for years, but finally come home to roost. 

"[We're] going to have to face Social Security, health care, all of these things, deficit-based spending — all of that is going to have to be resolved during the 2020s because the compounding curve is just so bad," the billionaire added.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal deficit will top $1 trillion every year beginning in 2022. Yet Gundlach said the agency’s forecast may be too rosy, given that it assumes a "pretty benign future" with no recession and interest rates that are not very high. 

Interest costs to the government, as a percentage of gross domestic product are expected rise from 1.25% to at least 3% by 2027. “That's a big, big increase. And that's coming,” the investor told Yahoo Finance.

“And when you do that, it kind of says, ‘Hey, GDP is going to be knocked by 2%-2.5% because we have to pay interest,’” he added.

Note EU-Digest: these economic problems will be compounded by a totally inept Trump Administration, which has turned the Republican party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan into a Trump loyalist party which is now based on State Planning and Crony Capitalism

Read more at: Gundlach: The 2020s will see 'real turmoil' as US debt woes come home to roost

British Elections: Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has won over Britain's youth — but will they actually vote?

One of the few safe bets in this week's British election is that 70-year-old Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn will sweep the country's under-30 vote.

Youth registrations for the Dec. 12 vote are up over 2017, Labour election rallies are full of young faces and a Labour platform that emphasizes a generational redistribution of wealth appears to have a struck a chord.

Conservative Party candidate James Newhall said the uphill struggle to connect with young people was underscored for him at a recent youth forum at Barnet and Southgate College in North London. He spent several hours talking up his party's plans to protect the National Health Service (NHS), lower taxes and, of course, take the United Kingdom out of the European Union with a Brexit deal.

Read more at: Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has won over Britain's youth — but will they actually vote? | CBC News

The Netherlands: The Province of Brabant remains the favorite base for foreign multinationals

BOM Foreign Investments again broke its own record when it came to job creation in the province of Brabant last year, with 1,661 new jobs created in 2014 thanks to foreign companies either moving to the region or expanding their operations there.

These companies also invested €154.2 million in the province, the Brabant Development Agency (BOM) announced yesterday at its biennial Investors Day.

The 2014 figures yet another gain for BOM Foreign Investments over the preceding year, when 1,313 jobs were created and investments stood at €52 million.

Read more at: Brabant remains the favorite base for foreign multinationals