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AI Summary

  • Global economic forecasts for 2026 show considerable uncertainty, with concerns about sovereign debt, fiat currency stability, and a measurable negative impact on Q1 GDP from recent extreme weather events.
  • Geopolitical tensions are escalating, highlighted by renewed US tariff threats against key allies like South Korea and Canada, while the EU and India have finalized a significant free trade agreement, and Russia continues to seek ways to maintain its oil trade despite international sanctions.
  • Energy infrastructure is under severe strain across multiple regions, with widespread power diversions and blackouts reported during historic cold snaps, and some nations like Georgia grappling with increased dependence on foreign energy sources.
  • The United States is experiencing intense domestic turmoil surrounding immigration enforcement, with fatal incidents involving federal agents sparking widespread protests and leading to significant political and policy realignments.
  • The technology sector is marked by both rapid advancement, particularly in AI-driven semiconductors, and increased regulatory scrutiny, with the EU proposing new digital infrastructure legislation and launching probes into AI ethics and social media's impact on user safety.

ZeroHedge

  • The Bullish And Bearish Case For 2026 19 minutes ago by Tyler Durden

    The Bullish And Bearish Case For 2026 Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, The year ahead presents both a bullish and bearish case for investors. Will 2026 be another year of above-average returns, or will it be a year of disappointment? The bulls argue that the key ingredients for a sustained rally are in place. A powerful technology cycle, aggressive corporate spending, and supportive policy measures all point to further gains. Conversely, the bears argue that key drivers are weakening, market leadership is dangerously narrow, and signs of economic strain are becoming increasingly visible beneath the surface. Following a strong 2025, many investors

  • Power Diverted From Data Centers To Households Across PJM Network Amid Historic Freeze 39 minutes ago by Tyler Durden

    Power Diverted From Data Centers To Households Across PJM Network Amid Historic Freeze The massive winter storm that disrupted US energy production, sparked the most flight cancellations since Covid, and paralyzed much of the eastern half of the country for days is finally over. BofA chief economist Aditya Bhave has warned that the winter blast could deliver a meaningful hit to first-quarter GDP. However, the eastern half of the US is not in the clear yet. At least another week of brutally cold weather is forecast, which could keep pushing power grids to the brink. As heating demand surged to record levels,

  • De-Dollarization? Gold Over Debt - The End Of The Keynesian Paper Promise Mirage an hour ago by Tyler Durden

    De-Dollarization? Gold Over Debt - The End Of The Keynesian Paper Promise Mirage Authored by Daniel Lacalle, Despite the consensus narrative, what we are currently experiencing globally is not “de‑dollarization,” but a broad loss of confidence in developed economies’ fiat currencies and sovereign debt as a reserve asset for central banks and institutions. This fundamental loss of confidence in the solvency of developed economies’ sovereign issuers is boosting demand for gold. However, the latest data shows no crossover or fiat alternative substitution. The US dollar’s central role in the fiat system remains intact. GOLD OVER DEBT: THE KEY SHIFT MMT supporters state that monetary sovereign nations

  • SK Hynix Soars On Microsoft Supply Deal Report; KOSPI Breaks Out, Shrugs Off Tariff Threat an hour ago by Tyler Durden

    SK Hynix Soars On Microsoft Supply Deal Report; KOSPI Breaks Out, Shrugs Off Tariff Threat SK Hynix shares hit an all-time high in overnight trading in South Korea after a local media outlet reported that the semiconductor company, which specializes in memory chips, has become the sole supplier of advanced memory for Microsoft's new artificial intelligence chip. Also overnight, despite President Trump's tariff threat against South Korea for "not living up" to a trade deal cemented last year, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index surged above 5,000 for the first time. Business Korea reports that Hynix will exclusively supply high-bandwidth memory (HBM)

  • Georgia Scrambles After Leak Reveals Rising Dependence On Russian Gas 2 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    Georgia Scrambles After Leak Reveals Rising Dependence On Russian Gas Via Eurasianet.org, * Georgia’s imports of Russian gas rose sharply in 2025, with newly disclosed pricing showing higher costs than in previous years. * The leak has sparked political backlash, as critics warn of renewed dependence on Gazprom and heightened risks of corruption and leverage. * Authorities have launched a security investigation, framing the disclosure as a cyber incident rather than addressing the substance of the pricing shift. Officials are in damage-control mode in Georgia after the supposed unauthorized publication of a late 2025 state decree showing that the government’s reliance on


The Guardian

  • Hundreds feared dead in attempt to cross Mediterranean during cyclone a day ago by Angela Giuffrida in Rome
    Italy, Malta, Migration, Water transport, Europe, World news, Tunisia, Libya, Africa

    Fifty killed in one incident as Italian authorities estimate 380 people may have drowned last week Up to 380 people may have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean last week as Cyclone Harry battered southern Italy and Malta, the Italian coastguard has said, as a shipwreck with the loss of 50 lives was confirmed by Maltese authorities. Just one person, who was hospitalised in Malta, survived the shipwreck, which happened on Friday. Continue reading...

  • Crocodile warnings as floods devastate southern Africa a day ago by Rachel Savage in Johannesburg
    Africa, Flooding, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Environment, World news, Extreme weather

    More than 100 people killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe Devastating floods have killed more than 100 people in southern Africa since the beginning of the year and displaced hundreds of thousands, as authorities and aid workers warn of hunger, cholera and attacks by crocodiles that have spread with the waters. More than 70 people have died in Zimbabwe and 30 in South Africa, where hundreds of people were evacuated from Kruger national park earlier this month after a deluge of rain. Continue reading...

  • ‘It’s the sovereignty of the country’: Guinea-Bissau says US vaccine study suspended 4 days ago by Melody Schreiber
    Guinea-Bissau, Health, Africa, Vaccines and immunisation, World news, Society, Science, US healthcare, US news, Robert F Kennedy Jr

    Despite US pushback, officials in west Africa say controversial hepatitis B study on pause amid ethics concerns US health officials insisted it was still on. African health leaders said it was cancelled. At the heart of the controversy is the west African nation of Guinea-Bissau – one of the poorest countries in the world and the proposed site of a hotly debated US-funded study on vaccines. The study on hepatitis B vaccination, to be led by Danish researchers, became a flashpoint after major changes to the US vaccination schedule and prompted questions about how research is conducted ethically in other countries. Continue reading...

  • ActionAid to rethink child sponsorship as part of plan to ‘decolonise’ its work 5 days ago by Kaamil Ahmed
    Global development, Aid, Humanitarian response, Charities, Charitable giving, Society, Feminism, World news, Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific

    Development charity’s new co-chief executives signal shift from controversial sponsor a child scheme launched in 1972 to long-term grassroots funding Child sponsorship schemes that allow donors to handpick children to support in poor countries can carry racialised, paternalistic undertones and need to be transformed, the newly appointed co-chief executives of ActionAid UK said as they set out to “decolonise” the organisation’s work. ActionAid began in 1972 by finding sponsors for schoolchildren in India and Kenya, but Taahra Ghazi and Hannah Bond have launched their co-leadership this month with the goal of shifting narratives around aid from sympathy towards solidarity and partnership with

  • Head of US Africa bureau urges staff to highlight US ‘generosity’ despite aid cuts 7 days ago by Aisha Down
    US foreign policy, Africa, USAID, Trump administration, Aid, US news, World news, US politics

    Email sent to diplomats by state department office’s new boss is labelled ‘racist’ after dismissing Africa as a priority US diplomats have been encouraged to “unabashedly and aggressively” remind African governments about the “generosity” of the American people, according to a leaked email sent to staff in the US state department’s Bureau of African Affairs this January and obtained by the Guardian. “It’s not gauche to remind these countries of the American people’s generosity in containing HIV/Aids or alleviating famine,” says the email. Continue reading...


South China Morning Post

  • After 2.5-year Israel blockade on Gaza, Unicef delivers school kits an hour ago by Reuters

    The UN children’s agency said on Tuesday it had for the first time in two and a half years been able to deliver ‌school kits with learning materials into Gaza after they were previously blocked by Israeli authorities. Thousands of ‍kits, including pencils, exercise books and wooden cubes to play with, have now entered the enclave, Unicef said. “We have now, in the last days, got in thousands of recreational kits, hundreds of school-in-a-carton kits. We’re looking at getting 2,500 more school...

  • Over 70% of European firms in China review supply chain strategies: survey an hour ago by Daniel Ren

    Seven out of every 10 European companies operating in China were reviewing their supply chain strategies amid geopolitical tensions and Beijing’s opaque policymaking, which appears to set back the country’s globalisation efforts, according to a new survey. A survey of 324 corporate respondents conducted by the Shanghai chapter of the European Union Chamber of Commerce found that these firms aimed to strike a balance between cost efficiency and risk diversification, while building resilience in...

  • As China grows, it is reshaping how global public goods are delivered an hour ago by Jiang Jiani

    At Davos this year, a familiar but sobering warning echoed through the slopes: the global order is fracturing into closed loops. In Western capitals, “de-risking” remains the dominant keyword, framing the global economy as a series of strategic high walls. Yet, beyond these barriers, a more tangible crisis is unfolding across the Global South. The infrastructure deficit continues to widen, estimated at a staggering US$1.7 trillion annually for Asia alone. This is a crisis of global governance....

  • ICE agents get security role at 2026 Winter Olympics sparking outrage after deadly shootings 2 hours ago by Agence France-Presse

    A branch of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will help with security for the Winter Olympics in Italy, it confirmed on Tuesday, sparking anger and warnings they were not welcome. Reports had been circulating for days that the agency embroiled in an often brutal immigration crackdown in the United States could be involved in US security measures for the February 6-22 Games in northern Italy. In a statement overnight, ICE said: “At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security...

  • Trump faces Second Amendment backlash over ICE shooting of Alex Pretti 4 hours ago by Associated Press

    Prominent Republicans and gun rights advocates helped elicit a White House turnabout this week after bristling over the administration’s characterisation of Alex Pretti, the second person killed this month by a federal officer in Minneapolis, as responsible for his own death because he lawfully possessed a weapon. The death produced no clear shifts in US gun politics or policies, even as US President Donald Trump shuffles the lieutenants in charge of his militarised immigration crackdown. But...


New York Times

  • Body Cam Video Related to the Shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis Is Being Reviewed 29 minutes ago by Claire Moses
    Pretti, Alex Jeffrey (1988-2026), Homeland Security Department, Customs and Border Protection (US), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (US), Minnesota, Minneapolis (Minn), Trump, Donald J, Noem, Kristi

    The Department of Homeland Security said body camera footage, taken from multiple angles, was being examined, as local officials sought to ensure evidence was preserved.

  • After Alex Pretti’s Killing, A Divided America Wonders What’s Next 2 hours ago by Dan Barry
    Police Brutality, Misconduct and Shootings, Federal Actions in US Cities, Demonstrations, Protests and Riots, Pretti, Alex Jeffrey (1988-2026), Good, Renee Nicole (1988-2026), Trump, Donald J, Minneapolis (Minn), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (US), Illegal Immigration, United States Politics and Government

    Scenes from the violent unrest in Minneapolis played on a loop in many American households over the weekend, prompting reflection about where the nation is heading.

  • Trump Changes Course in Minneapolis, and Social Media Giants Face Big Tobacco-Style Lawsuits 2 hours ago by Will Jarvis, Ian Stewart, Tracy Mumford, David M. Halbfinger and Cecilia Kang
    Illegal Immigration, United States Politics and Government, Israel-Gaza War (2023- ), Border Patrol (US), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (US), Trump, Donald J, Bovino, Gregory, Minneapolis (Minn), Minnesota

    Plus, Mamdani’s snowstorm recommendation.

  • Record Debt in the World’s Richest Nations Threatens Global Growth 8 hours ago by Patricia Cohen
    Government Bonds, Japan, United States, France, Great Britain, Italy, Trump, Donald J, Takaichi, Sanae, Bank of Japan, International Monetary Fund, Group of Seven, World Economic Forum, Credit and Debt, National Debt (US)

    The cost of borrowing is already choking crucial public spending in many developing economies. Now it’s raising broader alarms.

  • Fed, Signaling Little Urgency, Prepares to Pause on Rate Cuts 3 hours ago by Colby Smith
    Banking and Financial Institutions, Regulation and Deregulation of Industry, United States Economy, Interest Rates, Federal Reserve System, Supreme Court (US), Cook, Lisa D, Kashkari, Neel T, Dudley, William C, Rajan, Raghuram G, Trump, Donald J

    The Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday, despite relentless attacks from President Trump over borrowing costs.


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