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World

AI Summary

  • The Treasury Secretary confirmed that the “Trump Accounts” can be utilized for any purpose, indicating a shift in financial policy approach in current governance.
  • Despite favorable earnings reports from major consumer brands, there remains a growing concern regarding a financial squeeze impacting lower-income consumers, highlighting a bifurcated consumer landscape.
  • Following recent contract terminations by federal agencies, a reported savings of $222 million illustrates efforts towards improving government efficiency and reducing wasteful spending.
  • Internationally, a marked shift in U.S. foreign relations has been noted, particularly with Ukraine's President announcing an unwillingness to cede territory in ongoing peace negotiations, amidst criticism of previous U.S. proposals by Trump.
  • In technology sectors, significant changes are occurring with Nvidia receiving approval to sell advanced AI chips to China, despite previous restrictions, reflecting ongoing adjustments in trade policies between the U.S. and foreign markets.

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ZeroHedge

  • No Restrictions On How 'Trump Accounts' Can Be Used: Bessent 24 minutes ago by Tyler Durden

    No Restrictions On How 'Trump Accounts' Can Be Used: Bessent Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview that “Trump Accounts” established by the administration can be used for any purpose. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks with reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington on Oct. 22, 2025. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images For children born between 2025 and 2028, the government will deposit $1,000 into their accounts as a one-time payment under a plan established in the Republican-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into

  • Consumer Stock Bosses Reinforce 'K-Shaped' Bifurcation Theme an hour ago by Tyler Durden

    Consumer Stock Bosses Reinforce 'K-Shaped' Bifurcation Theme A bifurcated consumer landscape is one of the top themes (besides everything AI) of the third-quarter earnings season. Even though most consumer companies beat expectations and raised FY25 guidance, notably Dollar General, Five Below, and Ulta, management teams highlighted an unsettling financial squeeze on working-class and lower-income consumers.  Readers have seen in prior notes how the "K-shaped" economy has divided consumers into two groups. Now that earnings season is wrapping up this week, it's worth drilling deeper into what corporate executives of these companies are saying.  Below, Goldman Sachs Managing Director Kate McShane highlights consumer health commentary from management teams across

  • Another $222 Million Saved In Terminated Contracts: DOGE an hour ago by Tyler Durden

    Another $222 Million Saved In Terminated Contracts: DOGE Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Federal agencies have terminated and descoped 43 wasteful contracts with a ceiling value of $3.5 billion, saving $222 million in taxpayer funds, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said in a Dec. 6 post on X. The Department of Government Efficiency website displayed on a phone, in this photo illustration. Oleksii Pydsosonnii/The Epoch Times The canceled contracts included “a $4.3M Dept. of Treasury IT contract to ‘develop a comprehensive strategic narrative and management approach aimed at the Human Centered Transformation and Enhanced Partnerships,’” DOGE said. A $29

  • These Are America's Most-Murderous Cities 2 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    These Are America's Most-Murderous Cities This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte, highlights the top 30 U.S. cities with the highest homicide rates per 100,000 residents, offering a population-adjusted view that goes beyond raw totals. The data for this visualization comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via USAFacts. NEW ORLEANS AND MEMPHIS LEAD THE NATION New Orleans tops the list with 46 homicides per 100,000 people, followed closely by Memphis at 41. Both cities consistently rank near the top due to long-term structural challenges, including poverty, strained social services, and persistent violent crime. Rank Major City State Homicides per 100K Total Homicides 1

  • Why Does The End Of The World Look So Profitable? 3 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    Why Does The End Of The World Look So Profitable? Authored by Michael Kern via OilPrice.com, * Sovereignty is shifting from public institutions to private tech entities like Palantir and SpaceX, which secure massive government contracts and offer "governance as a service." * The AI boom's massive resource demands, particularly for energy and water, are being subsidized by the public, driving up costs while "efficiency" in the workplace leads to widespread job deletion and the flattening of the middle class. * To address this shift, a new social contract is required, including adopting a Sovereign Equity Model for government-funded ventures, implementing


The Guardian

  • Nigerian troops held in Burkina Faso after ‘unfriendly’ emergency landing 2 hours ago by Eromo Egbejule in Abidjan
    Nigeria, Africa, World news, Burkina Faso, Benin

    Unauthorised touchdown comes less than 24 hours after Nigerian forces intervened in attempted coup in Benin Eleven Nigerian military personnel are being held in Burkina Faso after a Nigerian plane reportedly entered Burkinabé airspace without authorisation on Monday, the latest twist in a region enmeshed in multiple political and security crises. In a statement on Monday evening, the breakaway Alliance of Sahel States (AES), of which Burkina Faso is a member alongside Mali and Niger, said the C-130 transport aircraft had made an emergency landing in Bobo Dioulasso. Continue reading...

  • False claims Afrikaners are persecuted threaten South Africa’s sovereignty, says president 20 hours ago by Rachel Savage in Johannesburg
    South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, Donald Trump, Race, Trump administration, Africa, World news

    Cyril Ramaphosa says theories, promoted by Donald Trump, ‘conveniently align with wider notions of white supremacy’ White supremacist ideology and false claims that South Africa’s Afrikaner minority is being racially persecuted pose a threat to the country’s sovereignty and national security, the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has warned. Since taking office for his second US presidential term in January, Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that South Africa’s government is seizing land and encouraging violence against white farmers. Continue reading...

  • Ancient Egyptian pleasure boat found by archaeologists off Alexandria coast a day ago by Dalya Alberge
    Egypt, Archaeology, Greece, Africa, World news, Heritage

    First-century luxury vessel matches description by the Greek historian Strabo, who visited city around 29-25BC An ancient Egyptian pleasure boat that matches a description by the first-century Greek historian Strabo has been discovered off the coast of Alexandria, to the excitement of archaeologists. With its palaces, temples and the 130 metre-high Pharos lighthouse – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – Alexandria had been one of the most magnificent cities in antiquity. The pleasure boat, which dates from the first half of the first century AD, was 35 metres long and constructed to hold a central pavilion with a

  • Nigerian state secures release of 100 out of 265 kidnapped schoolchildren 2 days ago by Agence France-Presse in Minna
    Nigeria, Africa, World news

    Gunmen abducted 315 pupils and staff last month from St Mary’s school in Niger state as part of spate of kidnappings Nigerian authorities have secured the release of 100 kidnapped schoolchildren taken by gunmen from a Catholic school last month, a UN source and local media said on Sunday, though the fate of another 165 students and staff thought to remain in captivity remained unclear. In November 315 students and staff were kidnapped from St Mary’s co-educational boarding school in north-central Niger state, as the country buckled under a wave of mass abductions reminiscent of the infamous 2014 Boko Haram abduction of

  • Troops and warplanes deployed in Benin after ‘failed coup attempt’ 2 days ago by Guardian staff and agencies
    Benin, Africa, World news, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso

    West African Ecowas forces sent to country after group of soldiers announced dissolution of government on state TV West African troops were deployed to Benin on Sunday after what the country’s president described as an unsuccessful coup attempt. Benin’s president, Patrice Talon, said on Sunday that the situation was “totally under control” after security forces acted to end a coup attempt by a group of soldiers who attacked state institutions. Continue reading...


South China Morning Post

  • Russian military plane crashes during test flight near Moscow 2 hours ago by Agence France-Presse

    A Russian military plane crashed on Tuesday during a test flight after repair work, the defence ministry said. TASS state news agency reported seven people were on board at the time of the crash and it was unknown whether they survived. “Today in the Ivanovo region, during a test flight following repairs, an An-22 military transport aircraft crashed,” state media quoted the defence ministry as saying in a statement. “The plane went down in an uninhabited area,” it added. Search crews had been...

  • Trump ally Babis returns as Czech PM amid fraud trial and EU concerns 3 hours ago by Agence France-Presse

    Andrej Babis, a billionaire supporter of US President Donald Trump, returned to power as Czech prime minister on Tuesday, signalling a possible end to Ukraine aid and potentially rockier ties with the European Union. Babis’s ANO movement, which won the October parliamentary elections, teamed up with two Eurosceptic parties to form a coalition government. In its policy statement, the coalition said the EU had “its limits” and no right to impose decisions infringing on the sovereignty of member...

  • How China can help Africa build human capital 4 hours ago by Winston Mok

    Whereas then US president Joe Biden initially missed the group photo at the annual Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro last year, requiring a reshoot, his successor did not even bother showing up for this year’s meeting in Johannesburg. US President Donald Trump boycotted the summit due to alleged mistreatment of white people in post-apartheid South Africa. Yet, even in the absence of the US, the G20 managed to make a leaders’ declaration at the start of the summit, which usually comes at the...

  • RSF says Israel killed highest number of journalists again this year 4 hours ago by Agence France-Presse

    Reporters Without Borders said on Tuesday that Israel was responsible for nearly half of all journalists killed this year worldwide, with 29 Palestinian reporters slain by its forces in Gaza. In its annual report, the Paris-based media freedom group said the total number of journalists killed reached 67 globally this year, slightly up from the 66 killed in 2024. Israeli forces accounted for 43 per cent of the total, making them “the worst enemy of journalists”, RSF said in its report, which...

  • ‘A threat to Europe’s political life’: EU reels from new US security strategy 6 hours ago by Finbarr Bermingham

    Three days after the US government codified its contempt for EU institutions in a startling new national security policy, the bloc’s leaders finally broke their silence on Monday, with European Council President Antonio Costa lambasting Washington’s “threat to interfere in Europe’s political life”. “The United States no longer believes in multilateralism, nor even in a rules-based international order. They speak of the so-called rules-based international order, and they say climate change is a...


New York Times

  • Supreme Court Is Asked to Take Another Ax to Campaign Finance Limits 3 hours ago by Abbie VanSickle and Shane Goldmacher
    United States Politics and Government, Campaign Finance, Political Advertising, Political Action Committees, Midterm Elections (2026), Law and Legislation, Courts and the Judiciary, Freedom of Speech and Expression, Politics and Government, First Amendment (US Constitution), Elections, Courts and the Judiciary, Appeals Courts (US), Democratic National Committee, Democratic Party, Federal Election Commission, National Republican Senatorial Committee, Republican National Committee, Republican Party, Supreme Court (US), Vance, J D, Sutton, Jeffrey S, Trump, Donald J

    The case centers on efforts by Republican officials to lift limits on how much money political parties can spend in coordination with candidates.

  • A Key Question for the Supreme Court: What About the Fed? 3 hours ago by Adam Liptak
    Banking and Financial Institutions, Regulation and Deregulation of Industry, United States Politics and Government, Appointments and Executive Changes, Courts and the Judiciary, United States Economy, Law and Legislation, Presidential Power (US), Federal Reserve System, Federal Trade Commission, Supreme Court (US), Cook, Lisa D, Kavanaugh, Brett M, Trump, Donald J, Slaughter, Rebecca

    The president seemed poised for a big Supreme Court win letting him remove officials without cause. But the justices appeared to struggle with how to insulate the Federal Reserve from politics.

  • Supreme Court Questions N.Y. Ban on Religious Exemptions for Vaccines 10 hours ago by Joseph Goldstein
    Vaccination and Immunization, Freedom of Religion, Religion-State Relations, Supreme Courts (State), Measles, Supreme Court (US), Rochester (NY), New York State, Private and Sectarian Schools

    The U.S. Supreme Court directed a lower court to review the ban, which applies to strict vaccine requirements in New York schools.

  • The Business Strategy That Could Drive Up Your Grocery Bill, and Trump’s $12 Billion Bailout an hour ago by Tracy Mumford, Will Jarvis, Ian Stewart, Ben Casselman and Adam Rasgon
    United States Politics and Government, Federal Aid (US), Supermarkets and Grocery Stores, Instacart, Netflix Inc, Trump, Donald J

    Plus, a big Hollywood battle just got messier.

  • Trump Insists Tariffs Will Buoy the Economy and Ease Cost Concerns 10 hours ago by David E. Sanger
    United States Politics and Government, International Trade and World Market, United States Economy, Protectionism (Trade), Factories and Manufacturing, Agriculture and Farming, Federal Aid (US), Trump, Donald J, Prices (Fares, Fees and Rates), Inflation (Economics), Bessent, Scott, China, Customs (Tariff)

    The president rolled out a $12 billion bailout for farmers as he makes the case that his policy is working — or will soon.


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