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Simply the latest news, updated on the hour.

World

AI Summary

  • Global trade dynamics are undergoing significant shifts, marked by rising US protectionism with new tariffs, growing trade disputes between the EU and China, and moves to counter Chinese influence in strategic waterways like the Panama Canal.
  • Geopolitical tensions remain high across multiple regions, with Iran prepared for "war or diplomacy" amid US threats and EU sanctions, and ongoing conflict in Ukraine seeing potential, albeit fragile, ceasefire attempts.
  • The global economy is experiencing mixed signals and technological upheaval, as AI advancements drive record stock market highs, while producer prices surged unexpectedly in the US, and major companies like Amazon restructure with significant job cuts.
  • Climate-related disasters are intensifying globally, with devastating floods in southern Africa, extreme winter storms in North America, and record-breaking heatwaves in Australia, prompting a rapid shift towards renewable energy sources in some regions.
  • Demographic and social policy changes are impacting national economies, as China reports a record low birth rate, while Germany's economic "recovery" is linked to layoffs and increased state intervention.

ZeroHedge

  • The Warsh Washout 28 minutes ago by Tyler Durden

    The Warsh Washout Compared to the other candidates, Warsh is certainly more on the hawkish side of the spectrum.  And so, most asset classes wavered: Treasury yields opened the day higher.. but retraced as stocks tumbled... US equities are down notably (led by Small Caps - most rate sensitive)... Momentum is getting mugged... The dollar is rallying... Bitcoin is down... of course... The record-breaking streaks in gold and silver have also ended – at least for now. The precious metals are currently down about 12% and 25% from their peaks, respectively. And that is despite concerns over a potential escalation in the Persian Gulf. And FX, Copper, andOil (geopolitical risk) vols

  • Why Your IRS Tax Refund Could Be Delayed In 2026 - And How To Avoid It an hour ago by Tyler Durden

    Why Your IRS Tax Refund Could Be Delayed In 2026 - And How To Avoid It Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Millions of taxpayers could face unexpected delays in receiving their tax refunds beginning this filing season, as the IRS rolls out new procedures tied to its shift away from paper checks and toward mandatory electronic payments. The IRS in Washington on Jan. 6, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times Under changes taking effect for refunds claimed on 2025 tax returns filed in 2026, the IRS will temporarily freeze refunds in many cases where direct deposit information is missing, incorrect,

  • Trump's Gunboat Diplomacy Targets Cuba's Oil Lifeline, Puts Suppliers In Crosshairs an hour ago by Tyler Durden

    Trump's Gunboat Diplomacy Targets Cuba's Oil Lifeline, Puts Suppliers In Crosshairs Cuba "will be failing pretty soon," President Trump told reporters Tuesday during a visit to Iowa. "They got their oil from Venezuela. They're not getting that anymore." By Thursday evening, the president signed an Executive Order declaring a national emergency related to Cuba and creating a new tariff mechanism targeting countries that supply oil to the Cuban regime. The EO allows the U.S. to slap additional tariffs on imports from any country that directly or indirectly provides crude oil to Cuba, with implementation led by the Secretaries of State and Commerce. Trump claims Havana's

  • Watch: Gutfeld Explodes On Leftist Co-Host Over Hypocrisy On Illegal Immigrant Victims 2 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    Watch: Gutfeld Explodes On Leftist Co-Host Over Hypocrisy On Illegal Immigrant Victims Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Greg Gutfeld laid into his co-host Jessica Tarlov during a heated exchange on The Five, exposing the double standards of Democrats and media figures who feign outrage over ICE operations while ignoring the countless American victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants. The outburst came as the panel discussed the Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement actions, including the recent arrests of protesters clashing with federal agents in Minnesota. Gutfeld was relentless, pointing to the open borders policies that allowed millions to enter unchecked, leading to preventable tragedies. >

  • No Death Penalty For Luigi Mangine, Biden Judge Rules 2 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    No Death Penalty For Luigi Mangine, Biden Judge Rules A federal district judge in New York has ruled that Luigi Mangione, 27, will not face the death penalty for allegedly killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024.  Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on December 18, 2025 (Curtis Means / Pool / Getty Images) The ruling by Judge Margaret Garnett (Biden) is a loss for federal prosecutors, who were pursuing the death penalty in the case.  Garnett also ruled that evidence recovered from Mangione's backpack is admissible as evidence. Law enforcement seized various items from the backpack - including a handgun, a loaded magazine, and a


The Guardian

  • Islamic State claims attack on international airport and airbase in Niger 2 hours ago by Eromo Egbejule in Lagos and agencies
    Niger, Africa, World news, Islamic State

    Motorcycle-riding militants launch strikes using heavy weaponry and drones, damaging planes belonging to Ivorian carrier and Togolese airline Islamic State in the Sahel has claimed responsibility for an audacious assault at the international airport and adjacent air force base in Niamey, the capital of Niger, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadist activity and communications worldwide. The attack, which began shortly after midnight on Thursday, reportedly involved motorcycle-riding militants who launched a “surprise and coordinated” strike using heavy weaponry and drones, according to statements released via IS in the Sahel’s propaganda arm, Amaq news agency. Continue reading...

  • South Africa expels top Israeli diplomat over ‘insulting attacks’ on president 4 hours ago by Rachel Savage in Johannesburg
    South Africa, Israel, Cyril Ramaphosa, Middle East and north Africa, Africa, World news

    Ariel Seidman declared persona non grata and given 72 hours to leave country after remarks on social media South Africa and Israel have engaged in a tit-for-tat expulsion of senior diplomats, after South Africa ordered Israel’s chargé d’affaires to leave within 72 hours, citing “insulting attacks” on South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, on social media. Ariel Seidman, the chargé d’affaires at Israel’s embassy in Pretoria, was declared persona non grata by South Africa’s department for international relations and cooperation (DIRCO) in a statement on its website on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...

  • Niger’s military ruler vows retaliation after gunfire and explosions heard in capital 17 hours ago by Eromo Egbejule West Africa correspondent and agencies
    Niger, Air transport, Africa, World news

    General Tchiani accuses France, Benin and the Ivory Coast of links to attack near Niamey’s airport and thanks Russian troops for defence efforts Heavy security has been deployed around the main airport in Niger’s capital, Niamey, after overnight gunfire and explosions that the country’s military ruler blamed without evidence on France, Benin and Côte d’Ivoire. The shooting and detonations began shortly after midnight on Wednesday, according to residents of a neighbourhood near the airport, which is next to Base Aérienne 101, a military base previously used by US and then Russian troops. Continue reading...

  • Hundreds feared dead in attempt to cross Mediterranean during cyclone 4 days 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 4 days 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...


South China Morning Post

  • UK says China lifts sanctions on British lawmakers after Starmer–Xi meeting 40 minutes ago by Finbarr Bermingham

    Beijing has lifted sanctions on British peers and lawmakers, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said, following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “This has been a cause of concern in parliament and for parliamentarians for some time and that is why I raised it on this visit,” Starmer told ITV News in Shanghai. “And the response from the Chinese is that the restrictions no longer apply and President Xi has told me that that means that all parliamentarians are welcome to visit,” he...

  • Luigi Mangione won’t face death penalty after US judge dismisses murder charge an hour ago by Associated Press

    Federal prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge ruled on Friday, foiling the Trump administration’s bid to see him executed for what it called a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America”. US District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed a federal murder charge that had enabled prosecutors to seek capital punishment, finding that it was technically flawed. She wrote that she did so to...

  • Trump’s Justice Department releases final batch of Epstein files an hour ago by Reuters

    The US Justice Department on Friday published a new and final cache of millions of ‌documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, under a law passed in November that required ‍the release of all Epstein-related records. Reuters is in the process of reviewing the files. Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said at a press conference that Friday’s batch of files marked the end of the Trump administration’s planned releases under the law. The new cache includes more...

  • Spain arrests Chinese hair salon owner for funding Hamas via crypto 2 hours ago by Reuters

    Spanish police have detained a 38-year-old Chinese national who owned a ‌hair salon near Barcelona on suspicion of financing ‍the militant group Hamas through about €600,000 (US$715,000) in cryptocurrency transfers, regional police said on Friday. Investigators traced at least 31 crypto transactions ⁠from virtual wallets controlled by the suspect to addresses that are suspected of being linked to an entity used by the Islamist group, whose attack on Israel on October 7, ‍2023, triggered a...

  • Islamic State claims bold attack on Niger’s strategic airport hub 2 hours ago by Associated Press

    The Islamic State extremist group on Friday claimed responsibility for an attack in Niger on an air force base in the capital that wounded four soldiers and damaged an aircraft. The claim of responsibility was contained in a statement on Amaq News Agency, the group’s propaganda wing, that said it was “a surprise and coordinated attack” that inflicted heavy losses. State television reported that Niger’s forces responded quickly to the assault early on Thursday, killing 20 of the attackers and...


New York Times

  • Kevin Warsh, Trump’s Choice for Fed Chair, Could Find It Difficult to Deliver an hour ago by Colby Smith
    Banking and Financial Institutions, Interest Rates, United States Economy, Inflation (Economics), Credit and Debt, Warsh, Kevin M

    Kevin M. Warsh, whom Mr. Trump tapped to become the next chair of the Federal Reserve, could face fierce resistance if he tries to pursue substantially lower borrowing costs.

  • Stock Market Takes Kevin Warsh’s Fed Nomination in Stride an hour ago by Joe Rennison
    Stocks and Bonds, Standard & Poor's 500-Stock Index, Government Bonds, Interest Rates, Federal Reserve System, Warsh, Kevin M, Powell, Jerome H

    Stock and bond markets were unfazed by Kevin Warsh’s nomination as the next Fed chair, with the S&P 500 nudging slightly lower in early trading on Friday.

  • Federal Agents Arrest Don Lemon Over Minnesota Church Protest 2 hours ago by Hamed Aleaziz, Devlin Barrett and Alan Feuer
    Lemon, Don, News and News Media, Freedom of the Press, Illegal Immigration, Immigration Detention, Federal Actions in US Cities, Demonstrations, Protests and Riots, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (US), Border Patrol (US), Customs and Border Protection (US), Minneapolis (Minn), United States Politics and Government

    Three others were also arrested on charges that they had violated federal law during the church protest this month, reviving a case that was rejected last week by a magistrate judge.

  • Police Chiefs Fume at ICE Tactics Across Cities 5 hours ago by Shaila Dewan
    Illegal Immigration, live-detached, Police Brutality, Misconduct and Shootings, Police, Immigration Detention, Deaths (Fatalities), Murders, Attempted Murders and Homicides, Immigration and Emigration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (US), Homeland Security Department, Police Department (Minneapolis, Minn), Police Department (St Paul, Minn), Border Patrol (US), Pretti, Alex Jeffrey (1988-2026), Floyd, George (d 2020), Good, Renee Nicole (1988-2026), Mckesson, Deray (1985- ), Minnesota

    Many police departments adopted major changes after civilian killings. Now, police chiefs worry ICE is ignoring those lessons and setting back efforts to improve public trust.

  • Federal Judge Drops Death Penalty Charge Against Luigi Mangione an hour ago by Benjamin Weiser and Hurubie Meko
    Mangione, Luigi, Capital Punishment, Murders, Attempted Murders and Homicides, Decisions and Verdicts, Federal Courts (US), Assassinations and Attempted Assassinations, UnitedHealth Group Inc, Thompson, Brian (1974-2024)

    The judge, Margaret Garnett of Federal District Court, said the case against Luigi Mangione would still proceed to trial on other counts.


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