Important Takeaways:
- China has been supporting Russia’s economy since the start of the Ukraine war by buying its oil while supplying it with everything from microelectronics to washing machines.
- Meanwhile, Beijing has been getting its own strategic benefit: a real-world case study in how to circumvent Western sanctions.
- Russia’s economy has been surprisingly resilient throughout the Ukraine war, but it has shown fresh signs of cracking under Western pressure recently. In the past week, the Russian ruble plunged to its lowest point since the early days of the conflict after the U.S. imposed new banking sanctions.
- Moscow owes much of its economic durability to its oil exports and its cooperation with Beijing, as the leaders of both countries seek to challenge the U.S.-led world order.
- “Sanctions can be really disruptive for any production sector that is enmeshed in global supply chains,” Fishman said. “That makes China highly vulnerable.”
- While the U.S. has already imposed sanctions on China, including export restrictions on advanced semiconductors and measures against telecommunications giant Huawei, a crisis over Taiwan could lead to an economic war of a different magnitude.
- Full-scale financial sanctions by the West would disrupt the country’s financial system, interrupt trade and put $3.7 trillion in Chinese overseas bank assets and reserves at risk, according to a report last year by the Atlantic Council and Rhodium Group think tanks.
- One major lesson for China from Russia’s experience has been the importance of preparation, analysts say. Before the war, Russia had sought to diversify its foreign reserves, de-dollarize its economy and build domestic financial plumbing. Even though its success was mixed, those moves helped shield the Russian economy and buy it time to adapt.
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Important Takeaways:
- Some analysts now argue that World War III is no longer a distant possibility – it has already begun, just in ways more subtle than Western societies experienced at the start of the 20th century’s global conflicts.
- National security expert Mark Toth and former US intelligence officer Col. Jonathan Sweet are among those arguing that World War III is already upon us.
- ‘This third global conflagration doesn’t look or feel like what Hollywood envisioned,’ they claim.
- ‘No mushroom clouds or apocalyptic wastelands. Rather, it is war by a thousand cuts, conducted across multi-regional and multi-domain battlefields.
- The concept of hybrid warfare lies at the heart of arguments that World War III is already underway.
- Toth and Sweet point the finger at Vladimir Putin as the main driver of the march toward disaster and say Russia’s strategy spans multiple arenas
- In Africa, Russian paramilitary groups, such as the Wagner Group, have fueled coups, destabilizing democracies and consolidating Moscow’s influence.
- And in Europe, espionage and damaging covert operations have resurfaced with Cold War intensity.
- Arson attacks targeting logistical hubs across the West to disrupt critical supply chains while daring assassinations cut down Russian dissidents and political opponents in the streets
- ‘Putin’s ability to conduct hybrid warfare is arguably his greatest strength,’ they emphasize, pointing to Russia’s continent-spanning efforts to spread disinformation, construct pro-Kremlin narratives and influence governments and citizens alike to turn against the West.
- This includes sophisticated AI tools that generate deepfakes and fabricated narratives, such as the fake documentary ‘Olympics Have Fallen,’ designed to incite fear ahead of the Paris Olympics.
- Even space has become a battlefield, with Putin threatening anti-satellite weapons aimed at crippling Western communications and intelligence networks.
- Recent Ukrainian strikes using US-provided ATACMS missiles and UK-provided Storm Shadow missiles prompted Putin to unleash the never-before-seen ‘Oreshnik’ – a new hypersonic ballistic missile – on Ukraine.
- Days prior, the Kremlin chief signed into effect an amended nuclear doctrine which officially lowered the threshold under which Moscow can deploy their devastating weapons.
- Although their ranks are suffering heavy casualties, the Russian army is advancing westward in Ukraine at a rate faster than any other time after the initial days of the 2022 invasion, taking an area half the size of London over the past month.
- Elsewhere, the Middle East is reeling amid the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel – a dastardly scheme that triggered an inferno of violence and has left tens of thousands dead in Gaza and Lebanon with no clear end in sight.
- Hamas and Hezbollah’s chief backer Iran has further escalated the situation with missile and drone strikes against Israel, while analysts suspect Tehran is drawing dangerously close to developing nuclear weapons.
- And in the Indo-Pacific, China’s escalating aggression against Taiwan and the Philippines has stoked fears of an explosive clash in this strategically critical region.
- Recent months have seen Beijing adopt an increasingly threatening posture with top US defense officials warning China could attempt an invasion of Taiwan well before the end of the decade.
- All the while… North Korea’s burgeoning nuclear arsenal having completely severed ties with South Korea and sent troops to aid Putin in his war on Ukraine.
- ‘Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was the opening stage (of World War Three). It was his marker to the global community that the world order as it had existed since the end of the Second World War was no longer,’ argued Sweet and Toth.
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Important Takeaways:
- President-elect Donald Trump threatened the BRIC group of emerging-market nations on Saturday, warning that he would impose 100% tariffs if they make any moves to undermine the U.S. dollar.
- The BRIC alliance, originally comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, now includes five other countries: South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
- On Saturday, Trump wrote, “The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER.”
- “We require a commitment from these Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy,” Trump said. “They can go find another ‘sucker!’ There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the U.S. Dollar in International Trade, and any Country that tries should wave goodbye to America.”
- At a summit of BRIC nations in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. of “weaponizing” the dollar and described it as a “big mistake,” the Associated Press reported.
- Collectively, the nine-country BRIC group accounts for 45% of the world’s population. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia also have applied to become members.
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Important Takeaways:
- A long-duration lake-effect snowstorm is continuing to pummel the Great Lakes region after dumping 3-5 feet of snow in cities from Michigan to New York that paralyzed travel as people tried to get home after the busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
- The impacts from the historic lake-effect snowstorm have been far-reaching, not only because of the sheer amount of snow that fell but also because of the intense snowfall rates reaching up to 4 inches per hour, which overwhelmed crews who were relentlessly working around the clock to remove the snow and ice from roads and highways such as the heavily traveled Interstate 90 from New York state to Ohio
- Travel is expected to remain treacherous in areas still impacted by bands of heavy snow coming off the Great Lakes. Drivers are being urged to stay off the roads if possible, significantly slow their speeds, and leave plenty of distance between vehicles to ensure the safety of people out and about on Monday.
- And it wasn’t just the snow that was making headlines over the weekend. The paralyzing lake-effect snowstorm also produced rare thundersnow and even waterspouts off the shores of Lake Erie.
- Winter weather alerts remain in effect across the region, including Lake-Effect Snow Warnings from Cleveland to southwestern New York that will remain in effect until at least Tuesday morning.
- Travel could again become dangerous on major roads and highways across the region, including I-90, I-86 and I-79, which could become nearly impassable. In the heaviest snow bands, visibility could drop to less than a quarter-mile, and strong winds could blow snow that has already fallen.
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Important Takeaways:
- MSNBC is facing a staggering ratings collapse in the wake of the 2024 election, with the network’s audience shrinking by nearly half as Fox News became the only cable news outlet to show post-election growth.
- According to Nielsen data, MSNBC’s total viewership has dropped by 47 percent post-election, and its critical 25-54 demographic plummeted to just 63,000 during primetime—a sharp contrast to its pre-election numbers.
- Fox News soared to 3.2 million, an 86 percent year-over-year increase in total viewers. In the coveted 25-54 demographic, Fox saw a 147 percent surge, averaging 476,000 viewers.
- shows like Morning Joe recorded some of their lowest numbers in years. The network’s flagship morning program saw a 37 percent drop in viewership after co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski met with President-elect Donald Trump.
- CNN also faced steep declines, losing 33 percent of its total audience, but MSNBC’s dramatic losses stand out as the most severe
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Important Takeaways:
- We come to Thanksgiving 2024 as a country beset by anxiety about conflicts foreign and domestic. Some despair our current state. Others fear what’s ahead.
- We’ve been here before, and regularly. Always, we’ve emerged stronger for our strife. Looking to the past can inspire our future.
- Kennedy wrote his Thanksgiving proclamation Nov. 4, not three weeks before his death, calling on the nation to be thankful for what makes us best — for the ideals of honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers—for the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, for the courage and the humility, which they possessed and which we must seek every day to emulate.
- A Proclamation
- Over three centuries ago, our forefathers in Virginia and in Massachusetts, far from home in a lonely wilderness, set aside a time of thanksgiving. On the appointed day, they gave reverent thanks for their safety, for the health of their children, for the fertility of their fields, for the love which bound them together and for the faith which united them with their God.
- So too when the colonies achieved their independence, our first President in the first year of his first Administration proclaimed November 26, 1789, as “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God” and called upon the people of the new republic to “beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions… to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue . . . and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.”
- And so too, in the midst of America’s tragic civil war, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day to renew our gratitude for America’s “fruitful fields,” for our “national strength and vigor,” and for all our “singular deliverances and blessings.”
- Much time has passed since the first colonists came to rocky shores and dark forests of an unknown continent, much time since President Washington led a young people into the experience of nationhood, much time since President Lincoln saw the American nation through the ordeal of fraternal war—and in these years our population, our plenty and our power have all grown apace. Today we are a nation of nearly two hundred million souls, stretching from coast to coast, on into the Pacific and north toward the Arctic, a nation enjoying the fruits of an ever-expanding agriculture and industry and achieving standards of living unknown in previous history. We give our humble thanks for this.
- Yet, as our power has grown, so has our peril. Today we give our thanks, most of all, for the ideals of honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers—for the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, for the courage and the humility, which they possessed and which we must seek every day to emulate. As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.
- Let us therefore proclaim our gratitude to Providence for manifold blessings—let us be humbly thankful for inherited ideals—and let us resolve to share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world.
- Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, in consonance with the joint resolution of the Congress approved December 26, 1941, 55 Stat. 862 (5 U.S.C. 87b), designating the fourth Thursday of November in each year as Thanksgiving Day, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 28, 1963, as a day of national thanksgiving.
- On that day let us gather in sanctuaries dedicated to worship and in homes blessed by family affection to express our gratitude for the glorious gifts of God; and let us earnestly and humbly pray that He will continue to guide and sustain us in the great unfinished tasks of achieving peace, justice, and understanding among all men and nations and of ending misery and suffering wherever they exist.
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Important Takeaways:
- The Biden administration has secured the release of three Americans from detention in China in exchange for unnamed Chinese persons held in the U.S.
- China released Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung after years of diplomatic negotiations between the administration and Chinese officials.
- The U.S. government considered the trio to be wrongfully detained on bogus charges. Mr. Swidan had been detained since 2012 on a drug conviction, while Mr. Li and Mr. Lueng were accused of espionage.
- Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said Wednesday he worked for years to release Mr. Li, a Long Island resident. He also credited President Biden for raising the detainees’ plight with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
- “For the families of those Americans newly freed by the Chinese government, this Thanksgiving there is so much to be thankful for,” Mr. Schumer said. “Soon, Kai Li will finally be reunited with his family because President Biden and his Administration also kept the faith and never stopped working to secure Mr. Li’s release and the release of other Americans wrongfully detained by the Chinese government.”
- The Congressional-Executive Commission on China in September said there are more Americans held in China than anywhere else in the world.
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Important Takeaways:
- Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces agreed to a ceasefire Tuesday in a deal brokered by the U.S. and France that could bring to an end more than a year’s worth of heavy fighting along the border between Israel and Lebanon.
- Under the deal, all fighting between Israel and the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement was to cease early Wednesday, President Biden said in remarks from the White House. He spoke just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed the agreement in a nationally televised address. Over the next 60 days, Israel will start to withdraw its troops from the region as Lebanon’s army moves in to assume control.
- Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials said punishing strikes in recent months had effectively decapitated Hezbollah and significantly weakened its force as a military threat to Israel.
- “This is not the same Hezbollah. Hezbollah chose to attack us from there on Oct. 8. We set it back decades,” Mr. Netanyahu said in his address. “We eliminated [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah. We eliminated all the senior officials of the organization and thousands of terrorists.”
- Biden said he hoped the 60-day accord would turn into a permanent halt to the war: “What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed, I emphasize, will not be allowed, to threaten the security of Israel again.
- One sticking point was uncertain: Israel’s demand that it be allowed to resume the military campaign if the ceasefire does not hold. The length of the ceasefire depends entirely on what happens in Lebanon, and Israel maintains complete freedom of military action, the prime minister said.
- The deal between Hezbollah and Israel does not affect the fight in the Gaza Strip with Palestinian Hamas militants. Months of U.S. efforts to negotiate a ceasefire with the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas have failed to achieve a breakthrough.
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Important Takeaways:
- The coast-to-coast storm began its journey over the weekend when it slammed into the West Coast with torrential rain and heavy mountain snow, impacting communities along the busy Interstate 5 corridor from California to Washington.
- The storm then pushed off to the east and moved into the Rockies, where it dumped snow in Utah and Colorado.
- The storm is now expected to emerge into the Plains, but its effects will be widespread and stretch from the Rockies to Ohio.
- By Thanksgiving Day, the system will move into the Midwest and Ohio Valley and then into the Northeast, threatening the region with more winter weather.
- The FOX Forecast Center said rain is expected in the Midwest on Wednesday but remains focused on the threat of snow from Illinois to Ohio.
- That’s because temperatures may fall enough to produce snow in a narrow band stretching from central Illinois to central Ohio.
- However, the snow will become more widespread as the system sweeps into the Northeast on Thanksgiving Day.
- The heaviest snow is expected across the mountainous areas of the Catskills, Poconos, Adirondacks and Green and White Mountains, particularly at elevations higher than 1,500 feet.
- The main threat from storms that develop will be damaging wind gusts, but there is also the possibility of some tornadoes.
- As the Thanksgiving Day winter storm exits the Northeast, it will pull in even colder, arctic air from Canada, and it will extend to the south, potentially as far as the Southeast.
- By Friday, over 230 million Americans will be shivering in below-average temperatures.
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Important Takeaways:
- North Korea has sent more than 100 KN-23 and KN-24 short-range nuclear capable ballistic missiles to Russia, according to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence.
- Pyongyang joined the fray in August and is reinforcing Moscow’s troops in Kursk after Kyiv launched an incursion in the summer. North Korea’s support has become a key, as Pyongyang assists Moscow in replenishing its weapons stockpiles.
- “The aggressor state of Russia has received more than 100 such missiles from the DPRK. The enemy first used these weapons in the war against Ukraine at the end of 2023,” said the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.
- “Along with the missiles, Pyongyang then sent its military specialists to Russia to service the launchers and participate in war crimes against Ukraine.”
- This shipment is part of a broader effort by North Korea to support Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, including other military supplies such as artillery systems and rocket launchers.
- According to South Korea’s national intelligence service, North Korea has delivered over 13,000 containers of artillery, missiles, and other conventional weapons to Russia since August, 2023.
- Samuel Cranny-Evans told Newsweek: “The relationship between Russia and North Korea is clearly developing into a much closer one with various aspects and shared goals.”
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