Important Takeaways:
- Russia is rearming faster than first thought for a potential attack on Nato, Germany’s military pointman on Ukraine has warned.
- On the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president, Maj Gen Christian Freuding said that Russia had already replaced missiles and tanks lost in its invasion of Ukraine.
- “The Russian armed forces are not just able to compensate for their enormous personnel and material losses… they are successfully rearming,” he told Die Welt newspaper.
- Vladimir Putin has reorientated the Russian economy to feed his war machine and has also bought extra supplies from Iran and North Korea which Maj Gen Freuding, who is head of the German military’s task force, said was helping Russia replenish its tanks, missiles and drones.
- He warned that although it was not clear that Putin had plans to attack Nato, he was “clearly creating the conditions for it”.
- “Production is growing, the supplies in the depots are growing,” he said.
- Germany is locked in a debate ahead of a national election next month on whether to back a £2.5 billion aid package for Ukraine.
- In Ukraine, Russian forces have surrounded the fortress town of Pokrovsk and are on the brink of capturing one of the last Ukraine-held villages in south Donetsk.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- After a much quieter weekend, Southern California is experiencing a major shift in the weather pattern. The winds will peak Monday evening and overnight but extend into Tuesday morning.
- Destructive Santa Ana winds, forecast to gust up to 100 mph, are poised to grip the region on Monday, igniting fears of widespread and uncontrollable wildfires, the FOX Forecast Center noted.
- This comes as more than 14,000 structures have been destroyed since Jan. 7 in the Palisades and Eaton fires, leading to the event being labeled as one of the costliest disasters in U.S. history. The Palisades Fire has burned nearly 24,000 acres and is 56% contained. The Eaton Fire has burned over 14,000 acres and is 81% contained.
- “With Santa Ana winds back in the forecast, that is a concern,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Craig Herrera said. “Containment, a reminder, means they’ve surrounded the fire. But with winds returning, some of those embers can jump some of those fire lines, and they’ve got to be careful with this.”
- Between noon on Monday and Tuesday at 10 a.m., the National Weather Service issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” Fire Weather Warning for a large portion of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
- “Take action now to prepare your home and loved ones for another round of EXTREME WIND and FIRE WEATHER,” the agency warned on X
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Public trust in pastors has dropped to a new low, according to the latest Gallup poll. The survey finds that only 30% of Americans rate clergy as highly honest and ethical, continuing a downward trend.
- Gallup’s findings, released last week, place clergy in 10th position among the 23 professions measured. Clergy were ranked below auto mechanics (33%), judges (28%), but above bankers (23%) and nursing home operators (21%).
- The poll, conducted Dec. 2-18, 2024, also revealed that 20% of Americans rate clergy’s honesty and ethics as low or very low, while another 42% see pastors as having average standards. Seven percent said they had no opinion about clergy.
- The polling organization, which has tracked some occupations annually since 1999, said most professions have recorded lower honesty and ethics ratings over time. “The proportion saying the clergy have high or very high ethics is down from an average 56% in 2000-2009 to 30% today,” Gallup noted.
- “Previously, a broad majority of the U.S. held pastors in the highest regard,” Lifeway stated, recalling that 67% of Americans considered pastors highly honest and ethical in 1985.
- However, reports of sexual abuse in religious settings, such as the 2002 investigations by The Boston Globe, appear to have eroded trust. Gallup described 2002 and 2018 as points in time that mirrored negative developments in the Catholic Church and other denominations, while Lifeway pointed to the “additional sex abuse reports in other denominations and Christian groups” as relevant factors.
- Americans have consistently had low esteem for lobbyists, members of Congress and TV reporters, which Gallup identifies as three groups receiving ratings below 15%. Advertising practitioners (8%) and car salespeople (7%) remain near the bottom of the scale.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- President Joe Biden sparked fury on his way out the door by issuing preemptive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci and all nine members of the January 6 Committee.
- The 82-year-old Democrat also used his final moments in the Oval Office to give blanket protection to former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, who Trump has said deserves to be executed.
- Fauci is also accused of lying to Congress about the U.S. sending money to fund gain-of-function research at the laboratory in Wuhan, China, where the virus is thought to have originated and leaked from.
- January 6 panel Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney were included in the pardon sweep, giving them immunity from any future actions by Trump’s Department of Justice.
- Among the most controversial of all Biden’s pardons so far is the protection of Fauci from federal prosecution. He also got massive backlash for pardoning his own son Hunter from his federal crimes.
- Biden commuted almost 2,500 sentences last week, using his final days in office on a flurry of clemency actions meant to nullify prison terms he deemed too harsh.
- It comes after he issued 39 pardons and commuted another 1,500 sentences in December.
- Biden wrote in a statement on the pardons on Monday morning: ‘Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy. Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties.’
- ‘That is why I am exercising my authority under the Constitution to pardon General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee,’ the president announced.
- ‘The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,’ he continued. ‘Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.’
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- President-elect Trump on Monday will order the deployment of U.S. troops to the southern border, stamp out Biden-era parole policies and designate international cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations — in a slew of nearly a dozen executive orders designed to drastically overhaul U.S. border and immigration policy.
- Fox News obtained exclusive details of three of the expected 10 executive orders Trump will sign related to border security and immigration after he is inaugurated.
- In one order, Trump will immediately direct the federal government to resume construction of the border wall, which was largely ended under the Biden administration. That order will also end Biden-era parole policies, including the use of the CBP One app to parole migrants into the U.S., and the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV) — under which 30,000 nationals a month were allowed to fly in and be admitted under parole. Nearly 1.5 million migrants have been allowed in under CHNV and CBP One.
- The order will also order government agencies to reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), known as the Remain-in-Mexico policy. That Trump-era policy, ended by the Biden administration, required migrants to stay in Mexico for the duration of their asylum hearings.
- A second order will order U.S. troops to be deployed to the border under U.S. Northern Command and will “instruct the military to prioritize our own borders and territorial integrity in strategic planning for its operations.” It will direct the military to prioritize U.S. border and territorial integrity in strategic planning.
- The Secretary of Defense will be required to provide a Unified Command Plan and military resources will be integrated with federal law enforcement and intelligence “to ensure seamless operations and maximum effectiveness,” according to a fact sheet on the order.
- A third order will designate international cartels and organizations, including MS-13 and the bloodthirsty Tren de Aragua, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). An FTO designation allows for targeted action against members, including financial penalties
- Declaring that the organizations function as quasi-governments in some regions, and flood the U.S. with criminals and drugs, the order will declare the groups a national security threat and invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to stop their operations.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has asked more than a dozen senior career diplomats to step down from their roles, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter said, as the incoming president moved quickly to shape his foreign policy and the diplomatic corps.
- Among those stepping aside ahead of Trump’s Monday inauguration is the agency’s No. 3 official John Bass, who has been acting undersecretary for political affairs overseeing policy from Asia to Europe and the Middle East, sources said. His departure was first reported by the Washington Post.
- One of the sources said all undersecretary and assistant secretary level officials – effectively the entire two layers of officials under the secretary of state – were asked to step down.
- Reuters reported last week that the team overseeing the State Department’s transition to the new administration asked three other senior career diplomats who oversee the department’s workforce and internal coordination to resign from their posts.
- Trump has pledged to “clean out the deep state” by firing bureaucrats he deems disloyal – the staff changes appear to be in line with a broader effort reported to seize greater control of the federal government than any modern president.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Donald Trump plans to issue a flurry of executive orders and directives after he is sworn in as U.S. president on Monday to put his stamp on his new administration on matters ranging from energy to immigration.
- Two sources familiar with the planning said more than 200 such orders and directives could be released starting on Day One in what is known internally as a “shock and awe” effort.
- IMMIGRATION
- Trump plans to take a flurry of executive actions aimed at cracking down on legal and illegal immigration and ramping up deportations after he enters the White House on Monday, an incoming Trump administration official said.
- Trump intends to declare illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border a national emergency to support the construction of a border wall and send additional troops to the border, the official said.
- Trump will issue a sweeping proclamation that aims to block access to all asylum at the Mexico border, the official said. He will also issue an order intended to end birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children whose parents lack legal immigration status, the official said.
- Citing the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the official said in a briefing: “The federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States. We are also going to enhance vetting and screening of illegal aliens.”
- ENERGY
- One of Trump’s orders on Monday will declare a national energy emergency aimed at “unleashing affordable and reliable American energy,” an official with the incoming White House said. Trump, who vowed during his campaign to “drill, baby, drill,” will also sign an executive order focused on Alaska, the official said, adding that the state was critical to U.S. national security and could allow exports of LNG to other parts of the United States and allies.
- Sources familiar with the plans of members of Trump’s transition team have said that Trump is considering executive orders to target everything from electric vehicles to withdrawing again from the Paris climate agreement, an action he took in his first administration.
- Members of his transition team are recommending sweeping changes to cut off support for electric vehicles and charging stations and to strengthen measures blocking the import of cars, components and battery materials from China, according to a document seen by Reuters.
- Trump’s executive orders will also likely seek to roll back Biden’s climate regulations on power plants, end his pause on liquefied natural gas exports, and revoke waivers allowing California and other states to have tighter pollution rules.
- TARIFFS
- Trump will issue a broad trade memo on Monday that stops short of imposing new tariffs on his first day in office, but rather directs federal agencies to evaluate U.S. trade relationships with China, Canada and Mexico, an incoming Trump administration official said.
- The Republican incoming president has pledged tariffs of 10% on global imports, 60% on Chinese goods and a 25% import surcharge on Canadian and Mexican products, duties that may upend trade flows, raise costs and draw retaliation.
- TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
- Trump will issue an executive order proclaiming that the U.S. federal government will only recognize two sexes, male and female, an incoming White House official said on Monday. Trump has vowed to sign an executive order ending transgender rights in the U.S. military and inside U.S. schools.
- As for transgender athletes, he told a rally on Sunday that he would act on his first day to stop the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports.
- DIVERSITY PROGRAMS
- Trump will also issue an order ending “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity and inclusion programs inside the federal government, an incoming White House official said on Monday.
- Trump has also criticized “diversity, equity and inclusion” policies inside universities.
- PARDONS
- Trump has also said he will take action immediately on taking office to issue pardons for some of the hundreds of people convicted or charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
- GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE
- Trump said in a campaign video in 2023 that on his first day in office he would revoke the Biden administration’s policies that provide information and resources to those seeking medical care so they can align their bodies with the gender they identify with. That care can include hormone therapy and surgery.
- DRUG CARTELS
- Trump plans to classify drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in an early executive order, Punchbowl News reported on Sunday, fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail to crack down on the sources of the lethal opioid fentanyl.
- REQUIRING FEDERAL WORKERS TO RETURN TO THE OFFICE
- Trump has railed against work-from-home arrangements for tens of thousands of federal employees, which were greatly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he has vowed to end them.
- In December, Trump said if federal workers refuse to return to the office, “they’re going to be dismissed.”
- By forcing government workers back into the office Trump and his allies hope it could trigger large-scale resignations, which would assist in their goal of reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza took effect Sunday morning, and just hours later, Israel welcomed its first three released hostages back home.
- Joy and tears filled the air as Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher, and Romi Gonen returned to Israel, reuniting with family and friends.
- As the three women arrived at Sheba Medical Center outside Tel Aviv, the crowd erupted in celebration.
- Juli Jerbi, a friend of released hostage Emily Damari, expressed the overwhelming emotion of the moment: “Our hearts are bursting, exploding. She looks just like she did when she left, as special and beautiful as she is.”
- Inside Sheba Medical Center, medical professionals took charge.
- Encouraging Israelis, he added, “Our mission is not over until every single hostage comes home.”
- Even in their final moments in Gaza, the three women endured psychological torment. Hamas gunmen, along with hundreds of Gazan civilians, surrounded their convoy, shouting at them.
- Before their release, Hamas handed them gift bags containing “Certificates of Release,” a map of Gaza, and photos of their time in captivity.
- The women were then transferred to the Red Cross, which transported them into the hands of Israeli forces.
- Meanwhile, the ceasefire also allowed Hamas to reassert control in Gaza. As soon as the agreement took effect, armed Hamas fighters emerged from hiding and flooded the streets, declaring their victory over Israel.
- Shortly after Hamas freed the three hostages, Israel began releasing 90 Palestinian prisoners, with hundreds more expected to be freed in the coming weeks. Among them are terrorists responsible for deadly attacks on Israeli civilians, one of the most frightening realities for many Israelis.
- However, Senator Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, remains firm in his belief that Hamas’ victory declaration will not last.
- The head of Hamas’ military wing released a video urging Palestinians in the West Bank (biblical Judea and Samaria) to escalate attacks against Israel.
- Graham argues that Israel, with U.S. support, must act swiftly to confront an even larger danger: Iran’s growing nuclear ambitions.
- “I am hoping there will be an effort by Israel to decimate the Iran nuclear program, supported by the United States. And if we don’t do that, it’ll be a historical mistake.”
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Heavy snow and ice will fall in eight states from Texas to the Carolinas late Monday into Wednesday, leading to dangerous conditions in places where the severity of snowfall could be historic. Winter storms of this magnitude are rare along this 1,500-mile corridor, where winter storm warnings, watches and advisories are widespread
- The worst of the weather will probably track near the Interstate 10 corridor between Texas and northern Florida, with Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia also expecting snow. In some places, the wet snow may bring down roofs, overhangs and power lines.
- In Houston, George Bush Intercontinental Airport has suspended flight operations starting at midnight late Monday. In New Orleans, 3 to 6 inches of snow on Tuesday could amount to the city’s biggest snowfall on record. In Florida, a winter storm watch was issued for the first time in 11 years — and the snowstorm could become the biggest in the state’s recorded history in terms of snowfall.
- Freezing temperatures may last for more than 24 hours along the Gulf Coast, meaning that snow and ice won’t melt right away and dangerous conditions will linger even after the storm ends.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- President Joe Biden grants clemency to family members deeply involved in the Biden family business, including brothers James and Frank Biden.
- Receiving clemency raises questions about potential wrongdoing.
- “My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics,” Biden wrote in a statement. “Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”
- “That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden,” he added. “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”
- House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer asked attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, to investigate and prosecute James Biden for allegedly making false statements to Congress, according to a letter obtained by Breitbart News.
- James is a member of the Biden family business. Many of his interactions with the business are below, as Breitbart News reported:
- During Comer’s probe into the family, he found a $200,000 check from Americore, a company that allegedly defrauded Medicare, which landed in Joe Biden’s bank account via James Biden. James Biden denied the check was due to a preexisting business relationship. He claimed the money was a return payment for money Joe Biden lent him. Comer then requested the alleged “loan documents” the Biden brothers might have consummated, but the White House stonewalled the request.
- Comer also subpoenaed James’s Lion-Hall Group and JBBSR, Inc., entities. The subpoena appeared directed at obtaining records linked to Joe Biden’s corporation, “CelticCapri Corp,” which received nearly $10 million in 2017 without specifying revenue line items.
- James was also business partners with CEFC China Energy Co., an organization closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Through Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), Comer discovered that Biden associate Rob Walker received a $3 million wire transfer from CEFC. In turn, four Biden family members — Hunter, James, Hallie, and an unidentified “Biden” — received a collective $1.3 million cut from the $3 million wire transfer.
Read the original article by clicking here.
