UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported on Thursday that the volume of freight passing through the Suez Canal has dropped by 45 percent in two months due to relentless attacks on Red Sea shipping by the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen. UNCTAD said 39 percent fewer ships have passed through the Suez Canal thanks to Houthi terrorism, a major blow to one of the world’s most important shipping routes. The decline has intensified in the new year, with an astounding 82 percent reduction in container shipments through the Canal in the month ending January 19. This reduction in shipping supply naturally caused prices to skyrocket, although, thankfully, they still have not reached the devastating heights of the coronavirus pandemic. Shipping costs are rising sharply even in routes not directly connected to the Red Sea or Suez Canal.

USA - Ten retired FBI officials and experts in counterintelligence sent a letter to Congressional leaders warning that the Biden administration's policies have facilitated a "soft invasion" of military-age men into the United States from terror-linked areas of the world. The letter, written on January 17, before Texas Governor Greg Abbott invoked the invasion clause of the US Constitution, suggests that a terrorist attack is likely imminent. "The threat we call out today is new and unfamiliar. In its modern history the US has never suffered an invasion of the homeland, and, yet, one is unfolding now," the letter reads.

USA - Texas Governor Greg Abbott spoke with Tucker Carlson on Friday, telling him that he's going to "do as much as possible to put up more border barriers and deny illegal entry," and that "our head is down, we are working regardless of what the Biden Administration is doing." Abbott told Carlson that he's "prepared" in the event that Biden tries to take over the Texas National Guard. "That would be a boneheaded move on his part, a total disaster," he said. "We are prepared, in the event that that unlikely event does occur." "We do have other armed state employees on the border as we speak right this minute, and that’s the Texas Department of Public Safety, as well as other law enforcement officers, as well as National Guard from other states. And you can be assured there will be more National Guard from other states and more law enforcement officers within the state of Texas and other states."

GERMANY - The rebellion by farmers against tax hikes and subsidy cuts in Germany closed down Berlin on Monday, as an estimated 10,000 farmers and 5,000 tractors descended on the capital and blockaded key roads. Now, the farmers have temporarily suspended their protests, forcing the government to negotiate. The German government, a globalist coalition between the Social Democrats, Greens, and neoliberal Free Democrats, was already forced to water down some of its policies. Finance Minister Christian Lindner even attended a farmer rally earlier this week to parley with the protestors, crushed by bureaucracy, net-zero climate policies, and the sanctions war with Russia even before the tax and subsidy changes.

USA - The benefits of a two-parent household have been researched and documented for some time now. Everyone knows that the best environment for children to live in is one where their mother and father are married and live in the same household. Unfortunately, that is becoming a rarity in the US.

According to the Single Mother Guide:

• There are 10.89 million single-parent-led homes
• 79% are led by single mothers
• 51% were never married
• 29% are divorced
• 3.6% are widowed

USA - What happens if Putin WINS in Ukraine? 'Catastrophic' change to world order 'would lead to the fall of NATO, economic carnage and inevitable nuclear war once autocrats see that US and the West are beatable'. Victory for Russia wouldn't just mean the 'destruction' of Ukraine and its people - it would be 'catastrophic' to the West and turn global world order on its head, military experts tell MailOnline. With Ukraine's much anticipated counteroffensive stalling and Western military support waning, there are now real fears that Vladimir Putin could be victorious and destroy the nation.

ISRAEL - Nir Barkat, Israel’s economy and industry minister and the leading candidate to replace Benjamin Netanyahu as leader of the ruling Likud Party told the Telegraph : “Iran is a legitimate target for Israel. They will not get away with it. The head of the snake is Tehran. My recommendation is to adopt the strategy that President Kennedy used in the Cuban missile crisis. What he basically said then was a missile from Cuba will be answered with a missile to Moscow.” He continued: “And we should very very clearly make sure the Iranians understand that they will not get away with using proxies against Israel and sleep good at night if we don’t sleep good at night,” he added. “We believe them when they say they want to destroy Israel. If anything, what we have learned from October 7 is believe our enemies and the wickedness in their evil, their goals, thoughts and actions and we are not going to allow another Holocaust.”

USA - AI joins nuclear threats and climate change as a key concern on the Doomsday Clock, highlighting its potential global impact and risks... The infamous Doomsday Clock was updated on January 23 by atomic scientists to reflect the planet’s imminent danger, set only 90 seconds from midnight due to an array of factors, including artificial intelligence (AI). The clock is set based on “existential risks” to the planet and humankind, which include nuclear threats, climate change and disruptive technologies. Midnight on the clock represents an “apocalyptic” state. Therefore, the 90-second mark is deemed “a moment of historic danger.”

USA - Paul Craig Roberts: Sodom and Gomorrah Is Being Imposed on Citizens by Allegedly Representative Governments. The collapse of Western civilization and its replacement with woke Satanism has proceeded so rapidly that not even I, who expected it, can keep up with it. Stephen Karganovic writing in Global Research brings to our attention five of the many insane woke policies that have been implemented in Canada, California, and Great Britain. This is not a joke. This is very real:

USA - Lately, there’s been a growing chorus calling for the ban of lobbying, branding it as a subtle form of bribery. Whether it’s Big Oil, the NRA, Big Pharma, or even anti-gun groups, the sentiment is strong – lobbying appears to wield significant influence over our representatives. The big question looming is whether a blanket ban on all lobbying is the solution, breaking free from what some perceive as puppetry in our political system. You can’t have a representative democracy and lobbying (bribery). They can’t exist together...

USA - Governor Greg Abbott (Republican for Texas) vowed to continue to fight for his state’s right to secure the southern border after the Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration on Monday, ruling that federal officials may cut through razor wire that Texas installed to repel illegal immigrants.

NORTH KOREA - With nothing to lose and limited time to achieve certain geopolitical goals, Kim Jong-un might opt for conflict as his only option. A few days ago an analysis piece appeared on the North Korea research website 38North with the headline asking the question: “Is Kim Jong-un preparing for war?”

USA - Contrary to conventional wisdom, higher interest rates mean more inflation in the environment today. That’s because the federal interest expense increases as interest rates rise. As the federal interest expense rises, so does the budget deficit. As the budget deficit increases, so does the currency debasement needed to finance it. Skyrocketing interest expense will have an enormous impact on the US budget. Even according to the US government’s rosy projections, the interest expense on the federal debt will exceed $1 trillion for the first time in 2024… and it shows no sign of slowing down. On the contrary, it’s growing exponentially.

USA - The state of Texas will not give up on its efforts to secure its borders after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had the right to intervene. In a ruling on Tuesday, the Supreme Court decided by a 5-4 majority that federal officials had the right to remove physical barriers erected by the Texas National Guard. Two supposedly conservative judges, Justices John Roberts and Amy Coney Barett, sided with the Biden administration, while Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch dissented. The decision vacated a previous injunction from the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals that prevented federal agents from cutting the wire. However, the Texas Tribune reports that both Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton will refuse to back down over the issue and will carry on fighting to secure the southern border from the waves of illegal immigration.

UK - Aircraft carrier fiasco as the UK REFUSES to deploy either of its £3.5 billion warships to help tackle Yemen's Houthis: RAF jets are forced to fly 3,000-mile sorties while vessels are anchored in Portsmouth. Former defence ministers and Royal Navy chiefs tonight expressed dismay over the UK's refusal to deploy either of its £3.5 billion aircraft carriers to the Red Sea. They suggested it was absurd for Britain to continue to rely on RAF jets flying 3,000 miles from their base in Cyprus to launch air strikes against Houthi in Yemen. The Navy's website describes HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales as 'investments in British security, prosperity and place in the world'. Despite the rhetoric, neither carrier has ventured anywhere near a conflict zone since they entered service.