It’s hard to think of a more appropriate description for the murders in Mpumalanga and the cyanide poisoning of Eskom CEO André de Ruyter. “...in the pursuit of political aims.” The sabotage of our power stations is not akin to cable theft. It is a deliberate act of political and gangster violence against the people of South Africa.

The purpose of terrorism is to spread terror – or fear – among individuals and the collective. Our country is afraid. We’re afraid of our businesses closing. We’re afraid of a total grid collapse. We’re afraid for our children’s prospects. We’re afraid of having no control over our future.

You might wonder where we’re going with this… and why we’re exploring the word “terrorism”. Words matter. If we, as South Africa, redefined the terms and arrested the suspects on charges of “terrorism” as opposed to “sabotage” of our power plants as public property… then words would matter. The Camden Power Station sabotage suspect would not have been released on R6,000 bail but would still be in jail, for example. Words matter, actions too. Eskom, and with it South Africa, is under siege.

EnergyUnited said that company officials learned of an “equipment issue” at the Pleasant Hill Substation on Tuesday morning, at which time crews were sent to assess the situation. There, they found that a transformer had been damaged “from an apparent gunshot” and law enforcement was notified.

Earlier this month the FBI arrested two men for sabotaging four electrical power substations in Washington State in December. The two men, Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, were caught on surveillance video at the Tacoma facilities. Thousands lost power after the two suspects set fire to the Puget Sound Energy substation on Christmas Sunday.

But just three weeks into his term, critics say Netanyahu’s far-right coalition has already begun to veer off course — swiftly advancing measures that seek to weaken Israel’s judiciary system and eliminate any remaining prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The barrage of initiatives contrast sharply with Netanyahu’s calculated and measured style, and are proof, said Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul in New York, that he has lost control.

“Netanyahu’s partners know he’s the weakest he’s ever been, so they’re holding him hostage,” said Pinkas, who has fielded calls from US senators and representatives struggling to find strategies for dealing with the new government, the most far-right and religiously conservative in Israeli history.

Just weeks before, the Army awarded a $432 million contract to Lockheed Martin to replenish High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers that the US and allies sent to Ukraine, according to Defense News. The Army also awarded a $1.2 billion contract to Raytheon for six National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) batteries for Ukraine.

The US pledged $400 million in military equipment at the group’s last meeting on November 23. CNN reported on Wednesday that the administration is putting together one of its largest aid packages ever. So far, the US has allocated $113 billion in assistance to Ukraine, which includes $24.2 billion in security assistance since the conflict began in February 2022.

Tucker then went on to talk about this week’s meetings in Davos. “So we’re ready for yet another World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, which is under way right now. The event kicked off this week with 84-year-old Klaus Schwab. He’s the founder of the WEF, promising to “master the future.”

KLAUS SCHWAB: “We couldn’t meet at a more challenging time. We are confronted with so many crises simultaneously. What does it mean to master the future? I think to have a platform where all stakeholders of global society are engaged.”

Tucker then went on to show John Kerry and his talk about being part of a select group of human beings. He also reported on Brian Stelter who was fired from CNN but showed up in Davos to discuss misinformation.

Klaus Schwab from the World Economic Forum wants to pretend that he is the leader of the world but when President Trump went to Davos in 2018 everyone knew who was the real leader of the free world. Those were the days. Trump’s presence at the WEF sent a message.

During the Sunday Angelus, a Catholic prayer the Pope often leads on Sundays and holy days, the Pontiff said: 'It is easy to become attached to roles and positions, to the need to be esteemed, recognised and rewarded.' Pressure has been mounting against the current Pope from conservative factions of the church, who see Pope Francis as more liberal than his predecessor. Contemporary popes are generally expected to hold the position until their death.

The new precedent has flared rumours that Pope Francis may too at some point renounce the position. In December, the current Pope revealed he had already signed a resignation letter years ago to take effect should be become 'impaired' by health issues or an accident.

Since the end of World War II, Japan’s military power has been limited by its constitution to be strictly defensive. The country renounced the right to settle disputes via armed conflict and ruled out having an army or fighting a war abroad. This has posed limitations on defence spending, but also made Japan reliant on the United States for its security.

However, now these limitations are all but defunct, even if they still exist on paper. Tokyo has the well-equipped Japan Self-Defense Forces, effectively a standing defensive army, and has recently pledged to double its defence spending by 2027 and to attain “second strike” capabilities with an eye on both China and North Korea, spurring on a regional arms race.

“Compared with the 2,596 abortions recorded in the state in June 2022, the number in August represents a decrease of nearly 99 percent. Sixty-eight abortions were performed in July,” according to the report.

“So unwavering is the belief among most politicians these days that Britain can have a direct influence on future global temperatures, it is as though climate change has replaced Christianity in the Palace of Westminster,” Mr Farage wrote in London’s Daily Telegraph.

“We are repeatedly told that a clean, green revolution will provide cheap and reliable power. Yet when comparing prices, I can see that British consumers are paying 50 per cent more for their electricity than people in France and Germany. We pay twice as much for electricity as those who live in Australia. And we pay more than those living in the United States of America,” Mr Farage wrote.

Sadly, the truth is that intelligence levels in our society have been dropping for decades. The average IQ of degree recipients has dropped over the decades. From an IQ standpoint: high school graduates from the 1960s had almost the same level of intelligence as undergraduate degree recipients from the 2010s.

Our criminals are getting stupider too. In Chicago, a 22-year-old man recently stole a car so that he wouldn’t be late for his court appearance. So why did he have to appear in court? Well, it turns out that he had previously been arrested for stealing another vehicle…

The US is more lenient than any European country when it comes to allowing children to access medical services for gender transitions, according to a new study. Laws vary in the US by state, but overall, transgender youth in America have greater access to gender clinics, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries, in some cases without parental consent. So apparently we are leading everyone else in the western world when it comes to gender transitions.

Meanwhile, anything having to do with the Christian faith is increasingly being considered “offensive” in this country. In fact, authorities recently tried to kick a man that was wearing a “Jesus saves” shirt out of the Mall of America because they believed that the shirt was “offending” other shoppers.

But of course I never thought that I would see the day when heroin and crack are being openly sold in stores, but that is precisely what is about to happen in Vancouver, Canada… Local businessman Jerry Martin has announced plans to open The Drugs Store, which will allow customers to buy up to 2.5g or heroin, crack and a number of other hard drugs such as methamphetamine.

Our world has become such a strange place, and I am entirely convinced that it is about to get a whole lot stranger.

Ten years on, there seems to be less optimism. Instead of a “post-crisis” moment, it’s more common to talk of a “permacrisis,” of a world buckling under a never-ending cascade of calamity — war, climate catastrophe, energy price chaos, inflation, epidemics of hunger and disease, political instability and widening economic inequity.

This year’s WEF theme, a plaintive appeal to find “cooperation in a fragmented world,” seems more possessed by the ruptures that have already taken place. In a press call with reporters last week, WEF President Borge Brende said the meeting “will happen against the most complex geopolitical and geoeconomic backdrop in decades.”

It comes as Schwab himself will turn 85 years old in March this year, prompting some close to the organisation to seek clarification on who will succeed the arch-globalist at the top of his organisation. Unlike many other organisations throughout the world however, the issue of succession within the WEF is one solely in the leader’s hands, with the group’s charter listing Schwab as having the sole prerogative to choose his own successor.

His non-attendance — alongside inaccurate claims that the WEF's founder, Klaus Schwab, was also not attending his own conference — has fuelled unfounded speculation on social media that Soros' absence was premeditated to avoid a catastrophic event.

Soros' wealth, his Jewish background and the volume of his political and philanthropic donations have made him a prime target for conspiracy theories, many of which center around him being part of a global cabal that seeks to create a new world order.