“Is the French president really sure that supplying the Kiev regime with arms, heavy weapons and aircraft for combat operations will not escalate the situation?” she asked. “I refuse to believe that a grown man can have such logic.”

“Such statements only increase the already irrepressible appetite of Zelensky’s regime, which, by shelling hospitals and massacring civilians, has clearly demonstrated that Western military injections — how did Mr Macron put it? — will not lead to an escalation of the conflict. Well, of course, they ‘give’ peace. Obviously these planes are going to be used to drop cookies and candy,” she added sarcastically.

Trump then talked about how he got along with world leaders like North Korea’s Kim Jong-un or the leader of the Taliban.

Trump said: “We’re going to make America great again. And we are going to do it. First, we have to make America safe again. It’s not safe. We don’t have a safe country anymore. You know, in Afghanistan, I was very tough on Afghanistan. I spoke to the leader, Abdul. The fake news went crazy; “Why would you call the Taliban?” — because that’s where, remember Jesse James, “why do you rob the banks?” He said, “that’s where the money is.”

Why do you call the leaders of the Taliban? That’s where the problem was, right? And Abdul and I got along very nicely. They hate when I say that I got along with Kim Jong-un very nicely. Isn’t that good that I get along with him, right?”

Trump then warned that Biden’s leadership could drag America into a third world war with North Korea, Russia, and other global powers.

But there’s one key country that won’t benefit from China’s world-leading solar panel exports: The United States. And that’s entirely because of sanctions that Washington imposed on Chinese solar panels and the outright ban on solar energy components from China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region over forced labor allegations. The US has yet to provide one shred of concrete evidence to back up its human rights scare campaign in Xinjiang – and the majority of the international community, including every major Muslim country, hasn’t bought into it.

In effect, the US is stifling its own green energy development through self-imposed roadblocks, eg the sanctions against Chinese solar panels and polysilicon, and casting serious doubts about whether or not Washington could ever reach its own carbon neutrality goals. The US has, through these sanctions, blocked itself from major global supply chains in the solar industry – and it is highly doubtful that domestic manufacturing could ever compensate for this loss.

One of those leading charge against this obvious price-gouging has been Independent US Senator Bernie Sanders who notes – in addition to the fact that US taxpayers bankrolled the entire research and development of the vaccine to the tune of $1.7 billion and guaranteed billions of dollars in sales figures across the world – is the fact that it only costs $2.85 to produce a single dose.

It shows the unbridled greed of Big Pharma and the US capitalist class in general, who are willing to price out poor and working-class Americans from a potentially life-saving drug.

The clinic will provide free religious medication abortion care to women in the state. The Satanic Temple announces the launch of its first reproductive health clinic, which will provide free religious medication abortion care in New Mexico. TST Health, The Satanic Temple’s religious medical services arm, will provide telehealth screenings and appointments and prescribe abortion medication for its patients.

The Satanic Temple hopes to expand operations into other states, including those that do not allow clinicians to perform abortions. “TST is proud to expand reproductive options for our members. This is just the beginning,” said Erin Helian, Executive Director of Campaigns. “We will remain steadfast as we continue the fight to uphold reproductive justice in the United States.” The Satanic Temple has argued its abortion ritual is exempt from restrictions and bans because the procedure is an essential part of religious practice.

Downing Street warned Brits the strike would cause “significant disruption”. Thousands of schools have been closed – around 85 per cent of schools in England and Wales are said to be affected – and most trains in England have stopped running.

British nurses are on strike over pay, testing a health care system in crisis. “Walkout Wednesday,” is how the Daily Mail described the strikes, calling it a “general strike in all but name.” The Sun tabloid dubbed the disruption “Lockdown 2023.” It’s not just garbage men. There are university professors, doctors, firefighters, ambulance drivers, everyone is on strike, much more reach of the economy.

This new network will also let Israel double the amount of water it sells to neighbouring Jordan under a broader water-for-energy deal forged through a working, though often fractious, relationship. The Sea of Galilee, whose waters Christians believe Jesus walked upon, is Israel's main reservoir and a big tourist draw. Hotels and campsites line the perimeter encircled by lush hills. It feeds the Jordan River that flows south to the Dead Sea.

The refill system may be used more frequently with water exports to Jordan on the rise, he said. It can raise the lake's level by half a metre each year, according to Mekorot. Water was a major component in the peace treaty the neighbours signed in 1994. The arrangement was for Israel to supply Jordan with 50 million cubic meters of drinkable water a year. That was doubled in late 2021.

He repeats the Western propaganda meme that Russian is sending untrained conscripts to the front but then, based on his personal observation, bluntly states that Ukraine is sending 60 year old, untrained, ill-equipped conscripts (ie, guys grabbed off the street) into the meat grinder.

He tries to put a gloss on Ukraine’s prospects for victory, but when you listen to him tick off the corruption, the poor leadership, the lack of supplies, incompetent commanders and stupid battle tactics a clear picture of a Ukrainian Army on the brink of destruction emerges.

“The average person in the UK consumes more than half of their daily energy intake from ultra-processed foods. This is exceptionally high and concerning as ultra-processed foods are produced with industrially derived ingredients and often use food additives to adjust color, flavor, consistency, texture, or extend shelf life,” says study first author Dr Kiara Chang from Imperial College London’s School of Public Health in a media release.

“Our bodies may not react the same way to these ultra-processed ingredients and additives as they do to fresh and nutritious minimally processed foods. However, ultra-processed foods are everywhere and highly marketed with cheap price and attractive packaging to promote consumption. This shows our food environment needs urgent reform to protect the population from ultra-processed foods.”

Still, nearly a year since the invasion began, Russia is still regarded by many as a formidable military power and a dire threat, not only to Ukraine itself but also to Europe as a whole. This continues to be the predominant lesson drawn from the Russian military’s decision to invade what is — the European part of Russia aside — Europe’s largest country in land area and one of its most populous.

Driving this widespread assumption is the misguided notion that Europe is simply incapable of defending itself without the help of the United States and that in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine the US military presence has to be beefed up — which it has. This belief is pervasive in the corridors of power in Washington and Europe and was reiterated most recently by Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in December.

Today, however, this view is flat-out wrong. Consider some of the standard metrics used to compare countries’ military potential: GDP, population, defense spending, and level of technological advancement. They all show that Russia is far weaker than the 27-member European Union and that the balance of potential power indisputably favors Europe. At no point since the end of the Cold War has Russia’s economy amounted to more than 15 percent of Europe’s GDP — in 2021, Russia’s $1.8 trillion GDP was a fraction of the European Union’s $17 trillion.

When it comes to technology, Russia ranks 44th on the list of the world’s most technologically advanced countries, and as tech-savvy Russians leave the country to escape the military draft, it wouldn’t be surprising if its ranking has dropped further. Russia has one-third the population of the EU — and within that population, a sizable chunk of the working-age Russian men who haven’t fled are being conscripted and killed at the front.

The US-European security relationship has therefore become progressively divorced from reality. If it is to change, what Europe needs is not more resources but greater political will and self-confidence. Washington, for its part, must jettison the axiom that it has no choice but to serve as Europe’s perpetual protector par excellence. These changes will take time — but they can begin now.

Germany´s annual inflation rate rolled back from a peak of 10.4% in October to 8.6% in December, but galloping prices remain a major headache. A potential energy crunch following Russia´s invasion of Ukraine and the end of its gas supplies to Germany also was a concern last year. But Germany´s network regulator said earlier this month that a gas shortage was “increasingly unlikely” this winter.

Israel’s government seems to know what most in our government do not. The best way to prevent mass murders is to arm MORE law-abiding citizens. According to Fox News: Israel is poised to speed up gun applications in response to a shooting in East Jerusalem over the weekend that left seven people – including a 70-year-old woman – dead. The measure was among several that Israel’s Security Cabinet announced Saturday evening.

“Firearm licensing will be expedited and expanded in order to enable thousands of additional citizens to carry weapons,” read a statement on the Facebook page of the Prime Minister of Israel.

What a novel idea! Of course, there’s nothing novel about it, but the indoctrinated masses around us in America likely couldn’t fathom such a solution. Perhaps it’s time for patriots to stop being defensive by telling the left not to take our guns. Perhaps it’s time to educate those around us about the benefits of having more “good guys with guns” on America’s streets.

Other NATO powers have been blunt with the British government, with a “high-ranking US general” reportedly telling the British defence secretary, Ben Wallace, that Britain was no longer on the level of tier-one powers like America, China, and Russia, but “barely tier two” — the level of countries like the neutered former Axis powers Germany and Italy.

“We have a wartime prime minister and a wartime chancellor,” one British defence source emphasised, referring to Rishi Sunak and his de facto finance minister, Jeremy Hunt. “History will look back at the choices they make in the coming weeks as fundamental to whether this government genuinely believes that its primary duty is the defence of the realm or whether that is just a slogan to be given lip service,” they added.

Tobias Ellwood, a senior Conservative Party backbencher who heads the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, conceded that years of cutbacks had left the armed forces in a “dire state”. “Our army is simply too small, we have cut down by 10,000 troops,” he told Sky News. “It is up to the Treasury and Number 10” — the Prime Minister’s residence and office — “to recognise the world is changing — we are now at war in Europe, we need to move to a war footing,” he said.

These two examples are fairly innocuous, but then on that same day as the latter tweet, another series of posts followed. One of them said simply, “American manufacturing is back.” Another was official confirmation of news that the US is now sending 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, which he described as “evidence of our enduring and unflagging commitment to Ukraine and our confidence in the skill of Ukrainian forces.”

The latter was important because it represents a major escalation of US involvement in the conflict in the Eastern European country. Only a handful of countries have been graced with this weapons system, and the US is sending an entire battalion's worth of them to Ukraine. It's an indication that there are potentially no limits to what Washington is willing to give Kiev.

It leads naturally to questions of whether high-end American warplanes or surface-to-surface missiles will end up in Ukraine. It also leaves us to ponder what these systems would be used for. For example, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would defend Russian territory, including Crimea, “by any means necessary”. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have vowed to retake the peninsula.

So Biden’s tank announcement – which follows a string of others by Western capitals – shows the potential for a war that could span well outside of Eastern Europe and go global. It could even mean outright nuclear annihilation. That is a truly terrifying prospect, especially for those of us in close proximity to the action right now.

Pope Francis’ visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and his ecumenical pilgrimage to South Sudan are powerful examples of the role faith can play in peace building. In an historic first, Francis will be joined in South Sudan by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In this podcast, Christopher Lamb, The Tablet’s Rome Correspondent, spoke to Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States (foreign minister) about the trip.

“The people of DRC have suffered so much loss. For over 30 years, we’ve had pain, heartbreak all caused by war,” said Bernard Balibno, who is the lead official for Cafod in the country. “That is why the visit of Pope Francis is so important. It is a sign of great hope for my country.” He continued: “His visit has already touched the hearts of so many. It gives us hope of peace and healing. Our people want peace, we cannot take any more suffering or war. I, along with so many in my country, hope the [Pope's] visit will bring us toward the lasting peace we deserve.” Francis will be in DR Congo from 31 January to 3 February and in South Sudan from 3 February to 5 February.