CHINA - Global economy heading for "mother of all" supply chain shocks as China locks down ports. One place where this growth slowdown is emerging ...is China and its "covid-zero" policy in general, and its covid-locked down ports in particular. With sailing schedules already facing delays of about a week, freight forwarders warn of the impact on already back-logged gateways in Europe and the US and is also why HSBC economists are warning that the world economy could be headed for the “mother of all” supply chain shocks if the highly infectious omicron variant which is already swamping much of the global economy spreads across Asia, especially China, at which point disruption to manufacturing will be inevitable. For those who have forgotten last year's global shockwave when China locked down its ports for several days, a quick reminder: it led to an unprecedented hiccup in global logistics and shipping which hasn't been resolved to this day.

CHINA - China and Iran reaffirmed their opposition to the United States’ sanctions against Iran on Friday. At the same time Iran comes out with a video showing the assassination of former President Trump, China and Iran reaffirmed their opposition to the United States sanctions against Iran. In a meeting on Friday in the city of Wuxi, in Jiangsu province, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also backed efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Iran.

USA - The California Department of Education (CDE) agreed last week to remove two religious chants from a state-approved curriculum following a lawsuit filed by the Equal Rights Foundation, individual taxpayers and concerned parents. The disputed program required students to pray to Aztec gods. In addition, the curriculum includes the Ashe Prayer from the Yoruba religion. Yoruba is an ancient spiritual concept that is the root of many pagan religions, including Santeria and Haitian Vodou or Voodoo. Additionally, these chants have a clear significance: a shift away from the Christian God to the establishment of native 'gods' in the so-called social justice hierarchy. "Today is a day of relief," said Jose Velazquez, one of the parents who filed suit against the state. "To know it took a multi-racial coalition of individuals with different backgrounds and beliefs to move a mountain to challenge the state education apparatus. It is up to courageous parents, citizens and organizations to stand up for what's right."

USA - An Illinois school district is defending an after-school program being offered by The Satanic Temple, a national religious and human rights group. Many parents are reportedly furious over the meetings that will be held at Jane Addams Elementary School in Moline. The Satanic Temple does not believe in Satan, according to its website, nor will it attempt to convert children to Satanism. Instead, the club will teach children about benevolence and empathy, critical thinking, problem solving, creative expression and personal sovereignty, according to a widely-circulated flyer shared on social media. Because of a 2001 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Good News Club vs Milford Central School, schools are not allowed to discriminate against religious speech if a religious organization offers a club on their premises.

USA - People “like me” are banned from Washington DC. I’m not certain - is it because I’m a Jew, Republican, or unvaccinated? Maybe all three? Let me make a few significant points here. First, “my body, my choice.” Democrats live and die with that mantra when it comes to murdering innocent children in the womb. Ironically, at this very this moment, Democrats are passing laws to make abortion legal up until the moment of birth. But in DC when it comes to my body, I have no choices. It’s either take an experimental poisonous jab that could cripple or kill me, or I give up my job, my social life, and all of my civil rights.

GERMANY - With the new left-Green German government, a coalition of parties has come to power in Berlin with a checkered history as regards US ally Israel, to put it kindly. The founding generation of the Greens around former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and ‘60s radicals like Dieter Kunzelmann were present at the founding of the PLO and PFLP in 1968/69, and maintained ties to Palestinian terrorists through the Red Army Faction offensive of the 1970s all the way to the current-day NGOs. Today, the Green Party’s Heinrich Böll Foundation funds a number of NGOs with ties to the PFLP, as NGO Monitor has documented extensively. Unfortunately, the Greens have shown no inclination to drop their old 1960s allies at the PFLP.

MIDDLE EAST - Iran and Saudi Arabia are preparing to reopen their respective embassies in Tehran and Riyadh, and will re-establish full diplomatic ties, an Iranian lawmaker has said. Relations between the two major regional powers are “being revived” and the embassies are “preparing to open,” Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi, a member of the Iranian parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy tweeted on Saturday. “This has important implications on reducing regional tensions and increasing cohesion of the Muslim world,” he added. He ended by calling on media and security agencies around the world to beware the “depravity of Zionists” and “stupidity of extremists.”

USA - A tsunami warning was put into effect for the US West Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii on Saturday, after a volcano erupted in the South Pacific near the island of Tonga. Videos of the ensuant flooding have been posted on social media. Officials in California told those near coastal areas to move to higher ground, although they said the waves were not expected to reach more than two feet. Residents were warned that “pulses of surging water” could be just as dangerous as high waves, however. Although there was none of the kind of major damage in the US that tsunamis usually create, footage posted online showed flooding in Santa Cruz and Sacramento, and the effect on beachside businesses. The US tsunami warning was issued for not only the entire California coast, but also parts of Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington.

JAPAN - A tsunami warning has been issued for Japan's entire east coast, as well as the southern Amami island and the Takara island chain. A tsunami triggered by the undersea volcanic eruption has already hit the Pacific nation of Tonga and prompted multiple other nations to issue warnings, including the United States and Japan. The eruption was so big it was seen from space. Residents were warned to evacuate from coastal and riverside areas and seek higher ground for the early hours of Sunday, January 16, with waves expected to reach as high as three meters.

SYRIA - Syria’s inclusion in the Belt and Road Initiative is the final act in a long saga against American imperialism that shows how China and Russia can effectively counter US intervention in the future. Damascus officially joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on Wednesday, which will provide a massive lifeline to the country that has been torn to shreds after more than a decade of war and Western sanctions. But more than this, this development has set a precedent that will fundamentally change the geopolitical landscape. This is because the decade-spanning Syrian conflict has hosted several proxy conflicts, which has invariably left the United States and its Western allies the losers.

GERMANY - The new German Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz may have been groomed as a Stasi agent, according to explosive new charges from Germany’s former top spy. Renowned Stasi expert Hubertus Knabe documented Scholz’s intimate involvement with the East German communist party in a recent Dossier. Scholz was vice-chair of the Young Socialists 1982 to 1988 and opposed Reagan’s arms build-up in response to the Soviet Union’s deployment of mid-range SS-20 nukes. West Germany was faced with a “right-wing shift” which would mean “complete submission under the US imperialist strategy of global offensives,” Scholz wrote in the Magazine for Socialist Politics and Economics 1982.

USA - Prices are rising at levels not seen for 40 years. Pile that on top of the pandemic, racial tensions, and bitter political divisions, and America could be in for a lot of social unrest. Even as the US reels under the assault of the Omicron variant that has pushed Covid cases to record levels, Americans aren’t worried so much about their health as they are about their pocketbooks, as inflation surges. A December survey of voters revealed that 68% of Americans mentioned the economy as one of their top concerns, while only 37% named Covid.

USA - Slavoj Zizek, the “most dangerous philosopher in the West,” joined Tara Reade on her RT podcast ‘The Politics of Survival’ to discuss the censorship that is currently growing and happening on both sides of the political aisle. New forms of “de facto censorship” are appearing today, Zizek told Reade during their wide-ranging conversation, and much of it is beginning to come from liberals, who are introducing an “even worse censorship” hidden under the guise of “progressive” politics.

GERMANY - “Germany is home to outstanding aerospace expertise and innovation and we look forward to expanding our partnerships locally for Germany’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler fleet,” said Dr Michael Haidinger, president of Boeing Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, Benelux and the Nordics. “With this partner expansion strategy, we are laying the foundation for new business opportunities for German industry champions, high-skilled new jobs and long-term economic growth.” With the lowest operating costs of all US tactical aircraft in production ($19,500 USD / €17,000 per flight hour, source: US DoD Special Acquisition Report), combined with low procurement costs, the Super Hornet saves billions of dollars/Euros over its entire service life of +10,000 flight hours. This makes the Super Hornet the most cost-effective solution for the German Luftwaffe.

USA - Another 1,000 military health workers are deploying to six US states to help hospitals overwhelmed by a surge in Omicron-related COVID-19 cases, the White House said on Thursday. The teams of between seven and 25 military doctors, nurses and other personnel will begin arriving in Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island next week to support emergency rooms and allow hospital staff to continue with other care, a White House official said. "The number one request continues to be staffing," Criswell told CNN, adding that other states would likely need reinforcements of military and other federal doctors and nurses to help with COVID-19 and other care as the Omicron wave envelops the country.