USA - A full Russian invasion of Ukraine would spread global conflict and could be the trigger for World War Three, a Ukrainian government minister warned today. Yuliia Laputina, the minister for veterans affairs, said that her country was prepared to defend itself should Moscow launch another attack on Ukraine. But she warned that the consequences of an invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin would be far-reaching, and would not be contained in her country. 'If Russia will invade you know, you should also take care about the Balkans. What Russians are doing now in Serbia - they try to provoke a situation in the Balkans,' she told Sky News in an interview on Thursday. 'But we also take into account [the beginning of] World War Three.' Her comments came as EU leaders were set to warn Russia that hostile action against Ukraine would come at a 'high price' in a message expected to be agreed during a European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday. Meanwhile, Russia said on Thursday it was ready to send a government negotiator 'at any moment' to start talks with the United States on the security guarantees it is seeking in order to defuse the crisis over Ukraine.

USA - What Americans believe when it comes to matters of faith has been shifting for decades, and the latest National Public Opinion Reference Survey conducted by Pew Research Center seems to indicate that the pace of change is accelerating. Today, the percentage of Americans that identify as Christians is the lowest that it has ever been before, and the percentage of Americans that identify as “nones” is at a new all-time record high.

VATICAN - Pope Francis claimed the EU "risks dying" as he thrusted the bloc's future under the spotlight in a throwback speech. ...He has hit out at the EU and the direction it has found itself moving in. In 2017, his strongest words came when he suggested that the bloc "risks dying" without a new vision. The Pope was speaking in Rome at an EU summit to highlight the 60th anniversary of the bloc’s foundation. In an address to European leaders, he claimed the EU faced a "vacuum of values" and was losing its "sense of direction". He said: "When a body loses its sense of direction and is no longer able to look ahead, it experiences a regression and, in the long run, risks dying." It was not the only time the Pope would criticise Brussels. This month, he slammed controversial efforts by the European Commission to make official communications more inclusive, comparing recently withdrawn guidelines on using terms like "Christmas" and "Christian" to the actions of historic dictatorships. He said: "In history many, many dictatorships have tried to do this kind of thing. Think of Napoleon … think of the Nazi dictatorship, the communist one."

USA - The richest man in the world does not own a house and has recently been selling off his fortune. He tosses satellites into orbit and harnesses the sun; he drives a car he created that uses no gas and barely needs a driver. With a flick of his finger, the stock market soars or swoons. An army of devotees hangs on his every utterance. He dreams of Mars as he bestrides Earth, square-jawed and indomitable.

ISRAEL - Israel asked the Biden administration last week to speed up the delivery of refueling tankers that could prove critical to striking Iran’s nuclear facilities, but it was told that the aircraft were back-ordered and it was unlikely that its first one would be ready until late 2024, according to US and Israeli officials. In March, Israel ordered the new KC-46 tankers, which would be used to refuel its bombers in the air, allowing them to reach their targets in Iran and return. The request came amid new tensions between Washington and Jerusalem over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program.

IRAN - An intensification of the Israeli military threats against Iran seems to suggest that the Zionist regime has forgotten that Iran is more than capable of hitting them from anywhere. The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said on Tuesday that Israel’s strike on Syria is “a direct message” to Iran. The chief of staff of the Israeli army has also accepted to increase the number of troops in the air force and the intelligence branch of the Israeli army to prepare for an attack on Iran, according to the Israeli media outlets.

ISRAEL - Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told reporters that he notified US officials during meetings in Washington last week that he ordered the Israeli Defense Forces to prepare to attack Iran. The order he gave was to “prepare for the Iranian challenge at the operational level,” Gantz said on the sidelines of a conference in Miami, Florida, that was held Friday. A senior Israeli military source told The Times of Israel that Gantz might have presented a timeline to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin when an Israeli attack could take place. The Israelis have been pushing hard for the Biden administration to abandon indirect negotiations with Iran to revive the nuclear deal that are ongoing in Vienna. Gantz and other officials want the US to expand sanctions and prepare military operations, and it appears that the Americans are listening.

USA - Despite presenting itself to the public as the arbiter of truth and guarantor of factually-accurate information, guarding users against “fake news” and “misinformation,” Facebook has admitted in court that its “fact checks” of information — frequently aimed at conservatives — are nothing more than statements of opinion. The bombshell emerged from Facebook’s court battle with John Stossel, who is suing the company for defamation over its decision to add “fact check” labels to the libertarian pundit’s videos about climate change.

USA - The House and the Senate both voted to raise the debt limit helping avert a first-time default by the US as the clock ticks down on the government's ability to pay its bills. This comes after months of fighting between Democrats and Republicans over raising the debt limit and spending in Washington. The bill now goes to President Biden's desk for signature. The resolution introduced in the Senate on Tuesday to raise the debt limit by $2.5 trillion passed along party lines, 50 to 49. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said this would mean Congress won't have to fight about raising the debt limit again until 2023 — beyond the midterm elections.

USA - In countries across the globe, democratic norms and civil liberties have deteriorated, while populists have enjoyed surprising success at the ballot box. Newly democratic nations have struggled, while more-established, once self-assured democracies have stumbled, exposing long-simmering weaknesses in their social fabrics and institutional designs. For many, democracy is not delivering; people like democracy, but their commitment to it is often not very strong; political and social divisions are amplifying the challenges of contemporary democracy; and people want a stronger public voice in politics and policymaking. In part, the current moment of anxiety about liberal democracy is linked to frustration with how democratic societies are functioning. Pew Research Center surveys have consistently found large shares of the public in many countries saying they are dissatisfied with the way their democracy is working. And for many, this dissatisfaction is leading to a desire for political change.

GERMANY - Germany’s new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has said the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia can’t be launched yet because it doesn’t meet EU energy requirements and “safety” concerns are outstanding. Baerbock, a Green politician who assumed her role in the Foreign Ministry this week, discussed the fate of the multinational project in an interview with the broadcaster ZDF on Sunday. She insisted it still hadn’t met all that was required for it to be certified. “As things stand at the moment, this pipeline cannot be approved because it does not meet the requirements of European energy law, and the safety issues are still on the table,” she said. The Greens have openly opposed the pipeline and, during the recent election campaign and called for a halt to its construction. Their coalition partners from the social-democratic SPD have been more reserved in expressing their opinion of the project.

USA - After CPI's rise last week (which was somehow briefly seen as 'good' news because it was lower than a wild whisper number), Producer Prices tore up the narrative this morning printing a record breaking 9.6% YoY [year on year] rise (smashing expectations of +9.2% and well above the +8.6% YoY print for October)… And judging by the exploding pipeline for producer prices, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better…

USA - Precious Metals Specialist Phillip Patrick joined Steve Bannon on The War Room on Tuesday. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday that the producer price inflation jumped 9.6% year over year in November. The Pelosi-Biden gang is working overtime to destroy the US dollar and punish working-class Americans. The War Room discussion revolved around the historic inflation number released this morning. According to Phillip Patrick, the US dollar has lost 40 percent of its value since 2000. This is a shocking number. Phillip Patrick: look at the results. A dollar in January 2000 is worth about 60¢ today. Which means in the past 21 years inflation has eroded 40% of the buying power of our dollar… It’s absurd. By the way, 40% since January of 2000. 10% of that loss has happened in the last 12 months. Democrats don’t care. They are going to pass another disastrous socialist spending bill by Christmas thanks to Republicans in the US Senate.

USA - Over two dozen US Air Force service members have been discharged for refusing to get vaccinated against Covid-19 – the first in the US military to be punished over President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate. The 27 airmen who had been discharged from the force for missing the vaccination deadline were “younger, lower-ranking personnel” and were serving their first term of enlistment, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told the media on Monday. Unlike others in the US military who have sought religious and medical exemptions from the mandate, the dismissed airmen did not seek any exemptions, she claimed. Their reason for discharge was officially disobeying an order, however it is not clear whether they received honorable discharges. Reports indicate that as many as 40,000 US military personnel have refused vaccination against Covid-19 or sought an exemption – roughly 3% of troops.

USA - President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies have consistently said that Biden’s ‘Build Back Better Plan’ will add zero dollars to the deficit. This — of course — is mathematically impossible, but the Democratic party and their pals in the media have repeated it often enough in hopes it becomes true. On Monday, The Wall Street Journal editorial board issued a blistering column, explaining why the true cost of the BBB plan is at least $3 trillion over a 10-year span of time and calling the claim zero dollars the “lie of the year”: We’ve been telling you for months that the plan’s advertised cost of $1.75 trillion over 10 years includes multiple budget gimmicks that disguise the real cost. The Penn Wharton Budget Model has scored the 10-year cost at about $4.6 trillion, but the White House keeps claiming against all evidence that the cost is “zero.” Do we really have any men or women in Congress that have the courage to act for the American people? It’s not Build Back Better – it’s the lie of the year.