USA - An Iowa lawmaker has demanded that Governor Kim Reynolds remove the Satanic display from the Iowa Capitol building. Brad Sherman doesn't just want to remove the Satanic, mirrored, caped statue of Baphomet, complete with a black and red "holiday wreath" with a pentagram in the center, but wants to make sure nothing like this happens again. The display was placed by the Iowa chapter of the Satanic Temple. Sherman called the display "disgusting."

USA - Ford slashes electric F-150 plans in ominous sign for EV market. Ford Motor Co is cutting 2024 production goals in half for its F-150 Lightning plug-in pickup truck — its signature electric vehicle — due to slowing demand for battery-powered models.

USA - It’s nearly 2024 and there’s a two-month-plus supply of cars – many of them 2023 models – waiting to be sold before they become last year’s models. Most of these waiting-to-be-sold models are electric cars that aren’t selling because (drum roll, please) buyers don’t want them. Never before in the history of the car business has the cart been put before the horse – as it has when it comes to electric cars.

USA - How Trail Life USA Aims to Solve the ‘Boy Crisis’. Trail Life USA isn’t just a Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts; it’s an answer to the deep crisis affecting boys in America. “We’re growing boys into godly men,” Mark Hancock, the scouting organization’s CEO, tells The Daily Signal Podcast. “We’ve discovered a proven process for turning boys into godly men, and it involves four things.” Hancock, today’s guest on the podcast, diagnoses four major problems American boys face: They are unguided, ungrounded, unappreciated, and uninspired.

DUBAI - The UN climate talks in Dubai could be in jeopardy after some nations reacted furiously to a draft deal on fossil fuels they call "weak". The draft removed language included in a previous text suggesting that fossil fuels could be "phased out". All 198 countries at the summit must agree or there is no deal. A new amended version of the text is expected to be issued on Tuesday so that negotiations can continue.

MIDDLE EAST - A missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels slammed into a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen near a key maritime chokepoint, the rebels and authorities said Tuesday. The assault on the oil and chemical tanker Strinda expands a campaign by the Iranian-backed rebels targeting ships close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into now striking those that have no clear ties to Israel. The move potentially imperils cargo and energy shipments coming through the Suez Canal and further widens the international impact of the Israel-Hamas war now raging in the Gaza Strip.

GERMANY - Germany may have to wage a defensive war against Russia in the future, German televisions news program Tagesschau reported on December 9, citing Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) Inspector General Carsten Breuer. Breuer expressed concern about Russia's rearmament and the behavior of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, saying there will be no return to the times before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Germany will have to get used to the idea "that one day we might have to fight a defensive war," he said. Asked whether the Bundeswehr would be able to cope with a possible Russian attack on NATO after the war in Ukraine, Breuer replied, "Yes. Period. We have no alternative. We can defend ourselves and we will defend ourselves."

COLOMBIA - World economy on 'brink of collapse' as new Cold War risks 'annihilating' free trade. International Monetary Fund (IMF) deputy managing director Gita Gopinath issued the warning at an economic forum in Colombia. Free trade could be "annihilated" with world economy on the "brink of collapse" if the world sinks into a new Cold War it has been warned. Gita Gopinath, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said "growing fault lines" such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and tensions between China and the US had caused shifts in the way the world did business.

CHINA - The world's second biggest economy is suffering from deflation and a crashing property market. As Britain tries to lower its inflation, on the other side of the world, the world's second largest economy is suffering a titanic shift in the economy leading to staggering deflation. In August China's biggest property developer, Country Garden, reported an enormous loss of £5.2billion as the overheated housing market bubble burst. At the same time the country's government made the decision to suspend reporting of youth unemployment levels as the figure reached a record 20 percent. This month credit ratings agency Moodys issued a warning downgrading its assessment of the ability of Chinese authorities to handle the country's debt from stable to negative.

USA - For more than 70 years, obstetricians and gynecologists have relied upon the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) for evidence-based guidance in their practice of medicine. Although ACOG describes itself as “the premier professional membership organization for obstetrician-gynecologists,” it has increasingly deviated in an ideological direction. Many of its members have been forced to a realization that ACOG can no longer be trusted to provide accurate scientific conclusions regarding politicized issues like abortion.

USA - At least six people were killed when tornadoes and severe weather carved a path of destruction across Tennessee Saturday. T​hree of the deaths happened north of Nashville, according to the city's Office of Emergency Management. There were more than two dozen reports of tornadoes across the South Saturday into Saturday night. T​he sheriff's office in Dickson County, Tennessee, about 30 miles west of Nashville, said there was damage in several areas in the northern part of the county. More than 80,000 homes and businesses were without power in the South as the storm system continued its march eastward Sunday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.

OMAN - The crown prince of Oman has met with the Russian president in Moscow. “The unfair world order dominated by the West needs to end”, Omani Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said said on Thursday, while speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Prince Theyazin was in Moscow for the ‘Russia Calling’ Forum hosted by VTB Bank and met with the Russian leader on the sidelines of the investment conference. “I listened very carefully to your opening speech,” said the prince, according to translated remarks published by the Kremlin. “I share all your assessments of the current international situation, primarily with regard to the need to end the current unfair world order and the dominance of the West, as well as to build a new fair world order and economic relations without double standards.”

UNITED NATIONS - Global players may decide that the organization is too Western dominated and look for a new arrangement in the 21st century. The world has entered a period of qualitative change that will irreversibly alter the structure of the international system and usher in a new format for international affairs. Over the past hundred years, humanity has learned some important lessons from situations like the one we’re in now. One of these has been a common understanding of the value of life on the planet and the realization that humanity possesses catastrophic powers of destruction, the imprudent use of which could lead to the death of our species. This common interest continues to unite leading countries in the effort to avoid a global nuclear war and to preserve the general contour of stability in international relations. However, this does not exclude regional and local military flashpoints.

GERMANY - Olaf Scholz has the lowest approval rating for a chancellor since the survey began in 1997. Over four in five Germans (82%) are dissatisfied with the performance of the country’s “traffic light” governing coalition, according to an ARD-DeutschlandTrend poll published on Friday. Chancellor Olaf Scholz received the worst approval rating of any German leader since the survey was first conducted in 1997, with just 20% of respondents evaluating his work as satisfactory, and only 27% believing he can do the job at all.

USA - World War III, cyber-attacks, and economic meltdowns could change life forever; all three scenarios are simmering and ready to explode. Chanukah is underway and Christmas is just a couple of weeks off. Another year will go by the wayside. As we approach December 31, you will hear people chirping on social media that they are glad such a bad year is fading into the rearview mirror and how much they are looking forward to brighter times in 2024. These people are not awake. Don’t get lulled into their fantasyland.