USA - ‘Net Zero’, what does it mean? Does anyone know? Who dreamt-up this slogan? Put together, these two words don’t actually have any meaning. ‘Net’ is usually used as a shortened form of ‘netto’ (netto/brutto) a term used in accountancy describing a sum of money remaining after tax or expenses have been deducted. So what could ‘Net Zero’ possibly mean? That nothing will be left once zero carbon has been achieved? The term seems to ape, no doubt for good reason, the one chosen to describe the blackened hole in the ground left after the devastation of 9/11: Ground Zero.
CANADA - Dr Susan Bradley, who helped pioneer “gender affirming care” in Canada, has now spoken against the popular model of “gender affirming care” by placing children on puberty blockers, according to an interview with the Daily Caller. Dr Bradley founded the Child and Adolescent Gender Identity clinic in Toronto, Canada in 1975 and began to issue puberty blockers to children around the early 2000s. Prior to the medication, she used more traditional forms of therapy such as talking with her patients. In her interview with the Daily Caller, Dr Bradley stated in regards to the puberty blocker medication:
EUROPE - Europe’s worst-kept secret is that the Germans ultimately decide everything. “I’ll never forget how all the other member states held back in anticipation, waiting to see what the Germans would do,” a senior UK official, recalling his time in Brussels, recently told a private dinner of MPs and other German officials in Berlin. The recollection was meant as a compliment, one the official hoped would ingratiate him with the Germans around the table. Sad thing is it worked.
CHINA - Xi Jinping vowed in a speech at the conclusion of China’s annual legislative sessions on Monday that the Communist Party would seek a more prominent role on the world stage pursuing the “reform and construction of the global governance system.” China under his third tenure as president – to which he was unanimously “elected” by the National People’s Congress (NPC), the federal-level legislature, last week – Xi said, would work to “create a favorable international environment for our country’s development.”
USA - First Republic is cut to junk status by S&P - as shares of Big Four US banks wipe out yesterday's gains and Credit Suisse stock plunges over 25% to record low after SVB collapse. Wall Street's main stock indexes opened lower on Wednesday, as turmoil at Credit Suisse renewed fears of a banking crisis and sent shares of major US banks lower. At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 396 points, or 1.23 percent, while the S&P 500 opened 1.09 percent lower and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.20 percent.
UK - HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn announced the acquisition of the Silicon Valley Bank UK unit for £1. HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn said the acquisition makes “excellent strategic sense” for the bank’s UK business and strengthens its commercial banking franchise and enhances the ability to serve innovative and fast-growing firms, including in the technology and life-science sectors, in the UK and internationally.
USA - Credit ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service downgraded its outlook for the US banking system on Tuesday after the rapid declines and collapses of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate Bank in recent days. The prominent ratings agency said it “changed to negative from stable our outlook on the US banking system to reflect the rapid deterioration in the operating environment following deposit runs at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate Bank, and Signature Bank (SNY) and the failures of SVB and SNY,” Moody’s said in a Monday afternoon report. “Operating conditions have sharply deteriorated,” it also said in a note, according to multiple news outlets.
ISRAEL - Three months have passed since the current government was established, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to receive an invitation to the White House to meet with US President Joe Biden. On Tuesday, after receiving the requests of several government ministers to travel to the United States, Netanyahu allegedly issued a response clarifying that they were not to make the trip until he himself has received an official invitation.
USA - Troubling new research finds the majority of foods purchased by Americans (60%) contain any number of artificial additives such as preservatives, sweeteners, and coloring or flavoring agents. Even worse, these levels represent a 10-percent increase since 2001. The study makes a strong case that the prevalence of food additives is on the rise in a major way.
GERMANY - At the current “sluggish” pace, it could take 50 years to modernize, a parliamentary report has said. The German Armed Forces remain underequipped, underfunded and too slow in dealing with problems, a report on the state of the Bundeswehr has found. While many of the issues have been known for years, “shockingly little” has been done to address some of them despite the crisis in Ukraine, it noted. The document was produced by the office of Eva Hogl, the German parliament’s commissioner for the Bundeswehr, who submitted it to the legislature’s President Barbel Bas on Tuesday.
CHINA - Last week, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced a landmark deal, brokered by China in Beijing, to formally restore diplomatic relations. The agreement saw the two sectarian arch rivals in the Middle East agree to put aside their differences and to normalize ties. It was the first ever deal of its kind overseen by China, framing itself as a peacemaker, and showing that its commitment to have good relations with every country in the region is not just based on rhetoric but actual substance. Some have described it as a sign of a “changing global order.”
USA - Credit Suisse is facing the same fate as the once-mighty Lehman Brothers, the renowned economist warns. Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse will be the next to go bust following the failure of a number of US banks amid the unfolding financial crisis, according to economist Robert Kiyosaki, who predicted the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
GERMANY - German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has named Major General Carsten Breuer as the new head of Germany's armed forces, German media reported Monday. Breuer, 59, is replacing General Eberhard Zorn, 63, who had come under fire for his flawed analysis of Russian and Ukrainian military capabilities. Breuer gained renown for leading Germany's pandemic crisis response team from November 2021 to 2022. His ascent to the role of "general inspector" of the Bundeswehr will make him the highest-ranking soldier in the country.
GERMANY - German Green Party Parliamentary Foreign Policy Spokesperson Jürgen Trittin, predicts that, in the fall, the West will put heavy pressure on Ukraine to negotiate with Russia to end the war. The US administration recently sent out signals to this effect, Trittin reported. It would be unwise to continue the support for Kiev in the coming presidential elections, due to a change of mood within the US population. While this is an indication that Kiev must change course, several countries outside the transatlantic West are intensifying their mediation for a ceasefire.
GERMANY - Germany is rapidly descending into “eco-dictatorship” under the country’s Green minister for economics, an expert has claimed. Professor Manuel Frondel, a member of the RWI Essen (Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, Essen) think-tank, has lashed out at Robert Habeck, Germany’s economics and climate change minister, saying that the country is devolving into an “eco-dictatorship” under his watch.
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The views expressed in this section are not our own, unless specifically stated, but are provided to highlight what may prove to be prophetically relevant material appearing in the media.