In the wake of the most drastic sanctions ever placed on a nation, Russia's economy is a modern miracle. However, in the Western press, Vladimir Putin's administration is on borrowed time economically and in every other facet of progress. However, the reality is that Russia's economy is growing three times faster than that of the Eurozone.

Ursula von der Leyen and her colleagues in the EU shot off both feet when the bloc followed Washington's lead. This, and other boneheaded measures, reveal to all the world that European leadership are nothing more than modern satraps to the American empire. They may as well be viceroys or chieftains of the Achaemenid Empire, doing what they are told or else. But their loyalties and temperaments are not the story here; their malfeasance against the interests of their own people is.

According to some Western analysts, Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 1.5 percent in 2024. By comparison, expectations for the Eurozone economy's growth next year are a mere 0.5 percent. This is by analysis from Russia's enemy, if we can finally use this term. Like the previous year, these estimates do not match what's happening in Russia. Recently, Vladimir Putin said that Russia's economic growth was set to exceed 3% this year, slightly better than previous official forecasts. And there's no reason to underestimate the "miracle" Putin's administration has managed to pull out of the hat.

Looking at the EU's most powerful economy, this miraculous Russian trend seems almost unbelievable. With economic activity in Germany expected to decline by 0.3% in 2023 and Luxembourg's growth for 2023 coming in at half what it was in 2022, we see a grim picture for the people and businesses of the EU. To make this reality sting more for Ursula von der Leyen and her benefactors, most of the economic decline in the EU is because of the loss of Russia as a trade partner, investment source, and energy provider. Western experts predict that real GDP will grow by 2.4 percent (1.6% - according to OECD) in the United States in 2023 and then fall to 0.8 percent in 2024. For Americans, this means the people have not seen the worst of the disastrous Biden Administration's executive idiocy yet.

A number of serious commentators - one being U.S. Professor Victor Hanson - are warning: "Brace yourself for what's coming in 2024". Hansen sees bad omens darkening the future.

Is he exaggerating? Perhaps not.

One cannot but notice how bad tempered Americans and Europeans generally have become. Calm, reasoned discussion of issues is gone; Yelling, emotivism and 'othering' is commonplace; something bad is coming. A gut feeling, Tucker Carlson says. "There are "angry people who feel like they have no recourse, who don't think elections are real...".

What might these commentators be suggesting?

Well, they are explicit on one point: the West has been sinking beneath the waves of its' Cultural Revolution - the deliberate cancelling of virtues and legacies of traditional civilization, to be replaced by a cultural hierarchy that upends and inverts the societal paradigm that is close to conquering all.

The unanswered question: Why has western society been so supine, so unreflectively supportive to the sheering away of its civilisational ethos? This must be the first revolution in which half of society knows and sees well there is a revolution, and the other half seem too distracted, or simply have not noticed. There is no simple answer to this conundrum.

But most just don't see it; they cannot admit the Revolution's objective (though it is not hidden) is that these well-to-do members of middle classes are precisely the ones (and not the elites) that the cultural revolution seeks to displace, and to sanction (as redress for historic discrimination and racism). Not for who they are now, but for what their ancestors may have been.

The White House has issued a blunt warning that the US is set to run out of funds to aid Ukraine by the end of the year, saying that a failure by Congress to approve new support would "kneecap" Kyiv.

The alert from Shalanda Young, the White House budget director, in a letter to congressional leaders on Monday, represented the most specific assessment yet of Washington's waning financial and military support for Ukraine.

"Without congressional action, by the end of the year we will run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from US military stocks," Young wrote to political leaders of both parties.

China and Western-sanctioned Belarus have pledged to strengthen "strategic coordination", as their heads of state met in Beijing on Monday.

Referring to President Alexander Lukashenko as "an old friend", Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the two countries would improve relations in a range of areas, from industrial cooperation to cross-border transport.

China would also strengthen coordination with Belarus on multilateral mechanisms, including the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, of which Belarus is expected to become a permanent member next year.

"China is willing to continue strengthening strategic coordination with Belarus, support each other resolutely, promote pragmatic cooperation, and continue deepening our bilateral relations," state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

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Israel's ongoing, shocking obliteration of Gaza is truly of 'biblical' proportions. The Israeli regime has already killed more Palestinians in the past six weeks than it killed during the Nakba ('catastrophe') that initially 'shaped' Israel in 1948-9. We say 'biblical' not just because, like the war in Ukraine, it looks set to generate another wave of refugees, and not just because it could potentially ignite a wider Middle East war. This war is 'biblical' because it's not really a war, but rather a shockingly inhuman, AI-powered, hi-tech orgy of atavistic terrorism - a viciously cruel military bombardment of a defenseless civilian population.

In a grotesque perversion of scripture, Israeli PM Netanyahu claims that, "We [Israelis] are sons of light, they [Palestinians] are sons of darkness," whereas, in fact, he is a modern-day mad 'king' leading a real-world 'massacre of the innocents', of children, all of whom are being sacrificed for his career and 'legacy'.

We cannot speak for the unfathomable suffering of Gazans, but the contrived events of October 7th and Israel's subsequent 'revenge' have been something of a 'test' of all people: who has a conscience, and who does not? Who Sees the crux of the matter, beyond ideological superficiality and what the Israeli regime claims happened outside Gaza on October 7th?

'Left vs Right' tribalism, as we've observed recently, isn't much of a guide in matters of Truth, and of the heart. Many on the erstwhile 'conservative-christian' Right, in cheering this, certainly appear to have 'gone over to the Dark Side'. But as appalling as it is that this is happening, with nothing being done to stop it, the 'cost' for the perpetrators is the exposure of their nature for all the world to see. The burst of 'truth-telling' this has spurred on social media and in public discourse generally (with the possible exception of the vaccine mandates) is unprecedented.

Israel will seek a "security envelope" with special zones and arrangements that will prevent Hamas from being positioned on its border after the war in Gaza is over, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday.

On Friday, Reuters reported that Israel has informed several Arab states that it wants to carve out a buffer zone on the Palestinian side of Gaza's border to prevent future attacks as part of proposals for the coastal enclave after the war ends.

Asked whether Israel was indeed seeking such a buffer zone, senior adviser Mark Regev told reporters: "Israel will have to have a security envelope. We can never again allow terrorists to cross the border and butcher our people the way they did on October 7."

President Putin's decree takes number of Russian service personnel to 1.32 million amid continuing Ukraine war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the country's military to increase the maximum number of troops by nearly 170,000 people, as Moscow's invasion of Ukraine continues into its 22nd month.

Putin's decree was released by the Kremlin on Friday and took force immediately. It brings the strength of the armed forces to 1.32 million service personnel and increases the overall number of Russian military personnel to about 2.2 million.

"The increase in the full-time strength of the armed forces is due to the growing threats to our country associated with the special military operation and the ongoing expansion of NATO," the Russian Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Rishi Sunak's attendance comes after he scaled back pledges to help the UK reach net zero by 2050...

King Charles gave a call to arms in his Cop28 climate summit opening statement, as Rishi Sunak expressed delight over the monarch's record championing the issue.

Sunak said it was a "proud moment" for him to witness Charles deliver his speech on Friday, which "speaks volumes about our type of leadership as a country".

"We've got our head of state there, delivering a call to arms in the opening statement, which speaks volumes about the respect that he's got on this issue around the world.

"We've got the head of government there with me, and we've got our chief diplomat there and the foreign secretary. There are very few countries that will be able to say what I've just said."

In the cutthroat world of asset management, my gig as an investment banker at Zurich's top Swiss joint was a tightrope walk between challenge and monotony. Crafting portfolios for the high rollers at the biggest Swiss bank needed a delicate mix of precision and strategy. The daily grind of summarizing, stacking up, and shaping portfolios for the wealthy wasn't just a skill; it was a meticulous drill where financial stability was the goal and the payoff.

In the established 60-40 asset allocation doctrine - a fundamental principle in wealth management - the goal was straightforward: allocate 60% to stocks and 40% to bonds. This implicit guideline, honed through market wisdom, provided clients with a safeguard against the unpredictable nature of individual stocks. However, the intricacies of my role extended beyond the numerical aspects of asset allocation. Placing emphasis on securing a resilient lending value for portfolios became paramount, evolving beyond a mere metric to become a vital component ingrained in each client's investment strategy.

Amid financial turmoil, stock selection gained extra importance, and in recent years, the spotlight turned towards ESG funds.

Pyongyang has rejected an offer to resume dialogue with Washington, saying its sovereignty is not open to negotiation...

North Korea has blasted Washington for offering renewed peace negotiations even as it ramps up military provocations in the region and tries to deny Pyongyang's sovereign right to develop its aerospace program.

Kim Yo-jong, North Korea's foreign policy chief and sister of leader Kim Jong-un, dismissed the possibility of resuming negotiations with US officials on Wednesday, citing the "extreme double standards" displayed at this week's UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting regarding the launch of Pyongyang's first spy satellite. She claimed that US officials asked North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), to set the time and agenda for renewed dialogue.