Dr.Hussam Abu Safiya is one of many unlawfully imprisoned medical professionals, reportedly tortured and abused in detention

As you read this, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian doctor from Gaza, is likely still in Israeli detention - and, according to mounting evidence, being tortured.

Despite the recent hostage swap with Hamas, multiple health professionals are still being held captive, with abundant reports of mistreatment, neglect and torture. One of these is Dr. Abu Safiya, arrested on December 27 and transferred to the notorious Sde Teyman prison camp (dubbed Israel's version of Guantanamo Bay).

As each day passes, and with reports from released prisoners who attest Dr. Abu Safiya was being tortured while they were in the same prison, fears of his death grow. At least three Palestinian doctors abducted from Gaza have died in Israeli prisons since October 2023.

Today, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) related to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, titled "Strengthening American Leadership In Digital Financial Technology". This EO officially banned the creation and issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States, defining a CBDC as "a form of digital money or monetary value, denominated in the national unit of account, that is a direct liability of the central bank."

"Except to the extent required by law, agencies are hereby prohibited from undertaking any action to establish, issue, or promote CBDCs within the jurisdiction of the United States or abroad," the order announced. "Except to the extent required by law, any ongoing plans or initiatives at any agency related to the creation of a CBDC within the jurisdiction of the United States shall be immediately terminated, and no further actions may be taken to develop or implement such plans or initiatives."

The new EO will also establish a presidential working group to create a federal regulatory framework governing digital assets (including stablecoins), and evaluate the creation of a strategic national digital assets stockpile.

"The Working Group's report shall consider provisions for market structure, oversight, consumer protection, and risk management," stated the order. "The Working Group shall evaluate the potential creation and maintenance of a national digital asset stockpile and propose criteria for establishing such a stockpile, potentially derived from cryptocurrencies lawfully seized by the Federal Government through its law enforcement efforts."

US President Donald Trump spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos via teleconference on Thursday, just days after taking office. He used his speech to promise a "revolution of common sense," telling the audience of business leaders, policymakers, academics and innovators that he was acting "with unprecedented speed" to reverse the policies of the his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Here are some key takeaways from his speech.

Stopping inflation

Trump began by promising to confront the "economic chaos" caused by Biden's "failed policies."

"Over the past four years, our government racked up $8 trillion in wasteful deficit spending and inflicted nation-wrecking energy restrictions, crippling regulations and hidden taxes like never before," Trump said.

He stated that he has directed his cabinet to "marshal all powers at their disposal" to defeat inflation and reduce the cost of living. He also promised to pass "the largest tax cut in American history," including "massive" reliefs for workers and families, as well as domestic producers and manufacturers.

There has been much reporting of Ukraine's aerial attack on Russia over recent days that struck as far as Tatarstan. Western media has been quick to point out the use of western ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles in these attacks and six of each appear to have been used.

What does this all mean?

As talk increases of a possible meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin to discuss ending the war, Volodymyr Zelensky is grasping for a Pearl Harbour moment. Specifically, he wants to provoke Russia into a retaliatory strike against NATO that would be so strategically damaging that NATO would be drawn into Ukraine's war with Russia.

In that regard, Zelensky is trying to position himself as a modern-day Winston Churchill.

Churchill famously said in a radio broadcast on 9 February 1941 addressing President Roosevelt, 'Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.'

In April 2024, Zelensky said, 'We will have a chance for victory if Ukraine really gets the weapon system which we need.' He has used a different form of the same Churchillian entreaty several times.

The idea of inflicting "strategic defeats" on Russia has been a cornerstone of US policy for a long time. It transcends party lines and is implemented regardless of which administration occupies the White House. The only real differences lie in the methods used to achieve this objective. In this era of global transformation, it is critical for Moscow to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of its opponents. By understanding the nuances of US President Donald Trump's administration - now back in power - Russia must craft its own strategy of resilience and development, rooted in sovereign interests.

This is not a new game. In 2014, Foreign Affairs published an article by John Mearsheimer, the renowned American political scientist behind the theory of offensive realism. In his piece, 'Why the Ukraine Crisis is the West's Fault', Mearsheimer argued that NATO's strategic ambitions in Eastern Europe provoked Russia's actions in Crimea and Ukraine. His insights, dismissed at the time, have since been vindicated by events.

A COVID-19 vaccine is no longer a requirement for individuals seeking permanent residence in the United States, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a Jan. 22 notice.

USCIS, which oversees legal immigration, imposed the COVID-19 vaccination requirement in October 2021 on people looking to move to the United States. Applicants were required to submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination before completing medical examinations.

"USCIS will not issue any Request for Evidence or Notice of Intent to Deny related to proving a COVID-19 vaccination," the agency stated.

"USCIS will not deny any adjustment of status application based on the applicant's failure to present documentation that they received the COVID-19 vaccination."

USCIS did not respond to a request for more information, including whether the change applies retroactively.

This Friday, January 24th, the UK Parliament is due to vote on a Private Member's Bill that could lead to mass starvation, widespread disease and fatalities and the almost certain collapse of civil liberties and society within a few years. The bill has the support of a third of voting MPs and there is a clear and present danger that it could pass. Many MPs depart for their constituencies on a Friday and 200 remaining zealots could have a chance to swing a vote their way. The bill is a thinly-disguised attempt using meaningless climate and nature crisis verbosity to ration and control almost everything that citizens consume. The obvious attack on civil liberties should serve as a warning to other countries to stand against the Net Zero hysterics that have infiltrated large sections of elite British society.

Let's start with the key take away: Manifest Destiny reaching the stars. Literally.

Trump 2.0 - the greatest show on earth - did start with a (big) bang: "We will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars." And that means planting the American flag on Mars. The real thing. Not a Netflix flick. No wonder platinum sidekick Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, achieved instant rapture.

Welcome to Interplanetary Exceptionalism. Literally. As in the land of the free, home of the brave, in this new golden era, will be "far more exceptional than ever before". Imperial decline is over. Embrace the new, brutally benign Empire. Or else.

In practical terms, it all started, predictably, with a flurry of executive orders - like a psychedelic vortex.

Time to send troops to the southern border (El Paso is already blocked) to stop the illegal immigrant "invasion"; declare drug cartels as terrorist organizations; and rename the Gulf of Mexico "Gulf of America".

Add to it declaring a state of emergency to boost energy production: "We're going to be using our emergency powers to allow countries and entrepreneurs and people with a lot of money build big plans, AI plans. We need double the energy that we already have."

That's code for the Empire necessarily exercising total control on AI and massive, energy-consuming AI data centers.

In between, Trump 2.0 will suspend every "foreign aid" scheme for 90 days to assess their "consistency with U.S. national interests and foreign policy goals" (Translation: Kiev, run for cover.)

Trump 2.0 will recognize only two genders - male and female; get "wokeness the hell out of our military immediately and make it like it used to be"; and "take back" the Panama Canal ("American Canal", anyone?)

And never forget the intimation of a Big Trade War: possible 25% tariffs slapped on Canada and Mexico starting February 1st, to force negotiations. And further on down the road, the target will be the EU: Brussels is already on deep freak out mode.

The Trump administration took a sledgehammer to progressive diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives Tuesday night with executive orders designed to root racialist ideology out of the federal government and American institutions at large.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order overturning President Lyndon Johnson's 1965 executive order creating race-based hiring requirements for federal contractors. Paired with that is a memo from the Office of Personnel Management placing all DEI employees on leave and shutting down DEI programs and offices.

"President Trump campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our federal government and returning America to a merit based society where people are hired based on their skills, not for the color of their skin. This is another win for Americans of all races, religions, and creeds. Promises made, promises kept," said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

The outcome of Trump's continued struggle with the "deep state" will reverberate across the world.

Putin's senior aide Nikolai Patrushev, who ran the FSB for nearly a decade (1999-2008) before chairing the Security Council for over 15 years till recently (2008-2024), made three predictions about international affairs in his latest interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda. The first concerns the continued struggle between Trump and the "deep state", the latter of which can be described as US' permanent military, intelligence, and diplomatic bureaucracies, some members of whom are known to oppose him.

Patrushev expects Trump to implement domestic and foreign policies that are practically the opposite of Biden's, which he characterizes as pragmatic and more aligned with the interests of the American people, but he's unsure whether he'll ultimately succeed due to internal resistance. The precedent from his first term bodes ill for his second, but the outcome of this latest struggle will reverberate for decades seeing as how the world is undergoing far-reaching systemic changes last seen since 1991.