📊Bidenomics still bites: US corporate bankruptcies hit record high

At least 686 US companies filed for bankruptcy in 2024, the highest level since the 2010 global financial crisis, data from S&P Global Market Intelligence has shown.

Major US bankruptcies that occurred amid elevated interest rates and weakened consumer demand pertained to Party City, once the largest supplier of balloons and other fun-time supplies in the US, as well as food storage manufacturer Tupperware, restaurant chain Red Lobster, budget carrier Spirit Airlines, and cosmetic retailer Avon Products.

Bidenomics fallout

🟠The developments come after a Sputnik analysis based on data from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund indicated that the US share of the global economy had plummeted below 15% during Joe Biden’s presidency.

🟠A Gallup poll in September showed that 48% of adults in the US rated their country’s economic conditions as “poor,” the highest rating achieved in a year.

🟠In the same vein, a University of Michigan monthly survey of attitudes toward the economy found that 20% of consumers expressed that their personal finances had deteriorated between Biden’s inauguration in January 2021 and September 2024.

🟠This was preceded by the Trump campaign slamming Bidenomics as an “unmitigated disaster” that resulted in high inflation with American families earning less and paying more for basic household essentials, including gas, food, and rent.

🟠House Speaker Mike Johnson, for his part, insisted that Bidenomics had ruined the national economy and that US families “cannot afford to live in President Biden’s America.”

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The death toll from the 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Chinese Tibet has reached 95, according to China Central Television.
 
130 people sustained injuries of varying severity.

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2024 was a bonanza for AI entrepreneurs amid warnings that machines may break loose

Artificial intelligence startups became the hottest asset in 2024, with venture capitalists investing $97 billion in such projects in the US alone, reports Bloomberg. Almost half of the funds received by startups were attracted to AI projects, clearly making this field one of the engines of the global economy.

Earlier, US tech mogul Elon Musk repeatedly expressed serious concerns over the uncontrollable development of AI and dubbed it a major risk to humanity. The same anxieties were shared by computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “Godfather of AI,” and partially by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

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❗️Russian forces hit the infrastructure of military airfields, weapons depots, and accumulations of equipment of the Ukrainian armed forces and mercenaries in 164 districts, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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Ukrainian losses in the special operation zone amounted to 1,635 military personnel during the day — Russia's MoD
 
🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:    

▪️Russia's Yug Battlgroup took more advantageous positions; Ukrainian forces lost up to 245 soldiers.;
 
▪️Ukrainian forces lost up to 145 fighters as a result of the actions of the Russian Sever and Dnepr combat groups;
 
▪️The Russian Zapad Battlegroup repelled two enemy counterattacks; Ukrainian losses amounted to 580 militants and a Panzerhaubitze 2000 German self-propelled artillery installation;
 
▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to 510 soldiers and two Leopard tanks in the area of responsibility of the Russian Tsentr group of forces;
 
▪️Russia's air defense systems shot down six HIMARS MLRS shells and 50 drones.

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EU may face security crisis in 2025 — report
 
"A security crisis is brewing in Europe," the Financial Times writes, naming the alleged "threat" from Russia and Trump's "indifference" towards Europe as the reasons.
 
The publication points to Trump's advisers openly declaring their desire to redeploy American military assets from Europe to Asia. At the same time, European countries lack the human resources and equipment to participate in a confrontation similar to the conflict in Ukraine, the article notes.
 
Still, Russia's President Vladimir Putin has already said that Moscow is not going to attack NATO countries, as there is no point in this.

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🇨🇳China creates ultra-precise atomic clock that may affect nature of future warfare
 
A highly accurate timing system is the foundation of modern warfare, allowing radars that are thousands of miles apart to work in unison, detecting and tracking elusive stealth fighters, the South China Morning Post reports.
 
It will also improve the quality of signals in electronic warfare and facilitate the transmission of huge amounts of data.
 
As the publication noted, a cesium watch about 1.5 meters high and about the size of a refrigerator can be brought into a war zone, and even when transported in harsh conditions, its error will not exceed 0.2 quadrillion seconds. In addition, these watches can operate autonomously for a long period of time without the help of specialists.

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Russia's President Vladimir Putin sent condolences to Chinese leader Xi Jinping for those tragically affected by the earthquake in Tibet, the Kremlin informed.

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Ronald no longer WokeDonald: McDonald’s another global company to abandon DEI

McDonald's has announced it will scale back on its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies towards employees and suppliers, perceived as “woke” by critics. The company will abandon numerous practices, including “external surveys” that measured workplace inclusion for different minorities.

The announcement comes after McDonald’s global sales at outlets fell by 1.5% in the third quarter of 2024, the biggest decline in four years, which occurred amid last year’s E. coli outbreak across 13 US states linked to the fast-food giant’s burgers.

McDonald’s is the latest US company to roll back diversity goals, which were previously lifted by retail behemoth Walmart, Ford Motor Co., farm machinery maker John Deere, the Tractor Supply Company, and Harley Davidson.

The developments unfolded after US President-elect Donald Trump tapped Stephen Miller, a former adviser who leads a group that has aggressively challenged corporate DEI policies, as his incoming deputy chief of policy. In October, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was planning to ban certain DEI initiatives if he won a second term in the White House.

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❗️Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the French right-wing National Front (Front National) party and father of Marine Le Pen, has died at the age of 96.

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