“A controversial deal that allows Central European nations to buy Russian gas via Ukraine will soon end, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Thursday, even as Kremlin-friendly European Union leaders scrambled to ensure their continued access to cheap fuel. Speaking at his annual marathon press conference, the Russian strongman said the transit agreement would be allowed to expire at the end of the year without a clear alternative in place. … Ukraine has refused to directly renegotiate the deal and has instead offered its own domestic gas production as an alternative for its neighbors. At the same time, at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ‘we would not prolong the transit of Russian gas’ past the terms of the contract.” (12/19/24)
“Jobless claims are the early-warning radar for the U.S. economy, and they still show no trouble on the horizon. The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in middle of December fell to 220,000 from a holiday-exaggerated 242,000 in the prior week, the government said Thursday. New jobless claims — a rough gauge of layoffs — have hovered in the low 200,000s for the better part of the last three years. Companies have been unwilling to shed many workers because of steady economic growth and persistent shortages of labor that make it hard to fill open jobs. One big caveat about jobless claims: The government’s seasonal adjustments during the holiday shopping season, which starts around Thanksgiving, are less accurate than usual. Sometimes the adjustments exaggerate the shift in jobless claims.” (12/19/24)
“Syria will remove all references to the former ruling Baath party from its educational system as of next week but will not otherwise change school curricula or restrict the rights of girls to learn, the country’s new education minister said. ‘Education is a red line for the Syrian people, more important than food and water,’ Nazir Mohammad al-Qadri said in an interview from his office in Damascus. ‘The right to education is not limited to one specific gender. … There may be more girls in our schools than boys,’ he said. The secular, pan-Arab nationalist Baath Party governed Syria since a 1963 coup d’etat, seeing education as an important tool for instilling life-long loyalty among the young to the country’s authoritarian ruling system.” (12/19/24)
“U.S. life expectancy rose last year to its highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, while death rates fell for almost all the top causes, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. Life expectancy at birth was 78.4 years for the total U.S. population in 2023, according to the report released Thursday, an increase of nearly a full year from 77.5 years in 2022. The report showed women continue to live longer than men. For men, life expectancy increased a full year to nearly 76 in 2023. For women, life expectancy was a little more than 81 years in 2023. But while it’s rebounded, life expectancy hasn’t yet reached pre-pandemic levels after it fell off sharply from 78.8 years in 2019 to 76.4 in 2021.” (12/19/24)
“A politician has been shot dead and another wounded in a shooting inside the parliament of the [Republic of] Abkhazia. Abkhazia’s state news agency Apsnypress cited the health ministry as saying Vakhtang Golandzia had died of wounds sustained in a shooting at the parliament building on Thursday. … Apsnypress said the interior ministry had identified another lawmaker, Adgur Kharazia, as the suspect in the shooting, and that he had fled the scene. Its report did not give any indication as to a motive.” (12/19/24)
“President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he will strengthen the United States’ climate target by aiming to cut planet-warming pollution 61-66 percent by 2035, in a move that his successor is certain to disregard. The new goal marks an increase over Biden’s 2021 pledge to slash greenhouse gases 50-52 percent by 2030 over 2005 levels, but is a downgrade from what modelers say would have been possible under a future president who acts aggressively to slow rising temperatures. President-elect Donald Trump has indicated the opposite. Instead, the target will likely be jettisoned after Trump takes office, reflecting his promises to expand fossil fuel production and dismantle Biden’s climate agenda.” (12/19/24)
“A Chinese national was arrested Thursday on charges of acting as an illegal agent for Beijing when serving as the campaign manager for an unnamed politician elected to a city council in Southern California two years ago. The arrest of Yaoning ‘Mike’ Sun, 64, came at a time of rising concerns that the Chinese government has cultivated a network of operatives to influence local elections in the U.S. to install politicians who are friendly to Beijing and can help promote Chinese interests. … Sun is accused of conspiring with Chen Jun, who was sentenced to 20 months last month for acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government. Chen, 71, also a Chinese national, pleaded guilty in July to using Chinese money to bribe federal agents to undermine the anti-Beijing spiritual group Falun Gong. The charge against Sun shows that Chen also conspired to interfere with local elections.” (12/19/24)
“France said Thursday that Burkina Faso released four French nationals it had detained for a year, following negotiations mediated by Morocco. France’s Elysee Palace said in a statement that President Emmanuel Macron thanked Morocco’s King Mohamed VI for mediating discussions that led to their release. Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called it a ‘humanitarian initiative’ and lauded its own role in mediating between the two countries. France’s Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu posted on X that the detainees were armed forces members. The four French nationals were arrested in Ouagadougou in December 2023 on what Jeune Afrique and French media reported as espionage-related charges.” (12/19/24)
“The Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against CVS Pharmacy charging that the establishment became a ‘pill mill’ for those illegally filling prescriptions for opioids without a legitimate medical reason. The department said CVS violated the Controlled Substance Act from 2013 to the present for illegally filling prescriptions and seeking reimbursement from federal healthcare programs.” (12/19/24)
“The Bank of England on Thursday ended its last meeting of the year with a decision to leave interest rates unchanged, after U.K. inflation rose to an eight-month high. Analysts had widely expected a rate hold at the December meeting, as policymakers remain concerned with stubborn services inflation and wage growth. The BOE has already taken its key rate from 5.25% to 4.75% this year in two quarter-percentage-point moves. In a deviation from expectations, three members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to reduce rates, while six were in favor of a hold. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast only one member would vote to cut.” (12/19/24)