CNN / FOX / NEWSMAX / THE HILL – US House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is facing difficulty in his bid to become speaker due to his small majority and low popularity. He has made concessions to opponents, including allowing a small number of House members to trigger a vote to remove him as speaker. Meanwhile, a group of 15 current and incoming Republican House members have pledged to only support McCarthy for the position.
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, has warned that 2023 will be a tough year for the global economy as the major engines of growth – the US, Europe and China – all experience slowing activity. The IMF has already cut its outlook for global economic growth in 2023 due to continuing drag from the war in Ukraine, inflation pressures and high interest rates engineered by central banks.
Croatia has joined both the EU’s border-free Schengen zone and the euro currency as of January 1st, fulfilling its ambition to closely integrate with Europe. The country becomes the 27th country to join the Schengen area and the 20th to adopt the euro. Finance Minister Marko Primorac stated that the adoption of the euro will strengthen the economy, improve the investment climate, and make Croatia more resistant to external shocks.
There have been clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland. At least 20 people have been killed and dozens injured. The protesters are demanding that Somaliland cede control of Laascaanood, a town in Somaliland’s east, to Puntland, one of Somalia’s semi-autonomous regions. The protesters also accuse security forces of failing to end insecurity in Laascaanood.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for the development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles and a larger nuclear arsenal to counter US-led threats. Kim highlighted the need to secure “overwhelming military power” to defend the country’s sovereignty and security amid cross-border tensions and missile launches, including intercontinental ballistic missiles.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts focused a year-end report on the judiciary on the need for stepped up security for federal judges, amid a surge in threats and as the United States is embroiled in a bitter debate over abortion. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, judges were subject to 4,511 threats and inappropriate communications in 2021, up from 926 in 2015.
Russian President Vladimir Putin used his annual New Year’s address to rally the Russian people behind his troops fighting in Ukraine and pledging victory over Ukrainian “neo-Nazis”. Kyiv and the West say he launched a baseless war of aggression in a bid to seize territory and install a regime more to his liking.
CNN / FOX NEWS
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away on December 30 at the age of 95. He was the first pope to resign in over 500 years, and became the world’s first “pope emeritus” in centuries. In a spiritual testament published after his death, he requested forgiveness for those he had wronged, and in a separate letter published in February 2022, he issued a general apology to survivors of abuse, but admitted to no personal or specific wrongdoing.