COCOA SUPPLY ISSUES COULD LEAD TO SMALLER CHOCOLATE BAR SIZES
BY: CHRIS CASEY ... Producers may experiment with new product formulations to avoid recent heavy price hikes on chocolates … continue reading

2024 IS THE NEW 1984: BIG BROTHER & THE RISE OF THE SECURITY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
BY: JOHN & NISHA WHITEHEAD ... 2024 is the new 1984. Forty years past the time that George Orwell envisioned the stomping boot of Big Brother, the police state is about to pass off the baton to the surveillance … continue reading

WORLD LEADERS NO LONGER WORKING TOWARD PEACE
BY: RT ... The international community is no longer interested in ending conflicts, and instead views peace as an “unwanted” ideal, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic … continue reading

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CLAIM THE US IS A CHRISTIAN NATION & WHAT DOES THE CONSTITUTION SAY?
BY: PETER SMITH ... Many Americans believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and the idea is energizin … continue reading

FOREST CITY: INSIDE MALAYSIA'S CHINESE-BUILT 'GHOST CITY'
BY: NICK MARSH ... "I managed to escape this place," Nazmi Hanafiah laughs, slightly nervously. A year ago, the 30-year-old IT engineer moved to Forest City, a sprawling Chinese-built housing complex in Johor, on the tip of southern Malaysia. He rented a one-bedroom flat in a tower block overlooking the sea … continue reading

LIFE UNDER HAMAS IS LIKE UNDER ISIS
BY: GIANLUCA PACCHIANI ... Manar al-Sharif was born in Damascus to a devout Muslim family that embraced the Palestinian cause and supported Hamas. But her views on the terror group changed dramatically after she spent three years in Gaza … continue reading

HOW MUCH AID HAS THE U.S. SENT UKRAINE? HERE ARE SIX CHARTS
BY:JONATHAN MASTERS & WILL MERROW ... Every year, the United States sends billions of dollars in aid — and much more than any other country — to beneficiaries around the world in pursuit of its security, economic, and humanitarian … continue reading

HOW THE “DONUT EFFECT” IS CHANGING THE FACE OF AMERICAN CITIES
BY: NEWS READY STAFF ... The national health crisis changed the real estate market in America. Cities have transformed because of it. Experts are referring to the change as the “donut effect.” … continue reading

ARGENTINA: JAVIER MILEI SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER WEAKENING OR ENDING 350 SOCIALIST POLICIES
BY: FRANCES MARTEL ... rgentine President Javier Milei announced during a national broadcast on Wednesday night the signing of a Necessity and Urgency Decree (DNU), a form of executive order … continue reading

NIGERIA: CHRISTMAS MASSACRE DEATH TOLL HITS 195, 10,000 DISPLACED, MORE THAN 1,000 HOMES BURNED DOWN
BY: FRANCES MARTEL ... Local authorities in Plateau state, Nigeria, updated the death toll of a presumed jihadist massacre of Christians beginning on Christmas Eve to 195 people … continue reading

‘THEY TOLD US – YOU ARE SLAVES’: SURVIVORS GIVE HARROWING TESTIMONY OF DARFUR’S YEAR OF HELL
BY: FRED HARTER ... “With the war in Sudan poised to escalate and the humanitarian crisis growing, traumatised survivors of a blood-drenched summer in West Darfur tell of their ordeal … continue reading

IS THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY READY TO CONFRONT ITS GREATEST CHALLENGE YET?
BY: BART PLACKLÉ ... The first automobile, a marvel of technological innovation, hit the road nearly 150 years ago. Undoubtedly a great achievement—yet one that pales in comparison to the challenges car manufacturers face today … continue reading

I HAD TO TELL PEOPLE TO NOT CALL 911 DUE TO OVERDOSES FLOODING US, WE’VE BEEN ‘TOO TOLERANT’
BY: IAN HANCHETT ... On Tuesday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “On Balance,” Portland City Commissioner of Public Safety Rene Gonzalez stated that he posted that people shouldn’t call 911 … continue reading

AFTER ISRAEL SENDS TROOPS INTO GAZA, WATCH FOR HEZBOLLAH, IRAN, SYRIA & THE U.S. TO ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE GREAT MIDDLE EAST WAR
BY: MICHAEL SYNDER ... “Escalation” will be a word that is used a lot in the coming days. Once Israel sends troops into Gaza, it is going to trigger a series of events that nobody is going to be able to control … continue reading

WHY THE SALTWATER WEDGE CLIMBING UP THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IS A WAKE-UP CALL TO THE REGION
BY: ROBY CHAVEZ ... NEW ORLEANS — A saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico predicted to reach metro New Orleans by the middle of this month has slowed, a relief to emergency officials … continue reading

‘REPAIR IS THE NEW COOL’: HOW AMSTERDAM STARTED A FASHION REVOLUTION
BY: EMMA BEDDINGTON ... A new project in the Netherlands employs skilful refugees to mend much-loved clothes – and the idea is spreading fast … continue reading

AMERICANS ARE FOLLOWING THE NEWS LESS CLOSELY THAN THEY USED TO
BY: AKI ITONAOMI FORMAN-KATZ ...Americans are following the news less closely than they were a few years ago, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis … continue reading

THE HIDDEN WAVE OF EMPLOYEES USING AI ON THE SLY
BY: AKI ITO ...A lot of people are secretly using tools like ChatGPT to get ahead at work — even though their companies have banned AI. Arantza Pena Popo/Insider CheatGPT … continue reading

AMERICANS’ CREDIT CARD DEBT HITS A RECORD $1 TRILLION
BY: ALICIA WALLACE ... Scientists claim to have developed targeted chemotherapy pill that can “annihilate” tumors while leaving healthy cells alone … continue reading

HOW UNDERCOVER STING OUTWITTED PANGOLIN TRAFFICKERS
BY: STEVE SWANN ... The leaders of a global wildlife trafficking gang have been convicted after a four-year investigation and a trial in Nigeria … continue reading

MARINES ARREST 67 MAUI PERPETRATORS
BY: MICHAEL BAXTER ... As the August 8 inferno scorched the tropical landscape and residents and tourists sought guidance from island officials, Maui’s top emergency management official … continue reading

THIS WEEK IN THE NEW NORMAL #70
BY: OFF GUARDIAN STAFF ... Our successor to This Week in the Guardian , This Week in the New Normal is our weekly chart of the progress of autocracy, authoritarianism and economic restructuring around the world … continue reading

SWISS RED CROSS CLEANING HOUSE AMID LEADERSHIP CRISIS
BY: PAULA DUPRAZ-DOBIAS ... Since the end of 2022, Switzerland’s biggest aid organisation at the heart of an emblematic … continue reading

CHICK-FIL-A HAS BEEN WOKE FOR YEARS. YOU JUST DIDN’T WANT TO BELIEVE IT
BY: SUZANNE BOWDEY ... When the rest of the world lost its corporate marbles, conservatives liked to think that there was one place that would never let them down … continue reading

THE UN’S NEW FACT-CHECKING SYSTEM CALLED “IVERIFY” WILL BE USED TO CRACK DOWN ON “MISINFORMATION” ALL OVER THE WORLD
BY: MICHAEL SYNDER ... Our world is becoming a creepier place with each passing day. Most of us just want to live … continue reading

LOCAL COMMUNITIES KNOW BEST HOW TO COPE WITH GANG VIOLENCE. AID SECTOR SHOULD TAKE NOTE.
BY: JEROME MARSTON & REBECCA BELL-MARTIN ... Gangs out of control is an ongoing series that examines the spread of gangs throughout Latin America … continue reading

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING TO CALIFORNIA?
BY: MICHAEL SYNDER ... It has often been said that “as California goes, so goes the nation” … continue reading

FIRST THERE WAS QUIET QUITTING. NOW IT'S BECOME GRUMPY STAYING
BY: JULIANA KAPLAN ... Some workers feel more stuck in their jobs as the labor market finally starts cooling off … continue reading

PUTIN IS PREPARING TO FLEE WHEN RUSSIA IMPLODES, EX-AIDE SAYS
BY: ALLISON QUINN ... Russia’s Vladimir Putin and his cronies already have a plan in place to flee the country once things go sideway … continue reading

5 GLOBAL FLASHPOINTS WHICH COULD ABSOLUTELY EXPLODE DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF 2023
BY: MICHAEL SYNDER ... Will 2023 be a year when extremely destructive conflicts erupt all over the world … continue reading

PASTOR INVITING DRAG QUEEN TO CHURCH FOR ‘CHILDREN’S SERMON’ IS SIGN OF ‘DYING UNITED METHODISM’
BY: IAN M. GIATTI ... Will drag queens in the pulpit become "mainstream" in the United Methodist Church … continue reading

CHINA'S XI JINPING EMERGES FROM THE COMMUNIST PARTY CONGRESS WITH DOMINANCE
BY: JOHN RUWITCH ... China's President Xi Jinping waves during the introduction of members of the Chinese Communist … continue reading

AMIR’S NEWLETTER
BY: AMIR TSARFATI ... This has been a crazy week around the globe. So much has flared up, and, when combined with all the conflict already … continue reading