The World and Everything in It: December 7, 2023

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us. My name is John Beeson from Tucson, Arizona. I serve as a pastor at New Life Bible Fellowship, and I've benefited from WORLD's Christian worldview journalism since I was a teen. As a father of two teens now, I pray that God blesses WORLD's ministry long into the future. I hope you enjoy today's program.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning! Doctors in Great Britain remove an 8-month-old girl from life support. And it’s part of a larger pattern.

DANCE: The fact that they get to play God with who lives who dies? I think it's very concerning.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Also, a report from Israel. Plus, a Dutch celebration of giving.

AUDIO: I’m really happy to see all the sweet children here in America.

And WORLD commentator Cal Thomas says the climate change prophets at the COP28 Summit rehash the same false alarms.

BROWN: It’s Thursday, December 7th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard. Good morning!

BROWN: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: GOP debate » The top Republican rivals to frontrunner Donald Trump faced off last night in the fourth presidential debate of the year.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he’ll deliver on a promise Trump was unable to fulfill vowing to build a border wall and have Mexico pay for it.

DESANTIS: I am going to have fees on remittances from foreign workers, when they send the money back to foreign countries, I’m going to tax it, and we’re going to build the wall with that.

Former ambassador Nikki Haley said the United States needs to get tough with Beijing about the fentanyl crisis.

HALEY: That’s why we need to end all normal trade relations with China until they stop murdering ordinary Americans with fentanyl. I promise you, they need our economy. They will immediately stop that.

Haley, DeSantis, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy largely fought amongst themselves,

That prompted this barb from the fourth man on the stage former governor Chris Christie:

CHRISTIE: We’ve had these three acting as if the race is between the four of us. The fifth guy, you know, Voldemort, he who shall not be named. They don’t want to talk about it.

Christie called Trump a bully and predicted that he’ll be convicted of a felony by Election Day.

Christie and DeSantis sparred on one issue that was legally protecting minors from transgender surgeries. Christie framed it as a parental rights issue.

CHRISTIE: You don’t know, that slippery slope, what rights are going to be taken away next.
DESANTIS: You do not have, as a parent, you do not have the right to abuse your kids  (applause)

Donald Trump leads the rest of the GOP pack by almost 50 points nationally and by nearly 30 points in Iowa with the first-in-the-nation caucuses just over a month away.

Gaza latest » Top officials with the Israeli Defense Forces say they’re closing in on leaders of the terrorist group Hamas as troops push further into southern Gaza.

HAGARI: [Speaking Hebrew]

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said Wednesday that Israeli forces had surrounded the home of Hamas leader Yehla Sinwar near the city of Khan Younis.

Israel says it has already killed about half of Hamas’ mid-level commanders.

But those commanders are hiding throughout the Gaza strip, which continues to bear the battle scars.

JIHAD AL TUROK: [Speaking Arabic]

One resident speaking from a hospital in Rafah says he was rescued from a pile of rubble after a rocket hit the home he was staying in.

McCarthy resignation fallout » In Washington the political shockwaves are still being felt after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced he’s quitting Congress and departing at the end of the month.

Current Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday:

JOHNSON: Kevin has been a long and trusted friend and we commend his long service and sacrifices for the house. And I'm sad to see him go.

McCarthy’s departure means the GOP’s already paper-thin House majority will grow even thinner.

This will be the second Republican seat vacated in a month’s time after the chamber ousted scandal-ridden Congressman George Santos last week.

A small group of Republicans led a successful effort in October to oust McCarthy from the speakership after just 9 months on the job.

It took McCarthy 15 rounds of voting on the House floor to win the speakership back in January.

Biden presses Congress on Ukraine funding » In a charged White House address, President Biden called it "stunning" that Congress has not already approved funds for more aid to Ukraine.

BIDEN: We can’t let Putin win.

And he again called on lawmakers to act. The president said further delay is a win for Vladimir Putin and a hit to U.S. credibility.

BIDEN: Any disruption in our ability to supply Ukraine clearly strengthens Putin’s position. We’ve run out of money to be able to do that in terms of authorization.

Biden said that well will run dry at the end of the month. And he argued that it is in the overwhelming security interest of the United States and its allies to repel Russia’s invasion of a European country.

House Republican leaders are demanding major policy shifts to help secure the U.S. southern border before signing off on billions in additional aid to Ukraine.

U.S. charges Russians with war crimes » Attorney General Merrick Garland says the U.S. government is charging four Russian soldiers with war crimes. They’re accused of abducting and torturing an American citizen in Ukraine last year.

Merrick: As the world has witnessed the horrors of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, so has the United States Department of Justice. 

The indictment, unsealed this week describes an American being beaten and threatened with sexual assault and death while being held for 10 days at a Russian military installation.

This is the first time the U.S. has filed charges under the war crimes statute.

Banking regulations » On Capitol Hill, top executives from American banks urged lawmakers to drop the ax on a proposed rule that would force financial institutions to keep more cash on hand. Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser:

FASER: Almost every element of the proposal would make lending and other financial activities more expensive, especially for smaller companies and consumers.

The Federal Reserve and regulators introduced the changes after three banks failed earlier this year.

Lawmakers asked seven executives testifying Wednesday who among you believes the changes would hurt everyday Americans? All seven raised their hands including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.

DIMON: The rule would have predictable and harmful outcomes to the economy, markets, business of all sizes and American households in ways the Federal Reserve has not studied.

But federal regulators argue that the proposal would make the banking system safer and less vulnerable to crisis.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: A trip to Israel in war-time. Plus, Dutch Christmas traditions in Washington D.C.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Thursday the 7th day of December, 2023. This is WORLD Radio and we thank you for joining us. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. First up on The World and Everything in It: Life in Israel right now.

Today marks two months since Hamas brutalized villages and a music festival near the Gaza Strip. Just as Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor 82 years ago today on December 7th, the attack by Hamas has traumatized and galvanized Israelis to ensure this never happens again.

BROWN: Joining us now from Israel is WORLD correspondent Jill Nelson.

Jill, good morning to you. Or since you’re seven hours ahead, perhaps I should say good afternoon?

JILL NELSON, CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's afternoon here. Good to be with you, Myrna.

BROWN: You last visited Israel in the 90s on a study abroad trip…what was different about this trip flying in?

NELSON: Well, it was quite different. I mean, you're immediately met with reminders that this is a country at war, and even walking into the airport, it was very quiet. El Al is the only airline currently flying in, so no tourists coming to this country right now. But as I deboarded, I was immediately greeted with sirens. So we were ushered into the nearest shelter in the airport, which was really just kind of a simple stairwell. I'd say most people were Israeli who had deboardted and were just kind of going on their way and seemed more concerned about getting home or meeting their loved ones. But then I was also greeted by poster after poster with images of the people who were still being held hostage by Hamas and Gaza with slogans saying, bring him home, bring her home. So that was a very touching display as she walked through the airport in Tel Aviv.

BROWN: Mainstream news organizations have run many stories about the Gazans displaced by Israel’s war with Hamas. But what about Israelis?

NELSON: Yeah, there's about 200,000 internally displaced people. And so these are people who were evacuated from that area right next to Gaza. Those towns have been evacuated just for security reasons, but also some of those surrounding areas, people left with their children because they just didn't feel like those areas were safe either. And then up north, there are about 42 Jewish and Arab communities that have been evacuated because of the rocket fire from Hezbollah and the threat of that front increasing in intensity as well. So a lot of people are staying in hotels in Jerusalem, some in hotels by the Dead Sea, others are in hotels down by Elat. And they're just sheltering there for now trying to figure out what's next. And many of them are doing what they can to help others in need even while they're displaced. So it's it's quite amazing to see the community and the people coming together during this war.

BROWN: In a country, Jill, the size of New Jersey, it’s hard to get away from danger…especially when the, as you mentioned earlier, Iran-backed group Hezbollah up north in Lebanon keeps threatening to join the fight. What do we know about their involvement at this point?

NELSON: Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned Myrna how small Israel is because you do get a sense of that when you're here like driving from Jerusalem, to Gaza, it really only took me an hour, and well I wasn't quite to Gaza, but almost an hour and a half, and so it's a very small country. And so when you think about these attacks from Gaza, and then you shift your eyes up to the north, where Hezbollah really is a ticking time bomb, in a sense, that whole front has heated up immensely since October 7. And there are skirmishes on that northern border between Hezbollah and IDF forces almost daily. And so a bunch of rocket attacks coming from both Syria and Lebanon. I know earlier this week, IDF fighter jets struck several of the Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon. But this is an area where you have about 15,000 missiles and rockets aimed at Israel. Most are short range, but there's potential that some could travel hundreds of miles and hit major population centers in Israel. So concerns that that could continue to heat up and of course, a number of IDF reservists and regular serving soldiers up in that area as well in a very dangerous situation

BROWN: Do you have any other takeaways or stories from your time there so far?

NELSON: Well, it you know, it's, I was really struck by just how much trauma a lot of these people have been through. Even speaking to the pastor today from Sderot, he was saying that some of the women in his congregation are really struggling and not able to sleep at night. They're afraid that their children will be kidnapped. It's just a lurking fear in their minds after hearing the stories of the hostage taking by Hamas on October 7. So you do get that sense that this was right on their doorstep and some of these people barely escaped. This pastor and his wife, they could see the terrorists outside their window, they were shooting into their home. Thanks be to God, they did not come into their home. And they made it out safely. But there's a lot of trauma. And as I mentioned before, there's a lot of people coming together as well. That's been amazing to see. It's been amazing for me to see the church in action here, both praying, committed to prayer, praying several times a day, for safety, protection for the troops, for God to really be at work in the situation. But then they're also being the hands of feet of Jesus and going out and serving people in the community who are in need right now. And so it's been amazing to see them take advantage of that opportunity.

BROWN: Hard stories, and the church in action in the midst of it all. Jill Nelson is a correspondent for WORLD. Thanks for your time, and thank you for covering this for us!

NELSON: Absolutely. Thanks for having me, Myrna.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: the power to decide life or death in Great Britain.

Courts often hold that power over patients being treated in government-funded British hospitals. Such was the case with Indi Gregory, an 8-month-old girl in England with a rare disease. She died in hospice last month after doctors took away life support. Last week, more than a hundred people attended her funeral.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Indi’s family took the hospital to court in September to try to help her. And even after Italy offered fully-funded treatment there, a U.K. judge sided with the hospital and denied an appeal to let Indi die at home.

Indi’s father, Dean Gregory, spoke to commentator Michael Knowles after courts overruled Italy’s offer to treat his daughter.

DEAN GREGORY: I'm embarrassed to be British at the minute, we've got another country offering to pay for the treatment. They’re blocking her from coming home. It's just so cruel and inhumane. I just don't understand.

REICHARD: This is just one of many families that have fought the medical establishment in vain, but even after the funeral, they are not done fighting back.

Lillian Hamman has the story.

AUDIO: Come on, Arch!

LILLIAN HAMMAN, REPORTER: 11-year old Archie Battersbee shuffles around the floor mat at Southend, England’s MMA fighting gym. Eyes fixed on his opponent through his golden hair, Archie throws a punch with the left glove, then the right, before swinging a leg into the back of his opponent’s knees. Archie’s mother Hollie Dance cheers in the crowd and records the fight on video.

DANCE: The coach that was training Archie said the first time I ever took him, is Archie your son? I said, Yeah. And he just said he's gonna be a world class champion.

Dance remembers laughing off the trainer’s comment, thinking it was something he told everyone. It wasn’t.

DANCE: He just looks at me and said I'm serious. He's going to be a world class champion.

But just a few months after that boxing match, the boy with the potential of a future champion found himself fighting a much bigger fight: the fight for his life. In April of 2022, Dance discovered Archie unconscious at home.

DANCE: Archie was standing on the stairs with his knees slightly bent. And I just thought he was playing a prank. But obviously I've gone straight into panic mode, because I've seen the ligature under the chin.

The ligature was a hoop around Archie’s neck that was part of a social media challenge. But the challenge failed, and left Archie in a coma and on a ventilator at the hospital. His fingers still squeezed his mother’s hand whenever she held his. That’s why Dance was shocked when doctors wanted to remove Archie’s life support after a few weeks. She wanted to continue treatments for her son. Dance battled Britain’s government-funded NHS, National Health System in court to keep her son…alive.

DANCE: It just seems that nothing has been done to save Archie's life. But, everything has been done to end it, including taking us to court.

Despite intervention from other countries like Italy and Japan granting Archie citizenship for fully-funded treatment in their country, British courts still ruled to remove Archie’s life support. The 12-year old died four months later in August. Dance still doesn’t understand why she had no say in Archie’s treatment.

DANCE: The fact that they get to play God with who lives who dies, I think it's very concerning.

Archie’s story is just one piece in a much larger puzzle of stories illustrating Great Britain’s concerning decisions threatening the lives of patients in medical care. Patients and families desiring alternative treatments instead of discontinuing life support, or other care, are finding themselves fighting against the NHS in court, and losing.

GARD: Baby Charlie Gard has died in a hospice just shy of celebrating his first birthday.

EVANS: Just a few weeks shy of his second birthday, Alfie Evans took his final breath in the same British hospital where he spent most of his short life.

BATTERSBEE: Archie Battersbee, the 12-year old brain-damaged boy from the United Kingdom, died after life support was switched off.

GREGORY: Many across the nation and the world mourn the loss of 8-month old Indi Gregory. Indi passed away less than two days after she was taken off of life support.

The battle to keep these children alive under government-funded healthcare begins long before courts ruled to remove their life support. Since the pandemic, increased wait times for NHS appointments and ambulances doubled the number of people seeking private insurance. And poor treatment in hospitals also comes with a price. From 2018 to 2019, the NHS racked up a $3 billion bill for clinical negligence claims, nearly 2 percent of the organization’s budget.

David Jones, the director of England’s Anscombe Bioethics Centre, believes that giving parents the right to choose alternative treatments for their children comes down to the law.

JONES: The doctor is just part of a large hospital. And the hospital itself might be part of a larger sort of structure. And if it goes to court, really, the trust holds all the cards, they have much better resources. And they control how much medical information the parents get. What it should be is, are the parents being reasonable? Are they harming the child? If they're not obviously harming the child, then then it should remain in their hands. And that's, that's not where we are with the law in England at the moment.

Hollie Dance and other families of NHS victims are fighting to change the laws. Charlie Gard’s parents are working with lawmakers to develop Charlie’s Law. If passed, the law would help protect parental rights and keep disagreements over children’s medical care out of court. Soon after Archie’s death, Dance worked with her local government officials to draft Archie’s Army Law. The law would help parents discover more available care options before a court steps in.

DANCE: I believe God picked me to be Archie's mom for a reason. And I believe that Archie possibly completed his mission with raising all this awareness and what's going on here with regards to our system.

Dance believes Archie’s death may have ended his fight. But it was just the beginning of her fight for others.

DANCE: It's now my it's like, the baton has been passed over, isn't it? And there you go, mom. Now the rest is down to you. This is your fight now.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Lillian Hamman.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: A woman in Texas got an early surprise for Christmas. She returned from work and heard noises coming from the direction of her Christmas tree. Sound from her TikTok video:

WOMAN: I’m literally freaking out right now. I have no idea how this possum got in my house and up into my tree.

You heard that right. A possum peering out at her from behind the sparkly lights and ornaments with its “long rat tail” sticking out the back.

WOMAN: And I’m trying to get him out but it will not let me and I just don’t know what to do. I don’t know how it got in here. I don’t leave my doors open. Somebody help.

But there wasn’t anybody to help. So she put on rubber gloves and pulled him off the tree then lost her grip! The critter took off running under the furniture until she grabbed him and released him outdoors.

This lady is an animal lover and said she might have kept it “if it didn’t smell so horrid.”

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, December 7th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Christmas traditions far from home.

In the Netherlands, children get their presents a little earlier than here in the U-S…on December 5th. Dutch children set out a shoe the night before, and in the morning they find a present left by Sinterklaas.

REICHARD: He isn’t the “Dutch version of Santa” either. Sinterklass is a big part of Dutch cultural identity. So much so that each year a group of Dutch expats in Washington, D.C. throws a big Sinterklaas party. It’s their way to keep up the traditions of their homeland, even when they live abroad.

BROWN: WORLD senior writer Emma Freire traveled to the Dutch embassy for the event and brings us this report.

EMMA FREIRE, REPORTER: It’s an unseasonably warm December morning in Washington, DC. The reception hall at the official Embassy of the Netherlands is filled with sunlight and buzzing with the happy chatter of parents and children. They are Dutch, Dutch-American, or just fans of Dutch culture. The new Dutch ambassador to the United States is here. But she’s not the one everybody wants to meet.

AUDIO: [Cheering for arrival]

The big moment is finally here. Sinterklaas appears at the top of the stairs, wearing a red cape, a traditional pointy Bishop’s hat, and carrying a golden shepherd’s staff. As he descends, he waves to the parents and children. That means it’s time for a traditional welcoming song.

AUDIO: [Singing welcome song]

Unlike the American Santa Claus, Sinterklaas doesn’t live at the North Pole. He lives in Spain, and each year he sails to the Netherlands on a boat loaded with presents. He rides on a white horse that can jump on rooftops.

Unfortunately, for his visit to Washington, Sinterklaas had to leave his boat and horse behind.

All the families line up to meet Sinterklaas and get a photo. He is very busy but he graciously takes a moment to give me an interview. I ask him if he’s happy to be in America.

SINTERKLAAS: Wherever there are sweet children, I'm happy. I’m really happy to see all the sweet children here in America.

He can only stay in America briefly because most of his work takes place in the Netherlands.

SINTERKLAAS: I'm going back very, very soon. Yes, because all the Dutch children are waiting for me to deliver the presents.

The children get to play games that are loosely inspired by Sinterklaas traditions.

AUDIO: [Sound of bean bag game]

One of them involves tossing bean bags into giant shoes, in honor of the shoes they put out at night to get their presents.

AUDIO: [Sound of sjoelbak]

There’s also a child-friendly version of sjoelbak, a traditional Dutch game that involves sliding a wooden disk down a board with the goal of sending it into a slot.

Every child gets a passport at the door and they collect a stamp for each game they complete.

HELPER: Would you like a stamp?

The children also can try on miniature Sinterklaas costumes.

CHILD: Now I look just like Sinterklaas.

And, of course, everyone enjoys the traditional Dutch treats, including stroopwafels, a round waffle cookie with caramel in the center.

AUDIO: Wil je een stroopwafel? Yes! Lekker! Lekker!

Putting together an event of this size takes a lot of work. This year 230 people bought tickets and around 30 volunteers are on site helping out.

LAURA VAN DER WERF: It’s one of our most fun activities to organize.

That’s Laura van der Werf. She’s the president of DC Dutch, the expat society that organizes the event.

VAN DER WERF: For me it’s really fun. I grew up with celebrating Sinterklaas in the Netherlands. And so coming here and seeing all of these people understanding what I went through as a kid or what I would experience as a kid, it's so much fun to see Sinterklaas arrive here and see to the kids all either get a little scared or nervous to If meet Sinterklaas, or just very excited that he's here. It's awesome to see.

If you’ve heard of Dutch Sinterklaas in the news in recent years, it probably wasn’t for the best of reasons. The tradition has been mired in controversy.

Historically, Sinterklaas has a helper named Black Pete, who wears black face. This practice goes back around 200 years. People in the Netherlands have been protesting the tradition. In Washington, there’s no Black Pete. It’s just Pete.

VAN DER WERF: So what I grew up with was the stereotypical Sinterklaas and Black Pete. In recent years that has changed. It actually was changing as I was moving here. Here we just have our Piets, we don't do any of the soot. We don't do any of the color on the face. We just have regular piets and, you know, we have a grand old time. It's exactly the same and you know, traditions change. So I think we need to adapt to the culture that we're in, the world that’s changing, and I think it's important to just make sure everyone feels at home.

When the children have collected all the stamps in their passport, they get a certificate and bag of treats.

AUDIO: One for you. Thank you!

And then it’s time for Sinterklaas to leave. He waves goodbye and everyone sings the traditional farewell song as he packs up until next year.

MUSIC: [Singing farewell song]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Emma Freire in Washington, DC.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is December 7th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next: a plant-based diet. Now that has its benefits but WORLD commentator Cal Thomas says claims that it can stop global warming are overblown.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: The worthies attending the United Nations COP28 climate summit in Dubai are mostly not eating meat. That’s partially because those running the summit believe that animals produce flatulence and flatulence leads to “global warming.” Instead, attendees are getting mostly plant-based food.

It’s become common these days for elites to gather and attempt to pass new regulations, increase taxes, and limit our freedoms. Global warming is the secular holy of holies and provides a rationale for all kinds of government intervention.

King Charles III ratcheted up his hyperbole about climate change by repeating this quote at the gathering: “The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.” Did he have the Genesis account of creation in mind? Probably not.

In 2009, then-Prince Charles said we had only 96 months–or 8 years–to avert “irretrievable climate and ecosystem collapse.” Two thousand seventeen came and went and we have yet to see a collapse. Neither have any of the other numerous predictions from various climate change apostles come true. It doesn’t matter. Just as we have now learned from the British Medical Journals that studies did not prove “real-world effectiveness” for masking children during the Covid-19 pandemic, we should take the alarmist claims coming from Dubai with a grain of salt substitute.

The Hill reports that U.S. climate envoy John Kerry gave a speech this week saying “he thinks coal plants should not be ‘permitted anywhere in the world.’” Kerry also said he is becoming “more and more” militant about climate policy. That’s because “people are avoiding responsibility.”

Of course, Kerry is not a climate scientist and basically repeats what he has been told by those who reinforce what he already thinks. He’s made repeated end-of-the-world predictions, and like Nostradamus and other false prophets, none have come true.

How much more of this should we take? Facts from real experts, not more militancy, is what we need. Government leaders and bureaucrats are constantly looking for new “crises” to impose their will on us while largely not obeying the laws and regulations they pass. When their forecasts of disaster fail to come true, they quickly move on to the next one. The constant is that their proposals would cost trillions of dollars and could never achieve the ends they claim.

For decades now, the fast food chain Chick-fil-A has used billboard ads depicting cows that say “Eat Mor Chiken.” Considering that cows are the worst offenders when it comes to meat and greenhouse gas, it may be a fitting slogan for the climate alarmists. But if the past is any indication, they’re likely to end up eating more crow instead.

I’m Cal Thomas.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Tomorrow: The atrocities perpetrated on Israeli women by Hamas. We’ll talk about it on Culture Friday with Katie McCoy. And, a preview of movies in theaters this holiday season. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio.

WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says: Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. —Hebrews 3: 12-14

Go now in grace and peace.

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