EUROPE - A flood of easy money courtesy of the European Central Bank made for a calm start to 2012 but a poor Spanish bond sale last week signals it may only have been a lull before the debt storm breaks, analysts warn. The ECB injected roughly one trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) into eurozone banks at auctions in December and February, helping to ease concerns banks would face a funding crunch.
UK - A ban on Christians claiming ‘God can heal’ has been challenged by a Tory MP who says he was cured by prayer. Former Government Minister Gary Streeter spoke out after advertising watchdogs outlawed leaflets claiming God could cure people of back pain, depression and other ailments.
USA - In October 2010, on the eve of the Islamic revolution that the media fancies as “the Arab Spring,” the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood called for jihad against the United States.
RUSSIA - A speech by the Russian Defense Minister promising to modernize his army caused a firestorm in the Western media – which accused Russia of developing mind control weapons that turn people into zombies. The truth is more complex, but no less scary.
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Rav Yisrael Ariel [of the Temple Institute] says their Jews must offer Pesach sacrifice even without Temple. Rav Yisrael Ariel says Jews must carry out the laws commanding the Pesach sacrifice even though the Temple has not been rebuilt. The rabbi also took part in a "practice session" of the Pesach sacrifice conducted this week in Jerusalem.
AUSTRALIA - A renowned Australian research scientist says a study from researchers at MIT claiming the world could suffer from a "global economic collapse" and "precipitous population decline" if people continue to consume the world's resources at the current pace is still on track, nearly 40 years after it was first produced.
GREECE - Demonstrators have clashed with police in the Greek capital for a second day following the suicide of an elderly man, an act which has come to symbolize the desperation felt by the Greek people in the face of the prevailing conditions of austerity.
USA - In what appears to be surprising news for some, Reuters has an article titled "Americans brace for next foreclosure wave" whose key premise is that "a painful part two of the [housing] slump looks set to unfold: Many more US homeowners face the prospect of losing their homes this year as banks pick up the pace of foreclosures."
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - A prayer meditation "flash mob" took place at the Western Wall on Wednesday afternoon. A group of about 20 to 30 people gathered at the Western Wall public plaza. Standing at different locations, each participant made a short humming cry before sitting down on the ground in silent prayer.
INDIA/PAKISTAN - With the exception of the 1971 conflict, which involved rising tensions in East Pakistan, the others have all involved issues arising from control of Kashmir. But now a rising new element of discord threatens to precipitate a new armed clash between southern Asia’s two nuclear powers – water.
GERMANY - Never in the history of postwar Germany has a prominent intellectual attacked Israel in such a cliche-laden way as Günter Grass with his controversial new poem, "What Must Be Said." The Nobel Prize laureate has delivered a lyrical first strike against Israel. Grass spent his early years in the Waffen-SS and, now, as he writes, he is at an "advanced age" and, writing with the "last bit of ink," is "weary of the hypocrisy."
WILMINGTON, USA - Ground beef processor AFA Foods filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, citing negative media publicity over "pink slime," the ammonia-treated beef filler which the company sells as finely textured beef. Public reluctance to consume products containing pink slime led to major fast-food chains, including McDonald's and Burger King, to drop AFA Foods beef filler.
USA - There is an ongoing and unusual trend that is steadily becoming more recognized by the public. Why are girls going into puberty at such young ages? Furthermore, what are the causes and implications of this strange new trend?
USA - In its quest to implement stealth amnesty, the Obama Administration is working behind the scenes to halt the deportation of certain illegal immigrants by granting them “unlawful presence waivers.” The new measure would apply to illegal aliens who are relatives of American citizens.
USA - In what has been called the single largest wave of recorded suicides in human history, Indian farmers are now killing themselves in record numbers. It has been extensively reported, even in mainstream news, but nothing has been done about the issue.