USA - While half the media is distracted and obsessed about an extramarital affair that US President Donald Trump allegedly had a decade ago with Stormy Daniels, US geopolitical policy has been shifting towards China, putting us all in danger of conflict with the Communist superpower which has recently become a dictatorship with moves against human rights and presidential rights shifting back to a dynasty style of government. Over the past few weeks, several events have elevated the US geopolitical tension with China which since the Obama administration has been in turmoil after failed diplomatic discussions.

USA - Microsoft is cracking down on what people say while using their services online. According to a new services agreement written by the company, the tech giant is planning to ban accounts that use “offensive language” and will go through your private data to “investigate” users. In a March 1 release, Microsoft is warning customers using Office, Xbox, Skype, and other products that the company is prohibiting offensive language and inappropriate content starting on May 1. “Don’t publicly display or use the Services to share inappropriate content or material (involving, for example, nudity, bestiality, pornography, offensive language, graphic violence, or criminal activity),” Microsoft warns in a portion of their new codes of conduct.

JAPAN - The launch of the Ground Component Command to provide unified command over regional armies and the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, akin to the US Marines, came as Tokyo seeks to beef up defenses against North Korea’s nuclear arms and missile programs and China’s maritime assertiveness.

“We are expecting more situations in which the Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces have to work together to rapidly respond at a nationwide level against ballistic missile launches, attacks on islands and major disasters,” Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said at a news conference. The GSDF’s command structure remained decentralized amid bitter memories of the Imperial Japanese Army’s intervention in politics and its role in wartime military aggression, some political experts say.

CHINA - In a massive move against the global dominance of the US dollar, China’s highly anticipated Petro-Yuan has been launched in Shanghai. With China being the world’s largest consumer of oil, this new currency is an international game-changer that was a predicted move by China to directly compete — and subsequently devalue — the US dollar.

HONG KONG - Hong Kong is being forced to intervene to defend its currency peg and stem capital outflows, becoming the first global casualty of surging dollar Libor rates and US monetary tightening. The enclave’s authorities are preparing to sell "exchange fund bills" to drain liquidity, raising fears of a credit squeeze and a property correction that could quickly turn into a cascade. “The Hong Kong dollar is at its weakest level in 33 years. It suggests an imminent risk of capital flight,” said Francis Chan, a bank analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. The Asian hub is fast emerging as a test case of the global tightening cycle, forced to import the monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve...

USA - Donald Trump’s “economic madness” will push the US into a sharp ­ recession that risks dragging the rest of the world down with it, one of Britain’s most senior economists has warned. Paul Fisher, a former Bank of England policymaker, fears that slashing taxes and raising spending will cause America’s strengthening economy to overheat dramatically. Excessive stimulus will push up ­inflation to painful and potentially ­uncontrollable levels, forcing the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates too quickly, ultimately resulting in a recession, Mr Fisher said. “It is economic madness to think that this is the time to do a fiscal expansion in the US,” he said. “The economy [will] be in a complete mess” in around five years’ time, he predicted.

USA - China has condemned America for a "serious political and military provocation" after a US Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built in disputed waters. The operation in the South China Sea was the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters. It came amid heightened tensions between the two nations, after Donald Trump announced plans to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion (£42 billion) in Chinese goods, moving the world’s two largest economies closer to a trade war. The USS Mustin warship travelled close to Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands and performed manoeuvres, US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency.

GERMANY - EU sanctions against Russia irritate German businesses, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote. A recent survey of the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations among more than 110 companies showed that 57% of enterprises are in favor of a step-by-step lifting of sanctions against Moscow, while 37% support an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of economic restrictions.

UK - Drug-resistant superbugs are rising in the UK because of lack of regulation of antibiotics in developing countries, experts have warned. One of the biggest studies of antibiotic use around the world has established that while antibiotic use in Britain has slowed, global consumption jumped by 65 percent, to 34.8 billion daily doses between 2000 and 2015. Resistant infections already kill an estimated 5,000 people in Britain each year. And global deaths are projected to grow to 10 million a year by 2030 - one every three seconds - unless urgent action is taken, say experts.

TURKEY - Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have announced they want to create an “army of Islam” to wage war against Israel, it has been revealed. Less than a month ago the Turkish state’s mouthpiece the daily Yeni Şafak ran an article for Erdogan titled “A call for urgent action” and on the newspaper’s website headlined “What if an army of Islam formed against Israel?”

USA - It’s time to push the panic button. John Bolton’s appointment as national security adviser — a post that requires no Senate confirmation — puts the United States on a path to war. And it’s fair to say President Donald Trump wants us on that path.

USA - The US has threatened to re-evaluate its membership of the UN Human Rights Council, after it adopted five ‘biased’ anti-Israeli resolutions condemning its policies and calling on the world community to halt arms sales to Tel Aviv. Slamming UNHRC's anti-Israeli stance, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley threatened that the US may quit the 47-member UN body. “The United States continues to evaluate our membership in the Human Rights Council. Our patience is not unlimited,” Haley declared on Friday. “Today’s actions make clear that the organization lacks the credibility needed to be a true advocate for human rights.”

EUROPE - Stock markets dived again on Friday as Donald Trump faced a barrage of criticism for launching a $60 billion (£42 billion) package of tariffs on Chinese goods, sparking fears of a global trade war. In a day of condemnations, EU leaders meeting in Brussels accused Mr Trump of “putting a gun” to Europe’s head, while the director general of the WTO in Geneva warned that the US ­administration’s move had “jeopardised” a still-fragile global recovery. “I have the impression that the US leader wants to negotiate with the ­European Union by putting a gun to our head,” Mr Michel said as he arrived at the EU summit. “That’s a strange way to negotiate with an ally.”

USA - This week, the US Congress passed the massive 1.3 trillion-dollar Omnibus spending bill. Then, early Friday morning, the Senate did the same thing. None of these politicians in Washington likely had any time to read it because the 2,200-page legislation was given to them only hours before they voted on it.

CHINA - Just days after the latest close military encounter between the US and China, when the US navy sailed a destroyer to within 12 nautical miles of the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea - a move that China condemned as a "severe provocation" just as the two countries launched an all-out trade war - the Chinese military began its spring combat readiness drills with an air force exercise in the West Pacific and a joint combat patrol mission in the South China Sea. And so with the US and China already engaged in escalating trade war, it appears that Beijing is preparing for the next step.