GERMANY - In the lead-up to Sunday's Russian presidential election, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview that German Chancellor Angela Merkel regularly sends him cases of Radeberger beer, because she knows he developed a taste for it during his day with the KGB in what was once East Germany. Merkel confirmed the anecdote, though she was not likely amused by it. "In the end, a cooperative approach to the Putin system doesn't work," said Stefan Meister, Russia expert at the German Council on Foreign Policy (DPAG). Whereas the British government has chosen to directly confront Russia, the Chancellery has been reluctant in countering Kremlin aggression. "Germany is looking for a new Russia policy," said Meister.
SAUDI ARABIA - In August, a petrochemical company with a plant in Saudi Arabia was hit by a new kind of cyberassault. The attack was not designed to simply destroy data or shut down the plant, investigators believe. It was meant to sabotage the firm’s operations and trigger an explosion.
GERMANY - North Korean rockets could now reach Germany and Central Europe, a top German intelligence official told lawmakers, according to a report by German newspaper Bild am Sonntag. Ole Diehl, the vice president of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, told members of the Bundestag this past week during a closed-door meeting that the evaluation was confirmed “with certainty,” Bild reported, citing participants in the briefing. Diehl also reportedly said that the ongoing discussions between North and South Korea showed tensions are thawing. Former US and South Korean officials are expected to meet with a North Korean diplomat, who traveled to Finland on Sunday, according to Reuters.
ETHIOPIA - When Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Ethiopia became landlocked and therefore dependent on its neighbours – especially Djibouti – for access to international markets. This dependency has hampered Ethiopia’s aspiration to emerge as the uncontested regional power in the Horn of Africa.
VENEZUELA - Venezuela imposed electricity rationing this week in six western states, as the crisis-hit country’s creaky power grid suffered from a drought that has reduced water levels in key reservoirs needed to run hydroelectric power generators. The four-hour formal outages began on Thursday. But many residents scoffed at the announcement, wryly noting that they have been suffering far more extended blackouts during the last week. Crumbling infrastructure and lack of investments have hit Venezuela’s power supply for years. Now, the situation has been exacerbated by dwindling rains. In the worst-hit western cities, business has all but ground to a halt at a time when the OPEC nation of 30 million is already suffering hyperinflation and a profound recession.
UK - Banks have been warned that British homeowners' giant mortgages may be affordable now, but could get them into trouble as interest rates rise. The Bank of England is keeping a close eye on lenders' attitudes to risk, as more mortgages than ever before are being given at a value of more than four times the borrower's income. Officials have put a limit on the proportion of loans banks can give at above 4.5-times income. But increasing numbers of mortgages are being offered at just below that cap.
USA - When I was pro-vax I used to hear anti-vaxxer parents say things like “my second kid is unvaccinated and never ever gets sick!” And I’d roll my eyes and be like “what does that have to do with anything? Getting a cold or flu has nothing to do with whether or not you got your polio shot.” WRONG.
UK - Electricity, gas and water firms, the Sellafield nuclear power plant, Whitehall departments and NHS hospitals have all been warned to prepare for a state- sponsored assault ordered by the Kremlin after the nerve agent attack in Salisbury. NCSC officials, working with the National Crime Agency and MI5’s Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, have told key organisations that they could face attempts to steal the data of taxpayers and patients or “denial of service” attacks that could shut down their websites.
USA - President Trump’s Wednesday fundraiser in Missouri is raising eyebrows in the news, as he suggested to donors that he is considering withdrawing US troops from South Korea if he can’t get a better trade deal out of their government.
GERMANY - Newly-appointed Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has said that “Islam doesn't belong to Germany.” The comments contradict previous remarks from his own chancellor, Angela Merkel. Seehofer was sworn-in on Wednesday, following protracted negotiations to form a new German government, and made the remarks in an interview with Bild on Friday. Seehofer, chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria, also outlined a number of tough new measures to curtail immigration and make it easier for Germany to deport failed asylum seekers.
UK - The chairman of JD Wetherspoon has blasted the EU as its "unusually good press around the world" hides the lack of democracy in the bloc which is run by Brussels plutocrats. Tim Martin delivered a scathing assessment of those who run the European Union, branding its leaders as "plutocrats in Brussels".
USA - The top US general in the Middle East [US Army General Joseph Votel] testified before Congress on Tuesday and dropped several bombshells:
from signaled support for the Iran nuclear deal… admitting the US does not know what Saudi Arabia does with its bombs in Yemen… and that Assad has won the Syrian Civil War.
USA - Communists have always operated through "popular front" movements, which pretend to be grassroots movements but are actually organized and funded by the Masonic Jewish (Communist) central bankers. Having run through women and minorities, they have recently mobilized students to render patriotic Americans helpless to resist their police state.
UK - A weaponised smallpox virus could have a devastating effect on the world's major cities, infecting thousands because of the growing numbers of people with suppressed immunity, researchers have warned. Smallpox, which was eradicated globally in 1980, is classed by the United States government as a category A bioterrorism agent because of its potential to spread rapidly, infect swathes of the population and incite widespread fear and panic. The World Health Organization has stockpiled around 30 million doses of first, second and third generation vaccines.
USA - I really hope you understand this.
It is not a fantasy.
It isn’t science fiction.
It isn’t satire.
It is Brave New World, but not the Huxley novel.
It’s happening now.