UK - Volatility has ended the year at record lows, adding to concerns that complacent investors are sleepwalking into the next crash as stock markets around the world hit new highs. The VIX Index, a widely-used measure of expectations of future volatility, slipped a further 21 percent in 2017, finishing at an end-of-year record low of 10.40. In the past, low volatility has predated some of the biggest market collapses. According to the VIX index, also known as the Fear Index, volatility tumbled to an intraday low of 8.56 in November, its lowest level since the index began in 1990, while FTSE-100 volatility is also at an end-of-year record low at 9.56. The last time volatility sunk to levels this low was in the run-up to the financial crisis a decade ago and volatility then soared to a peak of 80.86 at the height of the downturn in 2008!
USA - The United States doesn’t let anyone see its gold reserves. Even if the Treasury has the number of billions it claims, they are not tradable, warns Singapore’s BullionStar precious metals expert Ronan Manly. The US government claims to hold 8133.5 tonnes of physical gold in its official reserves.
USA - When Donald Trump gets hit, he always hits back even harder. So when the deep state decided to conduct a legal witch hunt against President Trump and his family, they should have expected that Trump would return the favor. In recent days, there have been all sorts of rumblings about sealed indictments, pending arrests and a “deep state takedown”. Many believe that we are on the verge of seeing some of the most prominent Democrats in the entire nation being arrested and thrown in prison.
ISRAEL - America's ambassador to Israel has claimed the reaction to Washington's move recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital is irrational and "needlessly provocative." The massive anti-Israeli and anti-American protests that erupted across the Muslim world following Donald Trump's announcement have been dubbed as "ugly, needlessly provocative and antisemitic" by David Friedman. Palestinians have been acting "largely emotional," and "unfortunately overreacted," the US ambassador, known as an outspoken advocate for Israel's claim to the Holy City told the Jerusalem Post. Washington is "not taking a position on any final status issues," he said. "There is no path around the United States" being involved in the peace process. "Israel has made it clear that they will not engage under the sponsorship of any other nation," he said.
ISRAEL - Palestinians occupy Jewish land. Jews are the true indigenous people and owners of the land of Israel. The ancient Philistines have long disappeared from the earth, and current Palestinians have absolutely no connection to them.
GERMANY - A majority of Germans seem to have come round to the idea that Angela Merkel's time is drawing to a close. A new YouGov poll released on Wednesday found that 47 percent of Germans would prefer the chancellor not to complete a fourth term in office, while only 36 percent said they would like to see her go another round. Though it depends of course on whether she does manage to form a government this time round. It may take a while: Preliminary talks on forming a new grand coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) are due to begin on January 7, with actual negotiations not expected before the end of the month, which would mean a new government might not form until Easter. But it is by no means a given that this is how things will pan out.
USA - Farmers’ Markets “normalize” the “food consumption habits of white people” and contribute to the oppression of minorities, according to two professors at San Diego State University.
GERMANY - Germany could return to authoritarianism if the economic conditions were to seriously worsen in the country, the son of Hans Frank the governor general of Nazi occupied Poland during World War Two, has told BBC Hardtalk. "As long as our economy is great, and as long as we make money everything is very democratic," said Niklas Frank, but "if we have five to 10 years heavy economic problems the swamp is a lake, and is a sea and will swallow again, everything," he added. Niklas Frank said he "despises" his father for the crimes he committed while he was governor-general of Poland from 1939 to 1945, and tours Germany giving speeches about his father and the legacy of the Nazi era. Hans Frank was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg trials and executed in 1946.
GERMANY - German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has been working on establishing the groundwork for an European Union army, in particular developing a network of co-operation between troops from Germany and others from countries that are part of Pesco - Permanent Structured Co-operation. The bloc comprises 25 EU countries with only Denmark, Malta and the UK remaining outside.
GERMANY - Approaching a third of German and French people want the European Union (EU) to become a single country, or ‘United States of Europe’, but only 10 per cent of Brits agree. The plan to turn the bloc into a federal superstate by 2025 was put forward by Martin Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament and a contender for German chancellor, earlier this month. He called for an EU constitution and for the bloc to rapidly expand its power and erode the sovereignty of nation-states, as well as demanding that any country standing in the way must be ejected.
EUROPE - Plans for a United States of Europe by 2025 suffered a damning blow today after a new poll revealed they have little support across the major nations. German politician Martin Schulz - the former President of the European Parliament and domestic rival to Angela Merkel - promoted the plan at a party conference. He called for a rapid development of the EU after Britain leaves, accelerating integration and leaving behind those who do not want it. But the plan is supported by less than a third of people in seven major nations - and just 10 per cent in Britain, in a vindication of last year's Leave vote. Germans are the most enthusiastic but even there only 30 per cent back the idea.
ISRAEL - Israel has a great deal to learn from the experience of other countries when it comes to liberalising trading hours and allowing shops to open on the Sabbath (Shabbat). Australia used to be a Christian country with all shops closed on… Sunday. There was church on Sunday morning. Families spent the day together at the beach, on trips to the country, visiting friends and family or simply being with each other at home. Sunday was a day of rest.
UK - Sand is one of the most-consumed natural resources on the planet. The United Nations estimates that mining of sand and gravel may exceed 40 billion tonnes a year. Due to the high demand for sand, the planet's reserves are now being threatened: three-quarters of the world's beaches are already in decline.
ISRAEL - Temple Institute head Rabbi Yisrael Ariel quotes Haggai the Prophet, says solution to drought is to build Holy Temple. Temple Institute head Rabbi Yisrael Ariel responded to the special prayer session held on Thursday at the Western Wall, when thousands gathered to pray for rain.
CHINA - Analysts with the proper degree of skepticism about China’s boasts of soaring economic power note that official reports from the Communist regime cannot be trusted. Another, less widely understood problem is that China’s rulers might not know how unstable their economy really is because a sizable portion of Chinese debt lurks off the books in the “shadow banking” industry.
“Just what is an APOSTLE?”
Today we find the Church of God in a “wilderness of religious confusion!”
The confusion is not merely around the Church – within the religions of the world outside – but WITHIN the very heart of The True Church itself!
Read online or contact email to request a copy
