MIDDLE EAST - It’s easy to get lost in all things Middle East, especially concerning the chaotic events that unfolded over the weekend in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Three days after the most stunning purge in recent Saudi history - which was really a counter coup, that led to the arrest of dozens of Saudi Arabian royals, ministers and businessmen to further the control of the Kingdom - Saudi Arabia called Yemen’s missile launch on Riyadh an ‘act of war’ by Iran, and also played victim by saying Lebanon has declared war against the Kingdom. How to make sense of this all? The outlook for Saudi Arabia is bleak and in our view, the conditions are perfect for a civil war. The probability of an expansionist war also increases as the kingdom has Iran and Lebanon in its crosshairs.

MIDDLE EAST - US President Donald Trump’s administration has begun drafting an Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal based on a two-state solution, officials and analysts quoted by The New York Times said on Saturday. A senior White House adviser said Trump’s Mideast peace plan will attempt to tackle hot-button issues such as the status of Jerusalem and West Bank settlements. “Our goal is to facilitate, not dictate, a lasting peace agreement to improve the lives of Israelis and Palestinians and security across the region”.

SYRIA - Iran is building a permanent military base in Syria just south of Damascus, the BBC reported Friday, citing a Western intelligence official. The British broadcaster commissioned a series of satellite pictures that indicate widespread construction at the site. Israel has long warned that Iran is trying to establish a permanent  presence in Syria as part of its efforts to control a land corridor from Iran through to the Mediterranean Sea as it attempts to expand its influence across the Middle East. According to the BBC report, the base is situated at a site used by the Syrian army near El-Kiswah, 14 km (8 miles) south of Damascus, and 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Israeli border.

USA - Representatives Michael McCaul (Republican for Texas) and Robert Pittenger (Republican for North Carolina) introduced the “Taiwan Security Act” in the House, while Senator Tom Cotton (Republican for Arkansas) introduced it in the upper chamber. The bill seeks to expand already strong military ties between the US and the disputed island in a range of ways. It “re-establishes an annual strategic dialogue” between Washington and Taipei “in order to ensure the regular transfer of defense articles,” the proposed bill states. It also envisages the US inviting the Taiwanese military to participate in the Pacific Rim (RIMPAC) naval exercises and Red Flag air combat exercises.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Saturday reaffirmed the "primacy" of using one's conscience to navigate tough moral questions in his first comments since he was publicly accused of spreading heresy by emphasizing conscience over hard and fast Catholic rules. Francis issued a video message to a conference organized by Italian bishops on his controversial 2016 document on family life, "The Joy of Love." The document has badly divided the Catholic Church, with some commentators warning that it risked creating a schism given its opening to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics. Francis told the conference that priests must inform Catholic consciences "but not replace them." And he stressed the distinction between one's conscience — where God reveals himself — and one's ego that thinks it can do as it pleases.

USA - A peer-reviewed survey showed that digestive problems, obesity, allergies and fatigue cleared up for a bulk of the people who switched to non-GMO food. Switching to a non-GMO diet can transform health for the better, according to survey results reported in a new peer-reviewed article by Jeffrey M Smith, published in the International Journal of Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine. Out of 3,256 people who responded to a survey emailed to members of the database of Smith’s organisation, the Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT), a remarkable 85.2% said their digestive health improved – by far the number one self-reported benefit – on changing to a diet without GMOs.

IRAQ - A 7.3-magnitude earthquake has killed at least 207 people and injured hundreds more after it struck southeast of the city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq, near the border with Iran. The head of the Irani Kermanshah’s emergency department said at least 93 people were killed in Iran and 1,000 others injured. Meanwhile in Iraq at least 6 people are dead and more than 500 injured, according to the Joint Crisis Coordination Centre of the Kurdish government. Some social media users in Israel, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have also reported feeling tremors. The extent of the damage caused by the earthquake has been truly horrifying, with thousands of people in both countries forced onto the streets and parks in cold weather after a series of aftershocks.

COSTA RICA - A huge 6.5 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Costa Rica, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The quake’s centre was 44 miles (71 km) southwest of San Jose at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 km). Costa Rica is located on the Ring of Fire, faults lines in the Earth’s crust around the Pacific Ocean, which is a hotspot for earthquake activity. The quake hit in a rural area near the popular beach tourism city of Jaco, where there are few tall buildings. It did not trigger a tsunami threat in the Pacific. It comes after another nation on the Ring of Fire, Japan, was struck by a 5.8 magnitude quake.

VATICAN - Pope Francis is bringing together world officials and peacemakers as he wades into the North Korea crisis and tries to save the planet from World War 3. The leader of the Catholic church will speak at the Vatican tomorrow in a bid to defuse rising nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The Holy See hopes it can temper the war of words between firebrand US President Donald Trump and despot Kim Jong-un.

GERMANY - With coalition talks bogged down in a war of words between the negotiating parties, a senior member of the Christian Democrats (CDU) has warned that failure is not an option. Daniel Günther, Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein, said in an interview with Bild on Monday that a snap election would be a "catastrophe" for the country.

USA - One year ago we witnessed the greatest miracle in political history, and since that time we have also witnessed one of the greatest miracles in financial history.  On November 8th, 2016 the Dow closed at 18,332.74. On Wednesday, it closed at 23,563.36.  US stocks have increased in value by about 5.4 trillion dollars since Donald Trump was elected, and I don’t think that we have seen anything quite like this ever before.

USA - European elites are hoarding cash, the Japanese are stuffing safes full of high-denomination bills, the Saudis are scrambling, and… the richest Americans are getting increasingly concerned about the safety of their wealth... For a decade, Security & Armored Car Services workers in the US have earned around $14 to $15 per hour. But all that changed as President Trump was elected... Demand for security services has soared driving wages up a stunning 24% YoY! What are America's 1%-ers worried about? (The answer is simple... the rest of us)!

USA - Have you ever thought about how fast things could go sideways in America?  What if we went 5 days without trucks moving supplies across the country? Have you considered how just one thing could change the world as we know it?

USA - Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, says the company was designed to “consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible” and warns the platform could affect developing minds in negative ways. At an Axios event Wednesday, Parker, 38, the billionaire co-founder of Napster and an early investor in Facebook, confessed that he has become “something of a conscientious objector” to social media, despite the fact that he made most of his $2.6 billion fortune from Facebook. Parker says he is now concerned about the “unintended consequences” the social media giant could have on users, especially children.

USA - A presidential tour of Asia cannot hide the fact that America has turned inward,  hurting itself and the world. So far his foreign policy has been less awful than his campaign rhetoric suggested it might be.  But he has made some serious errors and has done real damage to his country’s soft power. America’s influence has dwindled, and it will not be easy to restore.