Anybody who believes Hillary Rodham Clinton has been sent to the political graveyard by a Manhattan real estate developer has forgotten the cruel surprises of recent history (Remember the Greek referendum? Brexit anyone?). Democratic due process has devolved into something like ‘The Hunger Games’ for the rich - a sensational televised spectacle to entertain the elite every four years, while keeping the people believing they can effect real change.

Although it may seem implausible to some, Donald J Trump may be denied the presidency due to a democratic system that has been corrupted to the bone by excessive wealth, power and collusion at the highest levels. The Electoral College is scheduled to meet on December 19 to perform what, under normal circumstances, would be a mere formality of voting for either Clinton or Trump, according to the will of their constituents.

Needless to say, however, we are not dealing with “normal circumstances.” This is a battle the Democrats have no intention of losing, no matter what the Electoral College results tell us. The 2016 presidential campaign represents an epic power struggle that will determine the trajectory of US domestic and foreign policy like no other contest in recent history. No surprise, then, that neo-liberal lobbying groups have been exerting immense pressure on these electors to ignore the will of the people and “vote their conscience.”

Such dramatic setbacks, which are becoming the rule rather than the exception, lend credence to Mark Twain’s famous observation that “If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it.” In other words, the elite will always get what they want, regardless how the votes goes. Clinton seizing the White House through the backdoor would not be the strangest thing to happen in old Washington. Just ask George W Bush how he got elected president in 2000 by the Supreme Court, not We the People.

In Monday’s edition of the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, co-editor Berthold Kohler called in a piece headlined “The utterly unimaginable” for the new foreign minister to “subject German foreign policy to an overhaul, particularly with regard to its security policy aspects.” A “simple ‘same as before’ along the well-worn path” could not be permitted.

The new “path” advocated by Kohler consists of “higher spending on defence,” the “revival of compulsory military service,” and something which was for “German minds completely inconceivable, the question of our own nuclear deterrent.”

Kohler’s demand reveals what has been intensively discussed and prepared behind the backs of the population. Just a few days earlier, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) security policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter called in an interview with Reuters for the construction of a European nuclear deterrent, focusing above all on the expansion of the French and British nuclear programmes.

The FAZ is now going one step further. According to Kohler, the “French and British arsenals [are] too weak in their current condition.” Like Der Spiegel prior to the US election, he raised the demand for Germany’s own nuclear weapons and justified this by citing the alleged “withdrawal of America from the world,” which would continue under a future President Trump and further encourage China and Russia “to expand their areas of domination and spheres of influence.”

Last week, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that includes setting up an EU Operational Headquarters, establishing a "political leadership" for EU military operations, and raising the military budgets of all member states to at least 2% of their GDP. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, Federica Mogherini, continues to promote the idea of an "EU superpower."

Leading politicians and commentators are beginning to pick up the idea, previously launched by a number of experts, of the EU developing its own nuclear military forces on the basis of French and British nuclear weapons. However, for this, the French and British arsenals would be insufficient, according to a suggestive article published in one of Germany's leading opinion-forming dailies.

Germany's air force is preparing to adapt some of its Tornado warplanes to carry more up-to-date US atom bombs in light of plans by Washington to modernize its nuclear arsenal in Germany, media reported on Saturday. The German newsmagazine "Spiegel" reported that US President Barack Obama had approved the last phase of development for the atom-bomb model B61-12, which is to go into full-scale production from 2020.

Washington then intended to station some of the modernized weapons at the Büchel air base in Germany's western Eifel region, according to the report. Experts estimate that 10 to 20 nuclear warheads from the Cold War period are currently stored in Büchel, with German Tornado warplanes standing by to carry them if it is deemed necessary. The area is under strict protection, with some US soldiers also stationed there.

Populations across the bloc demanded that the power hungry Brussels boss scales back his meddling in individual countries’ affairs as they handed a stunning rebuke to the out of touch euro elite. Even in Germany, the ideological cradle of the whole EU project, voters are now sick to the back teeth of creeping federalisation and are increasingly demanding that their futures be decided in Berlin, and not in Brussels.

The shock results come at a time when the EU is facing an unprecedented popularity crisis, rebellious electorates across the continent increasingly turning their backs on snooty europhiles in favour of anti-establishment parties. Brussels is facing a fight for its very survival with far-right chief Marine Le Pen on the march in France and the anti-EU Five Star Movement, which wants an end to the euro currency, flying high in the polls in Italy.

Panicked eurocrats have been scrambling to head off the populist uprising on their doorstep, and tonight voters unequivocally issued their demands if any faith is to be restored in the flailing European project. In eight of twelve member states surveyed by respected pollsters YouGov people expressed a strong desire to see more powers repatriated from unelected Brussels bureaucrats to national Governments that represent their interests.

Unsurprisingly the urge to restore sovereignty was strongest in Britain, which has just voted to quit the EU, but eurocrats will be alarmed by the fact that eurosceptic sentiment is almost as widespread in a host of other countries. More than four in ten voters in Holland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and France want to see an active rolling back of the EU’s controversial policy of ‘ever closer union’, demonstrating a stunning lack of faith in the unelected euro elite.

And even in Germany, the Brussels project’s staunchest and most vociferous backer, 38 per cent want Angela Merkel to ask for more powers back from eurocrats - the same figure as in neighbouring Poland.  YouGov observed: “The era of an increasingly powerful European Union may be over, with the desire for EU powers to be returned to member states the most popular point of view in eight EU nations. In no country was the belief that the current balance of powers is about right the most popular answer.” 

But despite the populist revolution unfurling before its eyes Brussels is sticking steadfast to its superstate dream, recently unveiling plans to complete a banking union across the eurozone and controversial proposals to set up an EU army to rival NATO.

He said: “Brexit is going to be a sideshow to the problems of Europe that are becoming more and more evident. The euro as it stands at the moment is just a very inappropriate mechanism — I give the euro between one and five years of life.”

The UK’s recent Brexit vote, along with Donald Trump's election as US President, has signalled a sea-change in global politics and populist movements around the world have gathered pace. Italy’s referendum vote at the weekend, as well as France’s presidential election next year, could also see upsets at the ballot box, giving currency traders cause for concern and initiating a run on the euro.

Last week, the euro dropped to $1.0518, it’s lowest point since March 2015 and Mr Mellon expects the currency to fall further, reaching parity to the dollar “sometime over the next year”. Italy’s dire economic situation - with high unemployment and a crumbling financial sector - has caused Mr Mellon to sell Italian government bonds.

This would mean the elimination of Nasa’s world-renowned research into temperature, ice, clouds and other climate phenomena. Nasa’s network of satellites provide a wealth of information on climate change, with the Earth science division’s budget set to grow to $2 billion next year. By comparison, space exploration has been scaled back somewhat, with a proposed budget of $2.8 billion in 2017.

Bob Walker, a senior Trump campaign adviser, said there was no need for Nasa to do what he has previously described as “politically correct environmental monitoring”. “We see Nasa in an exploration role, in deep space research,” Walker told the Guardian. “Earth-centric science is better placed at other agencies where it is their prime mission".

Carter is completely convinced that a “two-state solution” will bring lasting peace to the Middle East, but now that Donald Trump has been elected Carter knows that his dream of seeing a Palestinian state while he is still alive is rapidly slipping away. In a desperate attempt to salvage the situation, Carter is urging Barack Obama to take bold action while he still has the power to do so.

But even though the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have both been running stories about a potential UN Security Council resolution that would divide the land of Israel, and even though experienced politicians such as Jimmy Carter and John Bolton are making lots of noise about it, most people don’t seem to understand how immensely important this really is in the greater scheme of things.

But if Barack Obama does decide to make a move to divide the land of Israel at the United Nations at some point during the next several weeks, the consequences for this nation will be more severe than most people would dare to imagine.

The Governor of the Bank of England wants a smooth changeover when Britain leaves the EU, to give companies time to adapt to the new setup, and avoid any wrenching change in the economy or in the financial markets. That means Britain would not necessarily switch overnight from one regime to another when leaving the EU, which is expected to take place in early 2019.

“Banks located in the UK supply over half of debt and equity issuance by continental firms, and account for over three-quarters of foreign exchange and derivatives activity in the EU,” Mr Carney said. “If these UK-based firms have to adjust their activities in a short time frame, there could be a greater risk of disruption to services provided to the European real economy, some of which could spill back to the UK economy through trade and financial linkages.”

That potential disruption comes from Britain’s status as the EU’s major global financial hub. “The UK is effectively the investment banker for Europe,” Mr Carney said, noting that funds are raised by British-based banks from British-based investors, to fund economic activity. “These activities are crucial for firms in the European real economy, and it is absolutely in the interests of the EU that there is an orderly transition and there is continual access to those services.”