USA - New research just published confirms what other studies have already shown: that the H1N1 swine flu vaccine actually made flu symptoms worse. This was widely reported in 2010 in Canada, after the flu season that year. The new research just published examined swine that received the H1N1 vaccine, and were subsequently exposed to a related strain of the same virus they were vaccinated for. The result: “enhanced pneumonia and disease after H1N1 infection.”
MIDDLE EAST - For decades, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has been touted by American leaders as a moderate man of peace. US leaders from George W Bush to Barack Obama, and from Condoleezza Rice to John Kerry, all insisted that Abbas is the Palestinian leader who will make an historic deal with Israel. President Donald Trump has met three times with Abbas since taking office.
ISRAEL - It began with a regular tour of the Temple Mount compound by a group of 42 Jews, which included rabbis and politicians. At some point, they ran into a provocation of local Arabs and Waqf officials, who got in their faces and verbally attacked the group, yelling the familiar pre-detonation slogan, “Allahu Akbar.”
SWEDEN - For the first time since World War II, Sweden is preparing to distribute a civil defense brochure to some 4.7 million households, warning them about the onset of war. What if the threat is not from Russia, but one that is domestic?
GERMANY - The chances are you have never heard of Kevin Kühnert. Until a couple of months ago, few had heard of him in his native Germany. But this weekend, the 28-year-old political novice could become the man who ends the career of Angela Merkel. Mr Kühnert is leading a grassroots rebellion in the centre-left Social Democrat Party (SPD) against joining a new coalition under Mrs Merkel. A party vote on the decision this Sunday that was expected to be a formality now looks too close to call. If Mr Kühnert wins, it will plunge Germany into political chaos. Mrs Merkel will have nowhere left to look for a majority and be left with a choice between new elections or trying to form a minority government. It could be the beginning of the end for the woman who has dominated German politics for more than 12 years.
GERMANY - Angela Merkel and her Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz clashed over immigration in their first meeting Wednesday, with the seasoned German chancellor saying Vienna's resistance to sharing out refugees across the bloc was "wrong". Kurz, at 31 the world's youngest leader after forming a government with the far right last month, said following talks with Merkel that the debate about mandatory migrant quotas "took up too much space".
CHINA - The Chinese state propaganda outlet Global Times argued in a column Wednesday that the “Divided States of America” faces a growing identity crisis before the “increasingly confident Chinese people,” failing to note growing separatist movements and political dissidents within its own borders. The Times argues that alleged chaos in the United States is making it increasingly difficult for other countries to know how to conduct relations with the United States, while China’s authoritarian communist regime offers predictability.
GERMANY - Germany’s far-right Reichsbuerger movement has grown to almost 16,000 members, while some of them are eying their own armed wing and are preparing for 'Day X', Focus magazine reports, citing intelligence sources. The stunning revelation came into the spotlight earlier this week after Germany’s Focus magazine published a report citing an assessment of the domestic intelligence agency, the BfV. Responding to Focus’ request for comment, the BfV, the agency in charge of monitoring extremist groups threatening constitutional order, said the number of Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich in German) members had grown to 15,600 as of January – with the figure marking a dramatic increase of more than 50 percent within one year.
USA - In a Daily Beast opinion piece on December 15, Paul Offit — one of the vaccine industry’s most strident ambassadors — puzzles over a seeming contradiction. How, Offit wonders, could the state of Mississippi, which has “the worst overall health in the nation,” have used standout “efficiency” to achieve over 99.4% vaccine coverage in kindergartners? Rather than seriously investigate this apparent enigma, Offit presents his ready-made answer and reveals his article’s true purpose.
USA - If you’ve ever wondered to yourself how society got to the point where those who accept their God-given gender roles as male and female are now being pushed to the margins of mainstream culture, look no further than the infamous communist revolutionary Karl Marx. His tactical blueprints for transforming a society from free to enslaved actually necessitate the reassigning of normal human behaviors as obscure, a process that includes making up words like “cis-gender,” for instance, which are meant to normalize depraved concepts like “transgender.”
USA - The stock market has been compared to the bitcoin bubble by an asset management firm chief who declared both the stock market and cryptocurrencies are overpriced. Francesco Filia, chief executive at asset management firm Fasanara Capital believes the stock market is heading for a crash thanks to the combined efforts of overvalued stocks, high indebtedness, low cash balance and a drawback in flows from central banks.
EUROPE - Kurz leads a stable coalition government after a clear electoral victory based in part on his stringent stance on the issue that is the conservative Merkel's Achilles' heel: how to stem the flow of migrants and refugees to Europe. German and Austrian conservatives now seem to have agreed on a formula for their future approach to the issue: "The EU should determine who comes to Europe and not the human traffickers."
AUSTRIA - After all, it was not just the brazen self-confidence of Austria's political superstar that got him into the chancellery. Kurz has an instinct for populist sentiment and, above all, he is willing to make deals from which others would shy away. In fact, his governing coalition with Austria's far-right Freedom Party FPÖ – close allies of French far-right firebrand Marine Le Pen's National Front – is exactly the kind of deal that prompts Merkel to turn away in disgust. Any cooperation with the FPÖ's German equivalent, the far-right "Alternative for Germany" (AfD), is in her view simply unthinkable. Now Austria has become Germany's latest ally to lean to the political far-right. Merkel has already paid dearly for refusing to go with this political trend.
GERMANY - Confronted with a crucial vote this weekend on whether to enter formal coalition talks with Angela Merkel’s bloc or cast themselves into the wilderness to rebuild the party, many SPD members are coming to the conclusion that a return to government carries the lesser risk.
GERMANY - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives said on Tuesday they would not prevent the Alternative for Germany (AfD) from chairing parliament's powerful budget committee if the far-right party becomes the largest opposition force. Merkel hopes to form an alliance with the Social Democrats (SPD) to extend her 12 years in power. That tie-up would make the anti-immigrant AfD the largest party represented in parliament that is not in government. Tradition dictates that the largest opposition party gets to take the helm of the budget committee - a position that would give the AfD and its economic ideas prominence. Last year lawmakers changed the rules for the ceremonial post of president - who gets to open the first session of parliament - to prevent an AfD member from getting it.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this section are not our own, unless specifically stated, but are provided to highlight what may prove to be prophetically relevant material appearing in the media.