USA - New York, Boston and other cities in the United States bolstered security on Friday night after deadly gun and bomb attacks on civilians in Paris, but law enforcement officials said the beefed-up police presence was precautionary rather than a response to any specific threats.
FRANCE - France has declared a national state of emergency and tightened borders after at least 120 people were killed in a night of gun and bomb attacks in Paris. Eighty people were reported killed after gunmen burst into the Bataclan concert hall and took hostages before security forces stormed the hall.
CHINA - Assistant US Secretary of State Daniel Russel said recently that China wants the US to give it a "free pass" on issues that China considers its "core interests," and that's just not a deal that the US "ever can or would make." US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter recently played tough and called China and Russia potential threats to the world. He said the US has been shifting its focus toward the Asia-Pacific, including sending its best naval and other military weapons, ships and equipment to that region.
GERMANY - New military interventions by the German army (Bundeswehr) in Africa, the Middle East and Asia are being discussed and prepared in German defence and foreign policy think tanks, under the pretext of the “struggle against the causes of [refugee] flight”. An article entitled “The Do-gooders” in the current issue of the news magazine Der Spiegel provides insight into these far-reaching plans. The projects are so massive that even the establishment Spiegel describes them as a “project between despair and megalomania.”
USA - On Monday evening, an American Airlines flight from Miami, Florida to Barbados was boarded by a paramilitary police unit wielding assault rifles, who demanded that passengers put their hands on their heads as they were forced off the flight.
SAUDI ARABIA - In rare public statement, advisers to all-powerful Prince Mohammed bin Salman tell Telegraph of plans for opening up country's economy and society. Saudi Arabia has issued a manifesto for change in the face of rumours of coup plots and international pressure, ranging from economic reform to the role of women and allowing human rights groups into the country.
VATICAN - During his papal visit to Florence, Pope Francis addressed issues of poverty, exploitation and the image of the Church. He says it has to get ‘bruised, hurting and dirty’ while reaching out to the poor, and less centered around power and money. Pope Francis delivered the speech in Florence insisting the Catholic Church should have nothing to do with power, prestige and economic benefits. Instead it should be focusing on reaching out to people, especially those most in need.
VATICAN - Unseemly jostling for luxury apartments, unmonitored spending, and secret slush funds have been uncovered in two new books on the Vatican compiled from apparent inside information that may have led to the arrest of two prominent officials last weekend. “There is a complete absence of transparency in the bookkeeping both of the Holy See and the Governorate. Costs are out of control,” says a confidential letter sent to newly-elected Pope Francis by a team of international auditors in June 2013.
VATICAN - Vatican-owned properties are being used by priests as brothels and massage parlours, according to the latest claims to emerge from the Vatileaks scandal. The properties implicated in a report, leaked by a Vatican mole, include premises close to the Italian Parliament and a solarium near Piazza Barberini.
USA - Do federal agents need a license to kill in order to protect us? Unfortunately, federal judges are giving law enforcement agents blanket immunity when they shoot Americans while the agents are on the job. It would be difficult to imagine a greater violation of equal rights under the law or a bigger mockery of due process.
CANADA - Canada's new government has given the city of Montreal the go-ahead for its plans to dump billions of liters of untreated sewage into the St Lawrence River. The city says it may damage the environment, but the government says the alternatives are worse. The dump would last for about a week that is needed to make critical repairs to the city's waste-water system. Over that time an estimated 7.5 billion liters of contaminated fluid will be discharged.
GERMANY - Bizarre clog-wearing neo-Nazis are attempting to take over small villages in Germany in a bid to build a Fourth Reich.The group, calling themselves "nationalist settlers", are ultra-right Hitler worshippers but they have traded skinhead boots for clogs and traditional materials and work as organic farmers, midwives and craftsmen. Despite appearing bonkers however their rise is being taken very seriously.
GERMANY - This week, a 29-year old German man was arrested at Frankfurt Airport after police noticed that he had microwaved his ID to disable the microchip inside. Microwaving ID’s is actually extremely common among German and other EU citizens who are concerned about their privacy. The man, who has not yet been identified is now facing charges of “illegally modifying official documents,” and is accused of tampering with state property.
EUROPE - Huge population growth in Africa and Asia makes it imperative the EU manages its borders — and promote stability abroad. Yet the leaders gathering in Malta today to discuss Europe’s migration crisis will only make rational decisions if they pay close attention to the one area of forecasting which can be more accurate – the growth or decline of populations. If they do not, they risk repeating some of the serious errors they have already made.
EUROPE - Council of Economic Experts says low interest rates pose risk for financial stability, and call on the ECB to end stimulus measures. The European Central Bank must end its unprecedented stimulus measures in order to prevent a new financial crisis from erupting in the eurozone, Germany's top economic advisers have warned.