USA - Earth is being blasted by a flare soaring from a hole in the sun’s atmosphere – and it’s bringing huge geomagnetic storms with it. The super-fast stream of solar wind hit the Earth’s magnetic field just in time for the winter solstice on Wednesday. And it’s whipped up a “moderately” strong geomagnetic storm that could last for several days, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Geomagnetic storms are behind the awe-inspiring natural phenomenon the Northern Lights. But they can prove devastating to human civilisation as we know it, experts have warned.

USA - A Texas court is expected to make a decision before New Year’s Day on one of President Obama’s newest transgender mandates, which would require doctors to provide transgender treatment for kids who desire it. That treatment would be required under Obama’s federal rule even if the physician is convinced it would harm the child. The case was brought by the Becket Fund on behalf of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, the Franciscan Alliance and the states of Texas, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The new rule is to apply to more than 900,000 physicians – nearly every doctor in the US.

GERMANY - It is no secret that Islamists consider the Germans as a bunch of cowards. “You love life, we love death”, they continue to repeat. Because wherever they look, the combatants of Allah see only people and governments only too ready to capitulate.

USA - Thanks to the election of Donald Trump, most Christians in America are feeling really good about the future, but it is another story entirely in much of the rest of the world. A Christian persecution watchdog group called Aid to the Church in Need released its “Religious Freedom in the World” report for 2016 a few weeks ago, and their conclusion was that the persecution of Christians globally is becoming much worse.

INDIA - India’s economy has reportedly overtaken the United Kingdom’s for the first time in over 100 years, now standing as the world’s sixth-largest economy by GDP after the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and France. The milestone is a symbol of India’s rapid economic growth and, conversely, the UK’s post-Brexit slump. Economically, it’s been a banner year for India. In February, it surpassed China as the world’s fastest-growing economy. And in October, the International Monetary Fund predicted India would retain that title for the foreseeable future; its GDP is projected to increase by 7.6 percent through 2017.

USA - Gallup’s US Economic Confidence Index has never been higher than it is today.  The “Trumphoria” that has gripped the nation ever since Donald Trump’s miraculous victory on election night shows no signs of letting up.  Tens of millions of Americans that were deeply troubled by Barack Obama’s policies over the last eight years are feeling optimistic about the future for the first time in a very long time.  And it is hard to blame them, because what we have already seen happen since November 8th is nothing short of extraordinary. 

ITALY - The lender at the centre of Italy’s banking crisis was on the brink of a state rescue this evening as the government braced to spend as much as €20 billion to prop up the country’s stricken financial system. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world’s oldest surviving lender and Italy’s third biggest, has been racing to pull off a complex deal this week to raise €5 billion from investors. However, its attempt to drum up support from the private sector looked to have failed today, making it almost certain that Rome will step-in to bailout the Tuscan bank. That sparked a plunge in Monte dei Paschi’s shares of as much as 19 percent to a record low of €15, and led to its stock being suspended during morning trade. The prices on some of its bonds also hit their lowest ever levels.

EUROPE - A slumbering Campi Flegrei volcano under the Italian city of Naples shows signs of "reawakening" and may be nearing a critical pressure point, according to a study published Tuesday. Italian and French scientists have for the first time identified a threshold beyond which rising magma under the Earth's surface could trigger the release of fluids and gases at a 10-fold increased rate. This would cause the injection of high-temperature steam into surrounding rocks, said lead author Giovanni Chiodini, a researcher at Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Bologna. "Hydrothermal rocks, if heated, can ultimately lose their mechanical resistance, causing an acceleration towards critical conditions," he told AFP by email.

GERMANY - A senior financial analyst has claimed that if Deutsche Bank is allowed to fail it will collapse the entire European banking system. Ewen Cameron Watt, a senior director at investment managers Blackrock Investment Institute, told CNBC: "If Deutsche Bank doesn't make it, forget European banks as a whole.”

GERMANY - German far-right blames Angela Merkel’s open-door migrant policy for Berlin truck attack. Germany is facing the biggest rise in right-wing support since the 1930s. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing a backlash after 12 people were killed when an attacker ploughed through innocent revellers at a Christmas market in a truck.

GERMANY - Angela Merkel’s open door refugee and migrant policy has been described as stupid and reckless by a Sky News guest in the wake of the Berlin terror attack. At least 12 people have been confirmed dead with at least 50 more injured after a truck ploughed into a busy Christmas market on Monday night.

TURKEY - A trim and well-dressed man, dapper in a black suit, flashes a badge to enter the most genteel of events — an exhibition of photographs — pulls out a pistol and guns down an ambassador, right in the middle of the diplomatic quarter of the Turkish capital, Ankara.

GERMANY - The interior minister of the German state of Saarland said on Tuesday Germany is in a state of war after a man drove a truck into a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 48, in a suspected terrorist attack. "We must say that we are in a state of war, although some people, who always only want to see good, do not want to see this," the minister, Klaus Bouillon, told German broadcaster SR.

GERMANY - The leader of the far-right AfD party in Germany has attacked calls for people not to give into "hate and anxiety" following the deaths of at least 12 people at a Berlin Christmas market. Frauke Petry, president of the Alternative for Germany party, also said in a Facebook post that "the horror has arrived" after a truck drove into a crowd of people in what police believe may have been a deliberate act. Journalist Imre Grimm tweeted that people should respond with "patience, empathy and humanity", rather than "fear and hatred". This message was retweeted by a Twitter account run by the Social Democrat party (SPD). In reply, Ms Petry said it was "significant" that "even today" the SPD "adheres to political correctness", describing this as "sad". In the message on Facebook, she said what happened was an attack on "our freedom and way of life" and also "our Christian tradition".

GERMANY - Russian commercial air haulers operate giant transport planes. German military does not. Yet Germany has for the past 15 years taken part in the occupation of Afghanistan requiring the German military to transport tons of cargo half way across the globe. Its Airbus A400 is not up to the task. It has neither loading capacity nor the range. That's why since 2001 the German military has been forced to outsource the job to Russian and Ukrainian transport firms. This deal will expire any time now but the Germans are saying they have no option but to renew it. In fact since the Russians are offering a much better price than the Ukrainians they might get an increased portion of the business - if politics don't interfere.