USA - One of California's strongest storms in years - dubbed a "bombogenesis" or "weather bomb" - has hit the state, killing two, and bringing torrential rain and flash floods. More than 100 homes have been evacuated amid fears of mud slides near Los Angeles. Hundreds of flights have been delayed or cancelled at Los Angeles International Airport. The weather has also brought car-swallowing sinkholes and power cuts. Ryan Maue, a meteorologist for WeatherBell Analytics, told the Los Angeles Times that 10 trillion gallons of rain would fall on California in the next week, enough to power Niagara Falls for 154 days. After five years of drought, a series of storms have filled state reservoirs. California's Sierra Nevada mountain range is also loaded with snow. Runoff from its snowpack normally supplies about a third of the state's water.

EUROPE - Voters across Europe want a harder line approach than Donald Trump, Nigel Farage has told his EU counterparts in Brussels. The former Ukip chief cited a survey by respected think tank Chatham House that found more than half of voters in 10 EU states supported an end to migration from mainly Muslim countries, with just one in five disagreeing. 

GERMANY - The unconventional administration of President Trump may be causing consternation among American liberals. But here in Germany, the anchor of the European Union, Trump’s rise is helping fuel an unexpected surge of the left. 

USA - No matter what your particular political perspective is, if there is one thing that virtually everyone in the United States can agree upon it is the fact that America’s infrastructure is crumbling.  Previous generations of Americans conquered an entire continent and erected the greatest system of infrastructure that the world had ever seen, but now thousands upon thousands of those extremely impressive infrastructure projects are decades old and in desperate need of repair or upgrading. 

ISRAEL - Lord Jacob Rothschild had admitted that his family were ‘crucial’ in the creation of Israel, in a Times of Israel interview. The 80-year-old Rothschild said in a recent interview that his ancestors “helped pave the way for the creation of Israel,” forcing the British government to sign the Balfour Declaration in 1917.

DUBAI - Did you know that 4,000 world leaders from 130 different countries gathered in Dubai this week for the World Government Summit? It was held from February 12th to February 14th, and it featured more than 100 internationally-known speakers including UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Christine Lagarde and Elon Musk.

UK - Think fake news is a new phenomenon? Think again. Dr David Clarke from Sheffield Hallam University looks at a 100-year-old story that fooled the world. Fake news, false stories that masquerade as real news are not new.

USA - The ruthless political assassination of Michael Flynn was just one battle of a major civil war that has erupted for control of the US government. Donald Trump and his new administration are now under relentless assault by “the deep state”, and at this point it is not clear who will emerge as the victor. There are many that use the term “deep state” as a synonym for the intelligence community, but the truth is that it is much broader than that.

GREECE - The grave disagreement between the International Monetary Fund and the European lenders, Grexit bombshells flying around and Greece’s reluctance to accept additional austerity measures have increased uncertainty among citizens – for one more time. And so, as KeepTalkingGreece.com notes, what do citizens do when they feel political and economical insecurity? They run to banks and withdraw deposits. 2.5 billion euros left Greek banks in the last 45 days. And this despite the capital controls that allow Greeks to withdraw a maximum of just 1,800 euro per month. According to newspaper Eidiseis, the cash withdrawal in the last 45 days has set bankers in alert.

USA - Wednesday afternoon Breitbart released a report in which William Binney, a former highly placed NSA official turned whistleblower, confirmed that the NSA is spying on President Trump. Asked whether he believes the NSA is tapping Trump, Binney replied: “Absolutely. How did they get the phone call between the president and the president of Australia? Or the one that he made with Mexico? Those are not targeted foreigners.” Binney further contended the NSA may have been behind a data leak that might have revealed that Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, allegedly misled Vice President Mike Pence and other Trump administration officials about the contents of his phone calls with Russia’s ambassador to Washington.

VATICAN - A prominent Catholic ecumenist has urged a better understanding of the Russian Orthodox Church. "Those suspicious of the Russian Orthodox stance should go and see what's happening," said Barbara Hallensleben, a consultor with the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. "Of course, nationalist and ideological tendencies are always at work. But a lot of people in Russia are promoting Christianity – and by creating relations, we can strengthen church life and proclaim the faith with them," said Hallensleben, who hosted anniversary commemorations of Pope Francis' 2016 meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. "The Pope said unity means moving together, not just holding talks – and what's amazing is how the style of ecumenism has already changed," said Hallensleben.

VATICAN - The Vatican’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Monday that the Holy See is concerned over growing populist and nationalist movements, both in Europe and in the United States. In an interview for the Italian evening news on the state-owned RAI network, Cardinal Parolin was asked whether the Vatican is worried about what the interviewer called “the spread of nationalism and populism not only in Europe but also in the United States with Donald Trump.” “I think so, I think so,” Parolin said. “Certainly these closings are not a good sign,” since many of them “are born of fear, which is not a good counsellor.”

GERMANY - An Alternative for Germany (AfD) parliamentary hopeful has shared a photo of Hitler with the words “Missed since 1945.” The scandal comes days after another senior member called Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial “a monument of shame.” Elena Roon, a chairwoman and a parliamentary candidate in the Nuremberg area, shared the image of Adolf Hitler among fellow members in a closed WhatsApp group, local media reported.  The photo came alongside the captions: “Missed since 1945 … Adolf, please get in touch! Germany needs you! The German people!” In another photo of the Fuhrer sent by Roon on the messenger, Hitler is portrayed ruffling his hair, saying “Islamists... I forgot them!”

USA - Human-animal mutant creatures make for great material for science fiction writers, but we aren’t supposed to be creating them in the real world. In so many ways, the technological advancements that we have made as a society are outpacing our ability to handle those advancements, and this field is certainly a glaring example of that reality. Just because we can create human-animal hybrid chimeras does not mean that we should. Genetic modification is a particularly dangerous science, because we are literally tinkering with the future of our planet. And when it comes to humans and animals, those are two things that definitely should not mix. Unfortunately, they are being mixed, and this could have enormous implications as our society plunges into a very uncertain future.

RUSSIA - Russian insiders are fearful that the Washington establishment will attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, according to a magazine with deep ties to the globalist elite. The revelation is buried deep within a Foreign Policy article about how the Kremlin is confused about how to respond to Trump’s role as a “revolutionary insurgent with a mission to dismantle America’s old regime.” From “conversations with Russian policymakers and experts,” the article makes it clear that power players in Moscow are concerned about Trump even being able to see out his first four years in office. “What the Kremlin fears most today is that Trump may be ousted or even killed. His ouster, Kremlin insiders argue, is bound to unleash a virulent and bipartisan anti-Russian campaign in Washington,” states the piece.