EUROPE - Paul Nuttall has launched a scathing attack on the European Union, branding it a “political monster” ahead of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. Thousands are preparing to take to the streets of the Italian capital on March 25 to celebrate 60 years of the development which laid the foundations for the fundamentals of the bloc.
UK - Scientists have discovered that spiders gorge themselves on up to twice the total weight of animals that humans consume each year. The insatiable eight-legged predators munch through 800 million tonnes of insects every year. And while the squeamish might find the thought of a spider’s dietary habits a bit stomach-turning, scientists point out the arachnids are actually performing an important civic duty. Because without them, we would all be waist-deep in creepy-crawlies. More than 90 per cent of the spider diet is made up of insects and insect-like springtails. And researchers say by devouring several hundred million tonnes of these tiny pests every year, spiders play an essential role in keeping natural ecosystems in check.
EUROPE - The EU is facing an existential crisis and does not look like it will survive the massive political and financial challenges it is faced with. This has ramifications for investors in the EU itself and globally as the collapse of one of the world's largest trading blocs will badly impact already fragile global economic growth and increasingly "frothy" looking financial markets - particularly stock and bond markets.
TURKEY - The tit-for-tat aggression resumed its escalation between Turkey and the Netherlands, with Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus exclaiming from Ankara that "Europe's politicians are under fascist, neo-nazi influence" and in response, Turkey will suspend all high-level diplomatic meetings and cancel all flight permissions for Dutch politicians.
UK - It looks set to be a week packed with big financial milestones. In the US, the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, putting the country on a path towards getting back to a normal price for money. In the Netherlands, a tense election may deal the fragile eurozone another blow. In this country, Theresa May could finally trigger Article 50, starting the process of taking the UK out of the European Union.
USA - Michael Crowley writes in Politico Magazine about the fear among Europe’s elites that President Trump and his chief strategist Steve Bannon pose an existential threat to the future of the European Union. Trump and Bannon’s championing of Brexit and their distrust of globalist bureaucracies have set off alarm bells among the elites in Brussels.
USA - As far as Big Brother is concerned, nothing that you do on your cell phone is ever private. And if the government really wants to see what is on your cell phone, they are going to get that information one way or another, even if that means resorting to physical violence.
USA - The internet will soon be a “safe space”, free from “hatred”, free from “Fake News”, free from “hurtful rhetoric” and of course, free from any views or opinions that do not fit the “progressive narrative”. Google and Facebook are looking to become public facilities (State operated), and with that will be the end of the World Wide Web as an open forum. That is not to say that the basic services will be any better or any worse, but as a place to challenge orthodoxy and “narrative”, it will be effectively dead.
USA - The CIA created and accumulated from other sources a huge array of malware and cyberattack capability capable of stealing information from any individual, any government, any corporation, any intelligence agency and either leaving no trace or leaving a “fingerprint” of an innocent party.
NORTH KOREA - One day after South Korea press reported that US special forces, including a Delta Force team and the infamous SEAL Team 6 are participating in local drills, practicing the removal of Kim Jong-un as well as the infiltration and destruction of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction, North Korea threatened the US with "merciless" attacks if an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson, which is currently taking part in joint South Korean drills "infringes on its sovereignty or dignity", Reuters reported on Tuesday.
USA - Feeding knowledge directly into your brain, just like in sci-fi classic The Matrix, could soon take as much effort as falling asleep, scientists believe. Researchers claim to have developed a simulator which can feed information directly into a person’s brain and teach them new skills in a shorter amount of time, comparing it to “life imitating art”. They believe it could be the first steps in developing advanced software that will make Matrix-style instant learning a reality.
USA - A rogue robot has been blamed for the death of a woman killed in an accident at an auto-parts factory in Michigan. Wanda Holbrook, who worked as a maintenance technician at the Ventra Ionia Mains plant for 12 years, was “trapped by robotic machinery and pronounced dead at the scene” in July 2015.
VATICAN - Ideology has given way to reality as Pope Francis donated tons of cost-effective “fuel briquettes” to heat the homes of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine this winter. As part of the “Pope for Ukraine” initiative, Francis donated more than 2.5 tons of fuel per displaced family cared for by the parish of the Holy Theotokos in the village of Vilcha. The combustible fuel briquettes reportedly will be sufficient to heat the homes and apartments of more than a hundred resettled families until the end of this heating season and throughout next winter as well. The politically incorrect gift highlights the cost-effectiveness and ready availability of fossil fuels, which were responsible for bringing about the industrial revolution throughout the developed world.
ISRAEL - With Obama gone, Israeli liberals have lost their Defensive Shield. You don’t have to love Donald Trump to enjoy him sometimes. Over the weekend, Trump spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and upset - and if he didn’t, he should have upset - the entire Israeli right. A US president who states his commitment to a “comprehensive agreement that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and who emphasizes “his personal belief that peace is possible and that the time has come to make a deal” is one who spells trouble for Jewish settlers and their champions.
UK - British MPs on Monday approved a bill that will allow Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger Brexit and rejected two amendments put forward by the House of Lords, including one that would have protected EU citizens residing in Britain. The upper house tried unsuccessfully to include amendents to protect the rights of EU citizens living in Britain and to give parliament a larger say on the final outcome of EU exit negotiations. Members of the lower house voted by 335 to 287 to reject the condition on EU nationals and by 331 to 286 to reject giving parliament a greater say on the final deal. The bill now passes for final approval to the House of Lords.
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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.