GERMANY - The US wants to strengthen its presence in Eastern Europe with soldiers, tanks and heavy military equipment. The federal government is silent officially, but many government politicians are openly standing behind Washington. "CDU, SPD and Greens go along with brainless compliance," criticizes Dr Alexander Neu, who represents the Left Party Defense Committee.
EUROPE - The European Commission will impose fines of hundreds of millions of pounds on countries that do not take in refugees. Jean-Claude Junker is tomorrow expected to unveil plans to impose a penalty of around €250,000 euros per rejected refugee, in a bid to salvage his botched migration quota scheme.
UK - British Brexit campaigners have been boosted with news from Berlin that Germany is once more pushing for an EU army encompassing all 28 member states with a joint HQ and shared military planning. Along with judicial, tax and immigration issues, a Euro army has long been one of the main irritants of anti-EU campaigners.
USA - In the six months that have passed since then-retiring House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cut a budget deal with President Barack Obama that suspended the legal limit on the federal debt until March 15, 2017, the federal debt has increased by more than $1 trillion.
USA - TN Note: “In case you thought the article on lab grown meat was a joke, think again. The United Nations is squarely positioned to decimate the beef industry in much the same way that the coal industry has been destroyed. This is Technocracy at its worst, seeking to micromanage society for maximum efficiency, but only according to their own flawed economic and scientific models.”
USA - Scientists and businesses working full steam to produce lab-created meat claim it will be healthier than conventional meat and more environmentally friendly. But how much can they improve on old-school pork or beef? In August 2013, a team of Dutch scientists showed off their lab-grown burger (cost: $330,000) and even provided a taste test. Two months ago, the American company Memphis Meats fried the first-ever lab meatball (cost: $18,000 per pound). Those who have tasted these items say they barely differ from the real deal. The Dutch and the Americans claim that within a few years lab-produced meats will start appearing in supermarkets and restaurants. And these are not the only teams working on cultured meat (as they prefer to call it). Another company, Modern Meadow, promises that lab-grown “steak chips” — something between a potato chip and beef jerky — will hit the stores in the near future, too.
USA - All life on Earth exists thanks to a universal genetic code. This biological rulebook tells our cells how DNA should be translated into life-supporting proteins, without which we couldn’t survive. Even though the genetic code commands a seemingly immeasurable number of organisms, it also binds us all together as descendents of a shared ancestor — a lingua franca for life.
EUROPE - Turkish citizens awarded visa-free travel to Europe could simply disappear because the European Union has no system to detect visitors who overstay their welcome.
USA - Nightmare stories of nurses giving potent drugs meant for one patient to another and surgeons removing the wrong body parts have dominated recent headlines about medical care. Lest you assume those cases are the exceptions, a new study by patient safety researchers provides some context.
CANADA - The entire population of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta, Canada has been ordered to abandon their homes after a wildfire ravaging a nearby forest moved into the area. The fire has already destroyed homes in several neighborhoods. Fort McMurray is an urban service area with a population of about 80,000 people. A mandatory evacuation notice was issued for the whole city on Tuesday after the wildfire began spreading uncontrollably. Local authorities have advised residents to evacuate to the Noralta Lodge north of the city because outgoing Highway 36 has been partially blocked due to the fire.
EUROPE - For Britain, the issue in the coming European referendum is not Europe, with its great history, incomparable culture, and diverse peoples, but the European Union (EU).
USA - Could the earthquake that just struck the New Madrid fault seismic zone near the town of La Center, Kentucky be a “foreshock” for a much bigger quake yet to come? Very early on Sunday morning, a magnitude 3.5 earthquake hit western Kentucky, and it was felt in parts of three other states as well.
UK - As a British citizen I was both bemused and outraged at President Obama’s recent lecture telling us how to vote in the upcoming referendum on EU membership. It reminded me of a medieval feudal lord going to visit his one of his dominions and telling off his subjects and giving them a clear warning of what was expected of them.
FRANCE - A French journalist infiltrated an Islamic State-affiliated cell plotting attacks in France. Using a hidden camera he managed to film the would-be jihadists, who were willing to kill as many French as possible to get to ‘heaven’.
NORTH KOREA - Apocalyptic plans for North Korea to invade its most-hated enemy will kill a million people and drag the West into war. Experts have revealed how a North Korean invasion would play out. Starved of food, North Korea is on the brink of collapse, and in its desperation threatens an invasion of its South Korean neighbours.