But the German population has a very different one. More than two-thirds of Germans reject the planned trans-Atlantic free trade agreement.

And even in circles within Merkel's cabinet, the belief that TTIP will ever become a reality in its currently planned form is disappearing. That's because on Monday morning, Greenpeace published classified documents from the closed-door negotiations. Even if the papers only convey the current state of negotiations and do not document the end results, they still confirm the worst suspicions of critics of TTIP.

The leaks have resulted in a failed attempt to bypass 800 million European citizens as they negotiate the world's largest bilateral free trade agreement. From the very beginning, the government underestimated the level of resistance these incursions on virtually all aspects of life would unleash among the people.

What began as a diffuse discomfort over opaque backroom dealings grew into a true public initiative, especially in Germany. It was fueled by an international alliance of non-government organizations that has acted in a more professional and networked way than anything that has come before.

Invoking the memory of the EU founding fathers' pursuit of integration in the aftermath of World War II, the pontiff said they inspired because they had "dared to change radically the models" that had led to war. "Today more than ever, their vision inspires us to build bridges and tear down walls," he told a Vatican audience including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been at the centre of the EU's attempts to resolve its biggest refugee crisis since the war ended in 1945.

And in a rhetorical flourish with echoes of Martin Luther-King's legendary 'I have a dream' speech, the pope said he dreamed of a new European humanism that embraced the poor, the elderly, the young and the sick. "I dream of a Europe where being a migrant is not a crime but a summons to greater commitment on behalf of the dignity of every human being," he said.

Francis's comments came in a speech as the 79-year-old pontiff was presented with the EU's Charlemagne Prize for his contribution to European unification.

Mr Khan, a former Labour cabinet minister, became Britain’s most powerful Muslim politician when he defeated the Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith by a landslide. He gained more than 1.1 million votes, the single largest mandate for any individual politician in British history.

However Downing Street made it clear David Cameron would not be withdrawing his criticisms, suggesting the Tories may plan to use Mr Khan’s controversial past in future attempts to undermine him.

A Downing Street source said: “We don't back away from the questions we raised during the campaign.” Mr Khan’s election received a hostile response from some in the US, where the influential Drudge Report website described him as the “First Muslim Mayor Of Londonistan” and he was called “an Islamist” by one major TV network.

The blaze, the largest of some 40 wildfires burning across the province of Alberta, has forced some 88,000 residents, the entire population of Fort McMurray, to flee for safety. The weather, with temperatures on Saturday expected to rise as high as 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 Fahrenheit), was hindering efforts to fight the wildfire, said Matthew Anderson, a wildfire information official with the Alberta government.

The full extent of property losses in Fort McMurray has yet to be determined, but authorities said some 1,600 structures were believed to have been destroyed. One analyst estimated insurance losses could exceed C$9 billion ($7 billion). Entire neighborhoods were reduced to ruins, but most evacuees fled without knowing the fate of their own homes. The majority got away with few possessions, some forced to leave pets behind.

Here in the United States, the state of Oklahoma absolutely shattered their yearly record for quakes last year, we just saw a very disturbing earthquake right along the New Madrid fault just recently, and as you will see below one scientist is telling us that the San Andreas fault in southern California “looks like it’s locked, loaded and ready to go”.

The name of the scientist that issued that very ominous warning is Thomas Jordan, and he is the director of the Southern California Earthquake Center. Here’s the problem: Scientists have observed that based on the movement of tectonic plates, with the Pacific plate moving northwest of the North American plate, earthquakes should be relieving about 16 feet of accumulated plate movement every 100 years. Yet the San Andreas has not relieved stress that has been building up for more than a century. Jordan went on to say that when the tension that has been building along the San Andreas fault is finally relieved, it could potentially produce a magnitude 8 earthquake.

According to the Daily Mail, one team of scientists has concluded that giant chunks of the Earth’s mantle are “breaking off and sinking into the planet” under the North American plate, and that this is what has caused some of the unusual earthquakes in the eastern part of the country in recent years… I don’t know about you, but that sounds rather ominous to me.

As noted by Natural News editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, lab science director of CWC Labs, and author of the new book, Food Forensics, most common supplements on the market today are filled with hidden toxins, despite the fact that they’re marketed as being “pure” and, sometimes, “organic.”

One of those is vitamin C: Here’s another whopper that’s sure to open some eyes: Nearly all the “vitamin C” sold in vitamins across America right now is derived from GMO corn.

This means that many of the supplements sold at Whole Foods, the vitamins sold on Amazon.com, the pills at your local pharmacy, and especially the products at the grocery store are (nearly) all routinely made with genetically modified vitamin C. It’s typically called “ascorbic acid,” and nearly 100% of the ascorbic acid used in the natural products industry is derived from GMOs.

The cabinet was the first step towards a federation of Europe and set up in 1952. But the EU was set up as the European Economic Community in 1957 and seen as a trade agreement between countries in the continent. But Mr Berthoin has revealed the long-term plan was to create a state resembling the US.

He told Newsnight: "The dream was to make peace among European countries, stable and credible and another element of prosperity, to modernise Europe." Mr Berthoin added: "The first step towards European federation, we thought we were going to start something and achieve a political development within 10 years."

The 90-year-old civil servant had hoped to create a united states of Europe to "change European history". He said: "We thought we were in a position to change European history, at that time we had the backing of public opinion, because the tragedy of the war was in everybody's personal history. I used the expression, we wanted a United States of Europe."

Years of austerity policies have fuelled resentment and disappointment with the project and Europe's blundering response to the migration crisis has also exposed weaknesses, according the firm. Coupled with incomplete reforms within the financial system, the EU could break up when faced with even small shocks, said the credit agency.

Moody's stressed that if Britain votes out of the union in the forthcoming referendum, Europe could foreseeably fall apart, as support for anti-EU parties grows elsewhere. This would dent investor confidence further and put pressure on banks and financial institutions. The ratings agency pointed out that a Greek exit is another significant risk. Athens' debt crisis almost broke up the bloc last summer - and the situation is again flaring up as the government refuses to give in to gruelling austerity demands.

Colin Ellis, Moody's managing director, chief credit officer EMEA, said: "If the EU survives its current challenges largely unscathed, even a 'small' future crisis could threaten the sustainability of current institutional frameworks, if it coincided with negative public sentiment and populist political developments."