Work at the test site at Punggye-ri was revealed in satellite imagery, showing fresh excavation and a canopy over a tunnel entrance, according to US group 38 North.

Previous excavations at the site have been signs of an impending nuclear test, according to the group, based at the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests so far, and the country has claimed to have a hydrogen bomb.

Experts have largely dismissed that claim, but say that the dictatorship may be able to develop a less powerful thermonuclear weapon within five years. The weapon would still have more than seven times the power of the fission weapon dropped on Hiroshima.

"Some people are well-informed; they listen to the radio, read the newspapers or watch television, but they do so mechanically and without engagement," the Pontiff began. "They are vaguely aware of the tragedies afflicting humanity, but they have no sense of involvement or compassion. Theirs is the attitude of those who know, but keep their gaze, their thoughts and their actions focused on themselves."

"Sadly, it must be said that today’s information explosion does not of itself lead to an increased concern for other people’s problems, which demands openness and a sense of solidarity. Indeed, the information glut can numb people’s sensibilities..." He also spoke of the 'exasperating' "widespread and deeply rooted corruption found in many countries – in their governments, businesses and institutions."

"Communicators also have a responsibility for education and formation, especially nowadays, when the means of information and communication are so widespread. Their duty is first and foremost to serve the truth, and not particular interests.

Sweden’s prime minister headlined gala fundraisers, Swedish celebrities starred in telethons, and a country that prides itself on doing the right thing seemed to rally as one to embrace refugees fleeing for their lives. But after taking in more asylum seekers per capita than any other nation in Europe, Sweden’s welcome mat now lies in tatters.

Overwhelmed by the human tide of 2015, the center-left government is deploying extraordinary new border controls and slashing benefits in an unmistakable signal to refugees contemplating the long trek to Sweden in the new year: Stay out.

“We’re willing to do more than anyone else,” said Swedish Migration Minister Morgan Johansson. “But even we have our limits.” Those limits can be readily seen in a tent camp where dozens of migrants are bedding down in the frigid Nordic winter and at the train station where many new arrivals are turned back within minutes of setting foot on Swedish soil.

The move was prompted by threats from the World Trade Organization (WTO), which threatened to allow Mexico and Canada to hit the US with more than $1 billion in tariffs if it continued to require beef and pork labeling for foreign producers. The WTO said the labels discriminate against meat from animals raised and slaughtered outside the United States.

The labeling repeal wasn’t the only action by Congress affecting the beef industry. Lawmakers renewed a provision that prevents the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring greenhouse gas emission reports from livestock producers, which are one of the country’s largest sources of methane and carbon dioxide. Livestock producers account for about 15% of the world’s emissions of greenhouse gases, more than come from automobiles.

The legislation means the US government has no way of keeping track of how much cattle and dairy farms are contributing to global warming. The government does collect reports from 41 other sectors of the economy, “making the meat industry the only major source of greenhouse gases in the country excluded from filing annual reports,” according to Reveal News.

We learnt in the eurozone crisis that a single currency area is only as strong as its weakest link. Now we are learning a similar lesson when it comes to Europe’s single border. If people feel that their security, economic or personal, is being put at risk by integration, it will become that much harder to achieve the deeper co-operation that security and faster growth will probably require. Ask David Cameron, UK prime minister, whose team is terrified that the migrant issue will end up dominating the referendum campaign.

How much should we worry about Europe? At the height of the eurozone crisis the answer to that question was clear: the risks of broader contagion were such that policymakers, investors and ordinary humans all had to worry about Europe a lot. Now that the trouble has shifted from economics to geopolitics and migrants, it is not so obvious why investors should fret.

The short-term economic outlook looks calm but no one should be in any doubt that if these crises are handled badly, they hold long-term risks for Europe’s economy.

No, those are not the rants of a disheveled malcontent on the street wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt and waving an anti-Wall Street placard; that quote is taken from a study, published last year, conducted by two prestigious American Universities, Princeton and Northwestern.

Are Americans so brainwashed and/or stupid that they fail to realize this? No, many are painfully aware of it. But think of the Soviet Union in its fading days some years before it collapsed. But the American leadership is currently deaf, dumb and blind to the mistakes and lessons of history.

The 88-year-old former defense secretary is troubled by the risks of catastrophe from the very weapons he helped develop. Atop his list: a nuclear terror attack in a major US city or a shooting war with Russia that, through miscalculation, turns nuclear. A terrorist attack using a nuclear bomb or improvised nuclear device could happen "any time now - next year or the year after," he said in an interview with reporters earlier this month.

In his book's preface Perry outlines a nuclear terror scenario, which he calls "my nuclear nightmare, born of long and deep experience."

In his scenario, a small group gets its hands on enough uranium to fashion a crude nuclear bomb, flies it undetected to Washington's Dulles International Airport and slips the bomb into a warehouse in the District of Columbia. From there it is loaded onto a delivery truck and a suicide bomber drives it onto Pennsylvania Avenue midway between the Capitol and the White House. When detonated, it kills 80,000 people instantly, including the president. The news media report a message claiming that five more bombs are hidden in five different US cities, and one will be set off each week.

"The danger of a nuclear bomb being detonated in one of our cities is all too real," Perry writes. "And yet, while this catastrophe would result in a hundred times the casualties of 9/11, it is only dimly perceived by the public and not well understood."

On December 8 the Food and Drug Administration approved a new chicken that has been genetically modified to treat a rare and potentially fatal disorder called lysosomal acid lipase deficiency. The chicken, which won’t be available as meat, produces eggs with an enzyme that replaces a faulty human enzyme, addressing the underlying cause of the disease. Add it to the small but growing class of “farmaceuticals,” including drugs made by transgenic goats and rabbits.

In November the FDA approved, for the first time, a genetically engineered animal intended for human consumption. After a 20-year review, the agency gave the green light to the AquAdvantage salmon. The fish is an Atlantic salmon with a gene added from a Chinook salmon that allows it to grow faster with less feed. It makes aquaculture more appealing and could ease pressure on overfished salmon stocks in the wild.

In February the Agriculture Department approved the Arctic Apple, a new variety developed by silencing the genes that cause the fruit to bruise and brown when sliced. Two versions of the apple, the Granny Smith and Golden Delicious, could be in stores by the end of next year

GMOs never looked so harmless. As science advances and consumers become more informed about genetic engineering’s benefits for human health, animal welfare and food safety, the anti-GMO movement will look ever more like an outdated ideological crusade.

Their effective revolt against the banking class, who drove the tiny nation into economic crisis in 2008, is the brightest example yet that the world does not have to be indebted in perpetuity to an austere and criminal wealthy elite. In 2015, 26 Icelandic bankers were sentenced to prison and the government ordered a bank sale to benefit the citizenry.

Inspired by Iceland’s progress, activists in Switzerland are now making an important stand against the banking cartels and have successfully petitioned to bring an initiative to public referendum that would attack the private banks where it matters most: their power to lend money they don’t actually have, and to create money out of thin air.

Scotland Yard cancelled all New Year leave for more than 2,000 armed officers – the first time it has taken such a step – as part of the largest-ever police mobilisation for December 31 festivities. It comes after a “friendly” intelligence agency warned Islamist fanatics may be planning a terror attack in a European city – although there is no specific information to suggest London will be targeted.

Boris Johnson MP, the Mayor of London, exhorted partygoers to “get out there” and “soak up” the atmosphere as the capital prepared for the chimes of Big Ben at midnight. Earlier this week Russian authorities announced that Red Square would be closed to the public, despite being the traditional focus of the country’s festivities to ring the changes. And this evening New Year fireworks and festivities were cancelled in the Belgian capital, Brussels, because of a terror alert.