The country’s cabinet has approved the allocation of 5.05 trillion yen ($42.1 billion) on fortifying the country’s spying capabilities and endorsing proposals to buy US hardware to monitor Chinese territorial claims over the East China Sea islands, where Japan has a territorial dispute with its neighbor. The approval by the cabinet now needs the parliament’s consent.

Japanese defense ministry plans to buy three Global Hawk surveillance drones, six F-35 stealth fighters, 17 SH-60K naval patrol helicopters and four V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft. “We believe the budget includes items that would contribute to enhancing Japan-US cooperation in the area of ISR (information, surveillance and reconnaissance),” Defense Ministry official Tomoki Matsuo said. The proposal is part of a 96.7 trillion yen ($800 billion) national budget plan for the year beginning April 2016.

Reacting to the approval of Japan’s military spending, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei urged Tokyo to “draw lessons from history, adhere to the path of peaceful development, and play a constructive role in safeguarding regional peace and stability.” The Chinese defense policy is “defensive in nature,” he reiterated, and its military spending of some $130 billion is kept at “a reasonable level.”

The Prize is named for Charlemagne, the Franconian king revered by his contemporaries as the “Father of Europe”. A communiqué by the Prize Committee said that Pope Francis has sent “a message of hope and encouragement" at a time in which "many citizens in Europe are seeking orientation.” The Pope – it continues – is a witness for a community based on values which include a sense of humanity, the protection of resources and dialogue between cultures and religions at a European level.

The Committee explains that in "recent years Europe has experienced great weaknesses, crises and setbacks" that have seriously pushed back "all the achievements of the European process of integration.” To all this – it says - Francis opposes a message of hope.

Quoting from his discourse to the European Parliament in November 2014, the communiqué says the Pope’s message is a wake-up call for Europe: “The time has come for us to abandon the idea of a Europe which is fearful and self-absorbed." And again: "The time has come to work together in building a Europe which revolves not around the economy, but around the sacredness of the human person, around inalienable values."

This methane disaster is worse than can be sufficiently described in words, because while it’s estimated well over 100,000 pounds of methane spew into the atmosphere every hour, the leak can’t be halted, at least until spring. Even then, that stoppage depends entirely on the efficacy of a proposed fix — which remains a dubiously open question.

“The enormity of the Aliso Canyon gas leak cannot be overstated. Gas is escaping through a ruptured pipe more than 8,000 feet underground, and it shows no signs of stopping. As the pressure from the weight on top of the pipe causes the gas to diffuse, it only continues to dissipate across a wider and wider area,” explained Erin Brockovich, who spent time in nearby Porter Ranch investigating the leak.

On Thursday, Los Angeles Unified School District board members voted unanimously to close two Porter Ranch schools and relocate their 1,900 students and staff to different locations for the foreseeable future. A local emergency has been declared by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Beginning December 4th, SoCalGas crews began drilling a relief well to intercept the fissured pipe. Cement will then be poured into both to seal the wells permanently. Of course, for this to work, crews must locate that original pipe, which is a mere seven inches in diameter, thousands of feet underground — without accidentally creating any sparks, whatsoever. Work near the leak site, therefore, has been prohibited after nightfall, when lighting equipment could potentially cause such a spark; though drilling for the relief well is situated far enough away to continue nonstop.

The results of the nitric oxide tests carried out by environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) and German state broadcaster ZDF - who broadcast it on December 15 - appeared to show similar discrepancies between "test mode" and road conditions to those found in Volkswagen cars earlier this year, revelations that triggered one of the biggest scandals in German automobile history.

In response to the report, a law firm representing Daimler, which owns Mercedes, sent a letter to the DUH that read, "Should you in any way present the accusation that my client manipulated its emissions data, we will act against you with all necessary sustainability and hold you responsible for any economic damage that my client suffers as a result." The law firm, called Schertz, also warned the DUH against publishing the letter itself, but the group defied this and posted the letter in full on its website.

"We have been massively threatened two more times, demanding that we take down the letter - we have told them we won't," DUH chairman Jürgen Resch told DW on Wednesday. "For me it's a very serious issue, because in 34 years of full-time work in environmental protection, and dealing with businesses, I have never experienced a business using media law to try and keep a communication - and a threatening letter at that - secret.”

Few places are tilting toward a cashless future as quickly as Sweden, which has become hooked on the convenience of paying by app and plastic. This tech-forward country, home to the music streaming service Spotify and the maker of the Candy Crush mobile games, has been lured by the innovations that make digital payments easier. It is also a practical matter, as many of the country’s banks no longer accept or dispense cash. At the Abba Museum, “we don’t want to be behind the times by taking cash while cash is dying out,” said Bjorn Ulvaeus, a former Abba member who has leveraged the band’s legacy into a sprawling business empire, including the museum.

Not everyone is cheering. Sweden’s embrace of electronic payments has alarmed consumer organizations and critics who warn of a rising threat to privacy and increased vulnerability to sophisticated Internet crimes. Last year, the number of electronic fraud cases surged to 140,000, more than double the amount a decade ago, according to Sweden’s Ministry of Justice

Despite the convenience, even some who stand to gain from a cashless society see drawbacks. “Sweden has always been at the forefront of technology, so it’s easy to embrace this,” said Jacob de Geer, a founder of iZettle, which makes a mobile-powered card reader. “But Big Brother can watch exactly what you’re doing if you purchase things only electronically,” he said.

For those not familiar with the parlance, gene editing refers to the ability to alter the DNA of an embryo in a manner which affects the germline. The germline is defined as follows; “In biology and genetics, the germline in a multicellular organism is that population of its bodily cells that are so differentiated or segregated that in the usual processes of reproduction they may pass on their genetic material to the progeny.”

In other words, what happens to the germline will affect the offspring and subsequent generations. The possibilities inherent in such manipulation are staggering. Not only could genetic diseases be removed from the developing embryo, but new and better attributes could be factored in. Mankind could face the possibility that crippling genetic diseases, such as Tay-Sachs or Huntington’s disease could be forever banished, while a brave new crop of humans, with enhanced intellectual abilities or enhanced musculature, for example, could be harvested.

The symposium was convened with some urgency after the disclosure that researchers in China had reported this past April that they had launched the first attempt to edit the DNA of human embryos. The Chinese project was undertaken to correct a rare and often fatal blood disorder, called beta thalassemia. China’s effort was followed by an application, made in September, by a British research group to edit human embryos for research purposes.

"You are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again," Scalia told the University of Hawaii law school while discussing Korematsu vs United States, the ruling in which the court gave its imprimatur to the internment camps. The local Associated Press report quotes Scalia as using a Latin phrase that means "in times of war, the laws fall silent," to explain why the court erred in that decision and will do so again.

"That's what was going on — the panic about the war and the invasion of the Pacific and whatnot," Scalia said. "That's what happens. It was wrong, but I would not be surprised to see it happen again, in time of war. It's no justification but it is the reality."

Over the last few days, we've learned that before being found shot in the chest and floating in the river, pioneering medical researcher Dr Bradstreet was working with a little-known molecule that occurs naturally in the human body. Called, "GcMAF", this molecule has the potential to be a universal cancer cure for many people. It has also been shown to reverse signs of autism in the vast majority of patients receiving the treatment.

While GcMAF is perfectly legal as a treatment in dozens of advanced nations around the world, the US Food and Drug Administration has outlawed it, calling it an "unapproved drug." It is with this designation - an effort to suppress the forward progress of medical science - that the US government conducted a raid on Dr Bradstreet's clinic, specifically seeking to confiscate GcMAF in order to shut down his research and halt his treatment of patients.

Meanwhile, Big Pharma gets special permission to unleash untested, experimental drugs on the public as long as those drugs earn sufficient profits. An exhaustive investigation needs to be pursued on this matter, possibly involving private investigators. The timing and manner of Dr Bradstreet's death seems highly suspicious, especially in light of the many other holistic doctors who have recently been found dead under mysterious circumstances.

But Glick is not backing down. Even now that Israel finds itself in the middle of an extended terror wave, which is to a large extent inspired by Muslim concerns over the Jews’ alleged intention to destroy the al-Aqsa mosque, Glick does not intend to stop calling for Jews to be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. And he might soon be able to make his case as a member of Israel’s parliament.

“Just as I do it today outside the Knesset, I’ll try to do it inside the Knesset,” the 50-year-old redhead told The Times of Israel this week in Jerusalem. “If I am in the Knesset, I will try to do my best to change the situation on Temple Mount.”

Her comments come at the end of a year in which Britain has been stunned by terrorist atrocities, from the mass shootings and bombings in Paris last month to the gun attack at a Tunisia resort during the summer. Reflecting on the past 12 months, the monarch said: “It is true that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year. But the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope, often read at Christmas carol services: 'The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it'.” [John 1:5]

In a year that marked the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the Queen offered renewed thanks for the service and sacrifice of those who took part in the conflict. "One cause for thankfulness this summer was marking 70 years since the end of the Second World War," she said. "On VJ Day, we honoured the remaining veterans of that terrible conflict in the Far East, as well as remembering the thousands who never returned."

At the end of a year which saw the head of state become the nation's longest reigning monarch, the Queen acknowledged the influence of her great-great grandparents on the nation's Christmas traditions. She explained that the popularity of the Christmas tree is “due in part to my great-great grandparents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert”.

A 19th century image of Victoria and Albert around a candle-lit tree was shown as the Queen said: "After this touching picture was published, many families wanted a Christmas tree of their own, and the custom soon spread." Queen Charlotte, the German-born wife of George III, is credited with introducing the Christmas tree to Britain. But it was Prince Albert who popularised it, presenting large numbers to schools and Army barracks.

Mr Cameron had initially demanded that Britain is able to stop EU migrants claiming in-work benefits for four years. However, this was overwhelmingly rejected by EU leaders, who said that it threatened the principle of "freedom of movement". The news that Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande have offered the deal will be welcomed by Downing Street and will allow Mr Cameron to claim that his renegotiation has been largely successful.

One other potential solution being offered by Brussels is to give the UK an “emergency brake”, meaning that the Government could stop paying migrants benefits for a set period of time if it is able to convince Brussels that the number of foreigners coming to the country is harming public services.

The arrival of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in countries such as Syria and Iraq in Europe this year has frayed ties between European nations that were already strained by the euro zone financial crisis. Added to that, rising nationalism could endanger Europe's wealth, economic success and security, the presidents of Germany's most prominent business groups told Reuters.

"Next year will be a crucial year for Europe," BDI industry association leader, Ulrich Grillo, said. "I'm very worried about the future of the European Union." Lack of solidarity within the bloc meant Europe was risking all the achievements of the previous decades, Association of Skilled Trades president, Hans Peter Wollseifer, said.

"I would like to see a strong symbol for the unity of Europe," he said. Germany's BGA wholesalers and exporters body leader, Anton Boerner, said Europe pulling further apart was one of the biggest risks for next year. Germany is looking to EU partners to help manage the refugee crisis but is running up against resistance from some countries, particularly in Eastern Europe.