The United States and Japan - the world's largest and third-largest economies, respectively - have notably declined to join the bank, which is expected to begin operations early next year, though others such as Australia, Germany and Britain will take part. The bank's establishment came after 17 funding members of the AIIB, which account for just over 50 percent of its share capital, ratified an agreement on the bank, state television quoted Finance Minister Lou Jiwei as saying.

"The AIIB is legally established as the Articles of Agreement take effect today,” said Mr Lou said. "The establishment of the AIIB marks a milestone in the reform of the global economic governance system."

It will be operational once its board of directors and executive council have met for the first time at an opening ceremony scheduled for January 16-18, the ministry of finance said.

The campaign - led by the Swiss Sovereign Money movement and known as the Vollgeld initiative - is designed to limit financial speculation by requiring private banks to hold 100 percent reserves against their deposits. "Banks won’t be able to create money for themselves any more, they’ll only be able to lend money that they have from savers or other banks," said the campaign group.

If successful, the sovereign money bill would give the Swiss National Bank a monopoly on physical and electronic money creation, "while the decision concerning how new money is introduced into the economy would reside with the government," says Vollgeld.

“Can I be honest with you about, say ISIS, or any other jihadist Islamic organization? It’s not about revenge. You might think it is because they’re out dealing with who they consider to be infidels. But the reason they’re such a threat and need to be taken seriously is that militant Islam, jihad, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, you name it, they are conquerors, folks. They’re not getting even with anybody for mistreatment or what have you.

It might be politically correct to say, somebody like Obama might try to justify what they’re doing based on the Crusades, which he constantly does, but it has nothing to do with this. They are conquerors. Islam is a conquest ideology. Not even a religion. And this is one of these things, if people aren’t even willing to admit what we’re up against, there’s no way we’re ever going to come to a fabled consensus in dealing with it.

And then, furthermore, if we’re gonna protect it by enshrouding it with political correctness, then we are only dooming ourselves. And there are many of us who recognize all of this and remain dumbfounded that so many others fail to see it. And their failure to see it is putting us all at risk. It really isn’t any more complicated than that.

But we have a president who grew up in Madrases and was educated in Madrases and has a different opinion. The morning call to prayer is among the most beautiful sounds in the world. So it’s a challenge. But it’s conquest, folks. It isn’t revenge. It’s not trying to get even with people for what they’ve done in the past. It’s trying to eliminate what and who are considered to be nonbelievers.”

These are the results from a modest slowing of demand growth and — more importantly — the decision of the Saudi Princes to wage the first financial war against next-gen oil producers, those that tap oil sands, shale fields, and deep ocean deposits.

This is how Bloomberg put it: “Saudi Arabia won’t be satisfied with another temporary rebound in oil prices, such as the one that occurred last spring: Their US competitors would just increase output again. They must inflict permanent damage by demonstrating to investors that with shale, they can’t bet on any kind of predictable return.”

This will not end quickly; the list of casualties will be long. Goldman found $1 trillion in “stranded” or “zombie” investments in oil fields — a year ago at $70 oil. At $35 oil the total would be much larger.

"We think TB is a disease of developing countries or of days gone by, but TB is a disease of today. It certainly was a disease of yesterday, and we need to make sure that it isn't a disease of tomorrow," says Dr Onkar Sarhota, who is chair of London's Health Committee. TB is one disease often synonymous with poverty, affecting the most vulnerable. And it is not the only such disease worrying London's doctors.

Recent studies for Britain's National Health Service found that other diseases, widespread in the 19th and early 20th centuries, are making a comeback. "There has been a huge rise in scarlet fever - 14,000 [suspected] cases in the last year, the highest since the 1960s," says Dr Nuria Martinez-Alier, a London immunologist. "We have seen a rise in the cases of tuberculosis, we've seen a rise in cases of whooping cough, we have seen more measles in the last 10 years than in the last 10 years before that," she warns.

Over the past five years in England, hospital admissions for scarlet fever have risen 136%, scurvy by 38% and cholera by 300%, though the number of scurvy and cholera cases is very small.

Officials also say Texas and Oklahoma could suffer a "historic blizzard", bringing up to 16in (41cm) of snow. The storms across the South have been unusually powerful for winter. Reports from Texas said churches were destroyed, cars mangled and trees toppled across a wide area.

Garland police believed that "winds from a tornado that passed through" the town late on Saturday were the cause of car accidents, Melinda Urbina from the Dallas County Sheriff's office told the BBC. At least five people were reported dead in the cars. Ms Urbina said the winds "tossed the cars around", and the vehicles were later found below Interstate 30, about 15 miles (24km) north-east of Dallas. She also urged local residents to stay off the roads.

The deaths in Dallas come as much of the south-central region of the US is hit by severe weather. In previous days, ten people earlier had died in Mississippi and six in Tennessee. Arkansas and Alabama have each reported one fatality. In Mississippi, where 20 tornadoes hit, officials reported that 56 people had been injured and more than 400 houses destroyed or damaged in storms.

One large tornado reportedly touched land in Mississippi and tore a path more than 100 miles long to Tennessee. While extreme weather in the US before Christmas is not unknown, meteorologists say that unseasonably high temperatures in some areas contributed to the severity of the storms.

Hundreds of flood alerts and warnings are in place for England, Wales and Scotland, including more than 25 severe warnings - indicating danger to life. The environment minister said the government will review flood defences. Liz Truss said there had been "unprecedented" levels of rainfall in parts of northern England, saying it was "right to say" flood defences had been "overwhelmed".

She warned some rivers had not yet reached their expected high peak, saying the Army had been deployed in York, Leeds, and parts of Lancashire. PM David Cameron is due to chair an emergency conference call later and will visit some of the flood-affected areas on Monday. Resident Brian Marshall said flood waters in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, had been running with such force on Saturday night that sandbags had been "ripped up". He said: "It was just impossible to do anything."

Lieutenant Colonel Hamish Cormack, from the Duke of Lancaster Regiment, said levels in York were still rising - saying "we've not probably seen the worst of it yet". On Saturday, Lancashire bore the brunt of the flooding, along with parts of Yorkshire. People in 3,500 York properties near the River Foss, a tributary of the Ouse, were advised to move belongings upstairs and to be ready to leave.

Areas of Greater Manchester, including Salford, Bolton, Bury, Rochdale and Wigan, were also badly affected by flooding, with more than 300 flood-related calls to the fire service in 24 hours.

Between threats of gun confiscation at the federal level, and repeated incidences of SWAT teams and military-like police forces abusing their power against people in their homes and at protests, there are many reasons to think things have gone too far. The PATRIOT Act, the NDAA, the TSA and Homeland Security all represent the occupation of the American people and the complete destruction of civil liberties. Will something spark a revolution or a civil war, or will the powers that be lose the ability to pit people against each other?

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes said:

“If we defend it together, we can avoid bloodshed here at home. But if we allow our police to militarize and turn into an occupying army, or we allow our military to be used here at home domestically against the people, there will be another fight. And there should be.”

As Rhodes notes, many law enforcement officials have spoken out about the unconstitutional acts of this government, and have indicated that they will stand with the people. This is the best outcome, but not the only one that may happen. Even at the top of the system, there are many who have rebelled and dissented against the unconstitutional and delusional acts of the sitting president. How much more can the system bear before it cracks at the foundation?

How many more abuses will the people take before they fight back? Will those in power back off if people refuse to cooperate any longer? Or will this country roll over and descend into full-blown tyranny like so many others before it?

The article, written by University of Texas at Austin professor Alberto Martinez, highlights Trump’s actual comments before detailing the purposeful spin put on them by dozens and dozens of media outlets in what many believe was a concerted effort to demonize and lie about the presidential hopeful.

As Martinez notes, actually taking a look at Trump’s comments without purposefully [supposing] what you think he meant goes a long way in understanding what he was trying to say.

“They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting.”

“You might well dislike Trump’s words. I did. But let’s not make it worse. He did not say that all Mexicans are rapists. Yet that’s what many commentators did,” wrote Martinez. “For example, Politico misquoted Trump by omitting his phrase about ‘good people.’ They said he was ‘demonizing Mexicans as rapists.’ They argued that Mexicans do not really commit more rapes in the US than whites. But that’s not what Trump claimed.”

Martinez goes on to list the headlines that various mainstream media outlets came up with in response to Trump’s comments and they read like an Orwellian attempt at altering reality.

The New York Times: “Trump’s claim that illegal Mexican immigrants are ‘rapists.’”

Time Magazine: “Trump’s comment that Mexican immigrants are ‘rapists.’”

Associated Press: “Trump called Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals”

CBS News: “Trump defends calling Mexican immigrants ‘rapists.’”

L.A. Times: “describing Mexican immigrants as ‘rapists.’”

Fortune: “in a speech branding Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists.”

Hollywood Reporter: “he referred to Mexican immigrants as ‘rapists.’”

Huffington Post: “He called Latino immigrants ‘criminals’ and ‘rapists.’”

The Washington Post: “He referred to Mexicans as ‘rapists.’”

Every single one of these news outlets purposefully lied to their readers and have continued to do so after every “controversial” comment made by Trump.

The 70-year copyright on the text, written by Hitler between 1924-1926 and banned by the Allies at the end of World War Two, expires at the end of the year, opening the way for a critical edition with explanatory sections and some 3,500 annotations. In January the 2,000 page, two-volume work will go on sale after about three years of labor by scholars at Munich's Institute for Contemporary History.

Hitler wrote most of the first, highly autobiographical, volume while incarcerated in Landsberg prison after his failed Munich coup attempt in 1923. After his release, he wrote much of the second volume at his mountain retreat near Berchtesgaden. In the book, a mix of personal experience and political ideology, he outlined his strategy. A bestseller after he became chancellor in 1933, it had by 1945 sold 12 million copies and been translated into 18 languages.

The publication is a big step for Germany, which is still struggling with the legacy of the Nazi era and the Holocaust. Germany's teachers' association wants it used in schools. "A professional treatment of excerpts in lessons can help immunize against political extremism," association head Josef Kraus told Handelsblatt.

There are not enough poor people living in middle class neighborhoods to suit the political left. Not enough blacks in white neighborhoods. Not enough Hispanics here, not enough Asians there.

Nowhere in the Constitution does it grant the federal government the power to dictate such things. But places that do not mix and match people the way Washington wants them to can lose all sorts of federal money they currently receive under numerous programs.

Handing out vast amounts of the taxpayers’ money is the way the federal government has expanded its power far beyond the powers granted by the Constitution — thereby limiting the freedom of individuals, localities and states. Washington is essentially buying up our freedom with our own money, taken in taxes.