Data from NASA satellites show that the total amount of water stored in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins — that is, all of the snow, river and reservoir water, water in soils and groundwater combined — was 34 million acre-feet below normal in 2014. That loss is nearly 1.5 times the capacity of Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir.

Statewide, we've been dropping more than 12 million acre-feet of total water yearly since 2011. Roughly two-thirds of these losses are attributable to groundwater pumping for agricultural irrigation in the Central Valley. Farmers have little choice but to pump more groundwater during droughts, especially when their surface water allocations have been slashed 80% to 100%. But these pumping rates are excessive and unsustainable. Wells are running dry. In some areas of the Central Valley, the land is sinking by one foot or more per year.

As difficult as it may be to face, the simple fact is that California is running out of water — and the problem started before our current drought. NASA data reveal that total water storage in California has been in steady decline since at least 2002, when satellite-based monitoring began, although groundwater depletion has been going on since the early 20th century.

Right now the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing. California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone a 20-plus-year mega-drought), except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain. In short, we have no paddle to navigate this crisis.

“The EU and Iceland have discussed the country’s position on the status of its bid to join the European Union,” the statement reads. “The government does not intend to resume preparing for EU membership.” Prime Minister Sigmundur Davið Gunnlaugsson talked of formally withdrawing the bid in January.

“Participating in EU talks isn’t really valid anymore,” PM Gunnlaugsson told Reykjavík Grapevine at the time. “Both due to changes in the European Union and because it’s not in line with the policies of the ruling government to accept everything that the last government was willing to accept. Because of that, we’re back at square one.”

One of the major issues stalling an agreement was fish catch quotas insisted on by Brussels, something the Icelandic Fishing industry would never have agreed to. The small island nation, with a population of 325,000, is and will still be a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Schengen area and is an EU partner promoting cooperation in northern Europe – meaning it gets many of the advantages of being a full member without many of the negative aspects of centralized EU laws and planning.

Brennan’s statement marks a change from the narrative the Obama administration has been pushing on the success of the fight against ISIS. “Left unchecked, the group would pose a serious danger not only to Syria and Iraq, but to the wider region and beyond, including the threat of attacks in the homelands of the United States and our partners,” Brennan told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

He added that ISIS takes advantage of new technology to “coordinate operations, attract new recruits, disseminate propaganda and inspire sympathizers across the globe to act in their name.” The CIA director said that the terror group has ballooned in size to about 20,000 members, and points to the recent pledge of allegiance to ISIS by Nigeria-based Boko Haram. “This will be a long-term struggle,” he said. “If there is one thing we have learned over the years, it is that success against terrorism requires patience and determination.”

Brennan’s comments about ISIS’ staying power differs from claims made by top Obama administration officials as recently as last month assessing the progress against the terror organization. Secretary of State John Kerry and retired General John Allen have both made public statements about ISIS in the past. In February, Allen said that half of the group’s leaders in Iraq had been killed. Kerry took it a step further and extended the claim to Syria as well. Experts, though, say the claims of success are overinflated.

Others, like Princeton University scholar of Near Eastern Studies Cole Bunzel, told Bloomberg claims of killing half of ISIS leadership is difficult to make because the terror organization’s “leadership” is subjective. He added that he was “very skeptical” that 50 percent of the group’s leaders were killed because ISIS has publicly announced when senior members had been killed in the past but has not made such an announcement about someone in its core leadership being killed in the past five years.

Dehqan said the missiles could be deployed quickly and accurately from a variety of different platforms. He said the Qadir had highly advanced radar, anti-jamming and anti-electronic warfare systems, and was capable of delivering a missile with high destructive power while flying at low altitude.

Iran, which has developed a long list of home-grown weaponry, including drones, naval vessels, aircraft and electronic systems, recently flexed its power in a large scale naval drill in the Persian Gulf. Tehran is known to possess ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel and parts of Europe.

Deqhan also spoke about a new Iranian surface-to-surface missile, the Soumar. Iran unveiled the long-range cruise missile at a separate ceremony held earlier this month. “Soumar long-range ground-to-ground cruise missile system has been designed and built by experts of the defense ministry’s aerospace industries organization,” the defense minister said.

Mr Stoltenberg also met privately with the Defence Secretary to ensure “important decisions” made at a summit last year – when the UK spoke out against defence cuts – are implemented. It comes after Mr Stoltenberg’s predecessors told The Telegraph that Mr Cameron would embolden Vladimir Putin if he backed away from a promise to protect defence spending.

While the Conservatives have kept defence spending above 2 per cent of GDP – a Nato obligation – since taking office they have failed to promise to do so in the next parliament. “We appreciate the leadership that the UK shows in the Alliance, and we count on leadership also in the future,” Mr Stoltenberg said.

Last month two former Nato heads warned that Mr Cameron will embolden Mr Putin and Islamic terrorists if he reneges on a commitment to spend two per cent of GDP on defence.

But now, in a case highlighted in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, this concern rears its head more aggressively. Not only are antibiotics that are used in livestock harmful, but the antibiotics being used on fruits and vegetables are causing other problems. The journal had detailed how a 10-year-old girl who ate a blueberry pie had a near-fatal allergic reaction. It turns out the problem wasn’t the blueberries, but the antibiotic streptomycin. The blueberries had been treated with the antibiotic to keep bacteria, fungi, and algae from growing on the fruit.

Farmers have turned to antibiotics in increasing numbers to eliminate pests that are often caused by depleted soil – a by-product of decades of Big Ag practices, namely from growing pesticide and herbicide doused GM crops. Aside from adding toxins to the soil and stripping it of important enzymes that plants need to fight off pests themselves, out of the 70+ trace minerals that were originally in nutrient-rich soils, modern methods replenish merely 4 or 5. This means that not only are plants less resistant to pests, but superweeds can grow like wildfire.

Furthermore, crops that are grown in depleted, biotech-influenced-soils are more susceptible to insect infestations, viruses, and diseases. That’s why Monsanto’s Round Up is one of the best selling chemical herbicides in the world – no matter that it causes birth defects, kidney disease, and cancer.

Editing the chromosomes of human eggs or sperm to create genetically modified IVF embryos is illegal in Britain and many other countries because of concerns about safety and the possibility of the technique being used to create genetically enhanced “designer babies”.

However, the development of a simple gene-editing technique which can alter human DNA with extreme precision has raised the prospect of it being used in the future to help couples affected by inherited diseases who would like children free of the family mutations.

Several teams of researchers around the world are believed to be working on ways of modifying the chromosomes of human egg cells with a view to moving towards “germ-line” gene therapy, as the process is called. Germ-line refers to the “germ” cells – sperm and eggs – that pass on genes to future generations. However, other scientists have called for a moratorium on editing the human germ-line, arguing that it is ethically unacceptable because it is too unpredictable and too risky.

In a highly personal intervention, Mrs May says that the panel, being led by Justice Lowell Goddard, will encourage more victims of abuse to come forward and lead to perpetrators being brought to justice. “I hope and believe it will give all victims and survivors a voice,” Mrs May says. “For too long nobody listened, nobody wanted to admit the darkness in our midst.” She warns that “the trail” will lead into schools, hospitals, churches and youth clubs as well as “many other institutions that should have been places of safety but instead became the setting for the most appalling abuse”.

What we have seen so far is “only the tip of the iceberg”, Mrs May says. Mrs May set up the inquiry into child abuse following revelations about the crimes committed by Jimmy Savile as well as disclosures about abuse in Derby, Oxford and towns across Britain. There were also a series of allegations about a Westminster paedophile ring.

“The inquiry won’t probe individuals but where there is evidence a person has abused their position – no matter how high or how low that position – it will be passed to the police to investigate,” Mrs May writes. “So if there has been a cover-up, we will uncover it. And if perpetrators of child sexual abuse are found, they will be brought to justice.”

Following Lior's ruling, another extremist, Rabbi Jacob Heydimann, performed the Purim prayer inside the mosque compound with police protection. The mosque guards were removed by the Israeli police. The latest declaration encourages extremist Jewish groups who have increased their calls to enter Al-Aqsa by force and hold more prayers within the Noble Sanctuary.

Lawyer Aviad Visoli, who represented US-born Jewish extremist Yehuda Glick when he was banned by the police from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, claimed that every Jew has the right to pray on the "Temple Mount" [Al-Aqsa Mosque compound]. "Praying there is no longer considered a legal violation after the Israeli Supreme Court ordered Glick to be paid half a million shekels in compensation for removing him from the Temple Mount [sic] for performing his biblical prayers there," said Visoli. "The police must act to allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount [sic] freely."

It is on that basis, he added, that Lior has issued his latest ruling.

David Cameron said the remarks were 'deeply concerning' and Labour accused Mr Farage of wanting to go back to the days when firms put up signs saying 'no blacks, no dogs, no Irish'. In a Channel 4 documentary, Mr Farage claimed concern over preventing racial discrimination in employment 'would probably have been valid' 40 years ago and he would get rid of 'much of' existing legislation. He also described some Muslims in Britain as a 'fifth column living within our country, who hate us and want to kill us'.

Setting out the case for scrapping race laws, Mr Farage said: 'I think the situation that we now have, where an employer is not allowed to choose between a British-born person and somebody from Poland, is a ludicrous state of affairs. I think that we have taken our relationship with Europe to a level that, frankly, has gone against common sense, and certainly against self-interest.'

'I would argue that the law does need changing, and that if an employer wishes to choose, or you can use the word 'discriminate' if you want to, but wishes to choose to employ a British-born person, they should be allowed to do so. I think you should be able to choose on the basis of nationality, yes. I do.'

In a series of traded insults, Yanis Varoufakis said the ECB, which has tightened the noose on the Leftist government, was "pursuing a policy that can be considered asphyxiating toward our government." His comments came before Germany's Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann said Athens had "squandered the trust" of its European partners. As one of Greece's main three international creditors, the ECB has rebuffed Athens' requests to raise short-term debt to alleviate an impending funding crisis.

The German Social Democrats (SPD) have been repeating that the EU not only needs combat troops but also its own military academy and a permanent military headquarters. Berlin has already begun expanding the Bundeswehr's cooperation with units from several other countries, including the Netherlands and Poland - quasi establishing an EU Army from the ground up.

For Germany, the creation of a common military force would be highly advantageous, because Berlin could play a predominant role in military questions, as it has in the imposition of austerity dictates during the Euro crisis. An EU Army would also increase German influence in relationship to the USA and NATO.

The creation of an EU army is highly advantageous for Germany. On the one hand, it consolidates the composite military power of the EU nations, and on the other, it guarantees Berlin's decisive influence. At the latest, with Germany's imposition of its austerity dictate during the Euro crisis, against, at times, hefty opposition of a group of EU member states, it has become clear that the Federal Republic of Germany is capable of comprehensively imposing its interests on Brussels.

Through the creation of an EU Army, Berlin could also implement its own military plans - if necessary without Washington - and, at the same time, strengthen its political influence in relationship to NATO. The German government would be in a better position to prevail in German-US disputes, such as the current disputes about policies toward Ukraine or Russia and hope to eventually achieve "eye level" with the USA. Some transatlantic circles have, therefore, reacted angrily to Juncker's recent proposal.

He pointed to a conversation he had with Nick Clegg – leader of the Liberal Democrats and the UK's deputy prime minister – a year ago, during which both men agreed that the idea of a European army was a dangerous fantasy. Farage then cited examples of the European Defense Agency, EU battle groups, an EU Navy operation against pirates off the coast of Somalia, and article 28 of the Lisbon Treaty, which provides for collective EU defense.

He went on to say that the EU was the catalyst for the conflict in eastern Ukraine, due to its territorial expansion. “We poked the Russian bear with a stick and unsurprisingly Putin reacted,” Farage said. Harking back to the words of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said “the EU is not a project about peace but a project about power,” Farage accused Juncker of being opportunistic by calling for an EU army.

He also countered the European commissioner's statement that “We must convey to Russia that we are serious.” “Who do you think you’re kidding Mr Juncker?,” Farage said. The comment was a reference to the sitcom 'Dad’s Army,' in which a group of old men try to fight off a German invasion.

Midea, a major appliance maker, is in the forefront of a full-blown charge by China’s manufacturing sector into robot-powered factory automation. Companies nationwide over the past five years have ramped up robotics in the face of labor woes, such as worker shortages and rising wages, and to cut their production costs. In the process, they’ve helped build a new market for Chinese robot manufacturers that are competing against multinational rivals.