Until a year ago, Ukraine remained non-aligned between the two great European powers. But the EU wanted its land, its 48 million people (such a reservoir of cheap labour!) its Black Sea coast, its coal and its wheat. So first, it spent £300 million (some of it yours) on anti-Russian ‘civil society’ groups in Ukraine. Then EU and Nato politicians broke all the rules of diplomacy and descended on Kiev to take sides with demonstrators who demanded that Ukraine align itself with the EU.

Imagine how you’d feel if Russian politicians had appeared in Edinburgh in September urging the Scots to vote for independence, or if Russian money had been used to fund pro-independence organisations. Then a violent crowd (20 police officers died at its hands, according to the UN) drove the elected president from office, in violation of the Ukrainian constitution.

During all this process, Ukraine remained what it had been from the start – horrendously corrupt and dominated by shady oligarchs, pretty much like Russia. If you didn’t want to take sides in this mess, I wouldn’t at all blame you. But most people seem to be doing so. If anyone really is trying to punish the Russian people for being patriotic, by debauching the rouble, I cannot imagine anything more irresponsible. It was the destruction of the German mark in 1922, and the wipeout of the middle class that resulted, which led directly to Hitler.

Stupid, ill-informed people nowadays like to compare Mr Putin with Hitler. I warn them and you that, if we succeed in overthrowing Mr Putin by unleashing hyper-inflation in Russia, we may find out what a Russian Hitler is really like. And that a war in Europe is anything but fun. So, as it’s almost Christmas, let us sing with some attention that bleakest and yet loveliest of carols, It Came Upon The Midnight Clear, stressing the lines that run ‘Man at war with man hears not the love song which they bring. Oh, hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing’.

Or gloat at your peril over the scenes of panic in Moscow.

Again, we hear in the news that the Israeli police have arrested a Jewish man who tried taking a candle onto the Temple Mount during Hanukkah. Forty-seven years after the liberation of the Mount by the IDF, what does the famous quote by General Motta Gur mean – Har Habayit Beyadeinu, “the Temple Mount is in our hands”? As we light Hanukkah candles each night of the holiday of Hanukkah, we say blessings thanking God for His miracles in those days – the days of the Maccabees – and at this time.

I think that the time has come that the State of Israel apply full Israeli sovereignty on the most holy place for the Jewish people, and allow Jews freedom of prayer on the Temple Mount. That would be a true expression of the miracles that took place in those days and at this time. Chag sameach.

Analysts have pointed out that the two designs hew very closely to two Lockheed Martin products — the F-35 joint strike fighter and the company’s radar offering for the Air Force’s Three Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR) competition, respectively. Reports of a major cyber breach of Lockheed’s programs by Chinese hackers have been around since April 2009, and a general consensus has emerged across industry that China’s military has benefited from that information.

That kind of infiltration is costing US industries billions of dollars, warned Brett Lambert, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for manufacturing and industrial base policy, during November’s NATO Industry Forum in Split, Croatia. “No one has been hit harder on a seismic scale than US industry,” he said, citing estimates that the US has lost $300 billion in intellectual property, with much of it coming from the defense industry.

"For the Hungarian government the most important [issue] is to guarantee their security and future," Lazar was quoted as telling the newspaper. He said Hungary's stance was that peace talks, not only economic sanctions, were needed to defuse the conflict, and it was Germany that could resolve the situation.

"From the aspect of Hungary, the most important world leader today is Angela Merkel," Lazar said. "For 2015, our most important foreign policy goal is to strengthen our alliance with Germany." German media has reported Merkel is due in Budapest in February, but Lazar did not give a date.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, now generally known as TTIP, is primarily a deal to cut tariffs and regulatory barriers to trade between the US and EU countries, making it easier for companies on both sides of the Atlantic to access each other's markets. Industries it would affect include pharmaceuticals, cars, energy, finance, chemicals, clothing and food and drink.

The British government claims TTIP could add £10 billion to the UK economy, £80 billion to the US and £100 billion to the EU every year. It says shoppers would benefit by the removal of EU import tariffs on popular goods, such as jeans and cars. It's also claimed that reducing regulation would help UK businesses export to the US, with small businesses in particular predicted to benefit.

Natalie Bennett, Green Party leader: "The proposed trade deal is a huge threat to our democracy and our sovereignty. We have seen the UK participating in a disastrous race to the bottom on corporate tax rates and wages. We must not also walk into lowering our workers' rights, environmental standards and food health standards. Chicken carcasses washed in bleach, hormone-stuffed beef and open season on pollution are not things we want to import from the US."

The procedure, which was developed by British scientists, is currently banned, but ministers want to change the law to prevent children suffering debilitating conditions like muscular dystrophy. Under the new rules, IVF (In-Vitro Fertilisation) clinics will be able to replace an egg's defective mitochondrial DNA with healthy DNA from a female donor's egg.

It is controversial because it would result in babies having DNA from three people – and effectively, two mothers. The announcement follows a public consultation which saw overwhelming support for the procedure.

What the US will give Cuba

• Diplomatic opening: The US will take steps toward restoring diplomatic ties with Cuba, severed since 1961. Embassy in Havana: This will include the goal of reopening a US embassy in Havana in the coming months.

• Release alleged Cuban spies: The US will release three Cubans who were convicted of espionage and imprisoned in the US.

• Easing business and travel restrictions: The US will make it easier for Americans to obtain licenses to do business in Cuba, and to travel to the island.

• Easing banking restrictions: Americans will be able to use credit and debit cards while in Cuba.

• Higher remittance limits: Americans will be able to send up to $2000 per year to family members in Cuba. Small-scale imports of Cuban cigars and alcohol: US travelers will be able to import up to $400 in goods from Cuba, including $100 in alcohol and tobacco products.

• Review of basis for sanctions: Secretary of State John Kerry has been ordered to review Cuba's status as a "state sponsor of terrorism." If his review determines that Cuba no longer deserves that status, that will be a first step towards lifting at least some US sanctions.

What Cuba will give the US

• Release Alan Gross: US contractor Alan Gross had been imprisoned in Cuba for the last five years on charges of attempting to undermine the Cuban government.

• Release political prisoners: Cuba will release 53 political prisoners from a list provided by the United States.

• Increased internet access: Cuba will allow its citizens increased access to the internet.

• Access by the UN: Cuba will allow officials from the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to return to its territory.

After disappearing to Colombia for the winter, 10 of the tagged warblers returned in April 2014. The team was in the field observing them when they received advance warning of the tornadoes. "We evacuated ourselves to the waffle house in Caryville, Tennessee, for the one day that the storm was really bad," Dr Streby said. Elsewhere in the US the storm had more drastic consequences. At least 84 tornadoes caused 35 fatalities and more than $1 billion (£0.6 billion) in property damage. After the storm had blown over, the team recaptured five of the warblers and removed the geolocators.

These are tiny devices weighing about half a gram, which measure light levels. Based on the timing and length of the days they record, these gadgets allow scientists to calculate and track the approximate location of migratory birds. In this case, all five indicated that the birds had taken unprecedented evasive action, beginning one to two days ahead of the storm's arrival.

"The warblers in our study flew at least 1,500km (932 miles) in total," Dr Streby said. They escaped just south of the tornadoes' path - and then went straight home again. By 2 May, all five were back in their nesting area. Remarkably, the warblers' evacuation commenced while the closest tornado was still hundreds of miles away. Weather conditions in the nesting area were still nothing out of the ordinary.

The new study is the first time that migratory birds have been seen taking such dramatic evasive action. "We know that birds can alter their route to avoid things during regular migration," Dr Streby explained. "But it hadn't been shown until our study that they would leave once the migration is over, and they'd established their breeding territory, to escape severe weather." Dr Hewson agreed the finding was "an eye opener".

As Obama put it, at their March meeting in the Vatican, "Pope Francis issued a personal appeal to me" to enter into talks with President Raul Castro to negotiate the release of Alan Gross, the American humanitarian worker imprisoned on the island for five years, while the pontiff urged Castro to pursue the return of three Cubans jailed in the US with the White House. After initial discussions indicated a mutual openness toward resolutions, a November meeting of both sides at the Vatican sealed the agreement that saw Gross returned to the US this morning (along with a long-jailed US intelligence operative) and the Cubans likewise freed to the island.

"In particular," Obama said in closing his speech, "I want to thank Pope Francis, whose moral example shows us the importance of pursuing the world as it should be, rather than simply settling for the world as it is."

And when you throw in international sanctions, wild money printing by the Central Bank of Russia and unprecedented capital flight, you get the ingredients for an almost perfect storm. But those of us living in the western world should not be too smug about what is happening in Russia, because the nightmare that is unfolding over there is just a preview of the economic chaos that will soon envelop the whole world. So far this year, the Russian ruble has fallen nearly 50 percent against the US dollar. That is a monumental shift. And as the collapse of the ruble has accelerated in recent days, we are seeing scenes in Russia that are reminiscent of the Weimar Republic.

In a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, the Central Bank of Russia made an astounding move. Last night it raised its key interest rate from 10.5 percent all the way up to 17 percent. It was hoped that this desperate move would keep the ruble from plummeting any further. And it did work for a few minutes, but then the collapse of the ruble resumed.

Well, the biggest reason for the freefall of the ruble is the fact that the Central Bank of Russia just printed up about 625 billion rubles and gave it to their friends at Rosneft. Rosneft is an absolutely massive oil company that is controlled by the Russian government. For months, Rosneft has been asking for a bailout (sound familiar?) to refinance loans that can no longer be rolled over with western banks because of economic sanctions.

And on Friday they got one. In an attempt to quietly slip this massive injection of new money past everyone, Rosneft issued 625 billion rubles worth of new bonds just before the weekend and the Central Bank of Russia gobbled most of those new bonds up with freshly created money. Unfortunately for Rosneft and the Central Bank of Russia, the rest of the world took notice…

So that is what led to the panic selling that we witnessed on Monday. Meanwhile, money is being pulled out of Russia at an absolutely staggering pace. Sadly, it isn’t just oil producing nations such as Russia that are going to be devastated by the coming crisis. Eventually, the entire globe is going to feel the pain.

Last week was the worst week for global financial markets in three years, and so many of the exact same patterns that we witnessed just prior to the great financial crisis of 2008 are happening once again. We have been living in a false bubble of relative stability for the past couple of years, but now time is running out. The next great financial crisis is rapidly approaching, and 2015 promises to be the most “interesting” year that we have seen in ages.