USA - Wildfires roared out of control in Southern California, forcing authorities in San Diego county on Wednesday to order thousands of people to abandon their homes, including students at a state university, though no major injuries were reported. Television images showed several homes in flames, with thick black smoke filling the sky and drifting over the Pacific Ocean, as California entered the height of wildfire season in the midst of one of the state's worst droughts on record. Officials told a news conference that nine fires had burned more than 9,000 acres in the county by late Wednesday. Fire officials fear the drought could provide the tinder for a particularly dangerous year for wildfires in the state.

RUSSIA - Russia and its allies consider Eurovision to be morally toxic after Conchita Wurst's win, and are seeking to establish their own 'Eurasian' version of the popular song contest that upholds traditional moral values. Russian lawmakers have proposed creating their own version of Eurovision after Europe's premier song competition was won by a bearded Austrian drag queen who promotes gay rights.

GRENADA, CARIBBEAN - A team of scientists is exploring the darkest corners of a huge underwater volcano in the Caribbean in the hope of better understanding the mysteries of earthquakes and tsunamis, ultimately saving lives. ‘Kick'em Jenny’ is a dangerous and active volcano sitting roughly 6,000 feet below the surface of the Caribbean Sea, and located off the coast of the island of Grenada, south of St Lucia. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Kick'em Jenny volcano has erupted 10 times since 1939 with the most recent eruption in 1990. “This is the most hazardous part of our planet, where [tectonic] plates are head-on,” Ballard said, noting that the devastating 2011 Japanese earthquake and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami were both underwater earthquakes.

USA - Earlier this year, a select group of Wall Street Insiders were surveyed, and the results were ominous. These financial experts and fund managers predicted a 98% chance a stock market crash will happen in the next six months. Gary Shilling, one of Wall Street’s top economists, says the S&P Index could drop as low as 800, a 42% decline. Jeffrey Gundlach, one of the world’s biggest bond fund managers and CEO of DoubleLine Capital, says the real damage is yet to come and an “ominous third phase” will “far exceed the damage of 2008.”

UKRAINE - R Hunter Biden will be in charge of the Holdings’ legal unit and will provide support for the Company among international organizations. On his new appointment, he commented: “Burisma’s track record of innovations and industry leadership in the field of natural gas means that it can be a strong driver of a strong economy in Ukraine. As a new member of the Board, I believe that my assistance in consulting the Company on matters of transparency, corporate governance and responsibility, international expansion and other priorities will contribute to the economy and benefit the people of Ukraine.” The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Burisma Holdings, Mr Alan Apter, noted: “The company’s strategy is aimed at the strongest concentration of professional staff and the introduction of best corporate practices, and we’re delighted that Mr Biden is joining us to help us achieve these goals.”

USA - It’s an insect spy drone for urban areas, already in production, funded by the Government. It can be remotely controlled and is equipped with a camera and a microphone. It can land on you, and it may have the potential to take a DNA sample or leave RFID tracking nanotechnology on your skin. It can fly through an open window, or it can attach to your clothing until you take it in your home. And for all you who automatically say “fake” because you don’t think the government is funding this… do some research.

USA - Is the petrodollar monopoly about to be shattered? When US politicians started slapping economic sanctions on Russia, they probably never even imagined that there might be serious consequences for the United States. But now the Russian media is reporting that the Russian Ministry of Finance is getting ready to pull the trigger on a "de-dollarization" plan. The fact that the Russian government has held a meeting to discuss "getting rid of the US dollar in Russian export operations" should be front page news on every mainstream news website in the United States. That is how big this is. But instead, we have heard nothing from the big mainstream news networks about this so far. If Russia starts asking for payment in currencies other than the US dollar, that will essentially end the monopoly of the petrodollar.

USA - We have previously discussed the increasing use of tasers by police in circumstances where other avenues were available, including cases involving young children. Now we have a case where two Indiana police officers tasered a 10-year-old, 94-pound boy at the Tender Teddies Day Care in Martinsville. The officers from the Martinsville Police Department responded to a report of an unruly child at a home day care location. Such calls are not uncommon, particularly with so many children with emotional or developmental problems. However, after the police arrived, they introduced tasers at Tender Teddies Day Care as witnesses watched in horror. Even the Martinsville Police Chief Jon Davis has acknowledged that his officers could have avoided using a stun gun on a child and has put the two officers on administrative leave pending investigation.

RUSSIA - A meeting this month could offer a peek behind the curtain at the countries' powerful partnership. The progression of the countries' relationship remains as steady as it is mysterious. China and Russia have learned to lean on one another, sometimes strategically, and sometimes because they require each other to keep the lights on. As Russia continues to meddle in eastern Ukraine, China has been reticent to respond despite its highly publicized interest in investment there last year. The situation is yet another telltale sign that much of this powerful alliance has been forged and maintained deep behind closed doors. The latest incarnation of Russian and Chinese leadership will meet again this month to potentially finalize details of a critical energy alliance. Such an accord will offer new clues into Russia’s apparent neo-Soviet designs and China’s desires to become a legitimate 21st-century superpower.

USA - Texas Republican Representative Lamar Smith reacted harshly to a new report detailing the crimes committed by 36,007 criminal immigrants that Immigration and Customs Enforcement released last year. “This would be considered the worst prison break in American history, except it was sanctioned by the President and perpetrated by our own immigration officials.” An internal Department of Homeland Security document revealed that last year ICE released 36,007 criminal immigrants who had nearly 88,000 convictions. The document further broke down the crimes and number of convictions – including 193 homicide convictions, 426 sexual assault convictions, 303 kidnapping convictions, and 1,075 aggravated assault convictions.

EUROPE - The saddest moment of Martin Schulz’s life came at the age of 24. He was an unemployed drunk with no girlfriend and no high school degree. He contemplated suicide. Now he is Europe’s No. 1 socialist reaching for the top job — as president of the European Commission in Brussels. Schulz is leading Europe’s center-left parties into parliamentary elections on May 25 and his agenda is bold: Curb the power of banks, institute higher taxes on the rich and create a more centralized government system for Europe with a common fiscal policy.

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran has unveiled its own copy of an American stealth drone it captured in late 2011, claiming to have cracked the “secrets” of the bat-wing craft and added weapons capabilities. Today, Fars News Agency reported that while Iran’s duplicate of the US RQ-170 Sentinel drone was smaller, it also had a “bombing capability to attack the US warships in any possible battle.” The story in Persian was headlined: “America’s nightmare has become reality.” State television showed footage on Sunday it said was of a US aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf filmed by an Iranian drone. The drone replica was unveiled at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) exhibition on Sunday, where Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was briefed on how the drone, its systems, and structure had been reverse-engineered. He called it a “sweet day.”

USA - The Obama administration appears to have a terrorist “hands off” list that permits individuals with extremist ties to enter the country, according to internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents obtained by a United States Senator. It’s unimaginable that any government would do this, but it seems like the Obama administration is constantly breaking new ground.

EUROPE - The European Union’s top court has ruled that data about individuals held by Google must be deleted on request. Judges in the European Court of Justice ruled that Google cannot link to personal information about an individual, although the ruling only compels Google to remove the link rather than the removal of the information from the web itself. This means users of Facebook, Twitter and other social media can still share personal information about others so long as it remains online. The European Court of Justice said an individual has the right "to be forgotten" when such personal data "appear to be inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purpose for which they were processed and in the light of the time that has elapsed."

USA - Does the economy move in predictable waves, cycles or patterns? There are many economists that believe that it does, and if their projections are correct, the rest of this decade is going to be pure hell for the United States. Many mainstream economists want nothing to do with economic cycle theorists, but it should be noted that economic cycle theories have enabled some analysts to correctly predict the timing of recessions, stock market peaks and crashes over the past couple of decades. Of course none of the theories are perfect, but it is very interesting to note that all of them seem to indicate that the US economy is about to enter a major downturn. So will the period of 2015 to 2020 turn out to be pure hell for the United States? We will just have to wait and see.