USA - A senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood was recently hosted at the White House for a meeting with President Barack Obama, prompting an outcry from critics of the global Islamist organization. Anas Altikriti, a top British lobbyist for the Muslim Brotherhood whose father heads Iraq’s Muslim Brotherhood party, recently met with the president and Vice President Joe Biden as part of a delegation discussing problems in Iraq. The Obama administration has been criticized for its outreach to the Muslim Brotherhood, the international Islamist organization whose members’ brief reign in Egypt was supported by the White House.

USA - California droughts can last decades … or even centuries. As the San Jose Mercury News points out: Through studies of tree rings, sediment and other natural evidence, researchers have documented multiple droughts in California that lasted 10 or 20 years in a row during the past 1,000 years — compared to the mere three-year duration of the current dry spell. The two most severe mega-droughts make the Dust Bowl of the 1930s look tame: a 240-year-long drought that started in 850 and, 50 years after the conclusion of that one, another that stretched at least 180 years.

VATICAN - The UN has said that the Vatican should "immediately remove" all clergy who are known or suspected child abusers. The UN watchdog for children's rights denounced the Holy See for adopting policies which allowed priests to sexually abuse thousands of children. In a report, it also criticised Vatican attitudes towards homosexuality, contraception and abortion. The Vatican responded by saying it would examine the report - but also accused its authors of interference.

EUROPE - Viviane Reding, the vice president of the European Commission, has made it abundantly clear that her vision is to create and enforce a United States of Europe, and the upcoming election of 751 delegates to the European Parliament in May is just the time to accomplish the task.

EUROPE - Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has been confirmed as the Liberals’ candidate for president of the European Commission, ahead of the European elections in May.

GERMANY - In the few months leading up to the one-hundredth anniversary of the beginning of World War I, a new debate, over who was responsible for starting the war, is gaining momentum in Germany.

GERMANY - A team of German researchers has announced to the press that the bones they have been studying for almost 26 years are almost certainly those of Charlemagne, the first ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne is an historic figure as many consider him to be the father of modern Europe — he managed to forge the first empire in Europe (it included most of Western Europe) after the demise of the Roman Empire. Adding to his stature is that he reportedly personally led most of the 53 campaigns that led to his empire being built. Today, the monarchies in both Germany and France consider their realms to be direct descendants of the empire Charlemagne built.

VATICAN - Pope Francis extolled the benefits of sharing wealth with the poor on Tuesday, warning that "unjust" social conditions like unemployment can lead to sin, financial ruin and even suicide. The Jesuit pope has frequently railed about the excesses of capitalism and income disparity in a globalized world, and his message for Lent issued Tuesday echoed those same concerns. "When power, luxury and money become idols, they take priority over the need for a fair distribution of wealth," he said in the short message. "Our consciences thus need to be converted to justice, equality, simplicity and sharing."

USA - Morgan Stanley (MS.N) said it would pay $1.25 billion to the US regulator for Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB) to settle a lawsuit related to the sale of mortgage-backed securities. The Wall Street bank will add $150 million to its legal reserves as a result of the settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Morgan Stanley disclosed in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. Several large US banks have set aside extra money to pay for potential legal costs in the aftermath of JPMorgan Chase & Co's (JPM.N) massive $13 billion settlement with US authorities over bad mortgages.

USA - On Friday, America’s debt limit extension expires and Congress is expected to renew its legal $16.7 trillion debt cap. If the debt limit isn’t raised, the US could burn through its cash as soon as February 28, Secretary Treasurer Jacob Lew warns. “Time is short. Congress needs to act to extend the nation’s borrowing authority, and it needs to act now,” Lew told an audience at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington DC think tank. On Friday, February 7, Congress will vote to increase the statutory debt limit, which will enable the government to pay for spending bills it has already passed. "Without borrowing authority, at some point very soon, it would not be possible to meet all of the obligations of the federal government," Lew said.

UK - So much for all that talk of ‘winding down’, let alone a regency. To read some recent reports, one might imagine that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh had all but retired to the dower house in reduced circumstances and handed over to the younger generation. But that narrative will, surely, be quietly shelved. We now learn that the 87-year-old Queen and 92-year-old Duke are preparing to embark on a fresh year of milestones and major events — not least an historic trip to meet the new Pope in his Vatican B&B and a state visit to France. Next autumn, she will overtake Queen Victoria and become the longest-reigning sovereign in our history. No wonder world leaders are queuing up for a chat.

USA - The economic picture is looking brighter these days. The federal government announced Thursday that economic growth had picked up to its fastest pace in two years, while employment growth over the past five months has averaged a healthy 185,000 new jobs. But as evidenced by a report out Thursday from the Corporation for Enterprise Development, nearly half of Americans are living in a state of “persistent economic insecurity,” that makes it “difficult to look beyond immediate needs and plan for a more secure future.” In other words, too many of us are living paycheck to paycheck.

USA - How dangerous is the world? Listen to what leaders in the intelligence community are saying and it’s frightening. Besides the usual international hotspots — terrorism from the Middle East, Chinese militarization and Iran’s nuclear weapons program — many topical threats including organized crime, food and energy crises, and global pandemics are areas that are a growing concern to intelligence officials.

USA - When Chicago Tribune reporter Will Potter went to pass out animal rights leaflets, he had no idea the FBI would single him out and pressure him to become an anti-activism informant, threatening his future if he refused. Here, we talk to the TED Fellow and author of Green is the New Red about this experience, which sent him into a whole new area of research. The crux of what he found: environmental and animal-rights activists are now considered the United States’ number-one domestic terrorism threat, and they are being prosecuted as criminals.

USA - Did you hear about the recent federal appeals court ruling that shot down the terribly-named "net neutrality?" Most people probably didn't notice the news and aren't quite sure what net neutrality actually means anyway. Before the court ruling, Internet service providers had to treat all content going through their pipes equally, just like conversations are treated going through a phone line. That is "net neutrality." After the ruling, if you're a big company with some bucks, you can pay Verizon, Comcast or a similar ISP to speed your data along faster. For the right price, your data can jump ahead in line. ISPs will also be allowed to block content they find objectionable, though they swear they would never ever do that, of course.