USA - Do you think the US is headed for a civil war? There are too many articles predicting America is in for another Civil War. Since the beginning of 2019, there's a new one every week. I've come to see these stories as PREDICTIVE PROGRAMMING which is psychological conditioning provided by the media to acquaint the public with planned societal changes. When these changes are put through, the public will already be familiar with them and will accept them as natural progressions, thus lessening public resistance and commotion.

CHINA - High-flying Chinese firms that once relied on government bailouts in times of crisis may no longer be safe. Corporate bond defaults reached a record high in mid-December in the world’s second-largest economy, the Nikkei reported Friday. Shanghai DZH, a data provider, said defaults on Chinese corporate bonds reached $23 billion, an increase from 2018 when defaults were already rising, according to the report. Government-owned companies are not immune to defaults because authorities are taking a more laissez-faire approach; an international bank executive who spoke to the Nikkei said the “tacit government guarantee” is no longer the norm. Sheets said the Chinese leadership feels “comfortable enough about the outlook that they’re willing to let some firms fail.”

USA - A searing essay in the Christian Post Friday examines Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s misapplication of the Bible to justify “far-left positions” on everything from economic policy to same-sex marriage. Writing for the Christian Post, guest columnist John Stonestreet observes that a growing biblical illiteracy in America allows public figures like Buttigieg to make ridiculous claims in the name of sacred Scripture with almost no pushback from the public.

USA - The west coast never stops shaking, but lately the shaking has gone to an entirely new level, and this has many people deeply concerned about what may be coming. Last summer, a series of alarming foreshocks immediately preceded the two historic quakes that shook the Ridgecrest area in southern California. But those quakes were nothing compared to “the Big One” that scientists assure us is way overdue. Someday an earthquake that is hundreds of times stronger will absolutely devastate the California coastline, and it may be arriving a lot sooner than many people think. Farther north, the Cascadia subduction zone is a ticking time bomb that could literally unleash an unprecedented disaster at any moment.

NIGERIA - Bloodthirsty ISIS terrorists have reportedly beheaded 11 Christian hostages on Christmas Day in Nigeria. The militants said in a sickening video that the mass killing was in revenge for the deaths “of our leaders, including Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi”. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was deeply concerned about reports that civilians have been executed, and others abducted, by an armed group in northern Borno State, northeastern Nigeria. Conflict journalist Ahmad Salkida, who monitors terrorist activities in Nigeria’s northeast, wrote: “The decision to execute the captives was rather swift, abrupt and shocking. ISWAP had reportedly opened a window of negotiations… to exchange the freedom of the captives with those of its members in government custody. But the Nigerian government failed to take the offer.”

PHILIPPINES - A strong typhoon that barreled through the central Philippines left at least 28 dead and 12 missing, and forced thousands to flee their homes, devastating Christmas celebrations in the predominantly Roman Catholic country. Typhoon Phanfone stranded many people in sea and airports at the peak of holiday travel, set off landslides, flooded low-lying villages, destroyed houses, downed trees and electrical poles and knocked out power in entire provinces. One disaster response officer described the battered coastal town of Batad in Iloilo province as a “ghost town” on Christmas Day. About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines each year. The Southeast Asian nation is also located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions often occur, making the country of more than 100 million people one of the world’s most disaster prone.

ISRAEL - The rocket attack Wednesday by Palestinian terrorists on an Israeli city where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was appearing at an election campaign event is just the latest example of how the Gaza Strip has become a base for anti-Semitic murderers out to kill as many Jews as possible. Israel responded forcefully and justifiably to the unprovoked rocket fired from Gaza. Israeli Defense Forces fighter jets and helicopters attacked targets used by the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza, including the group’s military complexes. Let’s imagine for a moment what the reaction of the United States would be – under any leader who takes the security of Americans seriously – if a rocket attack was launched toward a campaign event being held by a presidential candidate. What would America or any other nation do? I think it is fair to say that the reaction to such an attack would be quick, decisive and punishing.

ISRAEL - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trounced his rival Gideon Sa’ar in the Likud leadership race early Friday, winning some 72.5% of the party vote in a landslide victory for the longtime Likud leader. Netanyahu declared victory soon after midnight Thursday-Friday, as the count was underway, while Sa’ar conceded an hour later. As the final results were announced, Sa’ar called Netanyahu to congratulate him. “This is a huge victory! Thank you Likud members for your trust, support and love,” Netanyahu said in a message to supporters, vowing to “lead Likud to a great victory in the upcoming [national] elections and continue to lead the State of Israel to unprecedented achievements.”

EUROPE - Several European governments donated funds to organizations specifically for the purpose of fighting Israel in international legal forums, including the International Criminal Court, which announced last week that it will investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israel and Palestinians. Among the governments funding lawfare against Israel via Palestinians and Israeli organizations are Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, France and the EU, the think tank NGO Monitor found. International Jewish Lawyers Association President Meir Linzen told Channel 13 this week that the ICC's Chief Prosecutor refused a meeting with him, in which he intended to "expose the war crimes committed by the Palestinians."

LEBANON - In mid-December, a month and a half into protests that have crippled Lebanon and placed its political class in the dock, a priest caused a stir by telling his congregation to start stockpiling food. Fragile even in a good year, Lebanon’s economy is disintegrating at an alarming rate, sparking a currency devaluation, a mass flight of money, restrictions on withdrawals, a grave threat to the country’s banking system and a guarantee that – without a foreign bailout – the country will default on its enormous debts by March at the latest. The extent of the economic collapse was on show across the country in the lead-up to Christmas, with close to 400 restaurants closing, malls that usually teemed with expatriates home for the holidays empty and local businesses reporting a plunge in trade of up to 80%.

USA - Despite a 100% vaccination rate, a Texas school closes early for winter break due to a whooping cough outbreak. Clearly the vaccine is failing to work as advertised. If ever there was convincing proof that vaccination does not equate to bona fide immunity, it is at St Theresa Catholic School in Texas... Reported by FoxNews.com on December 19th, the school experienced an outbreak of whooping cough, causing them to close their doors and start their winter break early. In response to this incident, Children’s Health Defense (CHD) posted an article titled, “Pertussis: Vaccine Failure, Not Failure to Vaccinate,” explaining how despite propaganda to the contrary, it is clearly not conscientious objectors to vaccination driving outbreaks like these (ie so-called “anti-vaxxers”), but a failing pertussis vaccine.

USA - Former Vice President Joe Biden has a message for American Christians: If you don’t defect from your faith and embrace leftism, then you’re going to be added to the government’s terror watch list. This is what Biden promised during a recent CNN “town hall” event as he decried believers in Jesus Christ for opposing the radical LGBTQ agenda. In Biden’s view, unless you vigorously support the transgender mafia in its effort to “transition” all children into something other than their natural biological sex, then you’re a terrorist who deserves to be marginalized from society, and possibly even shipped off to Guantanamo. Biden’s antichrist position stems from a suggestion put forth by the radical, far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) hate group, which is pushing for all opposition to the Cult of LGBTQ to be designated as “terrorism,” which under George W Bush’s “Patriot Act” means that an individual’s constitutional rights are nullified.

GERMANY - Germans ranked President Donald Trump as more dangerous than North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and others in a recent poll. British survey company YouGov polled 2,024 Germans between December 16 and 18, asking which leader poses the “greatest threat to world peace.” Survey participants were offered five options to choose from: Trump, Kim Jong Un, Khamenei, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to Newsweek. 41% of those surveyed responded that Trump is the most dangerous of the five. 17% picked Kim, 8% chose Khamenei, another 8% chose Putin and 7% selected Xi.

UK - Mr Churchill is often commended as one of the greatest prime ministers in British history. He supported the idea of European unity during the Forties, before the European Union had come into existence – but he did not necessarily support the idea of Britain being part of such a bloc. The former prime minister was also officially recognised as one of the seven influential leaders who helped establish the foundations of the EU – he is even listed as one of the ‘Founding fathers of the European Union’.

ISRAEL - IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi on Wednesday lamented that Israel is alone in the fight against Iran and its proxies in the Middle East, as the Islamic Republic grows increasingly aggressive in the region. “It would be better if we weren’t the only ones responding to them [militarily]”, Kohavi said, in an apparent criticism of the United States and Persian Gulf countries, who also see Iran as a major foe. The military chief, in his first major speech, said the IDF was operating throughout the region — openly, covertly and clandestinely — in order to thwart the plans of Iran and its proxies, “even at the risk of war.”