GERMANY - Background: Deutsche Bank is the largest bank in Germany. It has been caught up in scandal after scandal…and it has (apparently) made some REALLY bad loans….Last year we were told that the collapse of Deutsche was nowhere near…and that things were basically “OK”…we were told that the Lehman failure was like “550 basis points for funding for Lehman”…

VATICAN - The European Union (EU) is “an example of what could become a supranational state,” according to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in the lead-up to a major conference against nationalism. In its full-court press for globalism and international migration, the Vatican insists on describing nationalism in exclusively negative terms, opening its “Concept Note” for its May 1-3 conference by saying that the world “is facing today a growing threat of nationalist revival,” which “leads to mutual rejection and enduring conflicts.” The Pontifical Academy has apparently decided ahead of its conference that nationalism will be treated as the enemy, rather than looking at both sides of the issue and the root causes of growing interest in national sovereignty. Facile recourse to accusations of xenophobia and racism is always easier than honest debate.

ITALY - Italian supporters of the team SS Lazio were filmed in Milan on Wednesday performing fascist salutes and hanging banners honoring fascist leader Benito Mussolini, the World Jewish Congress reported. “It is incomprehensible that in the 21st century there are still those who seek to glorify a fascist regime," said WJC CEO Robert Singer, noting that the Italian fascists "supported the Nazis in their perpetration of the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity.” The soccer fans glorified Italian fascism on April 24, a day before Italian Liberation Day from Nazi occupation. The Italian fascist regime was an ally of Nazi Germany.

GERMANY - "Get ready for the end of the EU as we know it", warns Ivan Krastev Bulgarian political scientist in this interview. Ahead of the European elections in May, the EU is in the midst of its most radical crisis ever, he says the bloc needs more courage and less German risk aversion.

UK - Theresa May is planning to bring her Brexit deal back for another vote - even as Tory MPs plan to change the rules of their party's leadership elections so they can oust her. The 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs met last night but discussions on whether a time limit banning successive leadership votes should be changed from a year to six months was said to be 'inconclusive'. The Prime Minister's party is furious that she has delayed Brexit and are angry that they have to contest EU Parliament elections on 23 May, when they will probably lose heavily to Nigel Farage's Brexit Party. If MPs did change the time limit on no confidence votes in a leader to six months, the Prime Minister could face a vote on her leadership June 12.

USA - I’ve excerpted some quotes from economist John Williams’ most recent economic commentary No. 983-B (ShadowStats.com) which is of interest to every American. It predicts financial authorities will make a formal admission that the economy is in a state of collapse and in recession on or around September 2019. Williams made this prediction in 2004! The announcement would be an admission of a financial collapse that has been ongoing since 2008 and has been hidden from public view.

USA - Stocks just closed at a brand new all-time record high, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is coming to theaters, and a 24-year-old man from Wisconsin just won the 768 million dollar Powerball jackpot. If those are the top headlines today, then everything must be good in ‘Murica at the moment, right? Of course that is not true at all, but as far as the stock market is concerned we must give credit where credit is due. Our financial engineers have created the largest stock market bubble in all of US history, and we should all be hoping that it lasts for as long as possible. Because once this financial bubble is destroyed, the aftermath is going to be truly horrible for the entire country.

GERMANY - The country of Luther, Goethe and Beethoven has always contributed enormously to the European continent. After World War II, it was not Winston Churchill but Konrad Adenauer  who first called in public for a United States of Europe. The practising Catholic, who went on to become one of the founding fathers of Europe, saw it as a way to ensure peace, to reconcile Europe spiritually and politically, and to bring Germany back into the family of free nations. In 1951, as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic, he supported the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community and in 1957 he described the creation of the European Economic Community as the most important event after World War II. In 1958, his visit to General de Gaulle at Colombey-les-Deux-Églises marked a turning point. The two erstwhile enemies laid the cornerstone of reconciliation, which was sealed by the signature of the Elysée Treaty in 1963.

GERMANY - Being in charge of German foreign policy is a tough assignment these days — not just in Warsaw but in countries around the world. Over the past few years, Berlin has watched with growing despair as friends have turned into foes and old certainties have dissolved into doubt. A new breed of nationalist leader holds sway in capitals from Budapest and Warsaw to Rome and Washington, sounding a note of hostility and antagonism towards Berlin. For reasons both economic and political, Germany’s relationships with key powers such as China, Russia and Turkey are marked by growing tensions.

USA - Last week Mike Pompeo spoke at Texas A&M University and interestingly, a Christian religious news broadcaster was the only media that seemed to pick up on Pompeo’s words last week, and described it as follows: “that’s not the resume of the Secretary of State… that’s the resume of Satan.” An extreme overreaction. Most pundits understand how the CIA operates, and Pompeo makes it clear. “What’s the cadet motto at West Point? You will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do. I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole. It’s — it was like — we had entire training courses. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment.” — Mike Pompeo

USA - Americans continue to dig themselves in a deeper and deeper hole.  While many have no savings, they continue to pile on the debt and liabilities.  All of these problems will make the next recession difficult for most to get through financially. A new report by Forbes states that 23% (nearly one in four) Americans are saving not even one penny from their paychecks. As part of its 2019 Savings Survey, First National Bank of Omaha examined Americans’ habits, behaviors, and priorities when it comes to saving, monthly spending, and retirement planning.  And based on the fact that nearly 80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, the rest of the results of the survey are, unfortunately, unsurprising. In fact, 23% reported that they put in 0% of their monthly paycheck toward savings.

USA - Researchers from the University of New Hampshire conducted a study to document declines in about 100 wild bee species critical to pollinating crops throughout New England. What they discovered, according to the study, was a collapse in the wild bee population across the state, reported AP.

MEXICO/PHILIPPINES - When skyscrapers start moving back and forth, that definitely is not a good sign.  In recent months, there has been a tremendous amount of seismic activity along the “Ring of Fire”, and a couple of significant earthquakes on Monday got a lot of attention because they happened in very heavily populated areas.  Fortunately the damage was fairly limited and only a few people died, but scientists assure us that it is only a matter of time before a killer quake hits a major city.  And considering the fact that hundreds of millions of people live along the perimeter of the Pacific Ocean, when a killer quake does strike we could potentially be talking about a disaster unlike anything we have ever seen before.

PHILIPPINES - The number of people killed in a horrific earthquake in Porac, Philippines has continued to soar. At least 11 citizens have been confirmed dead in Monday’s quakes, with rescue teams continuing to scour debris to find survivors. The main location for search teams was a collapsed four-storey commercial building, which was shaken on the country’s largest island. The 6.1 magnitude earthquake devastated Porac, located roughly 108 km (67.1 miles) northeast of Manila. During Tuesday morning, reports emerged seven people had been rescued from the rubble of the building, which officials said had caved in on a ground floor supermarket. Pampanga provincial governor Lilia Pineda, who represents another savaged area, said: "The rescue is ongoing, they are still hearing a sound, no one can say how many are still trapped.” Reports on Monday suggested two further buildings collapsed after the tremors rocked the centre of the country. The Philippines lies on the seismically active Pacific "Ring of Fire", a horse-shoe shaped band of volcanoes and fault lines circling the edges of the Pacific Ocean.

USA - The bombings in Sri Lanka have once again put a spotlight on the rising tide of violence against Christians all over the world.  According to Open Doors USA, an average of 105 churches and/or Christian buildings are burned or attacked every month.  That is more than three per day, and almost all of those attacks get ignored by the mainstream media in the western world.  In addition, an average of 345 Christians are killed for faith-related reasons every single month.  Of course these numbers will soon be out of date, because violence against Christians continues to escalate all over the globe, and the horrifying attacks that we just witnessed in Sri Lanka are a perfect example. More specifically, the attackers were Muslim extremists.