USA - Nearly half (45 percent) of all American adults have an immediate family member who has been incarcerated, according to a new report. That amounts to roughly 113 million people who have been touched by mass incarceration in the United States, according to the survey of 4,041 Americans. The research was done by FWD.us, a non-profit established by American business and tech leaders advocating for criminal justice and immigration reform, in partnership with Cornell University. Right now, an estimated 6.5 million Americans have an immediate family member in jail or prison. And US jail and prison populations have swelled to four times what they were in 1980, with about 1.5 million people in state and federal prisons on any given day in America.

USA - A new study by the center for immigration studies (cis) found that, in spite of “barriers designed to prevent welfare use” by non-citizens, as many as 63% of non-US citizen households in america have received some form of government welfare “often receiving benefits on behalf of US-born children.” In contrast, only 35% of US citizen households accessed welfare.

EUROPE - The European Union could soon face collapse because of the "weak and vulnerable" position the volatility of the euro and clashes with member states have created, European affairs expert Ian Kearns claimed. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Mr Kearns said: "The EU is in a weak and vulnerable state. If there were, for example, a new financial crisis which lots of people are speculating might be on the horizon I think that would be enough to destroy the single currency.

EUROPE - When anyone mentions Europe, the focus is almost always on the UK and Brexit. That is true whether it be in day-to-day conversation, on television and radio programmes, or in newspapers. It has been true since the people’s vote in 2016 and it is certainly true today, with Parliament debating Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

UK - Nigel Farage called on Theresa May to "resign immediately" as he lashed out at the Prime Minister for being the "most dishonest" leader of the UK during his lifetime. Asked to reveal what his advice to the Prime Minister would be ahead of the crucial vote she faces in Parliament on December 11, he replied: “Resign. Immediately. Resign and not just resign. Stay in hiding for the rest of your life. What she’s done is an absolute disgrace.” He added: “She never believed in it. We spent the last three or four decades trying to opt out of bits of the European Union and she gave a speech in Florence saying she wanted to opt back in whole chunks of it. The whole thing has been a disaster run by the civil service. She’s not just the worst Prime Minister I’ve seen in my lifetime but the most dishonest too.”

GERMANY - Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the conservative CDU's secretary general and a long-time ally of Angela Merkel, has won a run-off vote to succeed the German chancellor as the head of the party. Of the 999 votes cast at a party conference in Hamburg, 517 were in favour of Kramp-Karrenbauer, while 482 were in favour of Friedrich Merz, a millionaire corporate lawyer who had been attempting a comeback after being sidelined by Merkel nearly a decade ago. Securing the CDU top job represents a major step by the winner towards becoming chancellor once Merkel bows out of power in 2021. 

GERMANY - The German army will be strengthened with a sixth tank battalion in response to rising security concerns in Europe, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced on Thursday. "With this, the German army will grow for the first time in decades," von der Leyen said at a military base near the western city of Münster. The formation of the 500 soldier-strong battalion comes as Germany increases its defense spending in response to security threats from Russia and pressure from the United States to meet NATO defense budget targets.

USA - Amidst the Christmas trees and Hanukkah menorahs, the Illinois capitol is decked out with an unusual decoration this festive season: a black snake sculpture from the Chicago branch of The Satanic Temple. The sculpture, named ‘Snaketivity,’ depicts a coiled snake wrapped around an arm holding an apple, a symbol of knowledge. A plaque under the piece bears the inverted pentagram of the Temple of Satan, and the text: “Knowledge is the greatest gift.” The installation was crowdfunded by The Satanic Temple, with the GoFundMe page reading “please consider what you may do to help us bring Satan to Springfield!”

UK - The overwhelming majority of adults in England are so unhealthy they put their lives at risk, a survey suggests. The data from the Health Survey for England showed nearly nine in 10 had at least one unhealthy trait. That was classed as those who smoke, drink more than 14 units of alcohol, eat fewer than five portions of fruit and vegetables, are obese or have low rates of physical activity. Half of adults have two or more of these risk factors. In 2017, nearly 7,700 people died in the UK from alcohol -specific causes - where the death was wholly attributable. Caroline Cerny, of the Obesity Health Alliance, said the findings highlighted the need to tackle the "increasingly obesogenic environments". "Children today are bombarded by promotions for unhealthy food and drinks in stores and on the high street and exposed to countless junk food adverts online and during the TV programmes they watch most."

USA - God the Father fell under scrutiny Monday when Minnesota State University associate professor Eric Sprankle accused the creator of the universe of impregnating the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, without consent. Of course, a plain reading of the Biblical text refutes this interpretation of Jesus’ birth. And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy — the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her (Luke 1:38). Sprankle describes himself as a “secularist” and regularly promotes Satanism.

ISRAEL - The first Temple Jerusalem Convention took place at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center on Wednesday, aimed toward educating Christians about the relevance of the Jewish Temples to their belief. The focus is not only on the Biblical Temples but also on the future Third Temple written about in prophecies. In his opening address, John Enarson, the Christian Relations Director of Cry for Zion and co-organizer of the conference explained the ground rules for the conference.

ISRAEL - Some 150 evangelical Christians and Jews gathered in Jerusalem on Wednesday in a highly unusual interfaith conference on right-wing Temple Mount activism that aimed to dispel what its organizers described as an insidious, viral “hoax” taking hold in the Christian world — that the two historical Jewish temples had never been located on the iconic, holy, politically explosive compound.

ISRAEL - A conference on Wednesday brought together religious Jews and Christians to discuss a topic that had never before been addressed in a multi-faith forum: the past and the future of the Temple Mount as it related to their respective religions. Though the conference was a religious forum, avoiding politics, the political implications of any discussion about the future of the Temple Mount, a location frequently described in mainstream media as a “flashpoint,” bears dire political consequences.

UK - Presidents, prime ministers, congresspersons and parliamentarians worldwide regularly negate the democratic will of their nation’s voters by refusing to support legitimate election results. Strangely, their treasonous actions continue without serious reprisal or punishment by the voter. This emboldens them. The reality of votes cast and “democracy” past does not does bode well for the people of the United Kingdom, their future as a nation or their hopeful return to sovereignty once called, “Brexit.”

USA - Vibrant competition is absolutely essential in order for a capitalist economic system to function effectively.  Unfortunately, in the United States today we are witnessing the death of competition in industry after industry as the biggest corporations increasingly gobble up all of their competitors.  John D Rockefeller famously once said that “competition is a sin”, and he was one of America’s very first oligopolists.  According to Google, an oligopoly is “a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers”, and that is a perfect description of the current state of affairs in many major industries.