USA - Living together is becoming more popular than marriage for young American couples, according to Census Bureau data. Fifteen percent of people in the 25-to-34 age group shared quarters with an unmarried partner this year, up from 12 percent in 2008. Among those between 18 to 24, cohabitation is more prevalent today than marriage with 9 percent living with an unmarried partner versus 7 percent living with a spouse. Fifty years ago, only 0.1 percent of people between 18 and 24-year and 0.2 percent between 25 and 34 lived with an unmarried partner. Married couples do have an edge, though. More income.
USA - A report in the Christian Post contends that the number of witches (and Wiccans) has dramatically increased since the 1990s, to the degree that there may be at least 1.5 million witches in the United States, which is higher than the 1.4 million mainline Presbyterians. "The practice of witchcraft has grown significantly in recent decades; those who identify as witches has risen concurrently with the rise of the 'witch aesthetic,'" reported the Christian Post in October, citing data from Quartz, a Trinity College study, and the Pew Research Center. Roys added that witchcraft is especially attractive to Millenials because it has been "effectively repackaged." "No longer is witchcraft and paganism satanic and demonic," said Roys. "It's a 'pre-Christian tradition' that promotes 'free thought' and 'understanding of earth and nature.'"
UK - An astonishing 17 pupils at a single British school are in the process of changing gender, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Most of the youngsters undergoing the transformation are autistic, according to a teacher there, who said vulnerable children with mental health problems were being ‘tricked’ into believing they are the wrong sex.
UK - I have been a psychotherapist for more than 30 years and, in that time, I have worked with a small but significant number of patients who wished to change gender. For everyone’s sake, I believe that surgery – which is irreversible – should only ever be a last resort. We should always begin by working to help the mind fit better with the body before we start altering the body to fit the mind.
AFRICA - Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, have a strange obsession with pushing population control on Africa, as if reducing the number of black people on the continent will suddenly make everything all better. According to All Africa, the Gates family announced at an international family planning conference in Rwanda that they will be donating $18 million to "family planning programs" through the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
UK - University bosses have banned lecturers from using capital letters when assigning work to their students out of fear it might upset them. The memo sent out to staff at Leed's Trinity journalism department suggested that using uppercase letters may 'scare them into failure', reports the Express. It also included some tips on how they should address their students from now on, such as writing in a friendly tone, steering clear of overbearing language and negative instructions. Critics have slammed the idea because it suggests that the 'snowflake' generation are being overindulged throughout their education. The lecturer at the university told the outlet that despite the intelligence of their students they feel that they are fighting against the education system who want to treat them like children... Adding: 'We are not doing our students any favours with this kind of nonsense.'
GERMANY - Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder didn’t mince his words about the incumbent US Ambassador to his country Richard Grenell, saying the US envoy’s treatment of the host country was insulting. Speaking with Reuters about Grenell, the veteran German politician said the ambassador’s actions suggested that he believed Germany to be occupied by America. We can’t accept being treated like an occupied country.
EUROPE - The creation of a European army would be a boon for Russia-EU relations, various military experts have told RT. It would mean getting rid of the US political diktat – and that's why Washington will not allow it. Were the European Union to create an army of its own, as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have recently suggested, the friction with NATO would be enormous, several military and political analysts predict. At the same time, an EU army would be a tremendous tool for normalizing relations with Russia.
CHINA - Demonstration flights of the J-10B and J-20 jets at the latest airshow are testimony to China’s technological prowess. It no longer needs to copy foreign products and can make weapons unmatched in some areas, experts say.
ISRAEL - Israel’s outgoing defense minister has slammed the security cabinet for capitulating to Hamas and terrorism, blaming politicians for feeding a “monster” that will soon match the power of the Lebanese Hezbollah.
ISRAEL - Within minutes of the announcement in Israel last night that a ceasefire had been reached between Hamas and Israel, enraged residents of the southern city of Sderot took to the streets. Home to approximately 25,000 people, including many immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Morocco, Sderot residents have borne the brunt of Hamas rockets for more than a decade now. They are fed up. The ceasefire, some of these residents said, will last a few days or maybe a month before Hamas starts shelling again. For the Israeli government to capitulate after a 24-hour period in which almost 500 Hamas rockets pummeled Israeli civilians, this was altogether too much. It was also a “red line” for Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who announced his resignation earlier today in a dramatic press conference at the Knesset.
EUROPE - President Emmanuel Macron wants to create a “European army” in order to share France’s permanent seat in the UN Security Council, as well as its nukes, with Germany, the head of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen said. Macron wants to use the coveted “European army” to share the “place in the Security Council” and the French “nuclear arsenal” with neighboring Germany, Le Pen told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
USA - US President Donald Trump has arrived in California to survey the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state's history. The Camp Fire, in northern California, has killed at least 76 people. More than 1,200 people have been reported missing… Adding to the misery, scores of people have become sick after outbreaks of the norovirus at shelters, and the air quality in northern California has been rated the world's worst. Heavy rain is forecast next week that could douse the flames but also bring mudslides and floods on hillsides stripped of vegetation. The Camp Fire is now about 55% contained but fire officials say they may not have it fully under control until the end of the month.
UK - The Commons fell silent on Thursday when prominent Tory backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg threatened Theresa May directly and claimed he will write a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister over her controversial Brexit draft agreement. Rumours have continued to swirl in Westminster that the tally of Conservative MPs who have submitted letters of no confidence in Mrs May is about to reach the 48 threshold needed to trigger a vote on her position. Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg put the question directly to the Prime Minister during her address to MPs on Thursday.
UK - Pressed to give his analysis of the situation, Mr Farage told the programme: “…this is awful! We have agreed to give the European Union something between 40 to 60 billion sterling ($50-75 billion).” Mr Farage explained that Britain would be withdrawing from the treaty that makes it an official member of the EU in March 2019; under May’s plan this withdrawal would be immediately followed by entering a new treaty which would hold a wide variety of powers over the United Kingdom, which would leave the nation unable to command its own destiny.