GERMANY - German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has been working on establishing the groundwork for an European Union army, in particular developing a network of co-operation between troops from Germany and others from countries that are part of Pesco - Permanent Structured Co-operation. The bloc comprises 25 EU countries with only Denmark, Malta and the UK remaining outside.

GERMANY - Approaching a third of German and French people want the European Union (EU) to become a single country, or ‘United States of Europe’, but only 10 per cent of Brits agree. The plan to turn the bloc into a federal superstate by 2025 was put forward by Martin Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament and a contender for German chancellor, earlier this month. He called for an EU constitution and for the bloc to rapidly expand its power and erode the sovereignty of nation-states, as well as demanding that any country standing in the way must be ejected.

EUROPE - Plans for a United States of Europe by 2025 suffered a damning blow today after a new poll revealed they have little support across the major nations. German politician Martin Schulz - the former President of the European Parliament and domestic rival to Angela Merkel - promoted the plan at a party conference. He called for a rapid development of the EU after Britain leaves, accelerating integration and leaving behind those who do not want it. But the plan is supported by less than a third of people in seven major nations - and just 10 per cent in Britain, in a vindication of last year's Leave vote. Germans are the most enthusiastic but even there only 30 per cent back the idea.

ISRAEL - Israel has a great deal to learn from the experience of other countries when it comes to liberalising trading hours and allowing shops to open on the Sabbath (Shabbat). Australia used to be a Christian country with all shops closed on… Sunday.  There was church on Sunday morning. Families spent the day together at the beach, on trips to the country, visiting friends and family or simply being with each other at home.  Sunday was a day of rest.

UK - Sand is one of the most-consumed natural resources on the planet. The United Nations estimates that mining of sand and gravel may exceed 40 billion tonnes a year.  Due to the high demand for sand, the planet's reserves are now being threatened: three-quarters of the world's beaches are already in decline. 

ISRAEL - Temple Institute head Rabbi Yisrael Ariel quotes Haggai the Prophet, says solution to drought is to build Holy Temple. Temple Institute head Rabbi Yisrael Ariel responded to the special prayer session held on Thursday at the Western Wall, when thousands gathered to pray for rain.

CHINA - Analysts with the proper degree of skepticism about China’s boasts of soaring economic power note that official reports from the Communist regime cannot be trusted. Another, less widely understood problem is that China’s rulers might not know how unstable their economy really is because a sizable portion of Chinese debt lurks off the books in the “shadow banking” industry.

USA - This year saw some 7,000 retail stores shuttered, thanks to online shopping and in particular, Amazon; 2018 could be another banner year for closings, driving many malls to extinction as well. Most retailers are certainly not Technocrats, but Amazon is and it is intent on decimating the entire retail industry in America.

INDONESIA - Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung erupted Wednesday afternoon, leaving a thick cloud of smoke over parts of the country’s North Sumatra province. The active volcano spewed ash up to 4.6 kilometres into the sky, Reuters reported. Officials tweeted that there were no deaths caused by the explosion because the red zone has already emptied. Thousands of families will be relocated from Sinabung. Meanwhile, a thick rain of ash fell on villages east of the volcano.

USA - The current tensions and saber rattling with North Korea could be coming to a head — which would inevitably kick off world war III — by as early as March 20, 2018, according to intelligence insider, James Rickards. Rickards notes that we should expect this war in the next 12 weeks, because “the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency told me,” writes Rickards.

USA - President Trump took aim at President Xi this morning in a very clear tweeted warning that follows US spy satellite evidence that showed China allowing oil exports to North Korea. Trump exclaimed "caught red-handed" and said he was "very disappointed" by China's actions. Perhaps more notable is that he explained "there's no friendly solution" if this continues... As a reminder, this is what President Trump is upset about, according to South Korea's Chosun Ilbo, US recon satellites have photographed around 30 illegal transactions involving Chinese vessels selling oil to North Korea on the West Sea in October. The images allegedly showed large Chinese and North Korean ships transacting in oil in a part of the West Sea closer to China than South Korea. The satellite pictures even showed the names of the ships.

ISRAEL - At least 2,500 people have turned up at a mass prayer at the Western Wall following calls by Israel's agriculture minister seeking divine intervention to end the drought plaguing the country for a fifth straight year. Farmers, the president of Israel's Farmers Union as well as the country’s highest religious authorities, represented by chief rabbis David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef, were in attendance. Israel's Agricultural Minister, Uri Ariel, who hails from the Ultra Orthodox Jewish Home party, stated last week that a prayer service would be performed “alongside the preparations for a year of drought and for the sake of rain,” as all other more conventional steps taken by the government have, so far, been futile.

USA - The "Nation's Icebox" is feeling the chill and setting a record.

The National Weather Service reports International Falls and Hibbing set record low temperatures on Wednesday morning. International Falls — the self-proclaimed "Nation's Icebox" — plunged to 37 degrees below zero, breaking the old record of 32 below set in 1924. Hibbing bottomed out at 28 below, breaking the old record of 27 below set in 1964. Freezing temperatures and below-zero wind chills will stay put for days to come across much of the northern United States. Forecasters are warning of hypothermia and frostbite from arctic air settling in over the central US on Wednesday and spreading east. Meanwhile, the snow-hardened city of Erie, Pennsylvania, is digging out from a record snowfall of more than 5 feet this week.

USA - Following an announcement Sunday by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales that his country has begun work to relocate its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the capital of Jerusalem, two more Latin American countries are poised to announce similar plans. According to media reports in the Palestinian Authority, the governments of Panama and Honduras both notified the PA leadership of their intentions to move their embassies to the Israeli capital. Like Guatemala, Honduras voted against the General Assembly resolution last Thursday. 

USA - GMOs will quickly dominate the global food chain under a new mantra that gene editing is merely "accelerated breeding technology."  Furthermore, the US Department of Agriculture has bought this brazen lie and states that GMO plants are not “regulated articles” because they don't contain foreign pathogens from bacteria. Thus, the new breed of gene editors will not be regulated, monitored or required to conduct detailed testing, and yet they will contaminate the gene pool of the world's food supply. This is a horribly dangerous combination of greed and a Technocrat mindset that the 'science is already settled.'