EUROPE - Critics have said that Poland and Hungary are beginning to diverge from the democratic values espoused by the European Union. Will this lead to a clash with the other members of the EU? In May 2004, 10 new states became members of the EU, including Poland and Hungary, both former Communist bloc countries. They looked like they were on a straightforward trajectory to embrace Western liberal values such as social tolerance, an independent judiciary and commitment to free speech. But 13 years on, some of those who rejoiced at them joining the EU fold, now fear they are backsliding on fundamental democratic values.  "Eventually Europe has to decide if it's just an economic union or a political union around a set of values," he says. "That battle is being fought here in Hungary." And, one might add, in Poland too.

GERMANY - Angela Merkel hasn’t come close to earning her reputation for leadership on climate change. Just this summer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel read US President Donald Trump the riot act for pulling out of the Paris climate accord, chiding the United States for ignoring and perpetuating climate change.

SYRIA - Buoyed by Iran and Russia, Assad gains confidence to test Israel. Israel made no official response on Sunday to the trilateral agreement between Russia, America and Jordan on a cease-fire in southern Syria. The agreement, signed over the weekend, requires all foreign forces, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and Shi’ite militias operated by Iran, to leave Syria. Tehran seeks to reap the fruits of its support for the Assad regime, which has gained the upper hand in Syria’s civil war. Israel is presumably trying to warn Iran that it would view certain moves as crossing a red line and would consider military action to thwart them.

YEMEN - Yemen’s Houthi rebel government has threatened to sink Saudi coalition warships and oil tankers unless Riyadh lifts its blockade which threatens the lives of millions in the war-torn country. “Battleships and oil tankers of the aggressor and its movements will not be immune from the fire of Yemeni naval forces if directed by the senior leadership,” Al Masirah news cited the country’s navy and coast guard as saying Sunday. Earlier, Brigadier General Sharaf Ghalib Luqman, a military spokesman for the Houthi rebels, said that “systematic crimes of aggression” and the “closure of ports” compels the Houthi forces “to target all sources of funding” of the aggressor. He added the country is ready to “respond to the escalation of the Saudi-US aggression promptly.” 

USA - America is under siege. As much as I write about the scourge of chemical pesticides, hormone disruptors, GMO genetic pollution and mercury in vaccines, the far more insidious poison that has infected the minds of half the country is the corporate-controlled media running a “disinfo dictatorship.” Sometimes called the “mainstream media” or “left-wing media,” the corporate-controlled media (CCM) in America has been weaponized against this nation and its citizens for the purpose of overthrowing America, eliminating its borders, destroying liberty and installing a totalitarian, globalist government regime that rules over an enslaved nation.

UK - Consumer watchdog Which? has called on retailers to stop selling some popular toys it says have "proven" security issues. Those toys include Furby Connect, the i-Que robot, Cloudpets and Toy-fi Teddy. Consumer researcher Which? found that there was no authentication required between the toys and the devices they could link with via Bluetooth.

USA - The Flat Earth International Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, attracted hundreds of attendees who believe the shape of the Earth is a disc instead of a sphere.

AUSTRALIA - The Australian parliament must commit to deliver marriage equality by Christmas, the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has said after an “unequivocal, overwhelming” vote of 61.6% in favour of same-sex marriage in an unprecedented national postal survey. As nationwide celebrations heralded a result that will give enormous momentum to a final push to achieve the historic social reform, Turnbull moved to head off attempts from conservatives in his ruling Liberal-National Coalition to frustrate or delay the legislative process. Turnbull said the survey – which had a participation rate of 79.5% – meant Australians had “spoken in their millions and they have voted overwhelmingly yes for marriage equality”.

UK - Boys as young as five should be able to wear tiaras at school without criticism, teachers in Church of England schools are to be told. Male pupils should also be free to dress up in a tutu or high heels without attracting any comment or observation, according to anti-bullying rules sent out by the Church yesterday.

UK - Men dressed as women are being brought into UK nursery schools as ‘queer role models’ for two and three-year-olds to stop them committing “hate crimes” later in life.

USA - Three out of four college-educated Democrats seem to believe that a man can be a woman if he just says so, regardless of his biology, genetics, and genitalia, according to a skewed survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.

GERMANY - A German government spokesman has told UK officials that "time is very pressing" in a bid to break the ongoing Brexit talks deadlock between the European Union and Britain. Member states are due to decide whether or not “sufficient progress” has been made on the core separation issues at a summit next month, with the divorce bill, the Irish border and citizens’ rights still yet to be agreed on. Once a deal has been made, the two sides can begin to discuss the issue of post-Brexit trade.  German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said: “Further progress is required, time is very pressing.”

ZIMBABWE - Robert Mugabe has been removed from power and placed under house arrest with his family in what has been described as a "bloodless transition" as the military continues to deny reports of a coup. The move comes after the Zimbabwe army seized power overnight with gunshots and explosions heard in the capital. There are suggestions that the incumbent, Robert Mugabe, will resign, after which an interim government will take over, and elections held. However, it is far from clear that any such polls would be free and fair. A managed election process would in all likelihood lead to the victory of former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, the army's favoured candidate.

LIBYA - "Eight hundred," says the auctioneer. "900… 1,000… 1,100…" Sold. For 1,200 Libyan dinars - the equivalent of $800. Not a used car, a piece of land, or an item of furniture. Not "merchandise" at all, but two human beings. After seeing footage of this slave auction, CNN worked to verify its authenticity and traveled to Libya to investigate further. Carrying concealed cameras into a property outside the capital of Tripoli last month, we witness a dozen people go "under the hammer" in the space of six or seven minutes. A recent clampdown by the Libyan coastguard means fewer boats are making it out to sea, leaving the smugglers with a backlog of would-be passengers on their hands. So the smugglers become masters, the migrants and refugees become slaves.

USA - The US Conference of Catholic Bishops chose a conservative archbishop for a key post Tuesday, signaling resistance to Pope Francis’s vision for the church among the Catholic hierarchy in the US. Archbishop Joseph Naumann, of Kansas City, was elected chairman of the committee on Pro-Life Activities. In a vote of 96 to 82, he defeated Cardinal Blase Cupich, of Chicago, who is seen as a liberal in the church and a close ally of the pope.