USA - Highly pathogenic and lethal avian influenza virus is now spreading across the US and has now been discovered in both commercial poultry flocks and backyard flocks in 12 states in the US including Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, Newsweek reported. A large flock of chickens infected with the deadly and contagious avian flu in Iowa and Wisconsin have been killed to contain the disease. Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced on Friday that deadly avian influenza was detected in a commercial flock of laying hens in southwest Iowa’s Taylor County. The prices of eggs in the US will increase as bird flu spreads across the country.

NATO - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked German chancellor Olaf Scholz for his strong personal commitment to NATO and Germany’s leading role in the Alliance during a visit to Berlin on Thursday (17 March 2022). NATO has reinforced its presence in the eastern part of the Alliance and Mr Stoltenberg welcomed the contribution made by Germany, citing the deployment of additional troops to Lithuania and fighter jets to Romania. “This is part of NATO’s swift, decisive, and united response to this fundamental change in our security”, he said. Recalling that NATO Defence Ministers on Wednesday directed military commanders to draw up detailed options to further reinforce deterrence in the alliance’s eastern flank, the Secretary General stressed that new deployments will require major increases to defence spending by Allies. “Germany is leading the way”, the Secretary General said, citing the government’s decisions to increase defence spending to 2 percent of GPD and to purchase fifth generation fighter aircraft.

EUROPE - Germany’s military build-up is a poignant issue in European politics, and what trajectory it will take once the dust settles, only time can tell. Three developments in the past week herald a profound shift in European politics. It is tempting, but ultimately futile, to contextually place this shift as a reaction to the Russian decision to launch military operations in Ukraine. The pretext only provides the alibi, while the shift is anchored on power play and has a dynamic of its own.

UK - The Bank of England has upped the base rate for the third time since December as it attempts to keep a lid on soaring inflation. The base rate has risen from 0.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent, having been previously upped from 0.1 per cent to 0.25 per cent in December and 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent last month. The decision taken by the Monetary Policy Committee today was made due to inflationary pressures, although economists suggest it will do little to stem cost of living rises triggered by energy, petrol and food prices. Savers will be hoping that the base rate rise will mean they get better interest rates on their savings accounts. Most homeowners who have fixed rate mortgage deals won't be affected immediately, but are likely to find remortgaging in future more expensive. Those with variable rate mortgages are likely to see monthly costs rise imminently. With inflation at 5.5 per cent as of January and expected to peak over the coming months, the government's 2 per cent inflation target is far from being met.

SWITZERLAND - This is a sick document and explains how they need to drive home anti animal protein narratives between 2020-2030 to “meet UN SDG” goals and combat climate change. Unbelievable how they have this all thought out in great detail. Is it any wonder the price of beef has risen so quickly immediately after Biden was elected?

USA - The French have a wonderful term: the firefighter-arsonist. It’s used to describe a person or entity that lights a match and creates a firestorm, only to subsequently rush and put out the flames to heroic applause and accolades. At this stage of the conflict in Ukraine, it’s hard to imagine a better term for NATO.

UKRAINE - Ukraine has today rejected a Russian plan to become 'neutral' like Sweden or Austria as the warring sides try to hash out a deal to end the bloodshed in eastern Europe. Moscow is thought to be demanding that Ukraine refuse to join any military alliance or host foreign military bases on its soil in exchange for a ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops currently terrorising the country.

USA - President Joe Biden announced his decision to provide an additional $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine on Wednesday. The President spoke at the White House about his additional support after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Congress and urged them for more support to help them fight against Russia’s invasion of their country. Biden boasted of the “unprecedented assistance” he had prepared for Ukraine, thanking Congress for passing over $13 billion in aid and support funds for the conflict.

VATICAN - Pope Francis said Wednesday that the image of Noah’s flood is “gaining ground in our subconscious” as the world considers the possibility of a nuclear war “that will extinguish us.” “Our imagination appears increasingly concentrated on the representation of a final catastrophe that will extinguish us — what may happen with a possible nuclear war,” Pope Francis said March 16. “The ‘day after’ — if there will still be days and human beings — we will have to start again from scratch.”

GERMANY - Germany laughed at President Trump at the UN when the President warned about being dependent on Russian oil and gas. Today the gas lines into Europe from Russia are no longer sending natural gas to Europe. They’re not laughing anymore. The Germans and the rest of Europe better hope that spring comes fast. The Daily Caller reports: Part of a key pipeline transporting natural gas from Russia to Europe suddenly reversed its flow direction Tuesday, Reuters reported.

UNITED NATIONS - UN chief Antonio Guterres told reporters that the war in Ukraine “will have no winners, only losers”. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that an ongoing escalation of war in Ukraine ”whether by accident or design” will threaten the entirety of humanity. He further alarmed that the conflict may end up in the nuclear apocalypse. “The prospect of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility,” Guterres said. Guterres’ comments on nuclear war were made in relation to President Vladimir Putin raising Russia’s deterrent forces – which include various strategic weapons, both nuclear and conventional – to “special” alert last month, a development the UN chief called “bone-chilling.”

UKRAINE - It is also a fierce battle in the information space. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Facebook for its role in helping him win the propaganda war after the platform announced it would permit calls for violence against Russians. Following its move to allow praise for the pro-Ukraine neo-nazi Azov Battalion last week, Facebook said they would permit ‘calls for violence against Russians’. “As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. Moscow responded by banning both Facebook and Instagram in Russia.

SWITZERLAND - Anyone who opposes the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) “Great Reset” program will be sent to Chinese-style “re-education camps,” according to a pledge by the WEF. Those who oppose Klaus Schwab’s “Great Reset” should be imprisoned in communist China-style “re-education camps” until they no longer embrace freedom, nationalism, and the right to bear arms, according to Wang Guan, a WEF young global leader. Wang is currently a chief political journalist for a Chinese state-run media outlet in the United States that broadcasts Chinese propaganda. In the National Pulse, Natalie Winters said, “The WEF has grown known for globalist involvement around the world, including but not limited to pushing for the ‘Great Reset’ amidst COVID-19.” “At its core, the group aspires to abolish property ownership, encapsulating this goal in the contentious phrase ‘you will own nothing and be happy.'”

SWITZERLAND - According to Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the goal of The Fourth Industrial Revolution is to change what it means to be human by merging man and machine. Humans are now “hackable,” in that technology now exists by which a company or government can know you better than you know yourself, and that can be very dangerous if misused. Professor Yuval Noah Harari predicts that algorithms will increasingly be used to make decisions that have historically been made by humans, either yourself or someone else, including whether or not you’ll be hired for a particular job, whether you’ll be granted a loan, what scholastic curriculum you will follow and even who you will marry. If you believe that your thoughts and behavior are and always will remain under your own control, think again. We already have the technology to directly alter thoughts, emotions and behavior. In short, while the term “transhumanism” is not being used, that’s exactly where the global cabal intends to take us, willing or not.

USA - It’s already bad for American farmers. They’re getting hit by higher costs of fertilizer, gas and everything else. As a result, food prices will go up. Soon, it will be bad for all Americans. Maybe, sooner than we think. Farmer Ben Neal talked to Laura Ingraham about how he’s “getting hit on every front on every expense possible”