USA - The most insidious threat to humankind is something called “extinction debt.” There comes a time in the progress of any species, even ones that seem to be thriving, when extinction will be inevitable, no matter what they might do to avert it. The cause of extinction is usually a delayed reaction to habitat loss. The species most at risk are those that dominate particular habitat patches at the expense of others, who tend to migrate elsewhere, and are therefore spread more thinly. Humans occupy more or less the whole planet, and with our sequestration of a large wedge of the productivity of this planetwide habitat patch, we are dominant within it. H. sapiens might therefore already be a dead species walking. The signs are already there for those willing to see them. When the habitat becomes degraded such that there are fewer resources to go around; when fertility starts to decline; when the birth rate sinks below the death rate; and when genetic resources are limited — the only way is down. The question is “How fast?” I suspect that the human population is set not just for shrinkage but collapse — and soon. To paraphrase Lehrer, if we are going to write about human extinction, we’d better start writing now.

USA - Just minutes from the California border sits a sun-drenched town in Nevada that wants nothing to do with its neighbor to the west. Located about 60 miles from Las Vegas, Pahrump was once home to the Southern Paiute Indians and didn’t install telephone service until the 1960s. Many current residents moved to the unincorporated town to get away from the traffic and pollution that plague much of California. Residents now find themselves at odds with Candela Renewables, a San Francisco-based renewable energy company that hopes to build a large-scale solar field across some 2,300 acres. “It seems illogical to me to destroy the environment to protect the environment,” said Pahrump resident Jeannie Cox-King, who helped organize a protest Saturday against the Rough Hat Nye County solar field. “We should keep our public lands public.”

GERMANY - Incoming German chancellor Olaf Scholz has been clear about his intention to pursue a federal European state. But far from bringing the European Union’s member countries closer together, his plan could rupture it completely. Scholz will become the new chancellor of Germany within the next 10 days, heading a ‘traffic light’ coalition made up of his own party, the SPD, the Greens, and the Free Democrats.

TURKEY - Lines outside bread stores and gas stations; farmers defaulting on loans; impromptu street demonstrations. The signs of economic distress in Turkey are all too clear as the lira continues a dizzying slide. Sporadic protests have broken out around Turkey and the opposition parties have called for a series of rallies to demand a change of government after the lira crashed sharply last week. The latest week of turmoil follows months of worsening economic conditions for Turkish citizens. The currency has lost more than 45 percent of its value this year, and nearly 20 percent in the last week, continuing its downward trend on Tuesday. Economists have tied the currency crisis to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s direct interference in monetary policy and his determination to lower interest rates. Necla Sazak, an 80-year-old retired bank employee heading home with a bag of groceries, said she was surviving on credit cards. “Our purchasing power dropped — our money has no value anymore,” she said.

IRAN - In a dramatic change, senior Iranian officials have admitted that Iran has plans to build offensive atomic weapons. The plans were prepared by Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the head of Iran's nuclear program, who, according to foreign sources, was assassinated by Israel a year ago. A senior Iranian military official said that Iran has the ability to build a military nuclear weapon but supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei must approve it. In addition, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani said that Fakhrizadeh had prepared plans for an offensive weapon, not just to defend Iran but also to serve other nations threatened by Israel, such as Syria and Iraq. At the nuclear talks in Vienna, the Iranians will announce to the world: "We have the ability and knowledge to make the bomb." In addition, they will say that the factory making advanced centrifuges at Karaj is out of bounds and international inspectors will not be permitted.

IRAN - After two weeks of growing protests over water shortages in the Iranian city of Isfahan, the Iranian government violently cracked down on Friday. Security guards fired bird shot and tear gas at crowds of protesters and beat them with batons, injuring scores of demonstrators. Dozens of people were arrested. Videos showed protesters throwing stones at police and chanting "death to the dictator" and "death to Khamenei." In Isfahan, water has been diverted away from farmlands and toward industrial complexes in the desert province of Yazd and for drinking water to the religious city of Qom. The Iran Meteorological Organization estimates that 97% of the country is dealing with drought.

CANADA - Unvaccinated travellers over the age of 12 won’t be able to board a plane or train in Canada beginning today, and a negative COVID-19 test will no longer serve as a substitute for most people. The policy came into effect on October 30, but the federal government allowed a short transition period for unvaccinated travellers who could board as long as they provided a negative molecular COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours before their trip. The stringent new requirement comes into effect as Canada reacts to the emergence of the new, highly mutated Omicron variant of COVID-19.

EUROPE - In the battle against the coronavirus, the unvaccinated are being increasingly targeted. Germany and Israel are moving closer to making Covid-19 vaccine shots compulsory, Greece is introducing fines and Spain is banning some unvaccinated travelers. Despite protests, making life harder for those who don’t want a shot is a tactic increasingly favored by governments, spooked by the spread of the omicron variant.

EUROPE - It is time for the European Union 'to think about' making Covid vaccines mandatory across the entire bloc, Ursula von der Leyen has said as the continent battles a winter wave of virus amid fears about the Omicron variant. The EU Commission President, speaking in Brussels, said it will ultimately be up to member states to decide their own vaccine rules - but it is her 'personal opinion' that the time is right to discuss forcing people to get jabs. 'We have one third of the population which is not vaccinated. This is 150 million people - that is a lot. Not each and every one could be vaccinated... but the vast majority could,' she said. Ms Von der Leyen's comments come after Austria announced plans to make vaccines mandatory for all eligible citizens by February, with an aide to incoming German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying yesterday that he wants to follow suit.

GERMANY - The New German Government is pushing for closer ties with the European Union, paving the way for a “United States of Europe.” Olaf Scholz, the leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) and the incoming Chancellor, reached an historic three-way coalition with the Greens and the Free Democrats this week. Udo Bullmann, the SPD’s Europe negotiator in coalition talks, said the government will seek a closer relationship with Europe, and that this will be easier now that Brexit has been finalized. “Germany needs to send a signal in which direction the German government wants the European Union to develop,” he told German magazine Der Spiegel. “We want to take bold steps toward integration because we know time is running out and people are expecting us.” After the Green Party’s co-leader Annalena Baerbock, an outspoken pro-European, was appointed foreign minister, the new regime’s direction has begun to take shape.

GERMANY - A provocative US threatens to move nukes to Poland, ignores Moscow's 'red lines', and stokes its cold war rhetoric against China. Why is Washington always so belligerent and happy to take the world to the brink of Armageddon? Hardly any coverage in the mainstream Western media has gone toward NATO’s announcement that if the new German government does not continue to allow US nuclear weapons on its soil, those weapons will be relocated to the east of Germany. This would put them closer to Russia’s border, a major provocation of Moscow and yet another step forward in the Western empire’s steadily escalating game of nuclear brinkmanship. “Germany can, of course, decide whether there will be nuclear weapons in (its) country, but the alternative is that we easily end up with nuclear weapons in other countries in Europe, also to the east of Germany,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last week. “Should NATO decide to move US nuclear weapons to Poland, for example, that would likely be seen as a step towards angering Moscow by bringing them closer to the Russian border,” Reuters reports.

USA - One of America’s most exclusive universities has stained its reputation by hosting workshops on subjects far detached from academic excellence. In fact, the classes serve to teach us how far Western civilization is in decline. Founded in 1636, Harvard is the oldest and most prestigious university in the United States. Despite its humble origins (the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, upon his deathbed, bequeathed the fledgling college his estate and a 400-volume library), it has gone on to become a veritable superpower in the field of learning. Yet it looks as though it is willing to throw it all away just to appease the mob.

USA - Some donors have been withdrawing their support for the Salvation Army over its switch to woke ideology, saying that a Christian charity shouldn't promote what they see as “the most serious threat” to their faith. A number of its supporters are apparently increasingly unhappy with an initiative called “Let's Talk About Racism,” which Salvation Army CEO General Brian Peddle announced in February. It's a discussion guide aimed at promoting “courageous conversations about racism" within the organization of 1.7 million. Its authors, heavily influenced by critical race theory, speak of “detrimental divisions” that they believe were created by racism in all fields of life, including in the Christian Church, and offer members advice on how to tackle inequality through an “anti-racist” perspective.

AUSTRALIA - On Wednesday, during a parliament session in Australia, Liberal Party of Australia’s Queensland MP George Robert Christensen gave an impassioned speech where he called on citizens of Australia to revolt against their oppressive government. Comparing the Australian government to totalitarian regimes such as Hitler and Stalin, the Australian MP warned of frightening parallels in lockdown measures and vaccine mandates being forced on citizens in the new police state. Several videos have surfaced that confirm Christenen’s accusations. The videos reveal shocking, Stalinist-type tactics used in Australia to punish citizens who violate authoritarian COVID lockdown rules.

USA - The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission members on Tuesday declared a water shortage emergency. In a vote on Tuesday, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) unanimously approved the emergency measure, which applies to all 2.7 million customers in Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties, according to the mayor’s office. “With California still experiencing devastating drought and the uncertainty around this rainy season, we need to make tough decisions that will ensure that our water source continues to be reliable and dependable for the future,” Breed said in the statement. “Year after year, San Franciscans step up to conserve our most precious resource... water is becoming scarcer and scarcer. And when there’s not enough water, there’s no life. Water scarcity will become a source of wars within countries and around the world in a near future!