USA - Four trial participants who received the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine experienced facial paralysis, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA said the issue should be monitored as the jab becomes more widely available. The potentially concerning cases were revealed after the US drug regulator published an analysis of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine ahead of a meeting to consider emergency use authorization for the jab in the United States. According to the documents, Bell’s palsy, a form of temporary facial paralysis, was reported by four participants during phase 3 trials. The individuals had been administered the jab, and no members of the placebo group experienced similar adverse effects. The condition resembles a stroke, with most sufferers watching helplessly as one side of their face droops and their muscles go limp. In some rare situations, both sides of the face may become paralyzed. It is unclear what causes Bell’s palsy, although the temporary paralysis usually goes away on its own.

JAPAN - Japan is planning to build new missiles that would allow it to preemptively strike North Korea in the event of a credible threat from the communist regime there. The proposal was approved by lawmakers in Tokyo Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal. Officials in Japan have been reviewing their military defense capabilities against North Korea in light of further missile development by Kim Jong-Un’s regime, the WSJ reports. Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi says the country wants to develop the capability to strike from beyond the reach of its opponents. The new plan includes the construction of two new Aegis ships for missile defense, reports the WSJ. The Japanese military has reportedly already set aside funds to purchase multiple Norwegian and American missiles with ranges of up to 550 miles.

UK - Boris Johnson faces a new crisis with the prospect of several years more of intense post-Brexit trade talks with the European Union after a regional parliament in Belgium threatened to veto any agreement if it breaches their red lines. Belgium's former Prime Minister and now President of Wallonia, Elio Di Rupo, lashed out at the "mood swings" from Mr Johnson during trade talks between the UK and EU, warning a no-deal outcome could threaten up to 5,000 jobs in the region that has a population of 3.6 million. He warned he "will not hesitate" to ask the Belgian parliament to use its right to vote down any deal, as done with the EU's agreement with Canada, if he believes it would cross the crucial red lines set by the country's Government. "His attitude does not allow us to see clearly in the future of relations between the EU and the United Kingdom. For my region, Wallonia, the #Brexit ‘No deal’ could represent up to 5,000 jobs lost.’ The United Kingdom is Wallonia's 7th supplier. In 2016, the CETA trade deal was almost sunk by Wallonia who issued a last-minute veto after seven years of talks.

CHINA - Beijing warships open fire as US vessels enter disputed waters. Fears of open war in east Asia surged after Chinese warships held a live-fire drill as US naval vessels entered the contested South China Sea. Beijing’s claim over the region overlaps with those of six other countries and is rejected by the United States. On Sunday the USS Makin Island and USS Somerset entered the contested area according to the South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI). Shortly after Chinese warships conducted an “unscripted” live-fire training exercise, using long-range weapons, according to js7tv, a news site affiliated to Beijing’s military. The Enshi, Yongzhou and Guangyuan, all Type 056A corvettes in the Chinese navy, took part in the operation. The US, and other western powers, refuse to accept Beijing’s claim of sovereignty over the South China Sea. To demonstrate this they regularly send warships on ‘freedom of navigation’ patrols through the contested waters.

EUROPE - THE EU will suffer even bigger seismic shocks after the coronavirus crisis, Italian MEP Marco Campomenosi has claimed in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk. As we are about to enter a new decade, the EU seems to be facing one of its worst existential crises since its inception. Euroscepticism is nothing new. Ever since the efforts to achieve European integration started in the Fifties, political parties that made anti-integration their main platform started to mushroom throughout the continent. The current pandemic, lockdown measures and the economic crisis looming seem to be exacerbating divisive trends in Europe. For example, a recent poll shows that 67 percent of Italians believe that being a member of the bloc is a disadvantage for Italy. However, in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Italian MEP Marco Campomenosi claimed this is only the beginning. He said: "It is not easy to predict who else is going to join Britain out of the EU. What I think it's going to happen is that if the EU does not start responding to the needs of its citizens, it will not be able to survive."

USA - One of many examples of US war on Russia by other means is its all-out efforts to undermine completion of its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany — a diabolical scheme doomed to fail but it continues anyway. Amendments to House and Senate versions of the US FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) include more sanctions that aim to sabotage the pipeline’s completion. They aim to deter European banks from financial involvement in its construction.

UK - An important article in RT Op Ed entitled “UK wants to use literal army to fight ‘anti-vaccine propaganda’ online” begs the question “Are we in a budding totalitarian state” involving censorship and a crackdown on free speech? With the impending rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine, a UK military cyber unit has been tasked to crack down on “online propaganda against vaccines.” Questioning something that will be injected into your body is now deemed radical.

UK - The coronavirus vaccine rollout has suffered a setback after UK regulators warned people who have a history of "significant" allergic reactions should not currently receive the Pfizer/BioNTech jab. The warning comes after two members of NHS staff who had the COVID-19 jab on Tuesday - the first day of the mass vaccination programme - had allergic reactions. Both are said to be "recovering well" and the NHS in England has informed all trusts involved with the vaccination rollout. The news prompted the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to issue precautionary advice to NHS trusts that anyone who has a history of "significant" allergic reactions to medicines, food or vaccines should not receive the vaccine. "Resuscitation facilities should be available at all times for all vaccinations. Vaccination should only be carried out in facilities where resuscitation measures are available." It is understood that both the staff members had a significant history of allergic reactions - to the extent where they need to carry an adrenaline auto injector with them.

USA - A motley collection of Trump die-hards, “stop the steal” activists, elected officials, right-wing religious leaders, and anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-Muslim activists are planning to gather in Washington, DC, Saturday, December 12 — just two days before the casting of Electoral College votes — for a set of marches and a rally meant to “amplify a unifying message for the nation that blends the political and spiritual aspects of the fight for election integrity.”

VATICAN - Pope Francis has partnered with leaders of major corporations and organizations such as BP, Johnson & Johnson, DuPont, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Visa, and Estée Lauder to form the Council for Inclusive Capitalism. “The Council for Inclusive Capitalism with the Vatican is a global nonprofit organization established under the auspices of the Vatican with the moral guidance of Pope Francis,” the group announced Tuesday. “Our mission is to harness the potential of the private sector to create a more inclusive, sustainable, and trusted form of capitalism.”

USA - Global debt is expected to soar to a record $277 trillion by the end of the year, according to the Institute of International Finance. Developed markets’ total debt — government, corporate, and households — jumped to 432 percent of GDP in the third quarter. Emerging market debt-to-GDP hit nearly 250 percent in the third quarter, with China reaching 335 percent, and for the year the ratio is expected to reach about 365 percent of global GDP. Most of this massive increase of $15 trillion in one year comes from government and corporates’ response to the pandemic.

USA - Unless there is some sort of unforeseen miracle, millions of people could literally starve to death in 2021. We are facing a global food crisis that is unlike anything we have ever seen before in modern times, and 2021 is going to be the year when it starts to become extremely painful all over the globe. But don’t take my word for it. David Beasley is the head of the UN World Food Program, and so he is in a better position to assess the global hunger crisis than any of us. According to Beasley, 2021 “is literally going to be catastrophic” and his organization is facing “the worst humanitarian crisis year since the beginning of the United Nations”…

VATICAN - The anticipated political alliance between Pope Francis and Joe Biden is already beginning to form. The pope recently tweeted out that society needs to “build back better,” which is one of Biden’s signature phrases. Both Biden and Pope Francis gravitate to the jargony rhetoric of the United Nations. In a recent New York Times op-ed, the pope sounded almost like a parody of a globalist ideologue, calling for a COVID-inspired reset: “We cannot return to the false securities of the political and economic systems we had before the crisis. We need economies that give to all access to the fruits of creation, to the basic needs of life: to land, lodging and labor.” This is what’s foremost on the pope’s mind — not religion and morality, but politics and economics. And on these temporal matters he finds himself in the same company as Joe Biden. They both would like to see the coronavirus crisis serve as a pretext for bigger government and more socialist economics. They would agree with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said, “This pandemic has provided an opportunity for a reset. This is our chance to accelerate our pre-pandemic efforts to reimagine economic systems that actually address global challenges like extreme poverty, inequality and climate change.”

UK - As we reported earlier this week, the UK became the first nation to issue emergency authorization for the Pfizer experimental mRNA COVID vaccine, with jabs expected to start with the public any day now. There is a 10-page document for UK Healthcare Professionals, and a shorter 5-page document for recipients. This is public information (for now), and Health Impact News has secured copies of each. In the leaflet for recipients, it gives strict warnings to women who are pregnant and breast-feeding. However, in the longer document issued to “Healthcare Professionals,” it gives an additional warning: “It is unknown whether COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 has an impact on fertility.” Why was this warning not included in the leaflet to be distributed to the recipients of the vaccine?

CANADA - Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer says that those who refuse to take the COVID vaccine won’t have “freedom to move around” and will have to continue to wear masks. Dr David Williams was asked if he “would make some sort of mandatory vaccination recommendation.” Williams acknowledged that “we can’t force someone to take a vaccine,” but went on to explain how people who didn’t take it would have their freedom of mobility severely restricted. “What we can do is to say sometimes for access or ease of getting into certain settings, if you don’t have vaccination then you’re not allowed into that setting without other protection materials,” said Williams. As we previously highlighted, governments do not have to make the vaccine mandatory, they can simply make life unlivable for people who refuse to take the vaccine. If bars, restaurants, cinemas, sports venues, airlines, employers and others all make the vaccination a mandatory condition of service, anyone who refuses to take it will be reduced to a personal form of de facto lockdown with their social lives and mobility completely stunted.