UK - Harry Miller has won his High Court freedom of speech battle against Humberside Police over his right to make jokes about transgenderism on social media. Miller, himself an ex-copper, was incensed when Humberside Police sent a police officer round to his home in order to ‘check his thinking’ after some remarks he had made on Twitter were classified as a ‘non-crime hate incident.’

GERMANY - Would the United States use military force to defend a NATO ally?

Should European Union countries work together more closely on defense?

Is the world facing a "perfect storm" of climate change coupled with security threats?

These and other questions will loom large at the 2020 Munich Security Conference (MSC). This annual gathering brings together presidents, prime ministers, foreign and defense ministers from more than 40 countries, as well as representatives from business and international organizations.

GERMANY - Most Germans see America, supposedly Berlin’s biggest ally, as one of the biggest threats to world peace, right after Iran. Other nations painted as “bogeymen” by Western media are lagging far behind, a new poll shows. More than 60 percent of Germans believe that Washington is “the greatest threat to international peace,” the latest Security Report – an annual representative study published by the Allensbach Demoskopie Institute – reveals. That makes the US the second most feared nation in the eyes of Germans after Iran, which is a source of concern for 66 percent of the population. North Korea, which is often portrayed in the West as a possible threat, is only third on the list as 55 percent of Germans see it this way.

CHINA - China could effectively shut down America’s healthcare system within months given the one-party state’s “global chokehold” on the manufacturing of medicines and medical supplies, explained Rosemary Gibson, author of China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine. Gibson, senior adviser at the Hastings Center, offered her remarks on Thursday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with host Rebecca Mansour and special guest host Ed Martin. Mansour noted how the coronavirus outbreak in China has exposed America’s dangerous dependence on Chinese production of pharmaceutical and medical supplies, including an estimated 97 percent of all antibiotics and 80 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients needed for domestic drug production. Gibson said, “If China shuts the door on exports of medicines and the ingredients to make them, within a couple of months our pharmacies would be empty. Our healthcare system would cease to function. That’s how dependent we are.”

CHINA - Global dominance at this point in the game means control of the rare earths elements that form the backbone of existing technology and the future of technology, and while everyone is busy playing at war with oil and gas, Beijing is busy sitting on a monopoly of our most precious strategic metals. There are 16 metals in total that form the world’s strategically critical rare-earth elements - and China controls the supply of every single one because it controls 96% of production. One of these crucial metals is Cesium. It’s worth up to twice the price of gold, ounce for ounce, there are only three producing mines in the world, and all of them are controlled by China. The only question in this game now is whether there is any chance for North America to get its hands on new cesium of its own to get out from under a Chinese monopoly.

CHINA - In order to further discipline, compact responsibility, and ensure that all prevention and control work is carried out in an efficient and standardized manner, the Party Committee of the Beijing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a wartime state order, requiring its party members and employees to fully recognize the “critical period”, “critical moment”, and “keys”. The urgency and importance of the moment, consciously established a “very conscious” and entered a “wartime state.”

AFRICA - Massive swarms of locusts are devouring entire fields of crops in as little as 30 seconds and fuelling fears of a major food crisis in some of the world's poorest countries, Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide has warned. Concern's Country Director for Kenya Amina Abdulla has said swarms of locusts, over 40km wide, are now affecting around 12 counties. Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ms Abdulla said this will cause a major food security crisis, particularly for counties and regions in the northern part of the country. She added that Kenya, and the Horn of Africa in general, recently came out of a prolonged drought period that was followed by widespread flooding, so communities are already very vulnerable.

SWEDEN - 88-year-old Rolf is homeless while migrants get everything for free. Swedish independent journalist Joakim Lamotte recently interviewed a nearly 90-year-old homeless man in Trelleborg. The man, Rolf Hansson, doesn’t receive any housing assistance from the municipal social services, and as a result is forced to eat, sleep and live in his car. “He has worked and paid taxes his entire adult life, but now risks living his last days as a homeless person in Sweden since the municipality refuses to help him with a home or nursing home”, Lamotte wrote on Facebook. The outspoken journalist also urged his readers to “put pressure” on those responsible so that Rolf does not have to live in a parking lot.

Cases: 69,063

Deaths: 1,666

IRAN - It comes weeks after tensions reached boiling point between the United States and Iran in the Middle East. It is not yet known who is responsible for the latest attack. Reports suggest two missiles were fired at the base in Kirkuk. It is not yet known if there have been any casualties. The same base was attacked by Iran in January which saw tensions escalate between US and Tehran. That attack was sparked by the killing by US armed forces of Qassim Suleimani, commander of the Iranian Forces. It comes just hours after Iran warned it is ready to strike the United States and Israel if they give it any reason to do so, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards said in a live broadcast on state television.

GERMANY - Alternative for Germany (AfD) party plans to sue Chancellor Angela Merkel herself over “abuse of office”. The party claims she “coerced” a state PM into resigning after he was elected in a scandalous vote. The anti-migrant and anti-establishment AFD wants to file two lawsuits against the Chancellor, arguing that her actions forced Thuringia’s newly-elected Prime Minister to step down last week. The chancellor was among those who sharply criticized the outcome of the regional parliament’s vote. Against recommendation from superior party members, MPs from her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) joined forces with the AfD – a move viewed as a taboo breaker — to support Thomas Kemmerich, from liberal Free Democrats (FDP). Bjoern Hoecke, the head of the AfD regional office in Thuringia, meanwhile plans to file his own lawsuit against Merkel over “coercion” as well. “The fact that the chancellor has forced an elected prime minister from another party to resign is unacceptable,” he said in a Twitter post as he announced his plans.

USA - On January 15, 2020, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons filed a lawsuit claiming that defendant Adam Schiff abused government power and infringed on their freedom of speech. The lawsuit is in response to Congressman Schiff contacting Google, Facebook, and Amazon urging them to de-platform or discredit so-called “inaccurate” information on vaccines. All three tech giants complied, and AAPS was censored. AAPS contends that “The First Amendment protects the rights of free speech and association. Included within the right of free speech is a right to receive information from willing speakers. Under the First Amendment, Americans have the right to hear all sides of every issue and to make their own judgments about those issues without government interference or limitations.”

VATICAN - Pope Francis has suffered a big defeat as he backtracked on his proposal to allow married Amazonian men to be ordained. After a series of criticism from his predecessor, Benedict XVI, it appears the Vatican chief's leadership is under increasing scrutiny. Pope Francis has abandoned his plan to allow married men to become priests in a surprise U-turn after opposition from Catholic Church conservatives.

UK - A scientist speaking at the National Farmers Union conference has argued that living a vegan lifestyle is more damaging to the environment than eating meat. The Rothamsted Institute’s Graham McAuliffe said that the manner in which tofu — a protein foodstuff made from soy ‘milk’ — is produced has a worse carbon footprint than chicken, pork, or lamb produced for eating, according to an unpublished report.

SWITZERLAND -"Switzerland, one of the world's leaders in the rollout of 5G mobile technology, has placed an indefinite moratorium on the use of its new network because of health concerns," The Financial Times reports. Switzerland is relatively advanced in Europe in adopting 5G. The wealthy alpine country has built more than 2,000 antennas to upgrade its network in the last year alone, and its telecoms providers have been promising their customers’ imminent 5G coverage for most of the past year.