USA - Vice President Mike Pence told Breitbart News he thinks the rush by the House of Representatives late last year to impeach President Donald Trump, and the upcoming US Senate trial, are backfiring on Democrats politically because of their weak case against the president. Heading into the Senate trial and asked what he and Trump are looking for from it, Pence laid out how he believes the impeachment case is weak against Trump, and the American people see through it.

PHILIPPINES - Terrifying eruption blasts in the Philippines have forced thousands to flee danger zones as fears about a larger more life-threatening lava explosion rise. The Taal volcano eruption is continuing to mount as thousands of epople in the danger zone have fled their homes. Recent footage captured at the scene shows the ash plumes and lava which gushed into the air creating devastating impact. The eruption awoke the volcano after 43 years of quiet and spewed lava and ash, filling streets and skies of the Philippine island of Luzon with fine ash fall and volcanic gases. The volcano’s activity has forced tens of thousands to evacuate their homes and forced the closure of several key roads, businesses and an airport.

UK - British police in Manchester failed to stop dozens of girls being sexually abused by a network of Pakistani men despite knowing it was happening due to fears over creating “community tensions.” In yet another grooming scandal involving predominately Pakistani men sexually abusing mainly white girls, a new report reveals that Greater Manchester Police “failed to take appropriate action more than 15 years ago, despite getting details of nearly 100 'persons of interest' who were using takeout restaurants as a base to rape and abuse children in care between the ages of 11 and 17” and despite the fact that the culprits were operating “in plain sight.”

GERMANY - Angela Merkel has warned the UK's decision to leave the European Union must act as a 'wake up call' for the bloc. But the German Chancellor, who is due to step down next year at the end of a fourth and final term in power, insisted countries are better off in the EU than outside it. She said the bloc acted as a 'life insurance' policy for 'small' countries like Germany and ensures they can exert influence on the global stage.

GERMANY - The Democratic candidates for president all call for working more closely with allies on pressuring China to give up its unfair trade practices. That now looks increasingly impractical. German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated this week that her country will not join the US in its efforts to pressure China. In an interview with the Financial Times, Merkel accused the US of criticizing China’s practices as “regarding China as a threat simply because it is economically successful.”

USA - Almost a quarter of the world’s countries witnessed a surge in protest and unrest last year and that figure is set to rise further in 2020, according to a new study. There are 195 countries in the world, if the Vatican and Palestine are included, and a newly released index of civil unrest has claimed that 47 of those states witnessed a rise in civil unrest in 2019. The data model, published Thursday by socio-economic and political analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft, has also predicted that in 2020, the number will balloon to 75 countries. The UK consultancy identified Hong Kong and Chile as the two flashpoints suffering the largest increases in unrest since the beginning of 2019. Neither country is expected to find peace for at least two years, according to the research. Other areas now considered hotbeds of civil protest include Nigeria, Lebanon and Bolivia. Beyond these three, countries dropping into a category labeled “extreme risk” include Ethiopia, India, Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

CHINA - On top of everything else that has happened so far in 2020, a very mysterious “SARS-like virus” that doctors have never seen before is causing grave concern among global health officials. It has been identified as “a coronavirus”, but that category covers a very broad range of illnesses. If you have a common cold right now, it was caused by a coronavirus. But SARS and MERS also came from the same virus family, and those two outbreaks made headlines all over the world. In 2002 and 2003, SARS infected more than 8,000 people worldwide, and more than 700 of them ended up dying. Global health officials are hoping that what we are now facing won’t be any worse than that, but at this point they just don’t know enough about this mysterious new virus to make any firm projections… there is no need for people in the US to start freaking out about this virus just yet. Only two people have died, and there have been no reported cases in the US so far.

USA - Christian persecution around the globe reached an unprecedented level at the end of 2019, with over 260 million Christians facing “high levels of persecution,” Open Doors revealed Wednesday. In its World Watch List 2020, Open Doors notes that one in 8 believers around the world suffers serious levels of persecution, while providing an in-depth look at the 50 countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian. It is worth noting that in eight of the top ten countries where Christian persecution is highest, Islamist ideology is the prime driver of the hostility.

USA - For while only 2% of Americans are Jewish, some 7.5 million people, a study by the Quartz business news website found that 41% of all packaged food in the US is certified kosher. Explanations for this include a perception that kosher food is cleaner or healthier, or people's desire for assurance that a product does not include potential allergens such as shellfish. It also offers certainty for vegans, such as in the example of Oreo cookies, which prior to their switch to kosher in the late 1990s contained lard (pork fat). Led by growing demand in the US, the global kosher food market is predicted to increase to almost $60 billion (£40 billion) of annual sales in 2025, up from $24 billion in 2017. Given those vast figures, it is not surprising that a growing number of food businesses around the globe are seeking kosher accreditation.

USA - In accordance with its stated agenda of making the “demon realm feel like home,” The Disney Channel is releasing a new program for children called “The Owl House” that glorifies demons, witchcraft, and hell. According to Disney, the series centers around a teenage girl named Luz who “discovers a portal to another realm where humans are not well-liked, and she must disguise herself in order to fit in at witch school.” This realm, the kids programming empire says, is referred to as “Demon town,” and in it Luz decides to live with a demon named Eda the Owl Lady who’s “the most powerful witch on the Boiling Iles.”

RUSSIA - Russian President Vladimir Putin named a little-known new prime minister and proposed a constitutional shake-up on Wednesday as he announced sweeping changes that fuelled speculation about his future plans. In a shock announcement, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said his government was stepping down after Putin used his annual state of the nation address to propose constitutional reforms that would strengthen parliament's role. Putin quickly nominated Mikhail Mishustin - the long-serving head of Russia's tax service and seen as a technocrat - to form a new government. Lawmakers were due to meet Thursday to begin reviewing his candidacy. Speculation swirled about how the changes might affect Russia's political system and potentially allow Putin to stay on after 2024, when he is due to step down after a fourth Kremlin term. Some suggested he could be laying the groundwork to assume a new post or remain in a powerful behind-the-scenes role.

ISRAEL - Israel’s army intelligence says Iran will have enough enriched uranium to produce one nuclear bomb by the end of the year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not let Iran become a nuclear power. The assessment comes after recent tensions between the US and Iran brought them to the brink of war. Israeli army intelligence officials based their calculation on their assessment that it takes 40 kilograms of 90-percent enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb. At the same time, the Israeli assessment found that Iran does not possess missiles that can carry a nuclear bomb and that as far as they know, Iran is not working on one. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a harsh warning to Iran. He said that Israel knows exactly what is happening with the Iranian nuclear program and that Israel will not let Iran get a nuclear weapon.

USA - How is it that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide is still on North American shelves being sold in a number of places? The answer is simple, I believe it’s deceit and corruption. Corporations like Monsanto (Bayer), have completely undermined our federal health regulatory agencies, making them nothing short of a cesspool of corruption. The pharmaceutical companies have been able to purchase congress. They’re the largest lobbying entity in Washington DC. They have more lobbyists in Washington DC than there are congressman and senators combined. They give twice to congress what the next largest lobbying entity does, which is oil and gas… Imagine the power they exercise over both republicans and democrats. They’ve captured them (our regulatory agencies) and turned them into sock puppets. They’ve compromised the press… and they destroy the publications that publish real science.

USA - A bill in New Jersey that would’ve stripped parents and children of their right to informed consent by allowing them to object to mandatory vaccinations failed on Monday. Much to the chagrin of the tyrants who claim ownership over the bodies of others, the bill that would have eliminated religious exemptions to mandatory vaccinations failed to pass the New Jersey state legislature. According to reports, the bill was canceled in the Senate before the vote because lawmakers knew they lacked the passing votes. The proponents of the bill vowed to reintroduce it on Tuesday but this gives opponents a new time frame on the public hearing and voting process.

USA - As we move further into 2020, solar activity dwindles. This year, solar activity will be marked as the lowest in over 200 years. The low in the sun’s 11-year cycle will also have at least some repercussions for the climate here on Earth. That means “space weather” will be favorable for exploration beyond Earth, yet it could also very well mean we should prepare for odd or different weather patterns. When solar activity gets really low, it can have the effect of a “mini ice age.” The period between 1645 and 1715 was marked by a prolonged sunspot minimum, and this corresponded to a downturn in temperatures in Europe and North America.