EUROPE - Nine months ago, most European Union member states took their biggest step yet toward a common European army. It was not, however, a moment that lent itself to easy symbolism: No common European uniform nor common weapons and equipment, nor even a joint high command. Militarily, what the EU now has is rules. They allow for cooperation between individual European states to jointly shape military facilities and capabilities.

GERMANY - As the British parliament prepares for a crucial Brexit vote Tuesday, Germany's far right voted Sunday to break a national taboo by campaigning to quit the European Union if its demand for reforms within the bloc are not met. A party congress gathered in Riesa in Saxony state - the Alternative for Germany's (AfD) biggest stronghold - voted for the demand to be included in its manifesto for European Parliament elections in May. Aware that a vast majority of Germans remain in favour of their country's EU membership, delegates advanced cautiously. They called for a so-called "Dexit" only "as a last resort" if fundamental reforms do not reshape the EU "in an appropriate time frame". But the decision marks the first time in Germany's post-war history that a political party has dared suggest blowing up the nation's EU membership.

USA - When our smartphones, televisions or other gadgets stop working, it seems like the only choice we have is to get rid of it. This never-ending stream of electronic waste has created mountains of toxic trash that’s hazardous to people and the planet. That’s why consumers and lawmakers in the US and Europe are fighting back under the burgeoning “Right to Repair” movement that demands manufacturers make products that last longer and are easier to fix, BBC News reported. At least 18 US states are considering repair legislation and a similar proposal arose in the European Parliament. This change can’t come soon enough. E-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the world. In 2016, some 44.7 million metric tonnes of e-waste were generated globally, according to the Global E-waste Monitor 2017. As more and more products come along, experts forecast an increase of e-junk to 52.2 million metric tonnes by 2021.

USA - Could it be possible that a full-blown eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano is not too far away? All over the world seismic activity has been increasing in recent years, and this process seems to have accelerated during the early days of 2019. In particular, quite a few once dormant volcanoes are springing to life again, and this has many concerned about what could potentially happen at Yellowstone.

USA - It has been said that John F Kennedy held a dinner in the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

EUROPE - "Europe has to build an army," Wolfgang Clement wrote in yesterday’s issue of this paper. Given the global environment, Europe needs to improve its ability to act on behalf of its own security. He’s right! But he unfortunately failed to mention the progress we Europeans have made in the last few years. Europe’s army is already taking shape. Reforms over the past months and years have brought our armed forces closer together. And not because we’re following requirements from Brussels but voluntarily because the benefits are obvious and because it’s in Europe’s security interests. Germany has just started a two-year stint as a non-permanent member alongside France on the UN Security Council. That strengthens Europe’s voice in the concert of global powers. Europe remains a unique creation, uniting half a billion citizens in the name of freedom and prosperity. This community needs to be able to defend itself.

EUROPE - Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said that the policies of “liberal” forces in the European Union will divide the bloc into an increasingly Islamic west and a traditional European-Christian east. Making his first address to the media of 2019 in Budapest on Thursday, Prime Minister Orbán said his country’s objective is to ensure anti-mass migration forces become “a majority in every EU constitutional system” in May’s European Parliament elections, to combat the “progressive” open-borders policies driving the bloc’s current direction. “Liberal thinking in Europe is the main enemy of freedom. Liberals today are the enemies of freedom in Europe,” Mr Orbán explained.

EUROPE - France and Germany plotting to merge borders, economies and defence policies in the latest step towards an EU superstate. The neighbouring countries are to forge together policies in areas including terrorism and transport in an unprecedented "twinning" pact just two months before the UK is due to leave Europe. In line with the agreement, regions on either side of the Franco-German border will be encouraged to form "Eurodistricts", The Times reports.

GERMANY - One of the most controversial figures in the nationalist Alternative for Germany party (AfD) announced on Friday that he was leaving the party and setting up his own breakaway group. There was shock and anger when Andre Poggenburg unveiled the logo of his new “German Patriots Awakening” party. The emblem features a blue cornflower, which was used as a secret symbol for the banned Nazi party in 1930s Austria. Mr Poggenburg was forced to resign as AfD regional leader in the state of Saxony-Anhalt last year over speeches in which he was accused of using “Nazi vocabulary”.

USA - Something strange is going on at the top of the world. Earth’s north magnetic pole has been skittering away from Canada and towards Siberia, driven by liquid iron sloshing within the planet’s core. The magnetic pole is moving so quickly that it has forced the world’s geomagnetism experts into a rare move. On 15 January, they are set to update the World Magnetic Model, which describes the planet’s magnetic field and underlies all modern navigation, from the systems that steer ships at sea to Google Maps on smartphones. The most recent version of the model came out in 2015 and was supposed to last until 2020 — but the magnetic field is changing so rapidly that researchers have to fix the model now. “The error is increasing all the time,” says Arnaud Chulliat, a geomagnetist at the University of Colorado Boulder…

SAUDI ARABIA - A massive swarm of locusts plagued Mecca, Saudi Arabia, earlier this week, prompting authorities at Islam’s holiest site to launch a cleaning operation to remove them. Videos posted to social media showed the insects swarming around cleaners and worshipers in the city’s Grand Mosque, where millions of Muslim pilgrims congregate every year. “Specialized teams have been directed to work in the fight to eliminate these insects,” authorities in Mecca said, according to the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news site.

USA - Just something I find rather interesting right now. If you look back at the history of global markets since the GFC [Greek Financial Crisis], we’ve had a spattering of issues around the world that have caused a lot of worry in the markets. Here are some examples of what we faced and moved past. Major Financial Market Issues Post GFC… Eurozone crisis of 2011… commodity crash of 2012-2015 (namely oil in 2014)… Chinese hard landing in 2015-2016… and potential currency problems… potential Brexit crisis… broad emerging market recession… So lets take a review of the current issues that global markets are worried about…

EUROPE - Yellow Vest protesters are hoping to trigger a bank run with a nationwide coordinated cash withdrawal. By threatening the French financial system, protesters say, they want to peacefully force the government to pass their reforms. “If the banks weaken, the state weakens immediately,” said Yellow Vest “sympathizer” Tahz San on Facebook. “It’s elected officials' worst nightmare.” Protesters plan to empty their bank accounts on Saturday, withdrawing as much money as possible in a bid to undermine the French banks – if not the euro itself. The plan is to “scare the state legally and without violence,” forcing the government to adopt the movement’s Citizens’ Referendum Initiative, which would allow citizens to propose and vote on new laws.  

EUROPE - Italy’s Euroskeptic deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has said he wants Italy and Poland to join together to create a “European Spring” which could end the long-standing French and German domination on the continent. Speaking during a press conference with Polish Interior Minister Joachim Brudziński in Warsaw on Wednesday, Salvini said that Poland and Italy “will be part of the new spring of Europe, the renaissance of European values” which would create a “new equilibrium” where the dominance of France and Germany is diminished. The leader of the Northern League party said that upcoming European parliamentary elections, set for May, could lead away from a Europe “that is run by bureaucrats.”

USA - US President Donald Trump seems poised to declare a national emergency and redirect Pentagon resources towards building a wall on the border with Mexico, after his talks with congressional Democrats went nowhere. Visiting the border in Texas on Thursday, Trump met with federal, state and local officials and repeated the need for a barrier along the border with Mexico.