ISRAEL - Hebrew prayers are being recited daily on the Temple Mount with a quorum and with prayers said out loud, a revolution in the status quo at the holy site that has developed quietly over recent months in a sea-change from the prior blanket ban on non-Muslim prayer. A group of regular worshippers comprised of Temple Mount activists visits the site every day for morning and afternoon prayers, and are joined by other visitors to the site who wish to pray. Police deny changes at the site, but video footage suggests blanket ban on non-Muslim prayer not enforced.

FRANCE - More than 800,000 people have marched in cities across France as railway workers, teachers and hospital staff held one of the biggest public sector strikes in decades against Emmanuel Macron’s plans to overhaul the pension system. A nationwide transport strike brought much of France to a standstill and was expected to continue for the next few days as unions dug in, saying the president’s pension changes would force millions of people to work longer or receive lower payments. French workers cherish their welfare state. That’s why they’re striking. Trains, metros and bus services were severely hit, some flights were cancelled and many schools were closed in the biggest challenge to Macron’s reform agenda since the gilets jaunes (yellow vest) anti-government protests erupted last year.

USA - It’s been well publicized that the Houston Public Library in Texas hosted two registered sex offenders for Drag Queen Story Hour. Soon after, a Texas library in Austin did the same. It was later revealed that Austin Public Library, as a matter of policy, does not conduct background checks on its guest performers for children’s programs, according to a January 2019 resolution passed by the city’s LGBTQ Quality of Life Advisory Commission.

EUROPE - Soft and obliging, with a friendly smile, yet nevertheless precise and only indirectly threatening, the calls for more power are being sounded in Berlin. The world should hear that the "language of power" encompasses all of Europe, according to the message of German elites and their emissary in Brussels, the EU commission president. They intend to persist in the world with the "language of power." EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen: "Europe must also learn the language of power."

"On the one hand, this means building our own muscles where we've long been relying on others — for example in security policies. That also means applying our existing power in a more targeted way in areas where European interests are concerned." The impression emitted by Brussels, as if it is "Europe," which is urgently pleading for more power and "muscle" – more military – does not conform to reality.

USA - In an October 17, 2019, article, Scientific American warns "We have no reason to believe 5G is safe," and that "contrary to what some people say, there could be health risks." The article, written by Joel M Moskowitz, PhD, director for the Center for Family and Community Health in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, notes: "The telecommunications industry and their experts have accused many scientists who have researched the effects of cell phone radiation of 'fear mongering' over the advent of wireless technology's 5G. Since much of our research is publicly-funded, we believe it is our ethical responsibility to inform the public about what the peer-reviewed scientific literature tells us about the health risks from wireless radiation."

USA - If you’re wondering why people who live in 5G rollout areas seem to be going insane, it’s not your imagination. 5G radiation causes “neuropsychiatric” effects through a mechanism described as ion potentiation poisoning of brain cells, according to research published in Environmental Research. This results in behavioral changes and even personality changes among those who are routinely exposed, researchers found. In other words, 5G is a weapon system that doubles as a telecommunications infrastructure, but the real impact is to damage human brain function and destroy rationality, reason and civility, especially among those who live in high population cities where 5G towers are becoming ubiquitous. That’s why you may have noticed increased insanity and widespread mental derangement in those areas.

UK - Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has warned that NATO and a future EU army cannot coexist. Mr Farage said during a campaign event in Buckley, Wales, on Monday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has to choose the UK’s place inside or out the European Defence Union. He said that if the nation commits to the proto-EU army post-Brexit, then the North Atlantic Treaty Organization could collapse. “NATO and a European Defence Union cannot coexist equally,” Mr Farage said in comments reported by POLITICO. He continued: “No man effectively can serve both. We’ve got a decision to make.” Mr Farage told voters in Wales on Monday that is EU is “not just talking about building their European Defence Union; they are talking about flexing their muscles around the world”. “I find that in itself very alarming talk. What is clear, what is absolutely clear, is they want NATO out of Europe. That’s what the politicians in Brussels want,” he continued.

EUROPE - Brussels has threatened years more Brexit talks on the day after the general election announcement, it has emerged. A leaked document has revealed that EU leaders will spell out plans for years more talks on Brexit, despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pledge to “get Brexit done” on January 31. A fresh round of negotiations mean leaders will implement their own Brexit ticking clock, the Independent reports. EU chiefs are preparing to outline years more of Brexit talks. A summit will be held on election day in Brussels. The note describes how the transition is due to end in December 2020. However it also says it could be extendable for years after.

NORTH KOREA - Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang continue to grow as North Korean state media warn that a simmering conflict between the two nations could turn into a full-blown war at any given moment. Even an accident could now lead to an all-out armed conflict, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) warned, adding that if Washington resorts to military force Pyongyang would promptly respond in kind. The stark warning comes a day after US President Donald Trump threatened to use the military might of “the most powerful country in the world” against Pyongyang if he has to.

SPAIN - I’m in Madrid for the latest UN Climate Conference – COP25 – and literally no one cares. What I definitely don’t mean is the 30,000 or so loons who have flown in for the freak show about a thirty buck cab away in an industrial exposition zone on the edge of town. Clearly they care a lot but they’re not normal and they have no connection with the real world other than the unfortunate fact that they currently seem to make all our rules.

VATICAN - Why does it seem like virtually everyone wants to attack Christian fundamentalists these days? Two weeks ago, Pope Francis made some extremely controversial remarks, but those remarks really didn’t get much attention from the mainstream media. Of course if the Pope had targeted the LGBTQ community or some other favored group, it would have instantly made headlines all over the globe. But he didn’t. Instead, Pope Francis specifically attacked fundamentalists, and in today’s world that is considered to be perfectly okay.

IRAN - Allahnoor Noorollahi declares the Islamic Republic prepared to fight its ‘greatest enemy,’ recalls Khamenei’s vow to ‘raze’ Tel Aviv. An Iranian general has warned that Iran’s missile arsenals are aimed at 21 American military bases in the Middle East and the country is prepared for “the greatest war against the greatest enemy.” In a November 29 speech, at an event in the southern city of Bushehr commemorating 40 years since the establishment of the Basij paramilitary force, General Allahnoor Noorollahi also said that Iran had the ability to raze Haifa and Tel Aviv to the ground. Noorollahi serves as a top adviser to the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Officers College.

USA - In a recent interview with Fox News, US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry stated that Donald Trump was chosen by God to be president. He said throughout history God had picked “imperfect people” such as King David or Solomon to lead their people. Perry is not alone. A large number of evangelical Christians in the US believe that God has chosen Donald Trump to advance the kingdom of God on Earth. Several high-profile religious leaders have made similar claims, often comparing Trump to King Cyrus who was asked by God to rescue the nation of Israel from exile in Babylon… to oppose Donald Trump is to oppose God who chose him specifically to bring America and the world back to God.

USA - We are facing a corporate debt bomb that is far, far greater than what we faced in 2008, and we are being warned that this “unexploded bomb” will “amplify everything” once the financial system starts melting down. Thanks to exceedingly low interest rates, over the last decade US corporations have been able to go on the greatest corporate debt binge in history. It has been a tremendous “boom”, but it has also set the stage for a tremendous “bust”. Large corporations all over the country are now really struggling to deal with their colossal debt burdens, and defaults on the riskiest class of corporate debt are on pace to hit their highest level since 2008. Everyone can see that a major corporate debt disaster is looming, but nobody seems to know how to stop it.

USA - Urban growth and surge in irrigation fuel fight between Georgia and Florida; soybeans or oysters? Water stress, a hallmark of the American West, is spreading east. The shift is evident on Casey Cox’s family farm in Georgia’s agricultural heartland, where she turned on five giant rotating sprinklers to see her sweet corn through weeks of hot, dry weather last spring. “If we hadn’t had irrigation, our crop would have burned..."