With UK out, Macron unveils ‘nuclear weapons doctrine’ with France leading an EU army

– February 14, 2020

The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss Emmanuel Macron’s speech where the French President unveiled his nuclear doctrine advocating for a more coordinated European Union defence strategy in which France, the EU’s only post-Brexit nuclear power, and its arsenal holding a central role.

Macron warned all those in attendance that the European Union ‘cannot remain spectators’ in the nuclear arms race.

In a much anticipated speech to military officers graduating in Paris, Macron called on EU member states to play a more direct role in halting a new nuclear arms race, saying they “cannot remain spectators” against a threat to the continent’s collective security.

“In the absence of a legal framework, they could rapidly face a new race for conventional weapons, even nuclear weapons, on their own soil,” said Macron.

Setting out his country’s nuclear strategy in a bid to show leadership a week after nuclear-armed Britain officially exited the EU, Macron highlighted how France sees its nuclear weapons as a deterrent against attacks from belligerent foes.

Macron’s speech comes at a time when long-standing accords on limiting the growth of nuclear arsenals appear increasingly at risk.

https://theduran.com

Storm Dennis Is Exploding Into a Furious Bombogenesis as it Roars Toward UK and Northern Europe

Strange Sounds – February 13, 2020

After Storm Ciara, less than a week ago, Bomb Cyclone Storm Dennis will lead to another dose of power cuts and major travel disruptions in the UK and northern Europe.

Dennis is now the fourth named windstorm of the season in Europe.

Dennis is also a Bomb Cyclone after its central pressure dropped 1.38 inches of mercury (46 mb) in 24 hours – from 29.4 to 28.1 inches of mercury (996 mb to 950 mb).

This incredible drop in pressure is almost two times greater than what is needed to be considered a‘bombogenesis.’

And the explosive cyclogenesis seems to continue as the air pressure at the center of the storm is now around 935 mbar. That’s equivalent to a strong Category 3 Hurricane!

Further strengthening may put Dennis in the running for being one of the most intense North Atlantic storms on record. The top-five most intense storms all recorded a pressure of 27 inches of mercury (925.5 mb) or lower.

And again such air pressures could wreak havoc air traffic!

https://strangesounds.org

No peak in sight as China reports 5,000 new coronavirus cases

Reuters – February 14, 2020

BEIJING/SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, Feb 14 (Reuters) – China’s coronavirus outbreak showed no sign of peaking with health authorities on Friday reporting more than 5,000 new cases, while passengers on a cruise ship blocked from five countries due to virus fears finally disembarked in Cambodia.

Policymakers pledged to do more to stimulate Asian economies hit hard by the virus, helping Asia stock markets edge higher, with Chinese shares headed for their first weekly gain in four.

In its latest update, China’s National Health Commission said it had recorded 121 new deaths and 5,090 new coronavirus cases on the mainland on Feb. 13, taking the accumulated total infected to 63,851 people.

Some 55,748 people are currently undergoing treatment, while 1,380 people have died of the flu-like virus that emerged in Hubei province’s capital, Wuhan, in December. The latest toll takes account of some deaths that had been double counted in Hubei, the health commission said.

The new figures give no indication the outbreak is nearing a peak, said Adam Kamradt-Scott, an infectious diseases expert at the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney.

“Based on the current trend in confirmed cases, this appears to be a clear indication that while the Chinese authorities are doing their best to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the fairly drastic measures they have implemented to date would appear to have been too little, too late,” he said.

https://news.trust.org/item

Christians are being captured and killed across the globe: ‘World Watch List’ takes you inside the crisis

Billy Hallowell – February 10, 2020

Millions of Christians across the globe live in perpetual fear that they will be punished, harmed — or even killed — for merely practicing their faith.

Worldwide persecution continues to be at a fevered pitch, with varying degrees of affliction for those who openly embrace the Bible.

This tragic reality is more than evident in Open Doors USA’s latest “World Watch List,” an annual report that offers “an unparalleled glimpse into the 50 places around the world where it costs the most to be a Christian.”

According to the stunning 2020 report, more than 260 million Christians live in places where there is a high level of persecution, amounting to one-in-eight Christians worldwide.

https://www.theblaze.com

McConnell Tees Up 2 Abortion Bills in Election Year Push

Newsmax – February 13, 2020

Two abortion bills are being teed up post-recess by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., which might not have the votes to pass but would force vulnerable senators to go on record on the issue, according to The Hill.

The bills are, per the report:

  1. Proposed by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.: Banning abortions after 20 weeks with exceptions for the mother’s life, rape, or incest – and doctors violating the law would face up to five years in prison.
  2. Proposed by Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.: Penalizing doctors who do not  “exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion.”

Senate passage would require 60 votes and Republicans hold just a 53-47 in the chamber. That would make them unlikely to be passed, but it would pin vulnerable pro choice Democrats down on the issue in an election year, The Hill reported.

Republicans will be holding the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) later this month, too, potentially making abortion a boilerplate voting issue in GOP efforts to hold the Senate, if not retake the House.

“Unfortunately abortion extremism has grown to such an extent in the Democrat Party that leading Democrats – including a Democrat presidential candidate – have not only ruled out banning late-term abortions, they’ve actually refused to rule out infanticide,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said on the Senate floor Thursday, per the report.

https://www.newsmax.com

Largest Planet-Killer Asteroid To Approach Earth This Month Arriving On Saturday

– February 12, 2020

A potentially hazardous asteroid that’s big enough to trigger a nuclear winter and mass extinction events on Earth following a collision will intersect the planet’s path this weekend. According to the data collected by NASA, the approaching asteroid is larger than the tallest man-made structure in the world.

NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) has identified the incoming asteroid as 163373 (2002 PZ39). As indicated in CNEOS’ database, this asteroid is currently traveling toward Earth at a speed of almost 34,000 miles per hour.

CNEOS estimated that 163373 (2002 PZ39) has a diameter of around 3,250 feet, making it significantly bigger than the Burj Dubai, which is currently the tallest building in the world. Given its incredible size, 163373 (2002 PZ39) will be the biggest asteroid to approach Earth this month.

According to CNEOS, 163373 (2002 PZ39) is an Apollo asteroid, which means it is known to intersect Earth’s path around the Sun from time to time. Due to its dangerous orbit and massive size, approaching space rock has been labeled as a potentially hazardous asteroid.

“Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid’s potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth,” NASA explained in a statement.

Since 163373 (2002 PZ39) follows an Earth-crossing orbit, it has a chance of colliding with Earth every time it passes the planet. If the asteroid collides with Earth, it will cause a major impact event.

NASA and other space agencies have warned that kilometer-sized asteroids can do a lot of damage to Earth. If 163373 (2002 PZ39) hits the planet, its initial blast would instantly kill off millions.

Then, due to its size, the energy from its explosion would be enough to trigger a global nuclear winter that could last for years. The harsh environmental changes triggered by the asteroid’s impact could lead to the mass extinction of different species.

https://www.ibtimes.com

A Day of Terror for Israel: Many Injured After 3 Terror Attacks in Just 12 Hours

Emily Jones – February 6, 2020

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli officials have arrested the man responsible for injuring 12 soldiers by ramming his car into them early Thursday morning outside First Station, a popular entertainment center in Jerusalem.

The man was arrested at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank Thursday evening, police said. He was handed over to Israel’s Shin Bet security service for interrogation.

“Following an extensive operational and intelligence effort, the IDF, working with the Shin Bet, the Israel Police’s special police unit and other special forces, has arrested the terrorist who carried out the ramming attack in the predawn hours of this morning in Jerusalem,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

“He is unconscious and connected to a respirator in the intensive care unit,” hospital officials told Israeli media.

He and the other soldiers involved in the attack were in Jerusalem to attend a swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall that morning.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel would catch the perpetrator, saying that “terrorism will not defeat us.”

President Reuven Rivlin said Israel is “praying” for the injured soldiers.

The car-ramming incident is one of 3 terror attacks against Israel in just 12 hours.

https://www1.cbn.com

Macron on Arms Race: European States ‘Cannot Remain Spectators’ in an Increasingly Unstable World

Sputnik News – February 7, 2020

Fears of an international nuclear arms race have been allayed with the end of the Cold War, but re-emerged as the United States under Donald Trump pulled out of several arms control treaties with Russia, including one that prohibited nuclear-capable missiles.

President Emmanuel Macron stated that European countries should act proactively in the face of a nuclear arms race as he laid out France’s nuclear weapons strategy.

Speaking to military officers in Paris on Friday, Macron called on EU member states to propose an a “international arms control agenda”.

He also suggested that Europeans should “not confine themselves to a role of spectators” at a time when the existing non-proliferation treaties are being called into question.

“Europeans must collectively realise that, in the absence of a legal framework, they could quickly face a new conventional or even nuclear arms race on their soil.”

Macron has dedicated much of his attention as president to modernising France’s and Europe’s military strategy. He has proposed a “true European army” to cut reliance on the United States, launched a military space force command and suggested a military intervention force outside of NATO, known as European Intervention Initiative, already joined by 14 European states.

The Macron government also plans to spend €37 billion ($41bn) to upgrade and maintain its nuclear arsenal over the next seven years — more than 12 percent of the total defense spending for that period.

https://sputniknews.com

Tax the Rich: Pope Francis Calls for Global Wealth Redistribution

Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. – February 6, 2020

Tax cuts for the wealthy constitute a “structure of sin,” Pope Francis said Wednesday in a passionate address calling for international wealth redistribution.

“Every year hundreds of billions of dollars, which should be paid in taxes to fund health care and education, accumulate in tax haven accounts,” the pontiff told participants in a Vatican seminar, “thus impeding the possibility of the dignified and sustained development of all social agents.”

“Today’s structures of sin include repeated tax cuts for the richest people, often justified in the name of investment and development,” Francis told the meeting organized by the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences.

During his discourse, the pope repeated his conviction that poverty is on the rise worldwide and “the poor increase around us.”

With the passage of time and the advances of civilization the number of poor people increases rather than diminishing, Francis similarly asserted last June, and “the poor are always poorer, and today they are poorer than ever.”

As a Brookings Institution report noted in late 2018, however, the world is currently experiencing “the lowest prevalence of extreme poverty ever recorded in human history — less than 8 percent,” and that number falls with each passing year.

According to the widely used “international poverty line,” people are considered to be in “extreme poverty” if they live on less than $1.90 per day or its equivalent.

In the world today, less than 10 percent of the global population lives in extreme poverty, whereas just 30 years ago (1990), some 37 percent of the world lived in extreme poverty. Two centuries ago, nearly everyone in the world lived in extreme poverty.

https://www.breitbart.com

4 Plagues Are Marching Across Asia Simultaneously: Coronavirus, African Swine Fever, H5N1 Bird Flu And H1N1 Swine Flu

– February 2, 2020

The coronavirus outbreak that is raging all over China right now has been making headlines on a daily basis all over the globe, and rightly so.  At this point we don’t know if it will ultimately become a horrifying global pandemic that will affect tens of millions of people, but what we do know is that the virus spreads very easily and the number of cases has been rising at an exponential rate.  Meanwhile, three other plagues have also been marching across Asia, and most people in the western world don’t even realize that this is happening.  What I am about to share with you in this article is quite chilling, and the months ahead will be very dark if these plagues continue to spread.

Long before we ever heard of this new coronavirus, African Swine Fever was devastating pork farms from one end of China to the other.  There is no vaccine for “pig ebola”, there is no cure, and once it hits a farm the only thing that can be done is to kill every single pig so that it won’t spread anywhere else.  But even though draconian measures have been implemented, it has just kept spreading, and at this point “about two-thirds of China’s swine herd has been lost”.

Unfortunately, this insidious disease has also been devastating farms in many other nations all over the planet.  In particular, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines have been hit particularly hard.

Meanwhile, there has been a very alarming resurgence of the H5N1 bird flu in China.

According to the Daily Mail, more than 17,000 chickens have been culled in an effort to keep this new outbreak from spreading further…

China has reportedly seen an outbreak of a ‘highly pathogenic’ strain of H5N1 bird flu which has already killed 4,500 chickens.

Alarmingly, the H5N1 bird flu has also popped up at a facility in India.

Not too long ago, the H1N1 swine flu caused mass panic all over the globe, and I personally knew someone that was killed by it.

So the truth is that all of these outbreaks are very concerning.

And never before have we seen so many alarming outbreaks occur simultaneously.  Could it be possible that we have entered a period of time when mass pandemics are going to become “the new normal”?

Hopefully none of these current outbreaks will end up killing millions of people all over the globe.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com