Germany fears EUROZONE MELTDOWN: German investors rush to buy gold
GERMANY – Germany has become the world’s biggest buyer of gold amid fears of economic meltdown across the eurozone. Figures from the World Gold Council (WGC) reveal the country invested a record £6 billion in gold bullion and coins as well as in exchange-traded products.
Analysts say improved availability, low prices and growing demand due to loose monetary policy, economic uncertainty and volatile geopolitical factors are the three key reasons behind the German investors’s gold rush. Their fondness for gold is a relatively recent development and before 2008 investment in physical gold barely registered with average annual demand at 17 metrics tons.
But then the financial crisis struck and sparked a series of events that ultimately pushed many Germans into seeking a more reliable store of value. A WGC report said: “While the world fretted about Lehman Brothers, German investors worried about the state of their own banking system. “Landesbanks, the previously stable banking partners of corporate Germany, looked wobbly. People feared for their savings.”
Economic development in Germany has been strong over the past decade but investors have been very cautious about the risks to European financial and political systems. And the latest surge in demand for gold in Germany is being fuelled by fears of the economic impact of Brexit and Catalonian independence efforts, high public debt worldwide, successive bail-outs of Greece, fall-out from the migrant crisis and the resurgence of nationalist politics.
Hamas Leaders Reaffirm Goal of Destroying Israel
MIDDLE EAST - Hamas leaders newly returned from an official visit to Iran have hailed their restored ties with the Tehran regime, praising the Islamic Republic’s “making no secret” of the “exceptional support” it provides to the Palestinian terrorist organization.
In an interview with the Qatari-financed Al Jazeera broadcaster last week, Saleh al Arouri — the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau who led the delegation to Iran — explained, “It is well known that Iran supported the Lebanese resistance, until the Israeli occupation was driven out.” “I assure everyone that, with regard to the current and future situation of the resistance, the national reconciliation will never harm the resistance,” Abu Zuhri said.
Abu Zuhri continued: “In the arena of the fighting, the resistance is very strong, and can inflict heavy blows upon the Zionist enemy. We will invest all our efforts in obtaining all the tools and equipment needed for strength and might, so that we will be able to take back our rights from the enemies.”
While Israel has not cut ties with the PA over its reconciliation with Hamas, the Israeli government insists that the organization formally abandon terrorism and recognize Israel before it can be part of any peace negotiations.
Kenya election: Raila Odinga rejects 'sham' repeat vote
KENYA - Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has rejected the results of the re-run presidential election that saw Uhuru Kenyatta gaining a second term. Mr Odinga called it "a sham" but made no mention of any legal challenge. Mr Kenyatta won 98% of the vote with turnout under 40% - less than half that recorded in August's vote, largely because of an opposition boycott.
The Supreme Court annulled the first vote in August citing "irregularities and illegalities". In his first official reaction to the re-run, Mr Odinga called for a "national resistance movement" including the formation of a "people's assembly" to bring civil society groups together to "restore democracy". But he did not explain how that would work.
"This election must not stand. It will make a complete mockery of elections and might well be the end of the ballot as a means of instituting government in Kenya. It will completely destroy public confidence in the vote," he said.
“This Could Be Huge”: Gold Bar Certified By Royal Canadian Mint Exposed As Fake
CANADA - The last time there was a widespread physical gold counterfeiting scare was in the summer of 2012 when we reported the discovery of a single 10 oz Tungsten-filled gold bar in Manhattan's jewelry district led to a panic among the dealer community, which then resulted in local jewelry outlets discovering at least ten more fake 10-ounce "gold bars" filled with Tungsten. Fast forward to today when a similar instance of gold counterfeiting has been discovered, this time in Canada, and where the fake bar in question had been "certified" by the highest possible authority.
According to CBC, the Royal Canadian Mint is investigating how a sealed, "pure gold" wafer with proper mint stampings has emerged as a fake. According to the Canadian press, the one-ounce gold piece, which was supposed to be 99.99% pure, was purchased by an Ottawa jeweller on October 18 at a Royal Bank of Canada branch. The problem emerged when tests of the bar showed it may contain no gold at all. And, when neither the mint nor RBC would take the bar back, jeweler Samuel Tang contacted CBC news.
"Who is going to make sure those gold wafers are real?" asked Tang. "I am worried there are more of those gold wafers out there, and no one knows." Following the news, RBC felt an obligation to pick up the bar and returned it to the mint for testing, refunding Tang the $1,680 purchase price. The Royal Canadian Mint said in a statement to CBC it is in process of testing the bar, "although the appearance of the wafer and its packaging already suggests that it is not a genuine Royal Canadian Mint product."
"A currency counterfeiter doesn't make just one fake $50 bill," he said. "They make a whole lot of them. So I would suspect this might just be the tip of the iceberg."
Iran can hit all US bases in the region
IRAN - A top Iranian military commander has threatened to launch ballistic missile attacks on US forces in the region amid a public effort by the Islamic Republic to show off its advanced missile capabilities, according to US officials and regional reports. Iranian leaders disclosed that their advanced ballistic missile technology, which could be used as part of a nuclear weapons program, is sophisticated enough to strike US forces up to nearly 1,300 miles, or 2,000 kilometers, away, which encompasses all US bases in the region.
More students, young Americans turn to paganism
USA - As millennials continue to leave traditional Christian religions, interest in Wiccan and pagan practices have seen increased interest in recent years, a trend also spotted among young people and on college campuses. Pagan or Wiccan student groups are present on a number of college campuses — both secular and religious — across the nation. The growing normalization of such practices, albeit still a minority, corresponds with the decline in Christian believers, some observers note.
A recent report in Market Watch headlined “Why millennials are ditching religion for witchcraft and astrology” argues as much, for example. “Whether it be spell-casting, tarot, astrology, meditation and trance, or herbalism, these traditions offer tangible ways for people to enact change in their lives,” Melissa Jayne, owner of the Brooklyn-based “metaphysical boutique,” which has seen a big increase in 20-something customers in recent years, told Market Watch.
“For a generation that grew up in a world of big industry, environmental destruction, large and oppressive governments, and toxic social structures, all of which seem too big to change, this can be incredibly attractive,” she said.
Austrian MEP says populism is TAKING OVER continent
EUROPE - An Austrian MEP insisted that “most of Europe has moved to the right” following claims that a rise in populism could eventually destroy the European Union. MEP Eugen Freund admitted that he was “not surprised” at Austria's shock election results due to the populist wave sweeping across Europe. Austria faced an unexpected election result after right-wing party FPO grabbed 26 per cent of the vote in its parliamentary election on October 15. Former European Parliament President Martin Schultz warned at the start of the year that a rise in populism in Europe is a "virus" that could spell the end for the EU.
Beijing seen poised for fresh South China Sea assertiveness
CHINA - China has quietly undertaken more construction and reclamation in the South China Sea, recent satellite images show, and is likely to more powerfully reassert its claims over the waterway soon, regional diplomats and military officers say. With global attention focused on North Korea and Beijing engrossed in its Party Congress, tensions in the South China Sea have slipped from the headlines in recent months. but with none of the underlying disputes resolved and new images reviewed by Reuters showing China continuing to develop facilities on North and Tree islands in the contested Paracel islands, experts say the vital trade route remains a global flashpoint.
On Reformation milestone, experts detect ‘astounding’ thirst for unity
GERMANY - Two experts on the Catholic/Lutheran relationship, one Catholic and the other Lutheran, both say that joint commemorations of today's 500th anniversary of the launch of the Protestant Reformation reflect a strong yearning for unity in the grassroots, and may represent a new "springtime" in ecumenism, meaning the quest for Christian unity. Five hundred years ago today, tradition has it, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany, thereby triggering the Protestant Reformation that’s divided Western Christianity ever since. Today, two experts on each side of that Catholic/Lutheran divide say what they detect in the trenches is an “astounding” thirst for unity.
Germany marks 500th anniversary of Protestant Reformation
GERMANY - German leaders are meeting in Wittenberg to mark 500 years since Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation. Alongside ceremonies, a church service and light show in Wittenberg, events are underway across Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Saxony-Anhalt state Premier Reiner Haseloff will attend several ceremonies in Wittenberg — starting with an afternoon church service in the city's Castle Church and ending with a ceremony in the city hall in the evening.
The buried treasure that's tearing Alaska apart
CANADA - It is the question that pits neighbor against neighbor, tribe against tribe, and Republican against Republican. Should America risk the last great salmon run on Earth to dig what could be the richest mine on the planet? At the center of this question is the proposed Pebble Mine, a massive mineral deposit worth between $300 billion and $500 billion being pursued by the Canadian mining company Northern Dynasty and intended to be built in southwestern Alaska.
In 2001, Northern Dynasty purchased the property and discovered a mother lode near Lake Iliamna. Officials estimate that beneath that red spot lies 100 million ounces of gold and 80 billion pounds of copper spread deep and wide across this mass of breathtaking land. But to get it all, Northern Dynasty would need massive amounts of explosives and machinery to turn this pristine wetland into one of the biggest man-made holes in the world.
Along with new roads, ports and power lines, the process would also create lakes of toxic wastewater, tainted with sulfuric acid. Alaska's fisheries supply nearly half of the world's supply of sockeye salmon. "If pollution gets into that water supply," says Dan Schindler, head of the Alaska Salmon Program, "it's going to be nearly impossible to contain."
Insect Armageddon
UK - There is alarming new evidence that insect populations worldwide are in rapid decline. As Professor Dave Goulson of the University of Sussex, a co-author of a new insect study, put it, we are “on course for ecological Armageddon” because “if we lose the insects, then everything is going to collapse.”
The study, which tracked flying insects collected in nature preserves across Germany, found that in just 25 years, the total biomass of these insects declined by an astonishing 76 percent. The reasons for the decline are not entirely clear — and only flying insects were collected, so the fate of crawling insects, for example, is not known — but the scientists suspect two main culprits: the use of pesticides and a lack of habitat in surrounding farmland.
The disappearance of creepy, crawly, buzzing insects doesn’t elicit the kind of emotional response that, say, global warming’s threat to polar bears does. Many may be quick to say, “Good riddance!” But we cannot survive in a world without insects, as they are critical for pollinating our food and are themselves a food source for many fish, birds and reptiles. Insects are also nature’s scavengers and soil aerators.
Kim’s disaster
NORTH KOREA - North Korea nuclear tunnel collapses, ‘killing at least 200 people’ amid fears of a massive radioactive leak. The collapse happened at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country's north-east on October 10, according to reports… The disaster has prompted fears of a massive radioactive leak which could spark a Chernobyl or Fukushima style disaster. A North Korean official said the collapse happened during the construction of an underground tunnel, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports. Some 100 people are said to have been trapped by the initial tunnel collapse, with a further 100 lost in a second collapse during a rescue operation, Asahi reported Tuesday.
Will America’s Prosperity Be Completely Wiped Out By Our Growing Debt?
USA - The federal government is now 20.4 trillion dollars in debt, and most Americans don’t seem to care that the economic prosperity that we are enjoying today could be completely destroyed by our exploding national debt. Over the past decade, the national debt has been growing at a rate of more than 100 million dollars an hour, and this is a debt that all of us owe. When you break it down, each American citizen’s share of the debt is more than $60,000, and so if you have a family of five your share is more than $300,000.
And when you throw in more than 6 trillion dollars of corporate debt and nearly 13 trillion dollars of consumer debt, it is not inaccurate to say that we are facing a crisis of unprecedented magnitude. Debt cannot grow much faster than GDP indefinitely. At some point the bubble bursts, and when it does the pain that the middle class is going to experience is going to be off the charts.
Back in 2015, the middle class in the US became a minority of the population for the first time ever. Never before in our history has the middle class accounted for less than 50 percent of the population, and all over the country formerly middle class families are under a great deal of stress as they attempt to make ends meet.
We have all these unofficial debts that are massive compared to the official debt. We’re focused just on the official debt, so we’re trying to balance the wrong books… If you add up all the promises that have been made for spending obligations, including defense expenditures, and you subtract all the taxes that we expect to collect, the difference is $210 trillion. That’s the fiscal gap. That’s our true indebtedness.
Europe wants to create its OWN version of IMF
EUROPE - Europe could create its very own version of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a bid to grasp more power over failing Eurozone economies. The European Union is currently investigating ways to improve and increase the powers of the European Stability Mechanism, which helps eurozone countries who need to borrow money.
Ultimately, Brussels hopes the ESM could entirely replace the IMF in bailout scenarios - leaving the ESM and the European Commission to handle whatever new trouble might occur. The idea, backed by French President Emmanuel Macron, is to strengthen ties within the eurozone and make it more resilient to financial shocks.
And the move would see the bloc handed substantial new powers to monitor and enforce compliance during bailout programs while continuing to disburse funds. But the change would make Europe independent from the IMF, meaning the EU would be the one to react each time a euro currency country needs financial rescue.
Earlier this month, EU officials hosted talks in Luxembourg as part of a broader discussion on how to better organise the single currency area and integrate it more deeply after Britain leaves the European Union in 2019. Proposals include setting up a eurozone budget, appointing a eurozone finance minister and creating a eurozone subgroup in the European Parliament.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this section are not our own, unless specifically stated, but are provided to highlight what may prove to be prophetically relevant material appearing in the media.
