JAPAN - While Japan last month marked the 10th anniversary of the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami with solemn ceremonies, the government has also been stressing the successes of its recovery efforts in the country’s northeast. In truth, however, the country is still coping with the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, which has already cost Japan trillions of yen and whose exclusion zone will require up to 40 more years to fully rehabilitate. And with contaminated water continuing to build up at the ruined Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga says that the government must finally begin dumping it into the Pacific Ocean. With nuclear waste and fuel rods still contaminating the area, over one million tons of radioactive waste water continue to seep from the facility, according to The Japan Times, forcing authorities into what Suga describes as the “unavoidable” position of having to dump the water. But while Japanese officials say that the water will be safe, it remains an open question whether people will trust their word.

RUSSIA - Max Keiser interviews Egon von Greyerz of GoldSwitzerland.com about the impossibility of price discovery because of the paper gold market, in which $70 trillion is traded every year against $213 billion annual mine production. The BIS (Bank for International Settlements) and the bullion banks are constantly manipulating and intervening in the market, Greyerz says. “They have total immunity against any prosecution. They interfere in the gold market and, in my view, that’s because central banks don’t have the gold that they say they have,” he explains. “They have to constantly trade to pretend that there is still gold around.” He says that “in the old days,” gold was lent by central banks to bullion banks and kept in London while still belonging to central banks. Since then, everything has changed. “So, in my view, all of this massive trading activity is to basically disguise this fact that there isn’t enough physical gold around.”

UK - Scientists at Oxford University have suggested that people may need to have a coronavirus vaccination not once, not twice, but every time they want to travel out of their home country. The scientists published a report in the Royal Society Journal last week that acknowledged there is little data on how efficient or long lasting the current vaccines are, and so it is likely that countries will require a recent vaccination. Having endless vaccinations when there is no indication of how effective they are, or what long term side effects there may be sounds absolutely mental, but that is what is being suggested.

USA - Since Biden’s inauspicious rise to power, the world has become littered with hotspots from Ukraine to China where a major conflict could erupt at any time. Is the US deep state desperate to make up for four warless years? Coincidence or otherwise, the world feels like a much more dangerous place since Joe Biden formally entered the White House on January 20. Now that the ‘Make America Great Again’ bumper sticker has been removed from the US juggernaut, early indicators point to a global joyride riddled with dangerous standoffs and even full-blown hostilities that could spark the mother of all conflagrations.

IRAN - The power failure was described by Iran as “nuclear terrorism” as talks were underway in Vienna to restore the 2015 nuclear deal. A power failure that appeared to have been caused by a deliberately planned explosion struck Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment site on Sunday, in what Iranian officials called an act of sabotage that they suggested had been carried out by Israel. The blackout injected new uncertainty into diplomatic efforts that began last week to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal repudiated by the Trump administration. Iran did not say precisely what had caused the blackout at the heavily fortified site, which has been a target of previous sabotage, and Israel publicly declined to confirm or deny any responsibility. But American and Israeli intelligence officials said there had been an Israeli role. Two intelligence officials briefed on the damage said it had been caused by a large explosion that completely destroyed the independent — and heavily protected — internal power system that supplies the underground centrifuges that enrich uranium.

ISRAEL - Israel plays an indispensable role in helping defend American interests in the Middle East, serving as a stabilizing bulwark in a dangerous region that remains vitally important to the US. Israel's determination to prevent a nuclear Iran represents significant leverage for American diplomats in negotiations with Tehran. If wielded skillfully by American negotiators, this leverage can play an essential role in pressuring Iran to dramatically curb its nuclear ambitions.

CHINA - Beijing on Friday issued new threats against Taiwan at a time of near unprecedented tensions around the island nation, saying its military "won't stand a chance" if China chose to invade. The threat comes amid a series of provocative actions and warnings in recent days by the Chinese military – the People's Liberation Army or PLA – including a series of air and naval incursions into territory that Taiwan claims as its own. Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade province of mainland China, not a sovereign nation. “...the people of Taiwan are dashing into a war that they cannot win." However American military officials have in recent weeks raised increased warnings about the threat China poses to Taiwan, publicly expressing fears that Beijing may move to reunite the island nation with the mainland by force in the near future.

USA - It hardly made the evening news, but the New York Times reported last week that after twenty years of fighting the Taliban are confident that they will fully control Afghanistan before too long whether or not the United States decides to leave some kind of residual force in the country after May 1st. The narrative is suggestive of The Mouse that Roared, lacking only Peter Sellers to put the finishing touches on what has to be considered a great humiliation for the US, which has a “defense” budget that is larger than the combined military spending of the next seven countries in order of magnitude. Those numbers include both Russia and China. The Taliban, on the other hand, have no military budget to speak of. That enormous disparity, un-reflected in who has won and lost, has to nurture concerns that it is the world’s only superpower, admittedly self-proclaimed, which is incapable of actually winning a war against anyone.

USA - You might still be reeling from the news that personal information from 533 million Facebook accounts has been made freely available online. But now there’s another huge batch of people’s data floating around the web — including data from LinkedIn, the Microsoft-owned social network confirmed. And the potential scope of the leak is huge: an individual selling the data on a hacker forum claims it was scraped from 500 million LinkedIn profiles, according to CyberNews. In a purported sample of two million of the profiles for sale, LinkedIn members’ full names, email addresses, phone numbers, genders, and more were visible, CyberNews found.

ST VINCENT - St Vincent’s La Soufrière volcano continued erupting on Monday with a particularly powerful new blast reported at the site, which sent pyroclastic flows hurtling down its sides on a path of destruction. No deaths or injuries have been reported following a huge eruption from La Soufrière on Monday morning. The explosion was reportedly much greater than the first eruption on Friday. Erouscilla Joseph, the director of the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Centre, told the Associated Press that “anybody who has not heeded the evacuation needs to get out immediately… It’s destroying everything in its path.” Monday’s explosion sent ash and gases spewing into the sky, masking the sun and covering the ground in snow-like volcanic debris. The eruptions over the last three days have forced more than 16,000 people to evacuate their homes, and even the neighboring island of Barbados has been covered in a thick layer of volcanic dust.

UK - A document presented to SAGE called for an increase in the 'perceived threat' of Covid using 'hard-hitting emotional messages', reports claim today. Psychologists have accused Downing Street of using 'covert psychological strategies' to emphasise the threat from Covid-19 without contextualising the risks, the Telegraph reported. It was said this created 'a state of heightened anxiety', adding many people became 'too frightened to attend hospital'. Experts fear Britons have been the subject of an experiment in the use of tactics which operate 'below their level of awareness,' it was said.

UK - BBC TV show Blue Peter is incentivising youngsters to reduce their meat intake to fight climate change. Is it really the role of a television programme to tell impressionable kids what to eat? Finally, there has been a bit of a backlash to the anti-meat crusade promoted by the BBC children’s programme Blue Peter. Numerous farmers and parents have reacted after the show urged its young viewers to go vegetarian as part of its climate change challenge. Apparently, kids can now work towards a Blue Peter ‘green badge’ by choosing a vegetarian option for a meal. The show’s website suggests that embracing this approach is a marker of “true climate hero behaviour.” One farmer, Andrew Ward MBE, complained, “Bloody diabolical. The BBC do not have any morals. Targeting children to push the anti-meat agenda is a new low.”

UK - A UK activist wants to make veganism protected like a religion, unleashing the zealots. British ‘ethical vegan’ Jordi Casamitjana hopes to have his whole movement recognized by an employment tribunal as a protected belief, similar to a religious faith – which could give vegan zealots free rein in the workplace. Casamitjana says he was fired from his job because of his beliefs – he disclosed to other employees at the League Against Cruel Sports that it invested its pension funds in firms involved in animal testing. He couldn’t leave well enough alone because he is an ‘ethical vegan’ – someone who doesn’t just avoid animal products, but also holds veganism as a “philosophy and a belief system”, and, apparently, feels the need to spread it around. During hearings on Thursday and Friday, Casamitjana hopes to convince an Employment Tribunal that his beliefs should enjoy the same status as long-established religions such as Christianity, Judaism or Islam. Beyond merely vindicating the man in his job dispute, the process could end up opening the door to endowing veganism with the authority of the sacred.

UK - You’ve probably heard of transphobia or xenophobia or islamophobia. Well, welcome to the latest invented fashionable phobia, vegaphobia! Vegaphobia refers to meat-eating purveyors of hate, who dislike and fear vegans. Veganism loves to present itself as a brave progressive doctrine fighting off hordes of uneducated angry carnivores. In reality, it is the ideology of veganism which promotes a religion of hate. Veganism is unashamedly intolerant. Anti-meat campaigners are not prepared to allow others to decide for themselves what they should eat. That is why activists upholding the ideology of veganism feel entitled to invade supermarkets and prevent people from gaining access to the meat counter. They are zealously intolerant towards people who choose to adopt a diet that is at variance with their ideology. Veganism has become an unpleasant and sanctimonious ideology that directs its energies towards imposing its lifestyle on society.

USA - I am a trans woman – but I think this woke world has gone too far. Trans people have lost the plot. Every day, an increasing amount of absurdity floods in as they do more harm than good. They scream for acceptance without realizing that the ones damaging their image aren't bigots, but themselves. From anger directed at celebrities for the rational belief that parents shouldn't decide whether their three-year-old is trans, to a culture of outrage that freaks out at the most minor of offenses, transgender activists have become detrimental to my, and others', very existence.