Politics

In apparent response to Trump's promise of "fire and fury" in the event of any threat to the United States from North Korea, Pyongyang has said it is "carefully examining" a plan to attack the U.S. Territory of Guam, saying they will engulf the island with an "enveloping fire".

As well as being home to over 162 thousand people, Statista's Martin Armstrong notes that Guam is of key strategic importance to the U.S. military.

You will find more statistics at Statista

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

This week the Syrian Army has been pounding the last al-Qaeda held district of Damascus, and as Alarabiya TV reports, an all out ground assault by the army is looking "imminent". Jobar lies within the Syrian capital's eastern side and extends close to the center of the city. The district has been held by armed opposition groups since 2013, and quickly became ground zero for al-Qaeda presence in Damascus over the past years.

Authored by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,

Amid a two-day tumble in stocks, Taipei-based Economic Daily News reports that the Taiwanese government unleashed its 'Plunge Protection Team' yesterday as the local stock market fell on growing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.

Eight Taiwan government-run banks bought combined net NT$1.96 billion (around US$65 million) of shares Wednesday to stall the slump...