United States

US equity futures are unchanged, trading near record highs after digesting a spate of earnings results on Thursday. The dollar pared its weekly loss as the yen and pound slid, while gold headed for its longest slump in three months. European equities fell and markets in Asia were mixed, while markets in China, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam were closed Friday for the start of Lunar New Year. Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore had shortened sessions.

Submitted by Robert Parry via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

The world’s first pig human hybrid has been created in a laboratory at the Salk Institute in the United States.  Scientists say that this is the first ever successful human-animal hybrid experiment, proving that human cells can thrive inside of an animal host Nationalgeographic.com reports: This biomedical advance has long been a dream and a quandary for scientists hoping to address a critical shortage of donor organs. Every ten minutes, a person is added to the national waiting list for organ transplants. And every day, 22 people on that list die without the organ they need.

Authored by Paul Craig Roberts,

On several occasions I have asked in my columns the rhetorical question: What became of the left? Today I answer my question.

Submitted by Bill O'Grady via Confluence Investment Management,

One of the key elements of global hegemony is the ability of a nation to project power. Ideally, this means a potential hegemon needs local security. In other words, a nation that faces significant proximate threats will struggle to project power globally. As a general rule, it’s easier to attack via land compared to the sea.