War

Bill Gates has warned that tens of millions of people could die in global pandemic within the next 15 years. The richest man in the world warned world leaders in Munich on Saturday about the threat of biological warfare which he believes is not being taken seriously enough by world governments. During his speech at a Munich security conference, Gates said the international community needed to prepare for epidemics the way the military prepared for war, saying that bioterrorism could wipe out far more people than nuclear weapons.

Finnish Prime Minister Sauli Niinistö made it clear to CNBC last week that while Russia's actions involving Crimea must come to a peaceful resolution, the most important issues facing Europe right now are terrorism and migration. Despite Finland pledging $55 Million Euros to NATO, Niinistö also made it clear that European nations need to ultimately be responsible for their own security.

I think that Europeans start to understand that they have to take more responsibility of their own security, in spite of the fact that they are members of NATO.

Palestinians have been protesting the construction of Israeli settlements and a separation wall in the occupied West Bank. This month marks the eleventh year since Palestinians in Bilin started weekly protests against Israeli plans to build a concrete wall through village land. Villagers continue to demand their rights and an end to the Israeli occupation. Demonstrations took place on Friday in the villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin near the central city of Ramallah, and in the village of Kafr Qaddum near the northern city of Nablus.

The Huffington Post recently visited a monastery in southern France to interview Buddhist monks and nuns and ask for their advice on how best to deal with President Trump. Vietnam war activist and renowned Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh is an advocate of mindfulness and non violence. The Huffington Post interviewed the nuns and monks who practise Engaged Buddhism at the 90-year-old Zen master’s Plum Village monastery in southern France. What they learnt opened their minds. The fact that the world around us defines us and we define the world, hence all is one.

As the “information war” heats up between east and west, Russia’s Foreign Ministry wades in the battle by planning a fact-checking service of its own to debunk “fake news.” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova says that a fact-checking service will soon be launched that will collect and debunk any factually inaccurate international news stories that are put out by the “dishonest” western media. Her comments mirroring those of President Trump’s sentiments on “dishonest” U.S. media.