While we await the announcement of the trade war nuke - namely tariffs against China - moments ago the US Trade Representative announced the launch of a WTO challenge to Indian export subsidy programs, in the latest global trade skirmish which is likely to grow into something far bigger.

In Pisciarelli-Agnano, at least one nursery school had been evacuated already by 2.30pm when the largest tremor was felt by pupils, parents and residents.

The Director of the Vesuvius Observatory, Dr Francesca Bianco, has made an effort to calm fears among local residents as the tremors cause disruption to schools and local businesses.

Dr Bianco clearly took the view that in her capacity as Director of the Vesuvius Observatory, it was right to issue a statement that sought to clarify the situation for those residents who might have been affected.

In her statement, Dr Bianco suggested that nobody should be frightened by the tremors they might have felt over recent hours and that this situation - with earthquakes and tremors affecting the region - has been going on for a number of years.

The results of the general election in Italy, which has always been an ardent supporter of the European project, showed that Italian voters support the eurosceptic parties, as the country's center-right coalition achieved a historic result, only just falling short of gaining an outright majority.

"Last Sunday's vote shows that the emperor wears no clothes," Matteo Salvini, the head of the re-branded Italian party The League, stated. He was referring to the results of the vote, which reflected increasing eurosceptic attitudes toward the European Union amid mass migration from Africa and a struggling economy.

"European policies have robbed us of the right to a future and to hope," the politician added.

Millions of clocks across Europe are running more than six minutes late because of diplomatic tensions between Serbia and Kosovo. The situation is so bad it is literally impacting the European electrical grid.

Unlike normal wall clocks and watches, which keep time using quartz crystals, electric clocks use the frequency of the power grid to keep time. Europe’s huge interconnected network, which spans from Spain to Turkey and from Poland to The Netherlands, is run at a frequency of 50 Hz, or 50 cycles per second.

Supply and demand can cause the frequency to rise and fall fractionally, but it always averages out to 50 Hz. If you’re really interested you can actually watch the grid frequency live on Swissgrid’s website.

The Council of the European Union announced on Monday it was extending sanctions "over actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity" of Ukraine for six months.

"On 12 March 2018, the Council prolonged the restrictive measures over actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for a further six months, until 15 September 2018. The measures consist of asset freezes and travel restrictions. They continue to apply to 150 persons and 38 entities. An assessment of the situation did not justify a change in the sanctions regime," the statement read.

Other restrictive measures of the EU in response to the crisis in Ukraine include economic sanctions targeting some sectors of Russia's economy, as well as measures limited to the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, which rejoined Russia in 2014.

In the trade dispute between the US and Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel still sees hope for discussion and dialogue, she told reporters in Berlin at a joint briefing with the leaders of the parties that will make part of Germany's future government.

Merkel stressed that Europe must be ready to respond to the US unilateral actions such as imposition of trade tariffs, but the focus should remain on talks.

"If this unilateral action cannot be avoided, then we must think about how we can respond in a reciprocal fashion but I prioritize dialogue in the first place and there will be an opportunity for it," Merkel said.

Amid the migrant crisis and growing spending on refugees, Brussels is going to press transit or countries of origin to take back failed asylum seekers, threatening them with travel limitations for insufficient cooperation.

The European Commission is set to propose a new legislation for non-members to make them take back those refugees, who didn’t receive asylum, according to the German outlet Die Welt. The change in the existing visa codex, which is slated to be published on March 14, will deny visas to citizens of countries, which fail to cooperate.

This introduces two-step measures: first, visas will be denied to elites, including diplomats and service passport holders for three months. Then, if this period isn’t enough to fix the disagreements, the restrictions will hit all citizens as the number of consulate services will be reduced, e.g. with fewer working hours.

It seems that Germany may face the consequences of Turkey's ongoing military operation against the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria’s northwestern Afrin region.

Citing the Turkish military's Operation Olive Branch in Syria's Afrin, a Germany-based left-wing Kurdish youth group has threatened to turn European streets into "rubble and ash," according to Deutsche Welle.

The warning came after pro-Kurdish protesters clashed with police across Germany late last week, which prompted Ankara to urge Berlin to take measures to protect Turkish citizens living in Germany.

A country’s sovereignty is becoming the driving force of so many changes in the geopolitical sphere, today. Whether it is Brexit, surprise electoral victories in central Europe or a change in trade deals, sovereignty is at the forefront of so many of these decisions.

One of the first indicators that there was a change in the water when it comes to globalisation and international cooperation was through central bank gold buying and repatriation.

For some time now many central banks have been working on building up their gold reserves and ensuring they are stored on soil it believes to be safe and trustworthy.

The most recent central bank to make this change is that of Hungary. Last week it was announced that it intends to bring 100,000 ounces of its very limited 5 tonnes gold reserves, back home from the Bank of England.

Steve Bannon continues his tour of Europe, energizing the anti-establishment populist base, and the mainstream media cannot help but admit their admiration for his abilities, despite their dislike of his aims.

Jean-Claude Juncker’s chief of staff (pictures above, right) has engineered a dramatic “coup”, installing himself as the new Secretary-General of the European Commission, in what one senior Eurocrat has called “an impeccably prepared and audacious power-grab” at the top of the European Union.

RADICAL plans for Eurozone reform championed by France and Germany have been put on hold, with the two countries failing to even express support for their own proposals ahead of a major summit later this month.

POLAND’S eurosceptic movement is ret to trigger the Eastern European country following Britain out of the European Union, a former Polish minister has warned.

n ambitious plan to build a railway between Rovaniemi in Finland and Kirkenes in Norway that would serve as an Arctic gateway for China’s Belt and Road project has beaten other competing proposals and has been selected by Finnish and Norwegian transport officials for further study. The link is designed to connect northern Europe with China and Russia’s Arctic Ocean deep-water ports.

Finland’s Ministry of Transport and Communications said on March 9 that the US$3.4 billion plan, drafted by a group of Finnish academics and business leaders, is the one that best addresses the country’s logistical, accessibility and supply-security issues. The proposal for a routing to the Arctic Ocean via Oulu, Rovaniemi and Kirkenes was also found to be less costly.

Mainstream parties dubbed far right by media are storming the citadels of the globalist liberal-left. The generation destined to suffer the loss of their homelands to Islamic multi-culturalism are increasingly voting for sanity.

THE European Union face the biggest threat yet, according to a German political correspondent, who claims that Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron's EU agenda could be demolished by next year's European elections.

A member of Poland’s ruling party has called on Israel’s ambassador to leave the country after alluding to a rise in anti-semitism. A new law criminalizing blaming Poland for Nazi crimes created tensions between the two states.

Prof. Jan Zaryn, senator for Law and Justice (PiS), was angered by suggestions that the actions of Poland’s ruling party were reminiscent of the widespread persecution of Jews carried out by the Communist Party in 1968. In an interview on Friday with wPolshe, Zaryn was clearly referring to the Israeli ambassador, Anna Azari, when he outlined, “if this is done by the ambassador of a foreign state, then maybe we have to ask this lady to leave this country.”

US President Donald Trump’s recent imposition of trade protectionist measures – specifically tariffs on steel and aluminum imports – have drawn widespread criticism, particularly from China and the European Union. Meanwhile, Germany’s Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party has taken a more understanding and supportive stance.

Kay Gottschalk, a member of the German Bundestag, who also serves as the AfD party’s deputy spokesman, defended Trump’s import tariffs, while describing his strategy as "clever."

"The EU Commission is shouting loudly because Trump charges punitive tariffs. It raises itself as the grail-keeper of free world trade, defending indirectly the abominable consequences of globalization: pollution, wage dumping and tax avoidance of large corporations. Trump's clever strategy is obvious. He destroys existing contracts so that he can replace them with new and better ones," Mr. Gottschalk was quoted as saying by an official AfD press release.

NIGEL FARAGE has accused the European Union of “total rank hypocrisy” for complaining after President Donald Trump announced import tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium.

British cops are unlikely to probe Keith Vaz’s property empire not least because of a rule protecting politicians from scrutiny placed in UK law at the behest of the European Union. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen asked the National Crime Agency to serve an unexplained wealth order on Vaz. Fortunately for Vaz measures put into the Criminal Finances Act (2017) mean politicians in the EEA can only be served with such an order if there is sufficient suspicion that they are involved in serious organised criminality. The Act states that to impose an order the High Court must:

“Be satisfied that the respondent is a politically exposed person, or there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that—(i) the respondent is, or has been, involved in serious crime (whether in a part of the Uited Kingdom or elsewhere), or (ii) a person connected with the respondent is, or has been, so involved […]

Survey data shows Poland’s patriotic, conservative government enjoying a huge lead in the polls, with the europhile opposition trailing by 30 points.

The European Commission has taken the extraordinary step of threatening to sue the United Kingdom if President Trump exempts Britain from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium.

The U.S. President has suggested that the tariffs — designed to protect the American aluminium and steelworkers from foreign dumping, as their industry is a strategic asset — will not be applied to all of America’s allies, with NAFTA members Canada and Mexico already being offered exemptions.

But the European Commission — the unelected body with acts as the EU’s executive as well as the sole initiator of EU-level legislation — has reacted with fury to British trade secretary Liam Fox suggesting that the United Kingdom will try to “maximise the UK’s case” for a similar exemption and threatened to sue the country if it does not suffer along with the rest of the bloc, the Telegraph reports.

DURING a hearing before the US Senate Armed Forces Committee, NATO Commander for Europe, General Kurtis Skaparoti, said that strengthening Russian influence in Europe is a major problem both on the civilian and military fronts, especially in the Western Balkans.

He said that Russia is using relations with the Republika Srpska leaders to undermine the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

General Skaparoti emphasized that Russia is trying to prevent the Euro-Atlantic path of some countries in the region, and added that the international community and the US are a guarantor of stability in the Balkans.

A prominent member of the European Parliament is demanding an official investigation into the role of a high-level European Union civil servant in an Israel lobby smear campaign targeting her.

Ana Gomes, a center-left lawmaker from Portugal, is being denounced by Israel lobby groups as anti-Semitic after she publicly criticized them for attempting to block her from hosting Palestinian human rights campaigner Omar Barghouti for a talk at the European Parliament in Brussels last week.

Austria’s president has demanded explanations over police raids targeting offices and staff of the main domestic intelligence service, in a case that has stoked concerns about the far right’s control of the Interior Ministry.

Tens of thousands of Slovaks rallied on Friday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government following the murder of a journalist that has shocked the central European nation and stoked anger over sleaze in public life.

British politics and culture feel nostalgic about the Commonwealth and hope to rekindle the old relationship. But the reality is not so simple.

POLAND'S Prime Minister has revealed the 12 countries that are ready to mount a revolt against the establishment EU agenda set by Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, in what could be a fundamental power shift in Brussels.

If there is a European election, and the anti-establishment parties score a stunning victory (as just happened in Italy, and a few months prior, in Austria), who're you gonna blame? Vladimir Putin (of course)!

That's what Samantha Power, one of the top diplomats in the Obama administration, did when she shared an article by Spain's El Pais newspaper about how Russia predetermined the outcome of Sunday's election by spinning an immigration discourse in Italy: "Italy’s joins long list of elections influenced by Russia. Sputnik will do what Sputnik does. The question is: what are our democracies going to do about it? Will voters repudiate candidates who seek to benefit from Russian interference?"

Belgian authorities have discovered the disappearance of 10 billion euros of frozen Libyan assets kept in the Euroclear Bank during the period 2013 to 2017, according to the Le Vif weekly paper.

According to Le Vif magazine, these funds were controlled by the inner circle of ousted and killed Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi.

Over 16 billion euros were located in four accounts opened for the Libyan Investment Authority and Libyan Foreign Investment Company.

The Belgian authorities found the disappearance of a significant part of these funds in the fall of 2017, when an investigation into money laundering sought to seize the 16 billion euros. It turned out that on the four accounts just over 5 billion euros remained.

The European Commission has heavily criticized seven EU states for their aggressive tax policies. EU economic affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici has pointed the finger at Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands, arguing that they offer complex tax schemes to help international companies avoid high taxes.

The US Army has started a massive artillery exercise, involving thousands of troops from NATO nations as well as heavy howitzers, multiple launch rocket systems and mortars.

Some 3,700 troops from 26 NATO member states, including the US, the UK, France and Germany, have arrived at Grafenwoehr range (in Germany) along with their heavy weapons, according to US Army Europe’s (USAEUR) training command. The exercise Dynamic Front 18, which will last until March 10, has a stated goal to “develop the capabilities of US and allied fires units to operate side-by-side, from identifying targets at a multinational, theater-level command to tactical units.”

Putin in the documentary "World Order 2018" spoke about the events after the unification of the two Germans, pointing out that Russia not only contributed to this, but also withdrew troops from Eastern Europe.

As he said, it did so in the expectation that after the termination of the Warsaw treaty, the cease-fire would cease to exist, or, at the very least, that this organization will not expand and that, as he said, tectonic changes in the system of international relations as a whole .

"As we see, it did not happen. It turned out that under the cover of this ideological confrontation, a geopolitical struggle is going, a struggle for geopolitical interests. Secondly, the old world order created after the Second World War and based on that power distribution has actually disappeared and everything had to be changed from scratch, "Putin said.
He estimated that from there came all nihilism to international law and the role of the UN.

The 23-year-old Afghan asylum seeker who was arrested in connection with the stabbings of four people Wednesday night in Vienna has confessed to the attacks, saying he stabbed them because he was “in a bad mood”.
The man was arrested Wednesday night after two separate stabbing attacks in Leopoldstadt, the second district of Vienna.

During his police interrogation, he said that the first attack was motivated by his “bad mood” over his life situation. The second attack was related to the Vienna drug scene and the Afghan blamed the fourth victim for his drug addiction.

THE European Union has issued a major warning to Italy and said the country's economy is still suffering from imbalances amid growing tensions between Brussels and Rome following the triumph of populist parties at the Italian election on Sunday.

The European Union will within a few years be supplying electricity to Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank and Syria’s Golan Heights, all of which are illegal under international law.

That is what will happen when a major EU-backed infrastructure project, the EuroAsia Interconnector, is completed.

This is a subsea cable system that will connect the Israeli electricity grid to Europe via Greece and Cyprus.

This “energy highway” will create “a reliable alternative route for the transfer of electric energy to and from Europe,” according to the project website.

HUNDREDS of treaties have been shrouded in doubt after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that an arbitration clause in investment protection agreements violates EU law.

Four months after the controversial referendum law was passed, the Netherlands is all set to hold a non-binding referendum in March 2018 over the legislation giving law enforcement authorities ‘mass-surveillance’ powers, the Dutch Voting Commission said on November 1, 2017.

As per a report published in Reuters, digital privacy advocates, activists, politicians, and media groups want to overturn the data-slurping “tapping law” which was passed by the Dutch Senate in July, after years of debate and allowed intelligence agencies to gather data en masse from large groups of people.

While emphasizing that the public referendum was ‘purely consultative’, the Dutch Electoral Council said that if more than 30 percent of the electorate vote in the favor and a majority oppose the law, the government would re-examine the proposal.

Last week, Russia's state-run gas giant and quasi-monopolist when it comes to European natiral gas supplies, Gazprom, announced it would not restart shipments of natural gas to Ukraine's Naftogaz starting March 1 after the two sides failed to reach an agreement, Gazprom deputy chairman, Alexander Medvedev, told journalists.

EMMANUEL Macron has admitted the Italian election result was a brutal reminder to Europe that Italy's citizens were left to "suffer for months and months" over migration pressures.

"Third world" residents may indeed travel to the Western world, but once they are there, few of them can actually do any better than obtain subsidized jobs, a phenomenon reproduced from generation to generation. The best thing to do, therefore, is to pay immigrants to go home again, Danish historian and politician Morten Uhrskov Jensen wrote in a controversial opinion piece in the newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

Uhrskov Jensen argued that the problem of "third-world immigrants" was "insoluble." As long as they themselves and their children stay in Denmark, a country of fewer than 5.8 million which as he put it, "received nearly half a million third-world immigrants," their inability to support themselves is repeated in the coming generations, he argued.

With final results in from Sunday’s national elections in Italy, the depth of the defeat for the left can be fully appreciated with the resignation of the leader of the Democratic Party (PD) and the severely diminished presence of the center-left coalition in Parliament.

The Italian elections have resulted in the predicted swing against the centre-left pro-EU Democratic Party, the successor of Italy’s once mighty Communist Party – the party of Togliatti and Gramsci – and today the Party of outgoing Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

From a position in 2008, when the Democratic Party won 37% of the vote in the parliamentary elections of that year, it fell to 25% of the vote in the elections of 2013, and has no fallen further to just 19% of the vote in the elections which have been held now.

THOUSANDS of protestors have taken to the streets in Prague after the Czech government endorsed a controversial former Communist-era police officer as the country's new police oversight chief.

The U.S. Navy has increased its Mediterranean fleet, just a couple of weeks before Exxon is due to send two surveying vessels to explore offshore Cyprus near the area where Turkey blocked an Eni drilling ship from prospecting in February, Turkish news outlet Ahval reports.

NIGEL FARAGE has claimed the Italian election result could crush the European Union after Luigi di Maio’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement secured 32.5 percent of the vote – becoming the first single party in Italy.