China’s birth rate last year fell to its lowest since the founding of the People’s Republic of China 70 years ago, official data showed on Monday, as looser population controls fail to encourage couples to have more babies. Source: Reuters World News

Russia’s communication watchdog said on Monday it was opening administrative proceedings against Twitter and Facebook for failing to comply with data laws, the Interfax news agency reported. Source: Reuters World News

Ireland will not engage in bilateral talks on Brexit and will only negotiate as part of the 27 remaining members of the European Union, Ireland’s European Affairs Minister Helen McEntee said on Monday. Source: Reuters World News

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday will try to crack the deadlock over Brexit by setting out proposals in parliament that are expected to focus on winning more concessions from the European Union. Source: Reuters World News

German Europe Minister Michael Roth urged Britain on Monday to think about reviewing its decision to leave the European Union. Source: Reuters World News

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has urged Britain to act in a serious and matter-of-fact way to find a solution on Brexit and he stressed the responsibility that Britain bears in doing so. Source: Reuters World News

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Monday that he was upbeat a hard Brexit could be avoided but stressed that the German government was prepared for all possibilities. Source: Reuters World News

In late December, on the leafy streets of China’s prestigious Peking University, a handful of students held up banners to protest against a takeover of the campus Marxist society by the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated Student Association. Source: Reuters World News

Minority Muslims in the southern Philippines cast votes on Monday in a long-awaited referendum on autonomy, the culmination of a peace process to end decades of separatist conflict in a region plagued by poverty, banditry and Islamist extremism. Source: Reuters World News

A Chinese scientist who said he made the world’s first “gene-edited” babies intentionally evaded oversight and broke national guidelines in a quest for fame and fortune, according to a government investigation quoted in state media on Monday. Source: Reuters World News

Visitors to Glenelg are treated to a rare encounter when a curious black labrador is spotted frolicking in an Adelaide river with a playful dolphin. Source: ABC News Australia

As students across New South Wales head back to class next week, around 9,000 of them will be walking into brand new schools and classrooms under the NSW Government’s multi-billion-dollar strategy to ease overcrowding. Source: ABC News Australia

A Melbourne doctor alleges police assaulted her after she sought to help a barely conscious and bleeding man who was surrounded by officers — and that they then covered up the brutality. Source: ABC News Australia

An Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group in Mali claims responsibility for an attack that killed 10 United Nations peacekeepers in the north of the country. Source: ABC News Australia

The fast-food outlet will not be able to reopen its Broadway store until health inspectors are satisfied the vermin cannot re-enter, after video emerged of five of them scurrying over the floor and machinery. Source: ABC News Australia

Samantha Connor says she had to sit on stage next to a performer at Perth’s Fringe World Festival because the show did not have proper disability access, despite being advertised as wheelchair-friendly. Source: ABC News Australia

Australian Oliver Bridgeman, whose passport was cancelled in 2016 as authorities accused him of going to Syria with a plan to engage in “hostile activities”, now says it is a “blessing in disguise”, while also revealing he is now married. Source: ABC News Australia

Stargazers in Europe and the Americas are treated to a very-rare celestial phenomenon in the early hours of this morning — a super blood wolf moon. Source: ABC News Australia

The cyclone risk is elevating. The rains are picking up. After a tardy start to the wet season, the Top End is nearly ready to welcome what it’s long been waiting for. Source: ABC News Australia

More South Korean female skaters say they were sexually abused by their coaches following explosive claims by two-time Olympic champion Shim Suk-hee, who says she has been raped by her former coach since she was a teen, a group representing athletes disclosed. Source: ABC News Australia

Source: Veterans Today

Japanese tidying aficionado Marie Kondo is on to something: clutter can affect our anxiety levels, sleep, and ability to focus. But it doesn’t end there, writes Libby Sanders. Source: ABC News Australia

Alexander Zverev puts in an uncharacteristically mistake-ridden performance in a 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) Australian Open loss, serving up 10 double faults to give Milos Raonic a huge leg-up. Source: ABC News Australia

A teenage motorcyclist who was allegedly struck by a police car in Adelaide tells the court the vehicle “went over me, spat the bike out and dragged me between the footpath and the kerb” as his friend describes the police officer as “very aggressive”. Source: ABC News Australia

A South Australian politician says he is “disgusted” by videos on display outside of a strip club across the road from Parliament and will be making a complaint to Adelaide City Council. Source: ABC News Australia

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and … Continue reading → Source: The Last Refuge

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those … Continue reading → Source: The Last Refuge

The chairman of the Tiwi Land Council, who escaped a conviction for bringing alcohol into a dry community, calls on others to learn from his mistake. Source: ABC News Australia

In her resignation from politics, Kelly O’Dwyer said she feared another miscarriage in Canberra, far from home. Her announcement is shocking for more than just party-political reasons, writes Emma A. Jane. Source: ABC News Australia

A website detailing the location and contact details of Australian farms causes outrage in the industry with claims it is an invasion of privacy. Source: ABC News Australia

To mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day a group of academics, journalists, lawyers, Hollywood artists, activists, researchers and intellectuals, including two of Robert F. Kennedy’s children, are calling for new investigations into four assassinations of the 1960s. On the occasion… Read more → Source: Consortium News

A Challenge to Pepe Escobar: Source: Veterans Today

An Adelaide photographer who was dragged 60 metres down a road trapped under a van forgives his assailants, a court hears. Source: ABC News Australia

Experts fear for the health of Goulburn River in north-east Victoria as unseasonal flows are sent downstream to help meet water demands from towns, irrigators and the environment. Source: ABC News Australia

China’s economic growth has slowed in line with forecasts by economists, but many analysts warn the slowdown is far more serious than official figures show. Source: ABC News Australia

The baseline when reviewing economic data from China is to remember the entire economy is controlled by the communist central government.  If they say the economy is “less strong” than previously expected, generally we can anticipate the truth is much … Continue reading → Source: The Last Refuge

Editor’s note:  I don’t really know what to say, illiterate, insane?  This was obviously written by a lunatic.g Well, the Democrats will be happy to hear Honduras is set to launch another caravan of freeloaders, gangbangers, drug smugglers, rapists, murderers, ne’re do wells, and wannabee societal moochers toward the southern border of the United States. […]

An important interview between Judiciary Committee member John Ratcliffe (R – TX) as he discusses the likely motive behind why Mueller decided to talk out against the Buzzfeed report.  Representative Ratcliffe points to the testimony of AG nominee William Barr … Continue reading → Source: The Last Refuge

Understanding that Michael Cohen is the first pre-planned Democrat House interview, first step, within a longer ‘impeachment’ strategy, it becomes easier to see why MSM are all-in to help build the false basis for the initial obstruction snowball. In 2015/2016 … Continue reading → Source: The Last Refuge

Toxic fourth wave feminism on parade at Soros-funded rampage. Source: InfoWars Feed

There are two distinct narrative angles that are intersecting in the current weekend talk venues.  One is the government shutdown and how the resistance is attempting to gain maximum political benefit against the White House.  The second is how the … Continue reading → Source: The Last Refuge

Uninformed and misinformed leftists view themselves as unfortunate, underpaid, underappreciated victims of capitalism. Source: InfoWars Feed

Jim W. Dean – Bibi has already said he will not step down, even if indicted, but that could give his political opponents inside Likud a shot at taking the top slot. Source: Veterans Today

Deep State kingpins reject Trump’s border deal as plot to remove Trump enters final phase. Source: InfoWars Feed

After President Trump put an offer on the table that was rejected by democrat leaders, Vice President Mike Pence appears on CBS Face the Nation to debate the stalemate with resistance advocate Margaret Brennan. Source: The Last Refuge

Police charge five people in connection with a syndicate that allegedly stole $1 million worth of baby formula and vitamins around Sydney and sold them on the black market overseas. Source: ABC News Australia

Turkey is ready to take over security in Syria’s Manbij, President Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone call on Sunday, the Turkish presidency said in a statement. Source: Reuters World News

Four men were arrested on Sunday over a car bomb attack in Northern Ireland’s Londonderry and police are looking into whether the New IRA militant group was responsible, officers said. Source: Reuters World News

A blast at a gasoline pipeline in Mexico that killed at least 79 people has put renewed attention on the government’s strategy to stop fuel theft, with some relatives saying fuel shortages stemming from the plan led victims to risk their lives. Source: Reuters World News

Nearly a month after Mexico’s new president launched an ambitious plan to stamp out growing fuel theft, the strategy meant to crush corruption and organized crime is under heightened scrutiny. Source: Reuters World News

Roaring along Baghdad’s highways, the “Iraq Bikers” are doing more than showing off their love of outsized motorcycles and black leather: they want their shared enthusiasm to help heal Iraq’s deep sectarian rifts. Source: Reuters World News

Shocking video emerges of a Victorian police officer assaulting a drunk man inside Geelong Police Station, but the victim of the assault claims that more damning than his treatment was the subsequent handling of the matter by authorities. Source: ABC News Australia

Two more men were arrested on Sunday over a car bomb attack in Northern Ireland’s Londonderry, police said, bringing to four the number in custody related to the investigation. Source: Reuters World News

Left in tizzy over debunked viral video showing pro-Trump students face off with Native American activist. Source: InfoWars Feed

To mark his second year in office Donald Trump reveals his 2020 campaign slogan ‘Promises made, promises kept’, which says a lot about the President and his determination about the border wall. Source: ABC News Australia

All “allergic” patients should be evaluated, review concludes by Salynn Boyles, Contributing Writer Taking a careful history of past reactions to penicillin that led to allergic designations is key to distinguishing between truly allergic patients and those who can still be treated with the antibiotic, according to a new review. Studies suggest that around 95% […]

Ten U.N. peacekeepers from Chad were killed and at least 25 were wounded while repelling an attack by armed assailants near a village in northern Mali on Sunday, the West African nation’s U.N. mission and the United Nations said. Source: Reuters World News

Parliament cannot be allowed to hijack Brexit, Trade Minister Liam Fox said on Sunday, in a warning to lawmakers who want to take more control over Britain’s departure from the European Union. Source: Reuters World News

Rudy Giuliani says the US President may have pursued a business deal to erect a tower bearing his name in Moscow as late as October or November in 2016, just months before his famous election victory over Hillary Clinton. Source: ABC News Australia

Visits to the Black Sea by U.S. warships have nothing to do with U.S. security and are motivated by domestic politics, prominent Russian senator Alexei Pushkov said on Sunday, warning they should stay away from the Russian coast. Source: Reuters World News

Grief, suicide, loss of income — a rural psychologist sees it all, and fears that people in the bush are going under the radar, despite billions of dollars in mental health funding. Source: ABC News Australia

Source: Veterans Today

Rare waterbirds appear to be increasingly moving into South Australia to escape dry conditions in northern areas of the country, according to wildlife experts. Source: ABC News Australia

On Thursday BuzzFeedNews delivered the latest “bombshellâ€? Russia-gate report to fizzle within 24 hours of its publication, one in a long series of wrong Russia-gate stories that have the media begging for forgiveness but does not seem to deter them… Read more → Source: Consortium News

Australia’s almond industry is set for a record crop, but more bees are needed to sustain the growing industry. Source: ABC News Australia

He began studying the game of Roger Federer as a six-year-old and now Stefanos Tsitsipas basks in the glory of conquering his idol at the Australian Open. Source: ABC News Australia

As Greece moves towards a historic parliamentary vote to recognise its northern neighbour as ‘North Macedonia’, tens of thousands of Greeks protest in Athens against the move. Source: ABC News Australia

As Prime Minister Theresa May returns to a UK Parliament expectantly waiting for a rebooted Brexit deal, her colleague Liam Fox stresses the need to respect the will of the 2016 vote. Source: ABC News Australia

Snake catchers share horror stories of pythons killing free-roaming family cats in the hopes of convincing pet owners to stop their felines from wandering from home. Source: ABC News Australia