Though pessimistic news still dominates and controls the headlines in both mainstream and alternative media worlds, a closer look at what's going on right now might reveal glimpses of profound changes occurring just below the surface echo chambers. This presentation will focus on the most visible signs reflecting the current underlying transformative metamorphosis the earth is undergoing at what appears to be the most tumultuous, dangerous and exciting time in human history.

All high seas shipping around the entire globe has come to a screeching halt. The Baltic Dry Index, the foremost economic mechanism responsible for tracking international trade of industrial commodities like grain, iron ore, coal, cement and fertilizer, has been in a state of freefall. On Monday it plummeted to an all-time low of just 369 points. On Tuesday it fell even lower, another 1.63% to 363 points, taking a nosedive in the first three weeks of 2016's first month alone to a whopping 24% drop. A latest check of Vessel Finder shows absolutely no cargo ships are in transit anywhere on the planet, clearly a historic first in modern history. Shipping companies are lamenting about the rising costs of transporting goods eating up their profits and thus keeping all cargo vessels worldwide sitting in their port docks. Brace yourself for depleted empty store shelves to start showing up in the coming weeks and months.

But another far more plausible explanation as to why global shipping has suddenly come to a standstill is because China for the first time as the emerging Asian powerhouse giant is now demanding all trade payment be transacted in Chinese Yuan. Over the last six months China has been steadily dumping its massive dollar reserves and ordered its banks to stop buying in US dollars. And now suddenly dozens of Chinese billionaire bankers and executives have mysteriously gone missing without a trace. With the faltering Chinese economy, the question becomes whether this phenomenon is payback for China's economic woes or whether it's part of a larger cover-up of corruption that could implicate high government officials.

Germany's southern states are confiscating refugees' valuables in order to pay for their stay, according to local authorities. It comes as Denmark moves ahead with a plan to do the same, part of a controversial bill aimed at curbing asylum seekers' rights.

"Cash holdings and valuables can be secured [by the authorities] if they are over €750 (US$810) and if the person has an outstanding bill, or is expected to have one," Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told Bild newspaper on Thursday.

The government of Baden-Württemberg has implemented a stricter process, with police confiscating cash and valuables above €350 ($378).The average amount per person confiscated by authorities in the southern states has so far been "in the four figures," according to Bild. By confiscating the personal belongings of refugees, the states are implementing federal laws that require asylum seekers to use up their own resources before receiving state aid.

"If you apply for asylum here, you must use up your income and wealth before receiving aid," said the federal government's integration commissioner, Aydan Ozoguz, stressing that such wealth includes assets such as family jewelry.The move has been criticized by the Left party (Die Linke), with MP Ulla Jelpke telling Der Tagesspiegel that "those who apply for asylum are exercising their basic rights [under the German Constitution]."

"That must not - even if they are rejected - be tied up with costs," she said.

Fueling 'fear & xenophobia'

Meanwhile, Denmark is moving ahead on a bill which would also allow its government to confiscate refugees' valuables. Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen's minority right-wing government already has enough support for its bill to win a January 26 parliamentary vote.

Describing current levels of killing and mayhem in Iraq as "staggering" and "obscene," two United Nations agencies released a report Tuesday that recorded at least 55,047 civilian casualties between January 1, 2014 and October 31, 2015. The total included at least 18,802 civilians killed and another 36,245 wounded.

The report added that over roughly the same period, a total of 3,206,736 civilians, including over 1 million school-age children, have been driven from their homes by the violence.

The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein said the report failed to reflect the full human toll inflicted by the conflict in Iraq. The numbers reported killed or wounded, particularly in areas under ISIS control, undoubtedly fell well short of the real level of carnage. Moreover, many more had "died from lack of access to basic food, water or medical care," he said.

The high commissioner added that the report "starkly illustrates what Iraqi refugees are attempting to escape when they flee to Europe and other regions. This is the horror they face in their homelands."

During a meeting of the Presidential Council for Science and Education in the Kremlin, one of the participants quoted a work by Russian writer Boris Pasternak, analyzing Lenin's revolution and his ability to manage his flow of thought.

"Controlling the flow of thought is the right thing, but it is necessary that this thought led to correct results, not like in the case of Vladimir Iliyich [Lenin]. Because this thought in the end led to the collapse of the Soviet Union...There were many thoughts, autonomization and so on. They put a nuclear bomb under the building which is called Russia, and it exploded. We did not need a world revolution. That's what the thought was," Putin said at the meeting.

The British investigation into the death of Aleksandr Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence officer and Kremlin critic, who died from radioactive poisoning in 2006, is "biased" and unjustified, Russia's UK ambassador Alexander Yakovenko told RT.

"Russia is not satisfied with the way the Litvinenko case was dealt with," Yakovenko said in an interview to RT, stressing that "the key problem is... that it was not public and open to the press," so that Russia could not take part in the hearings.

"That is why we cannot accept the conclusions of that case. If it was public, we would be happy to participate [in the investigation], but, unfortunately, it did not happen," he added.

Yakovenko also emphasized that the results of the inquiry "are not justified," with the investigation itself being "very politicized" and "biased" as "the coroner investigation was open to [Russia] but later, after [the crisis in Ukraine started], the British authorities decided to switch the process to a secret investigation..."

"In order to prove something, you have to present the facts. As soon as the British side proves... their conclusions, we will be ready to consider [them]," the ambassador stressed adding that now he sees "no grounds for that," as the Russian side "did not even have a chance to study the documents [of the investigation]."

A leaked report condemning the BBC over Jimmy Savile's sexual abuse of minors has warned that another child predator could be present at the national broadcaster.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was among those who received criticism in the report for ignoring warnings about the celebrity from an honor committee and proposing him for knighthood in recognition of his charitable work.

The Dubai-based marine operator DP World and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) have agreed to a joint venture to develop Russian sea ports, transportation and logistics terminals. The deal was announced on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Vladimir Putin smoothed potentially fraught talks with Qatar's leader Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani by gifting him a falcon, the national bird of Qatar. The Russian leader has a history of presenting macho gifts to visiting dignitaries.

The footage, dating back from Monday, and broadcast by the Arabic-language channel Al Dawri, shows the Emir smiling as he confidently holds the hunting bird, with Vladimir Putin and other officials looking on.
The falcon, used for millennia to hunt prey in the unwelcoming desert, is the symbol of many states in the Middle East, and is considered a byword for courage and grace. Predictably, a necessity has turned into a luxury pursuit, with wealthy Qataris spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on training and tracking the birds, before showing them off in falconry competitions.

News broke last Saturday evening that the United States is to conduct a "major investigation" into how the Kremlin is "infiltrating political parties in Europe" amid "mounting concerns" of a new Cold War.

The exclusive, which was published by the UK's Telegraph newspaper, revealed that James Clapper, the US Director of National Intelligence has been instructed by Congress to begin the major review into Russia's "clandestine" funding of EU parties over the last decade.

Hypocritical? Oh, let us count the ways...

"Moscow-backed destabilization" of Europe

First, to get a sense of the motives behind this investigation, look no further than the wording used to justify it. The Russians have been "fostering agitation against NATO missile defense" and attempting to "exploit European disunity" on the subject.

The American and British governments are launching yet another media campaign to demonize Russia, with tall claims that the Kremlin is infiltrating European political parties and news media. The dastardly Russian aim, we are told, is to destroy the European Union.

We've already seen versions of this scare tactic with regard to Ukraine and "Putin the new Hitler". But what this yawn-inducing exercise illustrates is that the old former spell over the Western public held by their rulers no longer works. The opiate of Western propaganda has expired.

Never mind Russia. The EU has no-one else to blame for its present stresses and strains but itself, owing to its craven subservience to Washington's reckless policies.

Twenty-five years after the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Washington and its trusty sidekick in London are desperately seeking to turn back the clock to the "good old days" when they could control their public through scare stories.

Recall those hoary old bogeyman themes of "Reds under the bed", the "Red menace", "Evil Empire", and so on, when the Western authorities mobilized their populations out of fear and trepidation that "the Russians are coming".