USA - Donald Trump has branded it the “big beautiful bill” that will save millions of jobs and boost Americans’ take-home pay by up to $5,000 (£3,700) a year. However, while recent focus has been on the market ructions caused by the trade war, the US president’s package of sweeping tax cuts will arguably be a bigger test of investors’ faith in the world’s biggest economy. Congress remains deeply divided over not only the scale of tax cuts, but also how they will be funded. And bond investors are watching every twist and turn closely.

CHINA - President Trump’s tariff policy works. But if you’re waiting for the fake news media to explain, don’t hold your breath. As the market rebounds in America from the Left’s attempted takedown of President Trump on tariffs, 40 Chinese banks disappeared in a single week. That’s not just a financial hiccup — it’s a full-blown coronary. The Economist reported that 36 of these vanished banks were absorbed by Liaoning Rural Commercial Bank, a move that’s less about economic strategy and more about sweeping problems under the rug. China’s preferred method of handling struggling banks is to “absorb” them — a sanitized way of saying, “Erase the evidence and hope no one notices.” Still, according to reports, 3,800 financial institutions now teeter on the edge, representing 13% of China’s banking system and holding a jaw-dropping 55 trillion yuan ($7.5 trillion) in assets. That crack may be too wide to patch.

USA - Back in 2023 when several US Banks, mostly banks with high exposure to Silicon Valley Big Tech accounts, started to collapse, I published some articles explaining the concept of bank “bail-ins”, which are the opposite of bank “bail-outs” where the US Government bails out “too-big-to-fail” banks that collapse, as we saw in 2008. Bank bail-ins are the opposite, and allow banks to secure non-FDIC insured funds in accounts of bank depositors. Most Americans are unaware of the fact that laws are now in place to seize funds on deposit in US Banks from account holders. There was a threat in 2023 of the total collapse of the US banking system, but it survived, at least temporarily. Talk is again picking up about the possibility of bank bail-ins here in 2025 in Trump 2.0.

USA - There are recent reports about a rift between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A Thursday report said President Donald Trump has reportedly cut off direct contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yanir Cozin, a correspondent for Israeli Army Radio, said in a post on his X account that Trump decided after close associates told Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer that the president believes that Netanyahu is manipulating him. “There is nothing Trump hates more than being portrayed as a fool or someone being played. That’s why he decided to cut contact with Netanyahu,” the official added. Cozin pointed to the Israeli government’s failure to present a concrete plan and timeline regarding Iran and Yemen’s Houthis as a source of the worsening US-Israel relationship.

USA - Israeli Officials “shocked” over Trump’s Houthi truce – Trump reportedly upset with Netanyahu for trying to get US involved in military conflict with Iran ahead of nuclear talks and visit to Middle East. President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are seemingly at odds amid a US truce with Houthis in Yemen and the President seeking to peacefully negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran without plunging the United States into another endless war. This comes as the US entered a cease-fire with the Houthis this week after stopping their threat against global shipping in the Red Sea and deterring Iranian lethal support to the Houthis. This development left Israeli officials “shocked,” according to an unnamed Israeli official. In closed-door conversations Trump said he was going to make progress on his objectives in the Middle East without waiting for Israel.

GERMANY - Some 48 companies, including Deutsche Bank, acknowledge the historical responsibility of their companies and take a stand against hatred, exclusion and antisemitism. To mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, 48 German companies, including Deutsche Bank, are commemorating the crimes of the Nazi era. In a joint statement, the CEOs of these companies acknowledge the historical responsibility of their companies and take a stand against hatred, exclusion and antisemitism.

INDIA - India and Pakistan have agreed to cease hostilities, US President Donald Trump has said, adding that a deal was reached following a “long night of talks” mediated by Washington. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has confirmed that a deal was reached but did not mention US involvement. New Delhi has said the truce came into effect at 5 pm local time. “I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Saturday. He also hailed both sides for demonstrating “common sense and great intelligence.”

UK - The long peace is over: welcome to a new era of war, chaos and destruction. Progress, what progress? On the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the world is edging ever closer to another apocalyptic conflagration, with India-Pakistan the latest terrifying escalation. Pax Americana has been shattered, never to return, and with it the delusions of Western modernity. In eerie parallels to the 1930s, rogue actors are initiating a series of interlinked conflicts around the world that, thanks to a web of alliances, risk joining up into one hideous global war.

USA - A report in Israel’s 'Israel Hayom' says that President Donald Trump is “disappointed” in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has decided to make his next moves in the Middle East without him. The report, published in Hebrew and citing two sources close to Trump, would seem to corroborate the observation that Trump has cut Netanyahu out of his decision-making process on major policy steps. Last month, Trump surprised Netanyahu by announcing that the US would begin “direct” talks with the Iranian regime over a new nuclear deal. And this week, he surprised Israel again by announcing that the US had reached a separate ceasefire with the Houthi rebels in Yemen — who said they would still attack Israel.

GERMANY - The German government continues to attack President Trump ahead of newly-elected Chancellor Merz’s scheduled phone call with Trump today. In his Bundestag speech marking the 80th anniversary of V-E Day, German President Frank Walter Steinmeier accused the United States of “breaking with our values,” of all things, just hours after the German secret political police had to backtrack on spying on the opposition. “Eighty years on from the end of the war, the long twentieth century has definitively come to an end,” Steinmeier said, with his usual moralizing, finger-wagging holier-than-thou arrogance:

GERMANY - Lawmakers from the incoming chancellor’s CDU party signal an end to the “firewall” that saw mainstream politicians refuse to work with extreme groups for decades. The party that won Germany’s election is radically softening its approach to working with the far right as the reality of the country’s transformed political landscape starts to bite. While the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) — the party of Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel — has for decades steadfastly refused to cooperate or do deals with politicians on the extremes, that “firewall” now appears to be crumbling as the German parliament works out how to organize itself in the wake of the country’s February 23 snap election.

GERMANY - Germany's domestic intelligence agency said Thursday it will await a court ruling before moving forward with plans to classify the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party as a “right-wing extremist" movement, a step that could subject the party to broader surveillance and scrutiny of its activities. The announced pause comes after the party, known as AfD, filed a lawsuit in the western city of Cologne against the move by the intelligence service and the party's supporters alleged a politically motivated crackdown. German officials have denied that allegation and have faulted what they called the party's “ongoing agitation” against refugees and migrants. The AfD’s co-leaders, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, responded in a joint statement saying the intelligence service’s decision Thursday was “a first important step” that would help “counter the accusation of right-wing extremism.” The US administration has criticized the decision by the intelligence service, prompting a retort from the German Foreign Ministry.

UK - Plans to block sunlight to fight global warming have inadvertently shone a light on Aria, the Government’s opaque research arm. The Advanced Research and Invention Agency was set up in 2021 by Kwasi Kwarteng, the ex-Tory business secretary, and was originally the brainchild of Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s former chief aide. Yet few people on the street know what it is, what it does, or how much taxpayer cash is flowing into its well-financed coffers.

USA - Sea ice covers the ocean surrounding Antarctica, forming a key component of the coupled ocean-atmosphere-cryosphere system in southern high latitudes that helps regulate climate, ocean circulation, and marine ecosystems. The extent of Antarctic sea ice varies greatly from year to year, but 40 years of satellite records show a long-term trend. Although some Antarctic regions have experienced reductions in sea ice extent, the overall trend since 1979 shows increased ice.

VATICAN - The College of Cardinals have officially selected the successor of Pope Francis. For the first time in history, an American has been elected pope. Cardinal Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old Chicago-born bishop and naturalised Peruvian citizen, was tonight revealed as the 267th leader of the Catholic Church. Taking the name Pope Leo XIV, he becomes the first pontiff from the United States — a decision that stunned many watching around the world. Cardinal Prevost's rapid election took observers by surprise, with some suggesting the speed reflected strong consensus — and that he was already a well-known and widely trusted figure among the 133 cardinal electors.