UK - The price of food was once perhaps the central issue in British politics. Until recently it had entirely faded in public concern, but with people being reminded of spiralling food costs each time they go to the supermarket or do their online grocery shop, could it once more break a government? A galvanising spark for the anti-regime protests in Iran has been the rise in the cost of everyday essentials. If the Islamic Republic falls, it will be far from the first seemingly invincible regime that has been a casualty of a cost-of-living crisis. Food played its part in the American, French and Russian revolutions. Food riots are now something we read about in the world’s poorest countries, but they were once commonplace in England. The 18th century was punctuated by unrest over the price of bread. There were notable explosions in 1756 and then again in 1766, when civil order broke down in England on at least 131 occasions.

USA - The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty US soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, the site of widespread protests against the government's deportation drive, The Washington Post reported on Sunday. The army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the state escalates, the newspaper said, citing unnamed defense officials, adding that it is not clear whether any of them will be sent. This comes after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz mobilized the state's National Guard to support the Minnesota State Patrol amid ongoing protests against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Minnesota Department of Public Safety announced in a Saturday post to X/Twitter.

IRAN - As Donald Trump weighed striking Iran this week, municipal workers in Israel were wearily reopening public bomb shelters that had gathered dust since the war last June. Mr Trump was “locked and loaded”, and the region was braced for another round of air strikes. British officials were among those evacuating bases and embassies. By the weekend, however, the tone in Washington had changed significantly. Mr Trump’s missiles had not materialised. Something had caused the president to blink. That something, in part, lies inside Iran, where the regime is now looking stronger than at any time since the protests began. Pro-regime rallies have filled the streets of Tehran and the security services appear to have taken back control. Iran has also started to bristle militarily. Despite the war last year, Iran retains enough military prowess to trouble its foes in the region, which are still waiting for US reinforcements to arrive.

GREENLAND - The Arctic is no more important now than it was during the Cold War, when the threat was far greater. Here we go again with Greenland. Normal daily business has once again been interrupted by a mid-afternoon Truth Social bomb, this time the president of the United States announcing tariffs on eight European nations opposing US control of the Arctic territory.This will be a 10 per cent import tax on goods from us, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, effective on February 1, rising to 25 per cent in June unless a deal is struck for the “complete and total purchase” of Greenland. Denmark has wasted no time dismissing the threat as “absurd,” but has also requested allied support and over the last few days, armed forces personnel from various countries have flown there. What is this all about – is it about the security of the United States as Potus keeps saying, or is there something else?

GREENLAND - Trump has done more to create a ‘very dangerous situation for the safety, security and survival of our planet’ than anyone. Donald Trump’s attempt to strongarm Denmark and Europe into accepting the annexation of Greenland is a disgraceful betrayal of the Western alliance, a foolish misunderstanding of the American national interest, and a dangerous, destabilising step in world affairs. It is one thing to have an economic dispute with an ally. It is possible (though often unwise) to disagree over correct trade policy, or to raise tariffs in the hope of eventually triggering a mutual liberalisation between friendly nations. It is even possible to decide that national security, in a few genuine cases, requires onshoring or friendshoring, and restrictions on trade of sensitive or vital products.

GREENLAND - The president’s theatrics have forced Europe to recognise the strategic importance of the territory. Greenlanders are the biggest winners. Greenland – a geographical afterthought for most of history – has suddenly found itself at the centre of great-power intrigue, complete with threats, counter-threats, congressional pushback, NATO awkwardness and a level of theatricality usually reserved for Hollywood dramas. Yet, once the noise subsides, Greenlanders, despite being threatened with invasion, may well emerge as the key winners.

UK - Sir Keir Starmer condemned Donald Trump as “completely wrong” for igniting a trade war with Britain in an attempt to force a deal on Greenland. In the biggest crisis in US-UK relations since Sir Keir became Prime Minister, the US president announced a 10 per cent tariff on all goods sent to the US by Britain and its European allies from February 1. The levy will rise to 25 per cent on June 1, unless Britain and other European countries agree to let him take control of the Danish territory. On Saturday night, the Prime Minister said he would be “pursuing this directly with the US administration”. Sir Keir’s measured language came in stark contrast with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, who said of the tariffs: “No intimidation nor threat will influence us.”

USA - A deluge of research has painted a picture of our world being drowned in tiny, inescapable microplastics. Our guilt over plastic particles being found in even the most remote regions on Earth turned into paranoia once scientists started discovering them in our own bodies, too — riddling our blood streams, organs, and even our brains, stoking a rush of scientific inquest. But now, there’s a growing contingent in the scientific community that’s casting significant doubts on these claims, The Guardian reports, criticizing the methodologies used in some of the most notable papers behind them. One study published in the journal Nature Medicine last February claimed to have documented a rise in micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) in human brain tissues by autopsying preserved cadavers of people who had died between 1997 and 2024. But in November, another group of researchers contested the findings in a letter published in the same journal, criticizing them for “limited contamination controls and lack of validation steps,” per The Guardian. “We do have plastics in us — I think that is safe to assume,” Materić said. “But real hard proof on how much is yet to come.”

UKRAINE - Ukrainians fight back: family, friends, & neighbors start standing up for men being dragged off to war. In Ukraine, ongoing forced conscription and violent practices by the military are provoking civilians to finally resist in unprecedented fashion: passersby, neighbors, and family members are blocking the recruiters’ path as they try to drag civilians off the streets. Ukrainians are fed up with war and even more fed up with having to see their loved ones die for it. They are now openly speaking out against family members, friends, and neighbors being dragged away. A Ukrainian conscription officer boasts he can make a nearly $2,000 bonus per night for catching ten men to send to their deaths on the front line. He says that, working for the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support (TCC), for every man he catches, he receives a bonus of 8,000 Ukrainian hryvnia, equivalent to around $191.

GERMANY - For the 13 years since its founding, the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party - labeled “right-wing extremist” by the country’s domestic intelligence agency and accused by others of xenophobia, antisemitism and Islamophobia - has stood in opposition. Opposition to the European Union. Opposition to immigration. And, as the largest party outside the governing coalition after last year’s federal election, opposition to Chancellor Friedrich Merz. This year, the AfD is looking to lead for the first time - by winning control of a state government. That, in turn, could undermine the fragile coalition that governs the country and open a path to power for the AfD at the federal level. Five German states will hold elections in 2026. In two eastern states - Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - the AfD leads by wide margins in opinion polls. If it wins control of either state, German politics may never be the same.

UK - The number of abortions in England and Wales rose 11% in 2023 to reach a record high, according to official statistics. There were 277,970 abortions in 2023 compared with 251,377 in 2022, figures from the Department of Health show. Charities and health leaders said the data reflects economic pressures and the rising cost of living as well as poor access to sexual health services. "Economic pressure and the rising cost of living are shaping women's reproductive choices with many choosing to delay or have smaller families. At the same time, overstretched GP and sexual health services are making it harder for many women - particularly in more deprived communities - to access contraception when they need it, increasing the risk of unplanned pregnancy." Right To Life UK spokeswoman Catherine Robinson said it was a "national tragedy and a national scandal that so many lives were lost to abortion. Every one of these was a human being whose life had potential and every one of them deserved protection. We are calling for a national conversation about our abortion laws."

UK - The cotton mills of Manchester, the coal mines up and down the country, and the shipyards that turned out more vessels than any other nation. But there is one industry this country has always been able to rely on: salt. For hundreds of years, since long before the Industrial Revolution, Britain has produced all the salt it needed for domestic consumption. Indeed, for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, this country was the world's biggest salt exporter, sending tonnes of this vital chemical around the Empire, using it as a tool of power.

USA - Melissa McKay criticised the tech giant after it told her son how to switch off the safety features ahead of his 13th birthday, and Google changed their policy. The email that landed in Melissa McKay’s inbox from Google about an update to her family account was vague and seemingly innocuous. The one the company sent to her son at that same moment, however, was much more directly worded and far less opaque: you are about to turn 13 and now old enough to turn off parental controls. It gave him detailed instructions on how to do so and even provided a hyperlink. But for her job, McKay would be unlikely to open her email. The mother-of-five just happens to be the president of the Digital Childhood Institute. McKay said: “Google is asserting authority over a boundary that does not belong to them. It reframes parents as a temporary inconvenience to be outgrown and positions corporate platforms as the default replacement.”

USA - X is currently filled with requests made by users in plain sight to produce sexualised images of children and unconsenting adults (children can never consent to this). Not only is the chatbot fulfilling these requests, it is laughing off the suggestion it might be doing anything wrong.

IRAN - Iranian leaders are moving tens of millions of dollars out of the country as they begin “abandoning ship” amid the deadly protests in Iran, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Newsmax on Wednesday. “We are now seeing the rats fleeing the ship, because we can see millions, tens of millions of dollars being wired out of the country, snuck out of the country by the Iranian leadership,” Bessent said. “So they are abandoning ship, and we are seeing it come into banks and financial institutions all over the world." The ongoing protests in Iran began in response to the country’s plummeting economy, as the rial’s value fell to record lows. In the interview, Bessent attributed the downward spiral of the Iranian economy to the economic measures US President Donald Trump began implementing after being elected. Further, while Trump has said the killings in Iran were "stopping," he has threatened military action against the country if they did not.