EUROPE - As Sir Keir Starmer made his way to Paris today for the so-called “coalition of the willing” summit, one wonders if the resulting plan will be viable, and if so, whether it will do any good. The aim, it is believed, is to create a force that would police the peace line in any US brokered Ukrainian/Russian ceasefire. This is no small task. With thousands of miles of frontline to monitor – a line, that if set in central Europe, would stretch from the toe of Italy to Calais – it would require a huge number of troops and logistic support or an effective and highly mobile reaction force, supporting a very thinly stretched line of observers. Additionally, if it was to deploy without US backup, it is questionable whether it would even be credible.

USA - America’s trillion dollar deregulation could be a dagger in the heart of net zero. After years of magical thinking, America’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to see the forest for the trees again. Administrator Lee Zeldin announced this week that the EPA is reconsidering the 2009 endangerment finding that greenhouse gases are pollutants. This is massive. The endangerment finding underpins regulations on cars and the power sector. If it were overturned, Donald Trump could reverse costly environmental regulations put in place without explicit Congressional approval over the past decade and a half, reducing the costs of electricity and transportation.

USA - “We’re approaching 1 million US deaths from COVID-19, but the numbers can’t capture how these deaths occur: ALONE. Patients take their last breaths amid the alarms of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), without their families,” wrote Helen T D’Couto, who in 2022 was an attending physician in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Georgetown University Hospital when she wrote a powerful column detailing her heart-breaking experiences during Covid and its accompanying irrational — and unscientific — lockdowns.

UK - I no longer believe that, overall, lockdown saved a single life, and it may indeed have caused the deaths of many, not least the section of the population most vulnerable to Covid, the very elderly and the chronically ill — isolated in their care homes, unvisited and often untended. The cost to the country has been staggering — £400 billion and counting. Not to mention the medical problems which arose from the extended seclusion, the undetected cancers and heart disease, and the damage to the education of millions of children.

USA - In decades past, as the effects of climate change slowly became undeniable, some looked to the super-rich — the billionaires with enough cash to really make a splash — for solutions. They backed green energy campaigns and carbon capture programs, pushed plastics recycling and climate change messaging. New products hit the market as ethical consumption became the rule of the day: electric vehicles, solar panels, reusable bags, carbon-neutral dryer balls. By the early 2020s, billionaires had positioned themselves as the masters of climate change policy, taking advantage of their great fortunes to become indispensable to environmentalism.

MEXICO - On a quest to find loved ones who have gone missing in Mexico's years-long plague of gang-driven disappearances, a group of volunteers has discovered a ghastly, bone-strewn "extermination camp" in a rural village near Guadalajara, complete with cremation ovens. Their shock was compounded by the knowledge that police first learned about the site months ago but did little to investigate it. The first of an unknown quantity of human remains have yet to be identified, but the site near the village of La Estanzuela holds at least 700 personal items, including some that appear have belonged to women and children -- such as a blue summer dress, a small pink backpack and high-heel shoes, the New York Times reports. Those and other shoes may offer one of the best indications of the potential number of people killed and/or processed at the site: There are hundreds of them.

USA - Even Snow White has to be a big deal. In the latest sign of the politicisation of absolutely everything, Disney has cancelled its customary red carpet razzmatazz because its two leading ladies, Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, are now seen as ciphers for Israel and Gaza. Looks like casting the Israeli actress as the evil queen and the “free Palestine” advocate as Snow White wasn’t a strong enough message.

GERMANY - Germany’s main centrist parties have struck an historic deal that unlocks billions in debt-funded investment for defence and infrastructure, as well as aid to Ukraine. The Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD), who are poised to form Germany’s next coalition government, came to an agreement with the Greens on Friday. The deal will exempt defence spending and aid to Ukraine from Germany’s strict debt brake, a 16-year-old constitutional clause that limits the structural public deficit to 0.35 per cent of GDP. The parties also agreed to set up a €500 billion special fund outside the regular budget for investment in Germany’s creaking infrastructure.

EUROPE - The European Union has laid out plans to revitalize its military industry, citing an alleged “existential threat” from Russia and concerns over the future of NATO, according to a White Paper obtained by Politico. Moscow has repeatedly denied having any intention of attacking Western states, dismissing such claims as “nonsense” meant to justify increased military spending. The initiative comes in light of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal to mobilize up to €800 billion for defense. The so-called ReArm Europe plan includes financial incentives for EU member states to expand their military budgets, as well as a proposed €150 billion in loans for joint defense projects.

YEMEN - President Donald Trump has warned Houthi terrorists to cease their attacks against Red Sea shipping or 'hell will rain down upon you' - while also cautioning Iran to cease their support, as the US launched a series of military strikes over Yemen. Trump ordered the 'decisive and powerful' military action over the capital of Sanaa on Saturday afternoon. At least 13 civilians have been killed and nine injured so far, according to the Houthi-run health ministry. The US President confirmed in a post on Truth Social that 'overwhelming lethal force' would be used until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor. Trump also warned Iran, the Houthis' main backer, that it needed to immediately halt support to the group. He said if Iran threatened the United States 'America will hold you fully accountable and, we won't be nice about it!' The action represents the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January.

GERMANY - Germany’s perfect storm: Skyrocketing knife crime, crumbling economy, and failed leadership threaten national stability. As Germany contends with a faltering economy, soaring prices, rising unemployment, intensifying political violence, and mounting geopolitical instability, it also faces an alarming surge in knife crime — an epidemic fueled by decades of failed leadership, reckless, short-sighted policies, and unchecked mass immigration from countries with alien cultures. Over the past decade, violent crime has climbed by 20%, with non-German passport holders accounting for 41.8% of suspects. Germany’s status as an economic powerhouse is also waning, and with it, the broader European continent’s stability. Inflation and rising energy costs, largely driven by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, are crushing both businesses and families alike.

USA - The stock market slipping by 10 percent is nothing new. It has happened over fifty times since 1950. But what is different now is the effect. This decline has already erased wealth equal to 12 percent of GDP, something that has only happened a handful of times in modern history. That should make people ask the real question: why is the economy this dependent on stock prices?

VATICAN - Pope Francis approved a new three-year process to consider reforms for the global Catholic Church, the Vatican said on Saturday, in a sign the 88-year-old pontiff plans to continue on as pope despite his ongoing battle with double pneumonia. Francis has extended the work of the Synod of Bishops, a signature initiative of his 12-year papacy, which has discussed reforms such as the possibility of women serving as Catholic deacons and better inclusion of LGBTQ people in the Church. The synod, which held an inconclusive Vatican summit of bishops on the future of the Church last October, will now hold consultations with Catholics across the world for the next three years, before hosting a new summit in 2028. Francis approved the new process for reforms on Tuesday from Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he is being treated, the Vatican said on Saturday.

UKRAINE - Did we just get closer to peace, or did we just get closer to war? On Thursday, some media outlets in the US were boldly proclaiming that Vladimir Putin had “agreed in principle” to Donald Trump’s proposal for a 30 day ceasefire in Ukraine, while other media outlets in the US were flatly telling us that Vladimir Putin had rejected Donald Trump’s proposal. So what is the truth?

USA - At least 31 people have been killed after deadly tornadoes ripped through central and southern America, flattening homes and destroying neighbourhoods. Forecasters have warned that more storms and hurricane-force winds are due on Saturday night, as thousands of people were left without power. Twelve people were killed in Missouri, officials said, after twisters tore through the state. One man died after a tornado passed straight through his house. “It was unrecognisable as a home. Just a debris field,” said Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County. “The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls”, he said, adding that emergency responders managed to save one woman from the property. About 138 million people are at risk of severe weather in central and southern US states. Tornado warnings are in place in parts of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Indiana and Kentucky.