USA - Financial writer and precious metals expert Bill Holter (aka Mr Gold) has been sounding the alarm of the profound risk in the financial system. At the beginning of December, Mr Gold warned about the record setting silver prices and said, “It’s pretty clear and pretty obvious that something behind the scenes is breaking.” What is “breaking” is the extremely leveraged futures markets with not enough physical silver to deliver. Fast forward to the end of the month, and new record highs in gold and silver are happening every day. Mr Gold says, “They are gobbling up all the supply available because they understand this is the end of the fiat currency experiment that started August 15 of 1971."

USA - A powerful storm is turning roads into rivers while triggering torrential mudslides as apocalyptic scenes sweep southern California on Christmas Eve. The holiday period is forecast to be a washout for the Golden State this year, with meteorologists warning that up to eight inches of rain is expected to hit several areas including Los Angeles County and Santa Barbara over the next four days. California officials have warned holiday travelers to avoid the roads due to the series of winter storms which are continuing to bring flash flooding and even tornadoes. Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Shasta counties as the winds and rain intensified. Los Angeles will be especially hard hit, with a severe flood warning in place for the area until 12pm on Wednesday. Hundreds of residents in at-risk neighborhoods have been warned to 'immediately move to higher ground' and evacuate their homes.

MIDDLE EAST - The two-state solution has been agreed upon since 1947. It had even been negotiated at the Yalta Summit, but it could not be implemented because the Arab States rejected it unanimously: they opted to destroy Israel in a lightning war, which ended in a disastrous setback. Since then, a multitude of wars, insurrections, and bloody aggressions have taken place. That design of annihilation has been reinforced by the Global Jihad that has been waged for decades, and even more so within the framework of Global Hybrid War, especially after October 7, 2023, when a bloodthirsty attack was carried out that shattered an intangible element within Israel's existential security: the strength of its borders… For this reason, it is counterproductive to move toward a declaration at the UN advocating the creation of a Palestinian State, when this goal has never truly been part of the shared vision of Iran's Islamic Revolution and the currents promoted by the Muslim Brotherhood and other like-minded movements.

AUSTRALIA - As radical Islamist threats continue to plague Australia, politicians are pivoting to policing speech and tightening gun laws on law-abiding citizens — now openly admitting curbs on free expression are needed to shield their multicultural agenda. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has unveiled a sweeping plan to combat what she calls rising anti-Semitism, but the measures conveniently sidestep the core issue of unchecked radical Islamism behind recent attacks, focusing instead on doxxing anonymous social media users and reviewing gun laws. “Under Victoria’s civil anti-vilification scheme which starts in 2026, the speaker of a vilifying statement generally needs to be identifiable and held accountable,” she stated. Instead, figures like Allan and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese repeatedly spotlight “right-wing extremists” and “neo-Nazis” as the supposed primary threats. In the days following Bondi, Albanese warned of the “rise of right-wing extremists,” despite the attackers’ clear Islamist motivations. This unwillingness to name radical Islamism head-on persists.

USA - Americans are now living in storage units, sheds, tents, and vehicles because rent has become completely unaffordable. This isn’t about bad decisions or laziness, this is about a housing market that stopped working for everyday people. We hear directly from those going through it: families in cars, single moms in RVs, workers sleeping in storage units just to survive. And the hardest part? Many of them have jobs. Some have two. They’re still homeless. This is the new reality for millions of Americans, and it’s only getting worse. If you’ve been feeling the squeeze or wondering how people are getting by right now, you’re not alone.

UK - It’s that time of year again when the usual people waste their time and ours arguing that Christmas is nonsense, that if Jesus was born at all it wasn’t in December, and anyway it’s all just a hijacking of pagan rituals. Yes, about as much fun as Oliver Cromwell confiscating our Christmas puddings. As it happens, the mid-17th century condemnation of Christmas had little to do with Cromwell himself; and the Puritans who objected to the celebration insisted that the first Christmas certainly happened, but that its celebration had become “popish”, immoral, and that having a Christmas party wasn’t strictly biblical.

MIDDLE EAST - In the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas War, US and Israeli officials are increasingly diverging in how they assess Turkey’s regional role - a shift that has become more visible as Egypt and Turkey deepen military and security coordination after years of estrangement. That difference in approach now sits at the center of a growing US–Israel gap. While Washington has sought to widen the circle of regional partners involved in managing the postwar phase, Jerusalem has pressed to keep Turkey outside any framework that could shape Gaza’s future security order. “After the Gaza war, US and Israeli views diverge much more sharply on Turkey than on Egypt,” said Professor Chuck Freilich, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and a former deputy national security adviser. “For Washington, Turkey remains an ally. Israel, however, sees Turkey as a hostile state and is trying to keep it out of Gaza and out of security affairs more broadly.”

MIDDLE EAST - Neither Israel nor Iran wants war at the moment, nor do either of them want war for the foreseeable future. While neither side wants war, both suspect the other of being ready to launch a surprise attack. Israeli officials have been stating their readiness to strike Iran to try to deter it from rebuilding its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. And if Iran keeps building up its ballistic missile volume, Israel may again need to attack, whether that’s in three months, six months, or a few years. In the meantime, however, Israeli officials are now concerned that they may have intimidated Iran too aggressively, and are hoping that a recalibration can avoid an early war.

USA - President Donald Trump erupted against the New York Times on Tuesday, calling the left-leaning publication “a serious threat to the National Security of our Nation.” His comments come in the wake of a Times article linking Trump to Palm Beach pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, titled: “‘Don’s Best Friend’: How Epstein and Trump Bonded Over the Pursuit of Women.” The Times reported: “The president has tried to minimize their friendship, but documents and interviews reveal an intense and complicated relationship. Chasing women was a game of ego and dominance. Female bodies were currency.” Investigative journalist Jack Cashill shredded the Times for its deceptive reporting, stating: "You would have to read deep into a lengthy December 18 New York Times article misleadingly titled, ‘Don’s Best Friend’: How Epstein and Trump Bonded Over the Pursuit of Women, before getting to the only finding that mattered: ‘An examination of their history by The New York Times has found no evidence implicating Mr Trump in Mr Epstein’s abuse and trafficking of minors.'"

UK - Children who sign up to the controversial puberty blockers trial will be told to consider freezing their eggs or sperm because of the risk posed to their fertility. Young people experiencing 'gender incongruence' who take part in the NHS-backed study will be offered expert advice on preserving their ability to become parents later in life - even though they will be as young as ten. Girls among the cohort will also be warned not to get pregnant in case the powerful drugs damage unborn babies. And they will be reassured that they will not be taken off the medication if they report 'upsetting' experiences – even though the main measure of the two-year clinical trial will be questionnaires asking participants how they feel.

UK - Shoppers have been taken aback by the appearance of Easter eggs on sale at a high street store – before Christmas has even taken place. A selection of the Easter treats have appeared at Poundland stores, with brands available including KitKat, Maltesers, Dairy Milk Buttons, Mini Eggs and Cadbury Crème Eggs. Customers questioned the seasonal mismatch on social media, with one in Sheffield saying: ‘*** he [Christ] hasn’t been born yet and they’re selling his resurrection.’ Others said ‘For **** sake… we haven’t had Christmas yet’, ‘Santa left quickly – now it’s the Easter bunny here’ and ‘My Halloween stuff is next.’

USA - An activist group steeped in legal battles over alleged support for Hamas announced its new DMV chapter on Sunday, expanding its presence around the nation’s capital. American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) will target schools and political institutions around Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia to spread the cause of “Palestinian liberation,” the organization said in a statement. AMP faces an investigation by Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and several lawsuits alleging material support for terrorists... “From Gaza to the DMV, the movement for Palestinian liberation remains steadfast,” AMP said. “We are grounded in our duty to achieve Collective Liberation and resist every day until every inch of land, from the river to the sea, is liberated and returned to the Palestinian people. May Allah grant victory to the oppressed, protect the steadfast & allow us to witness a free Palestine within our lifetime,” the group declared.

VATICAN - Pope Leo XIV issued messages on Monday to the clergy in anticipation of the Christmas holiday, emphasizing the importance of friendship and community to sustain the work of the Church. The pope, serving during his first Advent as the Archbishop of Rome, addressed the Roman Curia on Monday, urging them to help build the “new humanity” heralded by the arrival of Jesus Christ among humanity. He warned of the potential of “rigidity or ideology” diluting the work of the Church and the detrimental effect of “the digital sphere and politics” in building connections of love between people. Pope Leo also published an Apostolic Letter reminding priests, bishops and deacons that their missions are “never a purely individual path” and “no shepherd exists alone.”

UK - While investigating everything from bizarre coincidences to ghoulish encounters, Sarah Knapton, our Science Editor, and Joe Pinkstone, our Science Correspondent, have found that apparently supernatural experiences tend to have perfectly rational explanations. Today, for a special Christmas edition, our duo weigh up an age old question: Is Santa Claus real?

UK - Answering questions at a conference recently on the implications of artificial intelligence, I realised there was only one answer to all of them: things could go very well, or alternatively very badly. We don’t know which. Could AI move us into a golden age of medical discoveries with new cures for terrible diseases? Yes, absolutely it could. Or could it be used to create deadly pathogens that wipe most of us out instead? Er, possibly. Might it lead to breakthroughs in developing nuclear fusion and thereby save the planet? Yes, let’s hope so. But could it consume so much energy in vast data centres that climate change gets even more out of control? Yes, that too.