USA - A huge atmospheric river is hitting hard, causing historic flooding and forcing people out of their homes. Authorities say up to 100,000 people are being told to evacuate as rivers overflow. Reports from Weather.com, NBC, and Times Now all confirm the flooding is worse than anything seen in years. A state of emergency remains in effect and tens of thousands are on alert for possible evacuations as an atmospheric river continues to wreak havoc with widespread flooding in parts of Washington. As of Thursday morning, the Snohomish River at Snohomish, Washington, topped its previous record crest from 35 years ago. The river is still rising in several other locations.

USA - China would defeat the US military in a war over Taiwan, according to a top-secret US government assessment. US reliance on costly, sophisticated weapons leaves it exposed to China’s ability to mass-produce cheaper systems in overwhelming numbers, the highly classified “Overmatch Brief” warns.

USA - The Secretary of the Navy inaugurated a new naval office aimed at expediting the research, development, production, and deployment of new weapons systems and ships, declaring that “we need speed” and calling for a “wartime footing” as the challenges posed by China loom in the Pacific. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan held an event on Tuesday announcing the formal opening of the new Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO), telling hundreds of defense industry officials gathered in the Navy Yard in the nation’s capital that “the question before us is whether we possess the institutional velocity to meet this moment” as he called for faster weapons production and quicker shipbuilding in the face of threats in the Indo-Pacific. The Pentagon under War Secretary Pete Hegseth is focused on deterring China and strengthening America’s position in the Pacific, and it is working to rejuvenate a sclerotic US defense sector, which it says cannot currently produce the number of munitions and ships that may be needed in a potential conflict with the Chinese.

USA - The House on Wednesday easily passed the annual defense policy bill, sending the mammoth, $900 billion measure to the Senate ahead of the year-end deadline. The measure, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed the lower chamber by a vote of 312-112. Ninety-four Democrats and 18 Republicans opposed the bill. The NDAA, a traditionally bipartisan bill that lays out defense priorities for the next year, would increase pay for service members, provide some military aid to Ukraine, restrict US investment in China and fully repeal sanctions on Syria, among other things.

USA - A US Republican representative has put forward a motion for his county to leave NATO, in a move likely to cause even more panic among America's allies. European leaders were stunned after the White House published its new National Security Strategy that flouted traditional Transatlantic relations assumptions. The 33-page document roundly criticised Europe, accusing its leaders of undermining "political liberty and sovereignty", as well as claiming the continent faces "civilisational erasure". The paper also emphasised a shift to an "America First" approach, focusing on the Western Hemisphere and economic security over global commitments. Thomas Massie – the Republican representative for Kentucky – argued that NATO was no longer relevant to today's security needs. “NATO is a Cold War relic," he said. "We should withdraw from NATO and use that money to defend our own country, not socialist countries. NATO was created to counter the Soviet Union, which collapsed over thirty years ago."

UKRAINE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is finalizing a revised peace proposal that he will deliver to the US soon, hinting at potential progress as President Trump increases pressure on Kyiv to agree to a peace deal with Moscow. Zelensky said he is speaking with the Trump administration today to discuss post-war reconstruction in Ukraine and economic development. The Ukrainian leader said the latest 20-point document “could define the parameters for ending the war,” adding he expects to deliver the document to the US in the “near future.” “This week may bring news for all of us – and for bringing the bloodshed to an end,” Zelensky posted on the social platform X. “We believe that peace has no alternative, and the key questions are how to compel Russia to stop the killings and what specifically will deter Russia from a third invasion.”

USA - $60 silver is here! The exponential rise in the price of silver that we have witnessed in recent months is astounding experts all over the globe. So far in 2025, the price of gold is up about 60 percent, but the price of silver is up more than 100 percent. This is amazing news for silver investors. But hardly anyone is talking about the real reasons why this is happening. Right now, hundreds of giant AI data centers are being constructed all over the United States. Hundreds of others are going up in various other nations around the world. Many of these AI data centers are powered by solar energy, and approximately 300 metric tons of silver are required for just one 500 megawatt solar array… Thanks to the AI boom and the behavior of the BRICS nations, silver is now the hottest precious metal on the entire planet.

AUSTRALIA - Australia’s utility industry warns the country’s current water supply is not enough to accommodate the explosive growth of data centres and artificial intelligence (AI). That’s the equivalent of 70,000 to 80,000 households or 16 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Data centres, which store information for governments to businesses, cycle water through their facilities to cool down servers and prevent overheating. However, the development of AI, which has much higher computational power, storage, as well as electricity needs, is also driving up the base requirements of data centres. In fact, the WSAA estimates that by 2030, data centres in Sydney alone are estimated to use 10.5 billion litres a year (1.9 percent of Sydney Water’s supply). By 2035, this is expected to balloon to 90 billion litres a year, the equivalent of 15 to 20 percent of supply.

USA - The administration of US President Donald Trump plans to order visa-exempt foreign tourists to disclose their social media histories from the last five years before entering the country, according to an official notice. The proposal laid out in a notice published Tuesday in the Federal Register would apply to visitors from 42 countries, including Britain, France, Australia and Japan, who do not need a visa to enter the United States. Currently, those travellers only need apply for a waiver known as the Electonic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which still requires them to provide certain personal details. Under the proposed new rules, the collection of social media data would become a "mandatory" part of ESTA applications. Applicants would need to provide their social media histories from the last five years, according to the notice. They would also have to submit other "high-value data fields" including phone numbers from the last five years, email addresses from the past decade, personal details of family members and biometric information.

USA - President Trump has condemned European leaders as “weak” in a wide-ranging attack that criticised the “decaying” group of nations for being too politically correct and failing to control immigration. “Europe doesn’t know what to do,” Trump said. “They want to be politically correct, and it makes them weak. That’s what makes them weak.” The president also criticised European leaders for failing to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, saying: “They talk but they don’t produce. And the war just keeps going on and on. I mean, four years now it’s been going on, long before I got here.” Trump’s comments echoed the new US security strategy published last week, which warned that immigration risked “civilisational erasure” in Europe. “Within a few decades at the latest, certain Nato members will become majority non-European,” the document said.

USA - In February, JD Vance used his Munich Security Conference speech to launch an ideological assault on Europe. This month Elon Musk said the EU should be “abolished” after its executive branch issued a $140 million fine against Musk’s social media platform, X. Last week the White House published its National Security Strategy, a 33-page document that has delighted the Maga base and horrified many western politicians in equal measure. Published on Friday, the paper sets out “a roadmap to ensure that America remains the greatest and most successful nation in human history” through “a coherent, focused strategy for how we interact with the world”.

GERMANY - Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, has criticised elements of the US’s national security strategy as “unacceptable”, amid mounting concern in European capitals about the doctrine. It also calls for the inclusion of Russia in a system of “strategic stability across the Eurasian landmass” and says the US must rebalance its global military presence towards the western hemisphere and away from parts of the world that are becoming less important to America. The document castigates Europe at length for purportedly abandoning its core civilisational values and it prioritises “cultivating resistance to [its] current trajectory within European nations”. A number of European governments are particularly alarmed by the implication that Washington may now systematically redouble its efforts to promote hard-right or national conservative parties and undermine liberal democratic governments on the other side of the Atlantic.

NIGERIA - Whatever the US President and Christian evangelicals may have you believe, religion is not the primary driver of conflict. Having served as head of security for the European Union’s election observation mission in Nigeria, I have no illusions about the scale and complexity of challenges facing Africa’s largest country. But portraying a nation of more than 200 million – roughly split between Christians and Muslims – as consumed by religious conflict is not only a gross misrepresentation; it risks driving polarisation in a country where the two faiths live side by side in every state.

VATICAN - Pope Leo XIV has insisted that Europe must play a central role in any Ukraine peace agreement, whilst launching a sharp rebuke at the Trump administration for what he described as attempts to "break apart" the historic transatlantic alliance. Speaking to journalists following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is currently touring European capitals to secure backing for Kyiv, the American pontiff addressed the pressing need for a ceasefire and outlined the Vatican's ongoing work to help repatriate Ukrainian children removed by Russian forces. "Seeking a peace agreement without including Europe in the talks is unrealistic, given the war is in Europe," he stated. "Guarantees are also being sought for security today and in the future. Europe must be part of this, and unfortunately - not everyone understands this. But I think there is a great opportunity for European leaders to unite and seek a solution together."

VATICAN - The pope's comments echo Zelensky's frequent demands for a "just" peace as the Ukrainian leader tries to ensure that any agreement to end Russia's war in Ukraine is balanced. Pope Leo called for continued dialogue to seek a "just and lasting peace" in Ukraine during a meeting on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Vatican said. Zelensky, who arrived in Italy after talks in London on Monday, thanked the pontiff "for his constant prayers for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, as well as for his calls for a just peace," and invited him to visit Ukraine. Leo, who was elected in May, has followed in the footsteps of his late predecessor, Francis, in repeatedly calling for an end to the war in Ukraine and at one point suggested he could host peace talks. The offer was never taken up.