ITALY - Christian persecution spiked around the globe in 2024, with more than 380 million Christians suffering high levels of persecution and discrimination, according to a report released Wednesday. The human rights watchdog group Open Doors has published its World Watch List 2025, which ranks the fifty countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian. Among the grim statistics included in the annual report were the murders of 4,476 Christians for their faith, the profanation of 7,679 Christian churches and buildings, and the striking number of Christians around the world who face high levels of persecution and discrimination: more than 380 million. Nigeria, which ranks number 7 on the list, also merits a special mention, since more Christians “are killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world,” the report notes.

SWITZERLAND - Global leaders have said that escalating armed conflict is the most urgent threat in 2025 but the climate emergency is expected to cause the greatest concern over the next decade, according to the World Economic Forum. Ahead of its yearly gathering in the Swiss ski resort of Davos next week, the WEF asked more than 900 leaders from business, politics and academia about the risks that most concern them. Looking ahead to the coming 12 months, 23% of respondents feared “state-based armed conflict”, as Russia continues to wage war in Ukraine and a series of other deadly clashes continue, including in Sudan.

EUROPE - European anxiety about Donald Trump’s return to the White House is not shared in much of the world, a poll has shown, with more people in non-western powers such as China, Russia, India and Brazil welcoming his second term than not. The 24-country poll, which also included Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Indonesia and Turkey, found that Switzerland, the UK, 11 EU nations surveyed and South Korea were alone in feeling Trump 2.0 would be bad for their country and for peace in the world.

VATICAN - The Pope has claimed that conservative bishops and cardinals who rage against his liberal leanings may be mentally unstable, and a clue to their state of mind is in the pompous way that they dress. In an autobiography called Hope, published on Tuesday, he doubled down on criticising traditional prelates who resent his tolerance for gay people and divorcees. Their “rigidity”, he claimed, “is often accompanied by elegant and costly tailoring, lace, fancy trimmings, rochets”. That, he wrote, has nothing to do with respecting the traditional garb in the Catholic Church but is pure “clerical ostentation”.

MIDDLE EAST - The city of Jenin in the northern West Bank has been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. But in the past month, an unusual sight has greeted residents accustomed to violence on their streets. Instead of Israel Defense Forces personnel sweeping the warren-like alleys, it is the black vehicles of the Palestinian Authority (PA) that loom over residents here. Stationed at the entrance, roadblocks have been put in place and masked Palestinian security officers have entered the city on the hunt for terror groups such as Hamas.

USA - Joe Biden’s hurried push for a ceasefire in Gaza before he leaves the White House is a fitting epitaph for his four years of foreign policy disasters. Under his vision, the proposed ceasefire would likely play into Hamas’s hands and disadvantage Israel. But does he really care if it does? The President’s main interest seems to be his own legacy, and he must think a ceasefire in Gaza would be a success he could brag about. It’s like his disastrous retreat from Afghanistan timed precisely to show how he ended the war on the 20th anniversary of its beginning.

ISRAEL - Relatives of Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas were told during a meeting with Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night that a deal to release their loved ones and end the war in Gaza could be agreed within hours. Their meeting with the Israeli prime minister, which was reported by Israeli media, came as the US and Qatar said they were on the brink of mediating a deal days before Donald Trump takes office on January 20. Trump had said he wanted the war to end as soon as ­possible, and that there “would be hell to pay” if Hamas did not release the hostages, who include Americans, kidnapped in October 2023 during an attack on Israel that killed more than 1,100 Israelis.

USA - Evacuees left homeless in the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires are now grappling with a housing crisis as soaring demand for properties to rent sends prices sky high. California bans “price gouging” after a state of emergency is declared, with the law prohibiting cost increases of more than 10 per cent from pre-catastrophe levels. But with tens of thousands of people displaced, there are fears the Los Angeles housing crisis will worsen. With listing agents reporting unprecedented demand for homes, many of the fire’s victims are wealthy and willing and able to pay top dollar for shelter, further pushing up prices.

USA - Donald Trump’s nominee for US defence secretary vowed to root out “wokeness” and rebuild a “warrior culture” in America’s military as he faced a bruising Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday. Pete Hegseth, 44, was questioned about historical allegations of sexual assault, excessive drinking and comments about women in combat roles as senators scrutinised his fitness to lead the world’s most powerful military. The decorated combat veteran and former Fox News host denies any wrongdoing and said he was the victim of a “smear campaign”. At the hearing he cast himself as a “change agent” who would overhaul the armed forces under Trump’s leadership. “It’s time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm,” he said.

ISRAEL - Israel and Hamas are “on the brink” of signing a ceasefire deal that would release hostages and “surge” aid into Gaza, Joe Biden has said. The US president used his final foreign policy speech in office to announce that the war could soon be brought to an end after months of negotiation. He said: “We are on the brink of a proposal that I laid out in detail months ago finally coming to fruition.” He added that the US-backed deal would “free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance”.

MIDDLE EAST - Israel and Hamas are once again reported to be on the brink of ceasefire and hostage exchange. It may come to nothing, of course, but if a deal is done over the next few days, credit for getting it over the line should go to Donald Trump. His warning of “all hell breaking loose” if an agreement was not reached by the time of his inauguration has concentrated minds across the region, particularly in the Israeli government and wider defence establishment. Mr Trump’s detractors characterise him a dotard and perhaps, like Biden, he is, but his unpredictability and ambiguity are – for the moment at least – packing real punch.

USA - Almost 25,000 police officers and 7,800 soldiers will descend on Washington DC for Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, officials have said, as the capital prepares for a “peaceful transfer of power”. Two FBI field offices, a fleet of drones and more than 30 miles of fencing will be used to keep Mr Trump, other world leaders and attendees safe as he takes the presidential oath of office for the second time. Local and federal officials revealed the security plans for the ceremony on Monday, and said that despite receiving no specific threats against the president-elect, they are “prepared” for the worst.The inauguration security team will include almost 25,000 police officers and members of the National Guard from every state will run checkpoints to enter the National Mall in front of the US Capitol. The government has also imposed a temporary flight restriction over Washington on Monday, and federal officials will fly drones to monitor the security situation from the sky.

EUROPE - A far-right wind is blowing across the Atlantic. While the rise of the populist right in Europe predated Donald Trump’s re-election, far-right parties, leaders and governments across Europe are being bolstered by his imminent return to power, and by Elon Musk’s rising political star. There is some hope that Trump’s presidency could have a unifying effect on Europe – and on issues such as defence policy, I believe it might.

CHINA - China is building special landing barges whose only conceivable purpose is to carry People’s Liberation Army vehicles over Taiwanese beaches as part of a full-scale invasion of Taiwan. Naval News was the first to report on the barges, as many as five of which are under construction at Guangzhou Shipyard in southern China. The barges, which apparently take just a few months to complete, have been in development since at least 2022, according to Naval News. They represent a new and critical capability for Chinese forces. Put simply, the barges connect ships to the shore – virtually any ships. The new barges are the latest warning sign that an attack on Taiwan is probably imminent.

USA - The Los Angeles fires may have been a reignition of a blaze that began on New Year’s Eve due to residents setting off fireworks. An analysis by the Washington Post found that the blaze began on part of the Temescal Ridge in the Santa Monica Mountains, a place where an earlier fire had been ignited and put out. Satellite imagery shows that 20 minutes after the Palisades fire began last Tuesday, the outline of the smoke matched with the burn scar from the previous blaze. Residents in the area around the Skull Rock Trailhead said that agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) told them that the fire was “started by idiots” on New Year’s Eve. One local said that on December 31st he heard fireworks going just after midnight and saw a fire had started. The total damage and economic loss caused by the wildfires is estimated to be between $250-$275 billion (£205-£225 billion), according to AccuWeather.