USA - If you’ve ever clicked on a headline that promised groundbreaking news only to find yourself wading through paragraphs of fluff without getting to the actual story, you’re not alone. In the world of modern journalism, where narratives often take precedence over facts, headlines can sometimes feel more like bait than a genuine summary of the story. Here’s how to distinguish real news from propaganda or filler masquerading as reporting:

GERMANY - Elon Musk has been using his 200 million subscriber reach on X to troll far-left authoritarian governments in Germany and the UK, calling the parting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz “Oaf Schitz” and questioning why Tommy Robinson is in solitary confinement in the UK for journalism. Musk will hold a Spaces chat with AfD chair Alice Weidel January 10, and Weidel may attend the Trump inauguration January 20. It all began on December 20, when Musk wrote “Only the AfD can save Germany”, endorsing the “Alternative for Germany” party, the only major party that wants to restore secure borders and energy security to the failing German economy.

GERMANY - Germany stands at a crossroads, and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is gaining momentum like never before. The political and economic frustration brewing among everyday Germans has pushed AfD support to record highs, while the ruling SPD watches its approval ratings nosedive from 67% to a mere 39%. For many, the promises of the establishment feel hollow in the face of relentless economic stagnation. The populist parties around the world feel emboldened with the Trump landslide victory.

USA - A reported terror attack hit New Orleans this morning with at least 12 people dead and at least 35 injured. Fox News reported a driver in a white pick-up truck intentionally plowed a car into a crowd of New Year’s gatherers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, according to authorities. The driver exited the vehicle and fired a weapon after hitting the crowd. Two police officers were reportedly injured in the gunfight. The FBI also revealed that improvised explosive devices were found.

USA - US President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Wednesday night, outlining the federal authorities’ efforts to investigate the New Orleans terrorist attack that left at least 15 dead, and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. Biden highlighted the importance of determining whether the two incidents are linked, but cautioned the public against drawing conclusions prematurely, noting that the investigations remain active and are evolving. “We’re tracking the explosion of a cyber truck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. Law enforcement and the intelligence community are investigating this as well, including whether there’s any possible connection with the attack in New Orleans,” the outgoing US president said.

USA - It may seem crass for Donald Trump to be using the New Orleans terrorist attack to score political points – but he knows, like every successful politician, that you should never let a good crisis go to waste. No sooner had Fox News claimed that Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, the suspect, had entered the country through the Texas border two days ago, Donald Trump Jr tweeted: “Biden’s parting gift to America – migrant terrorists.” Over on Truth Social, the platform favoured by the president-elect, Mr Trump repeated his previous claim that “the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country”, which he said had been denied by “the fake news media” but had “turned out to be true”.

USA - Robert F Kennedy Jr has set his sights on the processed foods industrial complex. Nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy has long been an outspoken critic of toxic ingredients in food, including dyes and seed oils. Trump's second term has yet to begin, but the merging of the 'Make America Healthy Again' and 'Make America Great Again' movements has sparked a dietary awakening among millions of consumers. It's not just dyes and seed oils poisoning Americans and ending their lives short; plastic chemicals are increasingly being found in popular fast foods and supermarket staples.

EUROPE - Europe could see a 'drastic' rise to energy costs as Russian natural gas exports via Soviet-era pipelines running through Ukraine were halted on New Year's Day. The move comes as a transit deal expired while warring Moscow and Kyiv have failed to reach an agreement to continue the flows. The shutdown of Russia's oldest gas route to Europe ends a decade of fraught relations sparked by Russia's seizure of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine stopped buying Russian gas the following year. 'We stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is a historic event. Russia is losing its markets, it will suffer financial losses. Europe has already made the decision to abandon Russian gas,' Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a statement. Ukraine now faces the loss of some $800 million a year in transit fees from Russia, while Gazprom will lose close to $5 billion in gas sales.

USA - The US government is currently constructing the most colossal monument in the history of the world. It is a monument of debt, and we will forever be remembered as the nation that piled up far more debt than anyone else ever did. For decades, this generation has been recklessly spending the money of future generations of Americans. Most people seem to think that we are totally getting away with this swindle, but the truth is that the party is almost over. Our national debt has already surpassed the 36 trillion dollar mark, and according to usdebtclock.org at our current rate of spending our national debt will surpass the 51 trillion dollar mark four years from now.

MIDDLE EAST - With Hamas and Hezbollah in ruins, the IDF is ready to intensify its attacks on Iran’s last proxy. For a brief moment as Lebanon and Israel signed a ceasefire pact a little over a month ago, the Middle East appeared to have stepped away from the abyss of all-out war. Yet now Israel is weighing its next battle against Iran’s last proxy standing: the Houthi rebels of Yemen, who are in the firing line despite being more than a thousand miles from Tel Aviv.

ITALY - Libero, edited by a former spokesman for Giorgia Meloni, says its choice is a provocative way of poking fun at the left’s ‘obsession’ with the dictator. Benito Mussolini has been named man of the year by a right-wing Italian newspaper, prompting howls of indignation on social media. Libero ran the headline “He is the man of the year” over a large image of a bronze head of the dictator who killed off democracy in 1920s Italy, passed racial laws targeting Jews and allied with Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

USA - What kind of year is 2025 going to be? If you ask 1,000 different people that question, you will probably get 1,000 different answers. There are some that are very optimistic about the year ahead, but there are others that are very pessimistic about the year ahead. In fact, Gallup just conducted a survey that discovered that most Americans believe that 2025 will be a year of “political conflict, economic difficulty, international discord, increasing power for China and Russia, and a rising federal budget deficit”…

UK - Sir Keir Starmer has admitted many people are finding it “hard to think about the future” in a downbeat New Year address. The Prime Minister addressed the difficulties families were facing and conceded that the change his government aimed to deliver would take time. He expressed hope that 2025 would see Britain rediscover “the great nation we are”, adding: “I know there is still so much more to do, and that for many people it’s hard to think about the future when you spend all your time fighting to get through the week.” The government is approaching its six-month mark in office with economic growth stagnant after a £40 billion tax rise in the Budget in October.

GERMANY - Chancellor’s New Year’s Eve address follows Elon Musk’s endorsement of German far-right party AfD on X. The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has urged voters not to let the “owners of social media channels” decide next year’s snap election, after Elon Musk repeatedly endorsed the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). In a New Year’s Eve address recorded for television and made available before its broadcast on Tuesday, Scholz said German citizens alone had the power to decide “where Germany goes from here” after the general election on 23 February. “It will not be decided by the owners of social media channels,” Scholz said of the country’s future. On Monday, a spokesperson for Scholz, Christiane Hoffmann, accused Musk of trying to meddle in the country’s election campaign with a series of declarations backing the anti-Muslim, anti-migration AfD party.

PAKISTAN - Islamist group warns Islamabad not to ‘underestimate our capabilities’ as it dispatches battalions of fighters to the border. The Afghan Taliban has launched a wave of artillery strikes against Pakistani checkpoints across the border, raising fears of war between the neighbouring countries. The Islamist group claimed to have destroyed “several” enemy positions and dispatched battalions of fighters to the border in anticipation of any response from Islamabad. It followed Pakistani air strikes on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a separate group but close ally to the Afghan Taliban, in eastern Afghanistan. Afghan officials say the strikes killed 46 civilians, mainly women and children. “Several battalions have been dispatched to the border, and we are prepared for anything – we didn’t kick Nato out only to be intimidated or humiliated by Punjabis,” he said. Maria Zakharova, a foreign ministry spokesman, said: “Moscow is worried about the escalation of tensions at the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.”