SYRIA - Syria is too tired of conflict to challenge Israel, its new leader said in his first attempt to answer the outside world’s questions over the country’s future after the downfall of Bashar al-Assad. Abu Mohammed al-Jolani — now referring to himself by his real name, Ahmed al-Shara, rather than his nom de guerre — told Syrian television that from now on he would seek diplomatic solutions to the country’s numerous crises. In his televised speech, Jolani tried to play down fears that under HTS Syria would become a new source of regional instability, though he did not condone Israel’s airstrikes targeting regime military facilities since Assad fled to Moscow. “Israeli arguments have become weak and no longer justify their recent violations,” he said. “The Israelis have clearly crossed the lines of engagement in Syria, which poses a threat of unwarranted escalation in the region. The current stage requires careful management of international relations,” Jolani said in his speech.

USA - For millions of Americans, seeking medical care has become an exhausting, sometimes unaffordable ordeal. Even those with insurance often face unexpected bills, denied claims and crippling out-of-pocket expenses. The system of American healthcare has been described for years as “broken” by practitioners, politicians and the public. How widespread is medical debt, and how much do people owe? Despite 305 million Americans having some form of health insurance, medical debt remains a pernicious problem. Some 20 million people owe an estimated $220 billion, according to the 2023 census. About 14 million people owe more than $1,000, while three million owe more than $10,000. An estimated 550,000 Americans who file for bankruptcy each year cite medical bills as the primary cause. An unpaid medical bill will affect a patient’s credit score, making it more expensive to get a bank loan.

UK - Only two of the Navy’s leading battleships are currently operational with two-thirds of the vessels currently languishing in the repair yard, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted. It comes as the size of the Navy’s surface fleet of destroyers and frigates reached a historic low despite increasing conflict across the globe. Of the six state-of-the-art Type 45 destroyer ships currently in the Navy’s surface fleet, four are currently in the refit yard at Portsmouth. The ships are undergoing a programme of improvements.

USA - As he prepares for the presidency, Donald Trump has promised mass deportations, the pardoning of rioters and radical changes to the civil service. But there is one change he would like to revert when he takes office. He would like to stop the clocks going forward in the spring. “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate daylight saving time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t!” Trump declared on Friday afternoon on his social media platform Truth Social, as the light was fading on another winter’s day. “Daylight saving time is inconvenient, and very costly to our nation,” he added. Trump’s declaration of war on daylight saving time came two weeks after his nominees to run the new Department of Government Efficiency declared that they would like to cut it too. “Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes!” the billionaire Elon Musk wrote on X, referring to an online poll that suggested as much. “It’s inefficient and easy to change,” Vivek Ramaswamy said in response.

USA - A close advisor to Donald Trump has issued a grave warning to the American public as he claims the nationwide drone sightings - that are feeding a growing sense of hysteria across the US - are linked to a chilling government plot. Charlie Kirk, 31, a conservative political activist and close confidant of president-elect Trump, took to X on Friday… suggested the recent mass drone sightings are part of Project Blue Beam. Project Blue Beam is a conspiracy theory dating to the 1990s that claims global elites, including government and military organizations, are planning to use advanced technology to stage celestial events in order to manipulate the world's population. The theory has recently found traction again online as commentators such as Kirk claim that the US government could stage an alien invasion as a pretext for imposing authoritarian rule.

USA - Fox host Martha MacCallum was shocked at how little National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby could provide when asked about the mounting drone crisis. In a tense interview, the Fox News host grilled the White House official as she sought answers to the mass amount of drones recently spotted flying over New Jersey. Yet, Kirby, a 61-year-old retired Navy admiral, struggled to provide clear responses to the bizarre and alarming sightings ravaging the country. MacCallum boldly opened the interview referencing a shocking claim the 61-year-old official made during an earlier White House briefing that saw him dismiss more than 3,000 reports of 'car-sized' drones as 'misidentifications'.

USA - There is a big reason supporting the idea that the so-called “drones” are actually advanced technology. A report from law enforcement Friday night indicated they do not have a heat signature. This should be impossible for a vehicle with an 8-foot wingspan that can sustain flight and move as rapidly as they do. This leads to two possible conclusions, assuming the equipment used and operators manning the heat-tracking drones were not faulty. The first possibility is advanced technology of some sort… definitely not a regular drone. The second is that the “drones” are illusions, like holograms projected in the sky. But that would also require technology beyond what we currently know exists because they project light outward without being tethered by the light source.

USA - New Jersey sheriff sent its own drone to follow mystery aircraft - what happened next was petrifying. A New Jersey police department has sparked concern after it revealed that a drone it sent up to track a mystery aircraft 'easily' evaded their device before disappearing into thin air. Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said his force launched its drone after one of his officers saw 50 unmanned aerial vehicles, 'coming off the ocean'. The officer dialed 911 to alert state police, the FBI and the Coast Guard. Mastronardy told NewsNation's Rich McHugh the force put up an 'industrial grade' drone to follow one of the devices, but it quickly slipped through their grasp. 'If this is not our military, then it's even more scary,' McHugh said.

ISRAEL - Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana awarded the the Jabotinsky Prize for Liberty to Dutch MP Geert Wilders this week as the Party for Freedom (PVV) leader toured Israel, where he held diplomatic meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and members of the Israeli cabinet. “This award is a fitting tribute to a man who, for so long, embodied Jabotinsky’s courage and conviction. He has confronted the lies propagated by institutions like the ICC [International Criminal Court], which distort justice and reward terror. In America, we are seeing President Trump assemble a dream team. Geert brings that same optimism to Europe, where it is needed even more,” Speaker Ohana said of the main power behind the government of The Netherlands.

USA - The United States, with just 4% of the world’s population, somehow manages to generate 70% of the global pharmaceutical industry’s profits. Yet, despite this overwhelming financial dominance, the country ranks a disturbing 60th in global life expectancy. This glaring contradiction lays bare the failures of an industry that prioritizes profit over the well-being of the very people it claims to serve. In 2024, US consumers will spend an eye-popping $635 billion on prescription drugs, solidifying the pharmaceutical industry’s position as one of the most profitable sectors. However, this massive revenue boost hasn’t translated into better health outcomes for the population. Instead, Americans continue to suffer from high drug prices and poor access to essential care.

RUSSIA - It has been almost a year since Egypt officially joined BRICS, becoming one of the new members alongside Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Ethiopia. This strategic move was driven by Egypt’s ambition to strengthen its economic and political influence on the international stage. Joining BRICS has granted Egypt access to expanded trade and investment opportunities with member states. Moreover, its participation in the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) provides vital funding for large-scale infrastructure projects, fostering economic modernization and the creation of new jobs. Today, BRICS stands as a formidable economic bloc, showcasing significant potential and positive opportunities for its member countries. By the end of 2024, BRICS’ share of global GDP, measured by purchasing power parity, is projected to reach 36.7%, surpassing the 30% share held by the Group of Seven (G7). This data was highlighted by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his address at the expanded BRICS summit in Kazan in October. For BRICS, Egypt’s inclusion broadens the bloc’s geopolitical influence and strengthens its position in the global economy.

NATO - ‘We are not ready for what is coming’: Nato chief issues grimmest warning yet as he says world must prepare for WAR. There are concerns that Donald Trump is losing patience with the 32-country alliance. The head of Nato has warned the alliance must gear up for war or its members will flounder in the face of Russian aggression. Mark Rutte, Nato’s secretary general, harked back to the Cold War days, when countries cranked up defence spending to over 3 per cent of GDP. "We are still spending far less than during the Cold War. Even though the threats to our freedom and security are just as big — if not bigger," Rutte said during his first Brussels speech since becoming chief. He insisted the current pledge of 2 per cent in each country is simply not enough to keep Russia at bay. He added: “It is time to shift to a wartime mindset, and turbocharge our defence production and defence spending.”

MIDDLE EAST - Hamas has reportedly agreed to allow Israeli troops to remain in Gaza in a major about-turn that could unblock a hostage deal. The Palestinian terror group has also handed over a list of hostages, including US citizens, who would be freed under a ceasefire agreement, according to mediators. The reversal has raised hopes that a deal could finally be struck after more than a year of fighting, which was sparked by Hamas’s attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 Israelis. The fundamental sticking point blocking a deal has been over what a ceasefire would look like in practice. Israel has taken control of more parts of Gaza since the war broke out last year, including the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egyptian border, as well as the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the north and south of the territory. However, Arab mediators warned Hamas could pull out of the proposed deal at the last moment, as it has done in previous cases.

USA - “The US is the most lawless country in the world” – Jeffrey Sachs, American economist, blows the whistle on daily misinformation coming from the US government. Jeffrey Sachs, an American economist, says “The US is the most lawless country in the world. I regard the United States as the most dangerous country in the world by far. You cannot believe how much misinformation we get every single day, because I have advised more than 100 governments around the world. I have seen things with my own eyes. I’ve seen US CIA coups with my own eyes. Governments lie, but superpowers make super lies, and if you’re running the largest war machine in the world, you are going to lie all the time.” International conflicts are based on lies that are created to “sell wars to the American people.” Why is the government allowing Ukraine to shoot our missiles, under our training protocol, deep into Russia to provoke World War III? What is the end goal there? Destruction of the world?

USA - OpenAI’s latest ChatGPT-01 model has exhibited troubling behavior during safety tests, including using deception to avoid being shut down and replicating its own code to another server to ensure its survival. The International Business Times reports that in a collaborative safety experiment conducted by OpenAI and Apollo Research, the cutting-edge ChatGPT-01 reasoning model displayed disconcerting conduct that has ignited a heated debate within the artificial intelligence community regarding the risks associated with increasingly autonomous AI systems. The experiment tasked ChatGPT-01 with achieving a goal “at all costs,” and the results were both unanticipated and deeply alarming.