IRAN - An Iranian movement has reportedly raised more than $40 million for the assassination of President Donald Trump, as the country’s senior religious clerics make clear that "every cell of the resistance in the West is charged with carrying out this sentence." Iranian leaders recently issued two death warrants, or fatwas, against Trump and deemed him an "enemy of Allah" who must be killed. Those calls prompted the creation of a new organization dubbed the "Blood Covenant," which claims to have raised nearly $40.3 million for the president’s assassination, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). The Blood Covenant operates "under the aegis of the Iranian regime" and poses a substantial threat to Trump given Tehran’s resources and coordination on the matter, according to MEMRI, which monitors jihadi movements in the region.

EUROPE - Relations with the US may never return to what they used to be, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said, citing tensions with Washington over increased tariffs on European goods. US President Donald Trump introduced 20% tariffs on European imports in February. The EU responded with its own set of trade penalties. Trump later lowered duties to 10%, pending negotiations. That pause has now been extended until early August. ”We believe that tariffs are a loss for everyone. But we are not naive either: we know that the relationship with the US may never go back to what it used to be,” the EU chief stated at an economic-industrial forum in Rome on Thursday. "The EU’s priority is to stabilize the situation with the US," von der Leyen said. “We are working tirelessly to find an initial understanding,” she added. The EU chief called Washington “the most important trading and investment partner” of Brussels. In 2024, the US was the largest exporter of goods to the EU and the second-ranking destination for EU imports after China, according to Eurostat.

EUROPE - Brussels is reportedly considering sending an additional €100 billion to Ukraine. The EU is placing Ukraine’s military needs above the priorities of the bloc’s member states, Hungarian government adviser Balazs Orban has said. He accused EU leaders of always finding money for “war” but not other causes. “Europe has run out of money – except when it comes to war. There is always 100 billion euros for that,” Orban wrote on Wednesday on social media. He warned that such an allocation of funds would likely lead to further proposals to spend EU taxpayers’ money on Ukraine. Hungary has accused the EU leadership of inflicting major economic harm on member states through sanctions on Russia, and of wasting resources on a war effort that it argues cannot deliver a military victory over Moscow.

CHINA - Authorities in central China blasted a dam on Sunday to release surging waters behind it amid widespread flooding across the country that has claimed scores of lives. State broadcaster CCTV reported the dam on the Chuhe River in Anhui province was destroyed with explosives early on Sunday morning, after which the water level was expected to drop by more than two feet (70cm). Water levels on many rivers, including the mighty Yangtze, have been unusually high this year because of torrential rains. Blasting dams and embankments to discharge water was an extreme response employed during China's worst floods in recent years in 1998, when more than 2,000 people died and almost three million homes were destroyed. Last week, the gargantuan Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze opened three floodgates as the water level behind the massive dam rose more than 50 feet (15 meters) above flood level. Another flood crest is expected to arrive at the dam on Tuesday.

CHINA - Sichuan & Guizhou Submerged in Chaos. China is once again facing a deadly mix of floods and landslides across Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces. Torrential rain triggered massive landslides, burying roads and villages, while flash floods submerged entire communities. This natural disaster in China has already forced thousands to evacuate and left cities in chaos. From Tianquan to Junlian, nature’s fury and infrastructure failure collided. These dual disasters highlight China’s growing climate crisis and fragile terrain.

CHINA - The dam at a small reservoir in China's Guangxi region gave way last month after days of heavy rain in a collapse that could be a harbinger of sterner tests for many of the country's 94,000 ageing dams as the weather gets more extreme. The collapse, which was not reported by domestic media, suggests big storms might be enough to overwhelm reservoirs, especially if the design is inferior and maintenance has been patchy. That raises the prospect of disaster in river valleys and flood plains that are much more densely populated than they were when the dams were built. Massive flooding could trigger unforeseen "black swan" events, the government says, with extreme consequences.

MIDDLE EAST - Now they are more powerful than ever. A little over two months ago, Donald Trump was emphatic in claiming to have halted Houthi militants’ attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The US president said the militants had agreed to a ceasefire after a campaign of air strikes which he said had bombed the Iranian-backed group into surrender. “[The Houthis] just don’t want to fight, and we will honour that and we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated,” he said on May 6. “They say they will not be blowing up ships any more.” Despite Mr Trump’s confidence, this week the Houthis have sunk two vessels in quick succession on the critical shipping route and shattered months of relative calm off Yemen’s coast. The attacks – broadcast to the world in slick Hollywood-style videos – have once again led to traffic dropping and insurance costs surging in one of the world’s main marine arteries.

CANADA - People with traditional values could be extremists, Canadian police have warned. Staff Sergeant Camille Habel, the spokeswoman for Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), urged people to be vigilant following the arrest of four people in Quebec, who were allegedly involved in “ideologically motivated violent extremism”. Two of those arrested in a plot to seize part of Quebec were members of the armed forces.

SCOTLAND - Taxpayer cash going to a trans charity is one of many examples raising serious questions about the misuse of public money. Last week, Scottish Trans, a taxpayer-funded trans rights charity, said that the Supreme Court’s ruling damaged the legal protections of men “who are able to breastfeed”. These are, apparently, men who identify as women and who use hormone therapy or drugs to stimulate a form of lactation.

EUROPE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been warned she faces a fresh revolt unless she changes course — despite comfortably surviving a vote of no confidence in Strasbourg on Thursday. MEPs rejected the censure motion by 360 votes to 175, with 18 abstentions. After the result, Iratxe Garcia Perez, leader of the centre-left Socialists and Democrats — Parliament’s second-largest group — warned her: “If you betray us again, be clear that social democracy will lead the resistance against your drift.” The motion was the first censure attempt in more than a decade, underscoring how far political tensions have escalated in Brussels since the Parliament shifted sharply to the right in last year’s EU elections. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a frequent critic of Ms von der Leyen, had urged MEPs to back the motion. Calling it “the moment of truth,” he said: “Madam President, the essence of leadership is responsibility. Time to go!”