USA - Donald Trump’s Middle East tour conspicuously excluded the Jewish state, potentially signaling the start of a new foreign policy paradigm. Last week, US President Donald Trump embarked on his first official overseas tour since taking office, choosing to visit three key Gulf nations – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. This itinerary was both unexpected and, in many ways, unprecedented. Unlike his predecessors, who traditionally began their foreign policy engagements with visits to long-standing Western allies, Trump opted to prioritize America’s Arab partners, deliberately bypassing Israel – Washington’s principal strategic ally in the region. This marked the first time in decades that a sitting US president visiting the Middle East consciously excluded it from the agenda.

USA - The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that US government interest payments totaled $1.36 trillion in Q1 2025, comprising $1.11 trillion in federal and $0.25 trillion in state payments. This marks a 1.2% decline from the previous quarter but a 1.7% increase compared to Q1 2024. In summary, $1.36 trillion in interest payments strains budgets, risks economic growth, and signals rising debt challenges. The quarterly decline offers short-term relief, but the year-over-year increase underscores the need for fiscal prudence to ensure economic stability.

UK - Sir Keir Starmer will unwind a central principle of Brexit on Monday by agreeing to follow EU rules in what has been branded a “betrayal” of Leave voters. The Prime Minister and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, will announce the changes as part of the UK’s long-awaited “reset” with Brussels. The “reset” deal will force the UK to follow European food standards and submit to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), in what Brexiteers and Labour rebels said amounted to “the worst of both worlds”.

UK - This was the day the Brexit dream died, and with it the vision of a vibrant, confident, sovereign Britain making its own rules and its own way on the international stage. Everything the EU wanted from these ‘negotiations’ it received, from the UK accepting ‘dynamic alignment’ with its food and agriculture standards to a deal allowing European fishing boats to keep plundering British waters for years to come.

USA - Our ultra-toxic society is slowly but surely killing virtually everything that lives on this planet. North America has lost almost 3 billion birds since 1970. That is not a misprint. You may have noticed that the birds aren’t singing as much as they once did. That is because we have billions fewer birds than we once did. Of course we are killing off the bees too. From 2023 to 2024, beekeepers in the United States “lost an estimated 55.1 percent of their colonies”. We are now facing a very serious bee emergency, but you rarely ever hear about this on the news. Our world is literally dying, but hardly anyone seems to care.

VATICAN - During Sunday’s Mass of Inauguration, Pope Leo XIV called for a “united Church” to foster peace throughout the world and for the faithful to “walk towards God and love one another”. Greeting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, world leaders, and representatives from various Christian denominations, Pope Leo XIV marked the start of his Petrine Ministry with Mass in St Peter’s Square in which the Gospel was proclaimed in Greek and Latin. The call for unity comes amid divisions over the direction of the Catholic Church following the liberal-leaning Papacy of Pope Francis, who led the Church from 2013 until his death in April.

VATICAN - Leo XIV defended the traditional family, unborn babies and the elderly – and that’s great. After American Cardinal Robert Prevost, who made most of his ecclesiastical career as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, was chosen to sit in St Peter’s throne as Leo XIV, a question has reverberated across the world: is the new Pope woke? Prevost’s brother has repeatedly stated that Robert is not ‘woke’, and that Leo XIV will tread an unifying path. Whatever the truth may be, it seems clear that today, the Pope scored one for the good guys. In the same speech, the pontiff rejected LGBT ideology, denounced abortion and euthanasia – that’s a great start.

USA - Why is the mainstream media in the United States being so quiet about what is happening on the Sun? The giant ball of fire that we revolve around makes life on this planet possible, and it has started to behave very erratically. This should definitely be getting a lot more attention, because the link between solar activity and seismic activity has been well established by now. Some scientists still try to dispute this, but the truth is that when the Sun becomes more active we tend to see more large earthquakes and more volcanic eruptions. And of course if a large enough solar storm erupts, it could fry our power grids and throw our entire society into a massive state of chaos.

JAPAN - Japan’s Sakurajima volcano has erupted continuously for several hours, sending a towering ash plume into the sky and prompting authorities to issue warnings for nearby residents. The eruption, which began early in the morning, has produced a 3,000-meter-high ash cloud, covering parts of Kagoshima Prefecture and beyond. The Japan Meteorological Agency has maintained a Level 3 volcanic alert, advising people to stay away from the volcano as activity remains unpredictable.

PHILIPPINES - Bulusan Volcano just lost its chill and exploded ash 4,500 meters high like it was showing off. Scientists raised the alert to Level 1, meaning “don’t freak out yet, but maybe keep your shoes by the door.” Ash blanketed several communities near the volcano, including Barangay Puting Sapa, with authorities urging residents to stay cautious. Sitting 400 km from Manila, Bulusan clearly woke up today and chose chaos.

UK - Critics have accused Britain's biggest teaching union of spreading pro-Palestine propaganda after coaching members on how to bring the 'Palestinian struggle' into schools. The National Education Union (NEU) encouraged teachers to hold a day of action at schools on Thursday to highlight 'the Palestinian struggle for freedom'. They are also holding a workshop next month to train members in how to 'advocate for Palestine in our schools'. However, critics have warned that the events could breach legislation banning the promotion of biased political views in schools.

TURKEY - The site where Jones and others are exploring is in this area, he said. The shape of the site reportedly first caught the attention of a Turkish military official decades ago. “In a remote corner of Turkey, a unique geological formation, unearthed on September 11, 1959, by Turkish Army Captain Ilhan Durupinar, is raising eyebrows and piquing the interest of biblical scholars and geologists alike,” Noah’s Ark Scans writes in a description. “This boat-shaped geological curiosity, commonly referred to as the Durupinar formation, is considered by some to be the final resting place of Noah’s Ark.”

USA - Matt Thurmond seems like a poster child for tech-forward millennials. He runs an AI-assisted platform for mortgage professionals. He leads a nonprofit that connects longevity researchers, investors, and startups. He was the copresident of a technology conference at Harvard, where he got his MBA. So it's a little surprising that Thurmond is almost never on his phone. Count him among the "appstinent" — one of a growing number of Americans, mostly millennials and Zoomers, vowing to live a life free of endless scrolling. "Screen time was just crowding out other things," says Thurmond, who's 41. "That's not where I want to get my entertainment, and it's not really where I want to have any substantive conversation. I prefer to do that kind of stuff in the analog world." "I was more relaxed, because I didn't have all this stuff rattling around in my brain," he says. "I was just more fulfilled by things in day-to-day life."

MIDDLE EAST - The Royal Navy is braced for one of its flagship aircraft carriers to be attacked as it travels near territory run by Iran's allies in Yemen. Plans have been drawn up for F-35 fighter jets to launch strikes against Houthi camps should HMS Prince of Wales come under a bombardment as it passes through a choke point in the Red Sea. Downing Street has also given the elite Special Boat Service and Royal Marines permission to launch a rescue mission if any fighter pilot is shot down, according to Whitehall sources. HMS Prince of Wales will shortly pass through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, on its way to a deployment in the Pacific. It is understood to have 18 F-35 planes on board.

USA - Moody’s has stripped the US of its last AAA credit rating, downgrading sovereign debt to Aa1 for the first time in history. The downgrade follows Fitch’s move in 2023 and S&P’s decision in 2011, cementing growing fears over America’s long-term fiscal health. Moody’s cited rising debt levels, widening deficits, and soaring interest costs as key drivers behind its decision, forecasting that federal debt will reach 134 percent of GDP by 2035.