USA - Most of the leaders of Western governments are facing a collapse of public confidence. In France and Germany there is, if anything, a more drastic crisis of governmental credibility than there is here. So what is it that has alienated voters who were prepared to make allowances for all kinds of excess? Answer: the cost of living, which is still rising inexorably in spite of the President’s insistence that he is bringing it under control.

USA - When Americans sit down on Thursday for Thanksgiving, the US president hopes they will be thanking him. On Friday, President Trump used an Oval Office meeting with Zohran Mamdani, the New York mayor-elect, to repeat one of his favourite talking points: telling voters the price of turkey is down — with Walmart cutting the price of its holiday basket from $55 to $40. Proof, Trump says, that he is delivering on a pledge to Americans to reduce costs.

NIGERIA - Gunmen have abducted 303 children and 12 teachers from a Catholic boarding school in Nigeria in the latest mass kidnapping in the conflict-riven northwest of the country. An as yet unidentified group stormed the St Mary’s Catholic School on Friday morning before disappearing with the children into the surrounding bushland in a convoy of pick-up trucks and motorbikes. It was the third mass abduction in a week. Authorities state the school had disregarded an order to close all boarding facilities after intelligence warnings of a heightened risk of attacks.

UK - A supermarket chain has reported a surge in demand for brightly-coloured vegetables as nutritionists encourage people to “eat the rainbow” in order to be healthier. Experts say people are likely to achieve the right range of vitamins and minerals for maintaining health and well-being by eating fruits and vegetables of different colours. Natasha Maynard, a Tesco company nutritionist, said: “A variety of colour not only gives a strong visual impact on your plate, but different coloured fruits and vegetables contain different vitamins and minerals your body needs to maintain good health. To get the most benefit, try to eat one portion from each colour group. Choose from red, green, yellow, white, purple and orange varieties of fruits and vegetables.”

GERMANY - Germany should take over the historically American role of Nato Europe commander, Donald Trump’s envoy to the Western alliance has suggested. Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to Nato, said he hoped Germany would one day volunteer for the prestigious role of Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He told the Berlin Security Conference: “I look forward to the day when Germany comes to the United States and says that we’re ready to take over the Supreme Allied Commander position. I think we’re a long way away from that, but I look forward to those discussions.” Mr Whitaker added that Washington would like to see Europe’s military capabilities become equal to America’s, describing this as an “aspirational goal that we should all look forward to”. For months, rumours have swirled that the US is eager to step back from the role and allow a European general to take command. Mr Whitaker’s remarks suggest the Trump administration would like to see Germany eventually overtake America as the main security guarantor in Europe.

UK - Nearly 500 migrants a day are signing up for benefits as claims by foreign nationals hit a record high, official figures show. Last month, some 472 migrants a day began claiming Universal Credit, while the overall number of foreign nationals receiving it rose to nearly 1.3 million, an increase of 6.7 per cent in a year. The disclosure comes as Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, will on Thursday announce new laws making migrants’ right to settle in the UK dependent on not claiming benefits. Under the new system of “earned” settlement, their rights to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) will depend on their ability to support themselves without claiming benefits, paying National Insurance, having a clean criminal record, speaking English to a high standard and volunteering in the community.

UK - Hundreds of Anglican vicars have converted to Catholicism since the early 1990s, a study has found. Roughly a third of all Catholic priests ordained between 1992 and 2024 were former Anglican clergy members. In total, about 700 former Anglicans or members of the Scottish Episcopal Church have been received into the Catholic Church over the same period. The study, carried out by St Mary’s University London, also identified 16 former Anglican bishops and two Continuing Anglican bishops who had converted over the same 32-year timespan.

ISRAEL - Israel is accelerating targeted strikes against Hezbollah positions, leading to Lebanon filing an urgent complaint to the UN Security Council, in a moment of increasing friction. As Lebanon struggles to implement the US-brokered 2024 ceasefire framework, which commits Beirut to disarming all nonstate armed groups by the end of 2025, a recent remark by a senior Lebanese government figure has ignited new tensions on the already volatile northern front. The official suggested that Hezbollah has a “right” to rearm — a declaration that landed poorly in Jerusalem, where Israeli leaders have repeatedly warned that the group is rebuilding its capabilities far faster than the Lebanese state is trying to curb them.

USA - There is a strange trend in the modern West: telling the truth has become an act of defiance. Truth has not changed — but society’s tolerance for it has. At the core of this decline is the erosion of masculinity, the force that once stood guard over truth. What once anchored civilization became something that polite society treats as a provocation. Truth confronts feelings, narratives, and institutions that depend on fragile illusions. Yet truth has never survived by accident — it survives only through courage. And historically, that courage fell especially to men. The responsibility to defend truth has never belonged to men alone — but throughout history, masculine courage has often carried that burden when it mattered most.

CHINA - Earlier this year, courts in China issued multi-year prison sentences and heavy fines to believers accused of distributing Bibles outside state-approved channels, ruling that even legally printed Bibles become illegal once they are sold or shared outside government control. In Malaysia, four Finnish missionaries were deported for handing out booklets that included Bible verses, part of a wider series of arrests involving both foreigners and local Christians. In several countries, simply owning or sharing a Bible can lead to arrest, imprisonment, or exile. The most dangerous nations include North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, where arrests, murders, and the destruction of churches are common. These same countries impose some of the strictest limits on Scripture, treating Bible possession as a criminal act.