USA - Big Tech is considering supporting new uranium mining projects as companies need additional reliable power capacity for their huge data center expansion, according to the top executive of Canadian uranium miner NexGen Energy. “It's coming. You've seen it with automakers. These tech companies, they're under an obligation to ensure the hundreds of billions that they are investing in the data centres are going to be powered,” NexGen Energy’s CEO Leigh Curyer said at a Melbourne Mining Club luncheon on Wednesday, as carried by Reuters. Nuclear energy will be one of the winners of the US AI and data center boom, as Microsoft and other hyperscalers have been looking to purchase zero-carbon electricity to power up their data centers, which are consuming growing amounts of electricity.

GERMANY - Authorities in the German state of Lower Saxony have designated the local chapter of the right-wing AfD party a surveillance priority, citing what they called “extremist” tendencies. Founded in 2013, Alternative for Germany (AfD) espouses a tough stance on migration and opposes Berlin’s support for Ukraine. In the federal elections last February, the AfD came in second at 20%, winning 152 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag. However, the party has been excluded from coalition talks and government formation as part of a policy known as the ‘firewall’ in German politics. The AfD’s popularity has since grown further regardless, with recent polls indicating that it is supported by around 25% of Germans, on par with Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s ruling CDU/CSU.

GERMANY - German exports to America fell by more than 9% last year, the state statistics agency has said. China has overtaken the US as Germany’s biggest trading partner, the German Federal Statistics Agency said in a report published on Friday. The nation’s trade deficit with the Asian country reached a record level of €89.3 billion ($105 billion), according to the agency’s data. Meanwhile, Berlin’s exports to the US – the largest importer of German goods – fell by 9.4% in 2025, slashing the trade surplus between the two nations from €69.6 billion to €51.9 billion, according to the statistics agency.

AFGHANISTAN - The Taliban has introduced a new penal code which allows husbands to abuse their wives and children, as long as it doesn’t break bones or cause ‘open wounds’. The barbaric code, signed into law by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, would still prosecute those who cause visible fractures or injuries. But the abuser would only be convicted if the woman can prove abuse in court – showing her wounds to the judge, while remaining fully covered. If the man is convicted, he would only face a maximum of a 15-day sentence in prison. The law has no mention of protecting children from assault and abuse, both physical, mental and sexual. In addition, women are now forbidden from singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public, since the female voice is considered too intimate.

UK - “I’m proud [to] be terrorist here. You know? I’m proud! And Koran is say, ‘be terrorist’, you know? That’s God! We are proud of this.” There it is, in cocky, broken English – the Islamist menace that will not go away, as much as the great and good might hope otherwise. These are the words of Amar Hussein in an interview with Greater Manchester Police. The Kuwaiti national, living in Bolton, was hoping to murder as many Jews as possible. It could have been our Bondi Beach, a jihadist slaughter of innocent British Jewry, and one of the most deadly Islamic terror attacks ever to stain British soil.

ISRAEL - With the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan on Wednesday, tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers are expected to gather at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque in the coming weeks. Muslims consider the month, in which they believe God revealed the Quran to Muhammad, as a time of fasting and devotion. Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with the declaration of faith (Shahada), daily prayer (Salah), giving to charity (Zakat), and pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj).

MIDDLE EAST - The growing influence posing a deadly threat to Israel's security: If we do not cleanse Israel of the Qatari parasite, we will experience much greater disasters than the October 7 massacre. "The Iranian Ring of Fire" is the military-regional strategy that posed the greatest existential threat to Israel, at least according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the security establishment. The Iranians managed to "encircle" Israel through armed proxy organizations – Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, and the Shiite militias in Iraq. These proxy forces were intended to create multiple fronts for Israel, weaken it, and provide Iran with a strategic advantage – especially in the event that its nuclear project would be attacked by Israel.

MIDDLE EAST - US fighter jets tracked as heading towards the Middle East could be laying the groundwork for a major bombing campaign. The uptick in warplanes travelling to the Gulf is likely to be used to clear the way for heavy bombers to strike at the heart of Iran’s regime, experts have said. Large numbers of American combat aircraft and support planes such as air-to-air refuellers have been seen moving eastwards this week. With the combination of the approaching USS Gerald R Ford strike group and the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which is already positioned in the Arabian Sea, analysts predict that Donald Trump is preparing a sustained military campaign against Iran. One source in the US administration said there was now a 90 per cent chance of war in the coming weeks. An Israeli former intelligence chief said he believed the strike would take place within days.

UK - The United Kingdom has blocked the United States from using RAF bases to launch a strike on Iran, prompting anger from President Donald Trump. The disagreement over the use of the British military sites is behind Trump's withdrawal of his support for Sir Keir Starmer’s deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, a report has claimed. It comes as the White House is drawing up a detailed military plan for an attack on Iran involving the use of both Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, the site of America’s fleet of heavy bombers in Europe. Defence officials reportedly briefed Trump that the US will be ready to begin a war by Saturday, following a formidable build-up of American aircraft and ships in recent days. The UK has not yet granted permission to the US to use the military sites in the event that Trump orders an attack on Tehran, because of concerns that the strike would be a breach of international law, according to a report in the Times.

USA - President Trump is said to be considering a “fully fledged war” with Iran, having assembled a US armada in the Middle East. The USS Gerald R Ford, the largest warship ever built, is due to arrive in the Gulf in the coming days, joining the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class carrier which shot down an Iranian drone last month. Trump appears to have been reviewing battle plans on Wednesday afternoon when he withdrew his support for Sir Keir Starmer’s deal to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. In a post on Truth Social he identified Diego Garcia, the US military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and RAF Fairford, the airbase in Gloucestershire, as possible locations from which to attack Iran. “It may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime,” he wrote.