USA - We Are Facing A Global Energy Crisis, A Global Food Crisis, A European Financial Crisis, The End Of The AI Bubble And A Super El Niño All At Once. We have never seen a year quite like 2026, and we are certainly not prepared for what is coming in 2027. There has never been a time when we haven’t had problems, but now we have entered an era when we are just getting hammered by crisis after crisis after crisis. At the moment, we are simultaneously facing an unprecedented global energy crisis, an unprecedented global food crisis, an epic meltdown in Europe, the end of the biggest financial bubble in history and the most powerful Super El Niño ever recorded. To say that we have a lot on our plate would be a massive understatement, and what we have experienced so far is only just the beginning. For a few months a decent amount of oil was sneaking through the Strait of Hormuz, but now Iran is trying to slam the door shut.

FRANCE - President Donald Trump warned Monday that Paris is on course to become a “Muslim city very soon,” blaming France’s escalating unrest on mass immigration and saying he had repeatedly urged French President Emmanuel Macron to close the country’s borders. “Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon, and that wasn’t the deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House as France grappled with days of violent riots, looting, and arson. Trump said he had warned Macron about the consequences of his immigration policies years before the latest unrest. He went further, warning that the consequences could extend across Europe if governments failed to tighten immigration controls. “If Europe doesn’t close its borders and bring the criminals out, like the people that are protesting, Europe is finished,” he said.

EGYPT - Egypt has pledged to support Saudi Arabia in its escalating conflict with Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the country’s top security body has announced. Riyadh has been pressing allies for assistance following Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities in retaliation for its military operations in Yemen. The group has demanded that Saudi Arabia lift its blockade of Yemeni airports and ports, describing its approach as “an eye for an eye.” Egypt’s National Defense Council, chaired by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, announced the decision on Sunday, a day after he sought parliamentary authorization to deploy troops and military equipment abroad. The council pledged “all possible forms of support” to help Saudi Arabia defend its security but did not specify what assistance Egypt would provide.

RUSSIA - Moscow’s diesel agreement with Washington marks a diplomatic success, but offers no guarantee of a Ukraine peace deal. The diesel deal between Moscow and Washington has once again shaken up the geopolitical chessboard, with each passing day bringing fresh and unexpected developments. Most striking is Kiev’s behavior. Despite his enormous dependence on Washington, Vladimir Zelensky has decided to challenge Donald Trump directly, adopting an unusually confrontational approach. A more pragmatic politician might have announced a moratorium on strikes against Russian oil refineries until the US congressional elections, particularly as Washington had demanded no further concessions. Instead, Zelensky has chosen confrontation, creating a diplomatic crisis of his own making, but whether it develops into something more serious remains to be seen.

MIDDLE EAST - The letter from the son whose father was absent fighting a war started off normally enough: “Dear Dad, I miss you so much and I wish I could hug you and see you victorious.” But then, the missive from 10-year-old Ibrahim Sinwar to his Hamas leader father Yahya quickly took a dark, frightening turn: “I wish I could grow up, hold the Kalashnikov and shoot the Jews.” Shocking. But also not. In the two decades Hamas has run Gaza, both Israelis and humanitarians inside the Palestinian territory have been warning about the increased radicalisation of Gaza’s children. This starts in schools, shockingly often financed with money from British taxpayers: Arabic lessons which bring in the words “explosive belts” worn by suicide bombers, comprehension with texts about slashing the throats of Jews, Islamic classes in which self-sacrifice and martyrdom are encouraged.

FRANCE - France is bracing for a fresh sell-off in government debt after a wave of violent protests erupted across the country. Bond yields in France are expected to rise on Monday morning in response to the clashes, as economists fear the country increasingly appears “ungovernable”. Higher borrowing costs will pile more strain on the country’s troubled public finances, while also stoking fears that the violence will lead to a more populist, free-spending candidate coming to power. Andrew Kenningham, of Capital Economics, said yields on French government bonds could surge by as much as 0.1 percentage points on Monday, taking rates back to their highest level in decades. Mr Kenningham said: “It underlines how difficult it is to implement any reforms in France, that sense that France is ungovernable.” More than 1,800 people have been arrested after nationwide protests descended into chaos, with cars set on fire, shops and restaurants looted and the city hall in Limoges largely destroyed in a blaze.

UK - Two decades after its first gay ceremony, The Archers will feature its first lesbian wedding. Millions are expected to tune in to BBC Radio 4’s radio drama – the world’s longest-running soap – to hear Pip Archer, played by Daisy Badger, and Stella Pryor, played by Lucy Speed, marry on Sunday. The Archers featured its first gay ceremony in 2006 when Adam Macy, played by Andrew Wincott, and Ian Craig, played by Stephen Kennedy, entered into a civil partnership a year after they became legal in Britain. More than a quarter of a million extra listeners tuned in for that ceremony, which was the culmination of a two-year romance that took off in the middle of a strawberry field in April 2004.

FRANCE - President Macron has vowed to crack down on violence in France while Donald Trump claimed 'immigrants with hatred in their hearts' had made the country ungovernable. The French President made an impassioned plea 'for unity' following a weekend of chaos involving up to 500,000 protesters. In a live TV address on Sunday night, he said: 'Businesses have been looted, while public buildings, shops, and town halls have been attacked. 'Looking at these images, we have all asked ourselves how French people could do this to France.'

FRANCE - France is seeing its worst riots in decades — violence clearly aimed not simply at the ruling party, but at France itself — and the left-liberal establishment is still trying to blame a few bad apples. That’s true not just of President Emmanuel Macron, but of global media that claim it’s mainly about student grievances over budget cuts — at least one BBC article actually used the phrase “mostly peaceful protests.”

FRANCE - The French are revolting. It’s a tradition with them. Riots are as French as croissants, adultery and the 35-hour work week. France’s current riots may, however, presage the fall of the Fifth Republic. Mobs of students in the streets. Schools going up in flames. Police using tear gas and flash-ball guns. Hundreds of injuries and thousands of arrests. The spark for the disorder was strikes by left-wing teachers and other public-sector workers, including firemen. The students besieged their schools at once.