UKRAINE - Ukrainians fight back: family, friends, & neighbors start standing up for men being dragged off to war. In Ukraine, ongoing forced conscription and violent practices by the military are provoking civilians to finally resist in unprecedented fashion: passersby, neighbors, and family members are blocking the recruiters’ path as they try to drag civilians off the streets. Ukrainians are fed up with war and even more fed up with having to see their loved ones die for it. They are now openly speaking out against family members, friends, and neighbors being dragged away. A Ukrainian conscription officer boasts he can make a nearly $2,000 bonus per night for catching ten men to send to their deaths on the front line. He says that, working for the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support (TCC), for every man he catches, he receives a bonus of 8,000 Ukrainian hryvnia, equivalent to around $191.

GERMANY - For the 13 years since its founding, the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party - labeled “right-wing extremist” by the country’s domestic intelligence agency and accused by others of xenophobia, antisemitism and Islamophobia - has stood in opposition. Opposition to the European Union. Opposition to immigration. And, as the largest party outside the governing coalition after last year’s federal election, opposition to Chancellor Friedrich Merz. This year, the AfD is looking to lead for the first time - by winning control of a state government. That, in turn, could undermine the fragile coalition that governs the country and open a path to power for the AfD at the federal level. Five German states will hold elections in 2026. In two eastern states - Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - the AfD leads by wide margins in opinion polls. If it wins control of either state, German politics may never be the same.

UK - The number of abortions in England and Wales rose 11% in 2023 to reach a record high, according to official statistics. There were 277,970 abortions in 2023 compared with 251,377 in 2022, figures from the Department of Health show. Charities and health leaders said the data reflects economic pressures and the rising cost of living as well as poor access to sexual health services. "Economic pressure and the rising cost of living are shaping women's reproductive choices with many choosing to delay or have smaller families. At the same time, overstretched GP and sexual health services are making it harder for many women - particularly in more deprived communities - to access contraception when they need it, increasing the risk of unplanned pregnancy." Right To Life UK spokeswoman Catherine Robinson said it was a "national tragedy and a national scandal that so many lives were lost to abortion. Every one of these was a human being whose life had potential and every one of them deserved protection. We are calling for a national conversation about our abortion laws."

USA - Melissa McKay criticised the tech giant after it told her son how to switch off the safety features ahead of his 13th birthday, and Google changed their policy. The email that landed in Melissa McKay’s inbox from Google about an update to her family account was vague and seemingly innocuous. The one the company sent to her son at that same moment, however, was much more directly worded and far less opaque: you are about to turn 13 and now old enough to turn off parental controls. It gave him detailed instructions on how to do so and even provided a hyperlink. But for her job, McKay would be unlikely to open her email. The mother-of-five just happens to be the president of the Digital Childhood Institute. McKay said: “Google is asserting authority over a boundary that does not belong to them. It reframes parents as a temporary inconvenience to be outgrown and positions corporate platforms as the default replacement.”

IRAN - Iranian leaders are moving tens of millions of dollars out of the country as they begin “abandoning ship” amid the deadly protests in Iran, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Newsmax on Wednesday. “We are now seeing the rats fleeing the ship, because we can see millions, tens of millions of dollars being wired out of the country, snuck out of the country by the Iranian leadership,” Bessent said. “So they are abandoning ship, and we are seeing it come into banks and financial institutions all over the world. The ongoing protests in Iran began in response to the country’s plummeting economy, as the rial’s value fell to record lows. In the interview, Bessent attributed the downward spiral of the Iranian economy to the economic measures US President Donald Trump began implementing after being elected. Further, while Trump has said the killings in Iran were "stopping," he has threatened military action against the country if they did not.

USA - At least 40 earthquakes have shaken Southern California since Wednesday morning, with the largest reaching a magnitude of 4.4. The US Geological Survey recorded the first quake near Holtville at 1:40am PT on Wednesday, with the most recent detected on Thursday morning. While swarms of this size are typically harmless, seismologists say they can indicate shifting stress along major faults that could precede a larger earthquake. Holtville sits in a very active seismic zone in Imperial County, part of the Salton Trough, a slowly spreading rift valley that produces frequent small-to-moderate earthquakes as the crust fractures under tectonic stress. Geologists describe the Salton Trough as a young, actively stretching rift valley, meaning the Earth’s crust in the region is slowly pulling apart. As the land pulls apart, it fractures along numerous faults, including the Imperial Fault and smaller subsidiary faults, producing frequent earthquakes of varying magnitudes. While most of these quakes are minor, scientists warn that the same tectonic forces have the potential to trigger larger, more damaging earthquakes, especially along connected faults like the San Andreas.

EUROPE - France is growing increasingly concerned over Germany’s military buildup, fearing it will tilt the military and political balance in Europe and undermine its influence on the continent, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing sources. According to the agency, France is “watching with both awe and unease” as Germany has embarked on a “historic” rearmament campaign, committing to spend more than €500 billion ($582 billion) on defense by 2029. For 2026 alone, the German military budget is expected to reach about $127 billion. Berlin has also eased borrowing limits, meaning that few other European countries would be able to match its buildup speed due to fiscal constraints. Four French officials told Bloomberg that “there is a general unease about Germany’s growing military power and the political influence that comes with it.”

EUROPE - Member states have increased defense budgets, citing an alleged Russia threat, which Moscow dismisses as ‘nonsense’. The EU has been working to boost its defense capabilities in order to become a “military powerhouse,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said, Euractiv has reported, citing sources. The remarks were reportedly made on Wednesday during a closed-door meeting in the European Parliament, where von der Leyen told lawmakers that the bloc needs to draw up its own security strategy and that the Commission would present such a document in 2026. “We know that we need to be strong… We are not a military powerhouse, but we are building up to be a military powerhouse,” von der Leyen was quoted as saying.

GERMANY - Germans reportedly set to face US troops in Greenland. And so we’ve come to the point where the failing German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is flexing his supposed military power, bragging to be ready to simultaneously tackle Russians in Ukraine and Americans in Greenland. All this, despite repeated reports of unpreparedness in the Bundeswehr. It may sound like posturing in vain, but German press is reporting that Germany will send its first soldiers to Greenland already this week. German troops will arrive in Greenland tomorrow, under Danish command. This circumvents NATO's command structure, and allows Europe to defend Greenland in case of an invasion.

USA - President Trump has declared war on the price of credit. With Americans still smarting about high prices from recent inflation and the costlier mortgages, car loans and credit balances that resulted, politicians are scrambling for ideas to improve affordability. Democrats prefer subsidies and price controls to lower out-of-pocket costs on everything from rent to utilities. Trump’s instinct, shaped by real estate, is to force borrowing costs down, by edict, bureaucratic manoeuvre and to put pressure on the Federal Reserve. Trump has this week demanded a one-year cap of ten per cent on credit card interest rates, for example. He does not have unilateral authority to do this without legislation. Those with poor credit scores or lack of credit history will endure fewer approvals, closed accounts or higher fees. When the boiler breaks or car fails, these American families will not be consoled by Trump’s warm intent. They will be driven toward payday lenders, pawnbrokers and loan sharks.