UK - A drop in North Sea gas production could pose a critical risk to Britain's supplies over the next decade, according to an annual assessment by the National Energy System Operator (NESO). The report, published on Wednesday, outlined the prospect of a steep decline in gas production linked to Labour's net zero policies, putting the sector at risk of reliance on foreign imports. It warned that the amount of gas produced by the North Sea could decline by over 80% by 2035 compared with today, leaving our energy use at the mercy of supplies from the US, Norway and Qatar. "During periods of peak demand in the 2030s, we expect Great Britain’s import dependency could rise above 90%," the report added.

USA - Donald Trump has condemned the ambush-style shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington DC by an Afghan migrant as an “act of evil, hatred and terror”. The two soldiers are in a critical condition after being shot at point-blank range in a targeted attack just yards from the White House on Wednesday afternoon. Shortly after the attack, the US announced it was suspending immigration applications for Afghan nationals effective immediately. More than 2,000 troops, including personnel from six Republican-led states, are patrolling Washington. Their presence has become a flashpoint issue for months, triggering a court fight and a broader debate about the use of the military for civilian policing work. Justice department data showed violent crime in 2024 hit a 30-year low in Washington.

ITALY - In Greek and Roman mythology, the Campi Flegrei volcano is depicted as the opening to the underworld. Its prehistoric eruptions blocked out the sun, turning summer into winter and covering Europe and Russia in thick volcanic ash. Now this powerful seismic giant near Naples is stirring again, shaking the ground in a way that scientists say it hasn't for centuries. "Two of the most recent earthquakes are the strongest we've ever seen," said Giovanni Macedonio, the director of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Naples. Earthquakes in March and June this year caused by the Campi Flegrei forced people "to evacuate and there are tens of families that can't return to their homes because of the damage."

USA - A lot of people out there continue to deny what is happening even though it is taking place right in front of their eyes. With each passing week, we continue to get more evidence that our planet is becoming increasingly unstable. All over the globe, volcanoes that have been dormant for a really long time are now roaring to life. Many will continue to mumble “everything is fine” and go on with their daily lives as if nothing has changed, but if there is a major eruption of a supervolcano and the world is plunged into a “volcanic winter” that lasts for multiple years, nobody is going to be able to ignore the apocalyptic famine that happens as a result.

UK - The National Trust has been accused of anti-Christian discrimination after banning a Roman Catholic from filming at a religious site. Christian Holden was blocked from filming at St Cuthbert’s Cave in Northumberland last year for a documentary about the 7th-century monk. He was told by executives at the heritage charity that the “religious affiliation” of the film, which centred on the long-distance St Cuthbert’s Way footpath, meant it could not go ahead. The trust has now been accused of religious discrimination by Voice for Justice UK, a Christian campaign group. Voice for Justice UK claimed the charity had discriminated against Mr Holden contrary to the 2010 Equality Act, under which religion is a protected characteristic. “For the National Trust to turn down a request to film a documentary about the life of St Cuthbert on the ground of ‘religious affiliation’ is a rejection and betrayal of the heritage they ostensibly exist to protect.”

HONG KONG - At least 44 people are dead after a massive fire tore through several high-rise tower blocks in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district. Officials say 40 people died at the scene, while four more died in hospital. Another 45 people remain in critical condition, and 279 residents are still unaccounted for after flames engulfed a compound of 2,000 flats sheathed in bamboo scaffolding, with some residents trapped inside. Hong Kong has some of the world’s tallest and most densely populated apartment blocks.

ISRAEL - It's time for Israel to stand on its own two feet, transitioning to an equal, independent strategic partnership with the US. Recently, the discussion about the future of American security aid to Israel returned to the headlines, when it was reported that Israel is seeking a new aid agreement for a period of 20 years. On that same day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also gave an interview to Australian media and declared that he wants to make the Israeli weapons industry as independent as possible. Israel is not a welfare case - we give the United States no less than what we receive. We are a combat laboratory for the American defense industry. Every American weapons system tested in the field by the IDF receives a quality certification that has no substitute.

GAZA - Trump plan would see rebuilding focus on ‘green zone’ and leave Hamas in charge west of yellow ‘wall’, say diplomats. Western diplomats have claimed that the United States’ plan for Gaza risks leaving the Strip split in two “in perpetuity”. Multiple officials involved in the post-war process say current American efforts are focused almost exclusively on redeveloping the part of Gaza under Israeli control – where virtually no one currently lives – with no viable plan to disarm Hamas. A senior Israeli defence official told The Telegraph that the IDF leadership has little confidence that the current Trump plan will deal with the terror group. They are pressing political leaders for permission to develop their own plan to disarm Hamas, the source said. Six weeks after the ceasefire that enabled the release of the living hostages, Hamas has resumed almost total dominance over the parts of Gaza it controls.

UK - Our elected representatives have always gilded the lily. But today’s politicians are peddling full-fat porkies at a time when the British public might be more ill-informed than at any point in recent history. They tell us that ever-growing taxes on our pay packets and assets are unavoidable – fair, even; that siphoning more from the private sector to fund the public generates growth; that diversity is our strength.

DENMARK - Look at the numbers from Europe, and one country stands out for getting a handle on the endless stream of asylum claims. Denmark has kept its applications remarkably low — around 2,100 in 2024 and just over 1,600 in the first 10 months of 2025 — while neighbors like the UK and France deal with surges that strain resources and communities. That’s no accident. The Danes have built a system that prioritizes their own citizens, making it clear that showing up at the border doesn’t guarantee a free pass.

GERMANY - Germany’s cities are collapsing under a €30 billion deficit in 2025, and even mayors of the neoliberal, pro-mass migration, ‘center right’ party, the Christian Democratic Union, are finally admitting the globalist system they helped create has driven Europe’s strongest economy straight into the wall. The mayor of Essen, a large city in the western part of Germany, recently admitted that almost every single German city is on the brink of bankruptcy, with only a handful managing balanced budgets, BILD reported.

NIGERIA - Yet another kidnapping of young Nigerian women by jihadis of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) was reported on Sunday. The wave of violence prompted the government of Bauchi state in Nigeria to close all schools as a precaution, including both government and private institutions. The latest kidnapping victims were 13 girls, between the ages of 15 and 20, who were working on farms in the Askira-Uba area of Borno state. The girls were reportedly taken from the fields while they were harvesting crops. One of the victims escaped and returned to her family, but the whereabouts of the other victims were unknown as of Monday afternoon. Nigeria’s Business Day published an editorial on Sunday calling the school shutdowns a “grim new chapter” in the “long-running battle with insecurity.” “State governments are closing school gates, instead of reinforcing them. This wave of deliberate shutdowns, sweeping across states, is a stark admission that authorities can no longer guarantee the safety of students,” Business Day wrote.

USA - The US has designated abortions on the UK's NHS as a human rights violation. On Tuesday, as part of its annual report on human rights practices in foreign countries, the US state department said state-sponsored abortions would now be considered a human rights breach. Sex change treatments for minors, arrests for hate speech, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring policies, and the facilitation of mass migration will also be seen as human rights infringements. The move is designed to combat what the Trump administration claimed were “destructive ideologies” it said were promoted by the Biden administration and had “been used to propagate human rights violations”. “President Trump will not allow the mutilation of children, attacks on free speech, and racially discriminatory practices, to go unchecked,” the department wrote on X.

USA - Donald Trump’s demand that Ukraine signs his peace deal by Thursday sparked outrage in some European capitals. Seven foreign ministers from Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Moldova and the Czech Republic wrote an article for France’s Liberation newspaper which shows quite how divorced from reality they have become. With Trump’s deal proposing that Ukraine gives up significant territory to Russia, the foreign ministers used their platform to demand a new Nuremberg-style “Special Tribunal” that would prosecute Russia’s leaders for its war of aggression against Ukraine. Of course, however wrong Russia’s invasion of its neighbour and how terrible its crimes, there is no chance of this happening. The Nuremberg trials were only possible because Nazi Germany was comprehensively defeated and its territory occupied by the Allies. The idea that a “Special Tribunal” could persuade or compel Putin or his commanders to attend their trial for “the crime of aggression” is plainly implausible. It is disturbing how detached from reality seven men and women responsible for the foreign policy of European nations are.

VATICAN - Learning and working is hard, so why bother, when it’s so easy to fake it? Thanks to generative AI, it has never been easier to pretend to have done some work. But we don’t need a crystal ball to predict the consequences. The honest and the diligent lose out, while the lazy and the dishonest get rewarded. But what are the consequences for society of making things easier for cheats and grifters, and more difficult for the talented and hard-working to be recognised? Pope Leo XIV recently spoke poetically about the soul crushing effect of replacing human made art with machine-generated AI slop. “Not everything has to be immediate or predictable. Defend slowness when it serves a purpose, silence when it speaks and difference when evocative”, he told an audience of film makers.