VENEZUELA - State of emergency declared after 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude quakes. Two of the strongest earthquakes in Venezuela’s history rocked the country on Wednesday evening, trapping and killing residents as buildings collapsed. A 7.2-magnitude quake struck near San Felipe city, west of the capital Caracas, followed less than a minute later by a more powerful 7.5-magnitude tremor, in a seismic event known as a “doublet earthquake”. Caracas was rattled by dozens of aftershocks on Wednesday night.

JAPAN - A powerful earthquake struck off Japan's northern coast on Thursday, but the country's meteorological agency said there was no danger of a tsunami. The quake had a magnitude of 7.2 and occurred off the eastern coast of Iwate, upgraded from an initial reading of 6.9, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The quake had a depth of about 50 kilometers (30 miles), it said. The US Geological Survey also reported a magnitude of 6.9. The rattling occurred in an area where strong earthquakes have repeatedly been reported in recent months, including one that triggered a weeklong mega-quake caution advisory in December.

USA - A strong earthquake has struck the US West Coast, triggering urgent warnings for millions to shelter in place during the seismic shockwaves. The US Geological Survey said a magnitude 5.6 quake erupted in Northern California at 11.10am ET on Wednesday, marking the strongest tremor since 1940. While the strongest shaking was reported right at the quake's epicenter near Redwood Valley, the tremors traveled more than 600 miles up and down the West Coast, reaching Coos Bay, Oregon in the north and Salinas, California in the south and parts of western Nevada. The Maacama is a major active strike-slip fault capable of causing strong shaking and damage in areas like Mendocino and Sonoma counties, where it runs through rural communities and wine country. Making the fault even more of a concern to locals is the fact that it is part of the larger San Andreas Fault system, the infamous 800-mile-long fault running through much of California.

USA - Where the 'Big One' will hit... as underground stress reaches a 1,000-year high and earthquakes split the ground throughout the US, Americans have long lived in fear of the 'Big One' - an earthquake so enormous it would devastate the West Coast - but that fear has reached new heights as stress under California has entered historic territory. A new study has discovered that the infamous San Andreas Fault has been experiencing stress levels higher than any other point in the last 1,000 years. When that energy is eventually released, researchers fear the rupture will travel beyond the 800-mile-long fault and merge with other faults experiencing even worse levels of stress in 2026 - triggering a megaquake that devastates the region. Across America, growing fears of a deadly disaster are no longer confined to the Golden State of California. As earthquakes hit across the country, many citizens are terrified that they too could be sitting on a seismic 'time bomb.'

USA - Americans are no strangers to natural disasters. Each year, the US endures extreme storms, raging wildfires, earthquakes and more. In 2024, there were 27 billion-dollar catastrophes in the US - and those were just weather and climate-related events. But scientists have long warned that the worst is yet to come. From a megaquake to a supercharged hurricane and a devastating volcanic eruption, research has shown that certain exceptionally dangerous disasters are bound to occur. Any one of these events could lay waste to entire cities - resulting in mass death, the destruction of thousands of homes and the complete collapse of regional infrastructure. It's not a matter of if they will strike, but when.

UK and Europe suffer intense heatwaves while a Saharan dust storm hits the US - as experts warn extreme events are becoming the norm. Billions of people around the world are suffering the wrath of apocalyptic weather events this week. In the UK and Europe, there have been scorching heatwaves, with parts of the continent expected to hit 46°C. At the same time, a huge cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert is inching closer to the US, where it's expected to engulf entire states in the coming days. What's more, parts of India and Pakistan are enduring prolonged temperatures above 46°C, forcing schools to close. Europe is sweltering under a heat dome, pushing temperatures in parts of the continent to 46°C, as deaths rise and the risk of disaster grows.

UK - Once a fringe idea, euthanasia is having its moment internationally and in the United Kingdom. Lauren Edwards is reintroducing the Leadbeater bill with every intention of ramming it through Parliament by using the threat of the Parliament Acts. But the British debate seems positively old-fashioned compared to that across the North Sea. This week it was announced that, for the first time since its legalisation in 2024, a child between the age of one and 12 was euthanised in the Netherlands. No details were given, except that a committee would review the case to determine whether everything had been done in accordance with the law.

IRAN - The US has lifted sanctions on Iranian oil exports for two months. The general license, announced by the US treasury as peace talks continued in Switzerland, is a move promised under the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran. It authorised the production, delivery and sale of Iranian oil until August 21. During Monday’s peace talks, Iran’s foreign ministry said the removal of sanctions on its oil exports was a key promise Washington had to honour to continue negotiations for a final peace agreement. The removal fulfils one major aspect of the memorandum, in which the US pledges to “terminate all types of sanctions” against Iran and to “make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets” of Tehran. Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, wrote on X: “In line with the ongoing productive talks in Switzerland, Iran has committed to free and open transit in the Strait of Hormuz and to permit International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors into their country."

USA - Donald Trump has summoned Pentagon officials and defence contractors for crunch talks about replacing US missile stockpiles depleted in the war with Iran. The White House is expected to pressure defence companies to speed up production of critical weapons amid concerns the US is running low. The US has used one-third to one-half of its stocks of Tomahawks and Patriots and its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor system, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in April, following the initial ceasefire. The timetable for replacing this inventory is four to five years. There have also been concerns that the Pentagon has shifted US defence systems and assets from Europe and Asia to the Middle East, reducing the US’s ability to defend itself and its allies from the threats from China and Russia.

UK - The Government’s control over information available to the public is tightening. The rise of censorship and narrative control for our “safety” is one of the most disturbing trends to emerge in modern politics – and unless there is a course correction, it risks becoming a permanent feature of public life. The Prime Minister is now reportedly planning to “crackdown” on private media companies and promote BBC News, ITV and Channel 4 news content across social media. Hand-picking broadcasters to be artificially boosted for public viewership smacks of manipulation over what the public can read, watch, and ultimately think.

SWITZERLAND - The talks in Switzerland may have calmed markets and lowered the volume for a day. They have not answered the question that matters: Is Iran being forced to retreat or merely being paid to pause? The United States and Iran concluded talks in Switzerland on Monday. Mediators Qatar and Pakistan described “encouraging progress” and announced a 60-day road map toward a final agreement. The talks included discussion of a Lebanon “deconfliction cell” aimed at preventing renewed escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel was absent. Iran was present. Over the past 24 hours, criticism has focused on one concern: Tehran appears to have gained a road map without publicly accepting the hard conditions that would make it meaningful. It appears to have secured breathing room on sanctions while its proxies remain armed. It appears to have turned the Strait of Hormuz into a bargaining chip and Lebanon into part of a broader US-Iran understanding.

LEBANON - Earlier on Monday, CNN reported that Israel is contemplating announcing a "symbolic" withdrawal from certain territories in southern Lebanon as part of the upcoming round of talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the IDF retains freedom of action to act against threats in Lebanon. "My directive and that of the Minister of Defense to the IDF is clear and has not changed," said Netanyahu. "Our fighters in southern Lebanon have full freedom of action to thwart any direct or emerging threat to them or to the residents of the North. The IDF has no restrictions in this regard," he said. "I stand behind them; the entire nation stands behind them."

USA - Americans that are over the age of 55 control approximately 73 percent of all wealth in the United States. Americans that are age 55 or younger control just 27 percent of all wealth in the United States. Never before in history has there been a generational divide of this magnitude. One of the reasons why there is such a generational divide is because housing has become so insanely unaffordable. If you purchased a home 20 or 30 years ago, it has appreciated in value a great deal and you are sitting pretty. But many young adults today look at current housing prices and wonder how they will ever be able to buy a home. During the pandemic, we witnessed a surge of young adults moving back in with their parents. But once the pandemic was over, things were supposed to go back to normal. Unfortunately, that never happened. In fact, the percentage of young adults that are living with their parents is now higher than it was at any point during the pandemic…We have tens of millions of young adults that cannot form their own households. That is a major national crisis.

NETHERLANDS - For the first time since a change in the law in the Netherlands, a child under the age of 12 has died by euthanasia. The death of the child was confirmed by the country's health minister, Sophie Hermans, as she presented the annual report by the committee that reviews all late-term abortions and medically-assisted deaths of children to parliament on Monday. According to the report, the child was under the age of 12 and had been seriously ill, but no further details were given. Assisted dying for terminally sick children aged from one to 12 has been legal for two years in the Netherlands. Before the change in the law, only newborns and those over 12 could be euthanised. Under Dutch law, parents must be consulted, the child must be suffering unbearably, and there can be no chance of recovery.

EUROPE - Every flat surface in Andrius Kubilius’s 10th-floor office is crammed with model drones, missiles or souvenirs given to him by the Ukrainian military. At a glance, you’d be forgiven for believing, as the EU’s first defence commissioner, that the former Lithuanian prime minister has the best job in Brussels. But in reality, he has the unenviable task of ensuring that the bloc can be responsible for its own defence and ready to face down an armed attack from Russia.