GERMANY - Economic adviser says younger workers face an unsustainable burden without radical action to tackle the €400 billion-a-year pensions bill. Germany is heading for significant job losses and a “massive” rise in old age poverty unless it can curb the runaway costs of its pensions system, according to one of the government’s economic advisers. The ruling coalition is locked in a tetchy dispute about the scale of the welfare state after the finance ministry identified a €172 billion hole in its spending plans for the rest of the decade. Friedrich Merz, the conservative chancellor, caused uproar when he declared that the country had been “living beyond its means for years” and could no longer afford the costs of the system, which have increased to more than 31 per cent of GDP, one of the highest levels in Europe.

UK - Number of people claiming out-of-work benefits increased from around 3.6 million in 2018 to almost 6.5 million in February, data shows. A BBC radio programme claimed that out-of-work benefits rose by a “very small” amount when they had actually grown by nearly 80 per cent. On Wednesday’s episode of More or Less on Radio 4, listeners were told the statement that 6.5 million people are on out-of-work benefits was “totally misleading”. However, figures show that the number of out-of-work benefits claimants has risen from around 3.6 million in 2018 to almost 6.5 million in February, an increase of 79 per cent.

USA - Have you noticed that our planet has been shaking a lot lately? The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that just hit Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula is just one of the 466,742 earthquakes that have rattled the giant space rock that we all live on this year. Simultaneously, dozens of volcanoes have been erupting and there have been all sorts of very unusual events in the heavens. If you think that what we are experiencing is “normal”, you probably have not been paying much attention.

RUSSIA - A seismic jolt off Russia's coast has stirred the waters, prompting a tsunami advisory for parts of the US. Could this be a prelude to something bigger? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a tsunami advisory for parts of the United States on Thursday, following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake off Russia's eastern coast.

GERMANY - Berlin should repair ties with Moscow and steer clear of the Ukraine conflict, a senior party member has said. Germany’s interests do not match those of its “Ukrainian partners,” and Berlin should pursue a “Germany first” policy, deputy head of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s parliamentary group, Markus Frohnmaier, has said. Frohnmaier made the remarks on Wednesday in an interview with Rossiya 24, suggesting that Berlin should admit its economic woes largely stem from breaking ties with Russia and try to fix them. “We are genuinely interested in normalizing relations with Russia,” Frohnmaier stated. “We simply have to acknowledge that energy prices for industry, as well as for private individuals in Germany, are now too high.” “The interests of our Ukrainian partners, for instance, do not match those of Germany. And I call for a final return to a policy that puts Germany’s interests first,” he stressed.

EUROPE - Net zero is crippling the EU. Now Brussels wants to export its madness globally. New regulations could force American companies to adopt climate ‘transition’ plans. It’s a naked attempt to stop the US energy renaissance. As Europe grapples with the fallout of its net zero crusade – crippling energy prices, deindustrialisation, and strategic vulnerability – America is charting a different course. Under Donald Trump, America is entering a golden age of energy dominance. This strategy offers not only economic resilience but also acts as a powerful counterweight to the regulatory overreach emanating from Brussels – and increasingly, Westminster. America’s energy renaissance is not just a domestic triumph – it is a global opportunity and a warning to Europe. The path to prosperity lies not in punitive regulation and supply chain dependence on China, but in strategic independence and abundant energy.

UK - Britain’s decent majority are not racist, they’re just terrified of losing the country they love. From the huge turnout at the Unite the Kingdom march to the defiant flying of our beautiful flags, people are sending a very clear message. A lot of Telegraph readers were at Saturday’s Unite the Kingdom march. Farmers, yoga teachers, plumbers, retired soldiers, shy accountants, firemen, retail workers, trade unionists, gardeners, people in wheelchairs, pensioners with dogs, babies in buggies, mums, dads, entire families having a grand day out. Richard described his fellow demonstrators - “We still love Britain and we are angry about what has been done to her, from the erosion of free speech to the threat posed by Islamist extremism and by men from backward cultures to women and children,” he said.

MIDDLE EAST - Islamic leaders have urged coordinated steps against the Jewish state over its ongoing siege of Gaza and recent strike on Qatar. Arab and Islamic leaders have called for Israel to be suspended from the United Nations over its alleged violations of the organization’s charter. The demand comes amid Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and after last week’s airstrike on Doha which left six people dead, including a Qatari security officer. Israel has defended its operations, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisting the Hamas leadership must be eradicated.

SUDAN - As the world’s eyes are fixed on Gaza, another hunger crisis tightens its grip on Sudan. Perched on dry, dusty ground, groups of malnourished children jostle around a single metal bowl, scooping claggy porridge into their mouths. Soon, the meagre rations have gone. Scenes like this have become the norm at a community kitchen in El Fasher, a besieged Sudanese city where residents are on the brink of starvation. For nearly 18 months, the capital of North Darfur state has been encircled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful paramilitary group accused of committing genocide in Sudan’s bloody civil war.

USA - Despite being sold as irrefutable fact, ‘evolution’ undergoes yet another re-write. I was recently sent an essay by a science writer, Michael Marshall, who specializes in the origin of life, titled “Life Happened Fast: It’s time to rethink how we study life’s origins. It emerged far earlier, and far quicker, than we once thought possible.” It was a fascinating read — not because I agreed with any of the content, but because it highlighted how nearly everything evolutionists have assumed about early earth and the origin of life has now been shown to be wrong. They’re having to rethink (once again) the beginning of their entire story. Evolutionary belief is so plastic! Considering how complex even the “simplest” life is, this significantly shortened timescale makes the evolutionary origin of life even more impossible than it already was (and it was already utterly impossible — life doesn’t come from nonlife, a fact that’s recognized as the scientific law of biogenesis).

ISRAEL - The prime minister says the defense industry must become self-reliant to withstand potential sanctions. Israel will have to reshape its economy to withstand sweeping sanctions and boycotts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday. Speaking at the Finance Ministry’s annual accountant general conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said mounting international pressure over the Gaza war is pushing the country toward economic self-sufficiency.

America's moral descenthttps://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-867535USA - With last week’s murder of Charlie Kirk at an outdoor gathering in Utah, the US is continuing its descent into a dark period where constructive disagreement is being replaced by violence aimed at those with whom people disagree. Sadly, the statistics bear this out. Through the first half of 2025, the US saw some 150 politically motivated attacks, according to Michael Jensen, a University of Maryland researcher who tracks terrorism incidents. That’s nearly twice as many as the same period last year. While most of these have not been of well-known people, during the past five years, there have been a number of very public figures who are part of this statistic. There have also been a number of mass shootings that have occurred in the United States in 2025. As of August 31, a total of 302 people have been killed and 1,354 people wounded in 309 mass shootings this year. These include 47 school shootings, which themselves resulted in 19 deaths and 77 injuries.

UK - A man from Afghanistan who fled to the UK after a court convicted him of raping a 14-year-old girl has opposed extradition to France on the grounds that his prison cell might be too small. After a warrant was issued by France “for the rape of a minor”, Abdul Ahmadzai, 36, was arrested under the Extradition Act 2003. He was convicted in his absence of the rape of a 14-year-old girl and sentenced to five years in prison. At the Westminster Magistrates’ Court extradition hearing, Stefan Hyman, representing Ahmadzai, spoke about the perceived risk that Ahmadzai could be detained in a space that would be smaller than three square metres if he is extradited across the Channel.

USA - Grocery bills are climbing, and it's not just your imagination. A new report reveals a surge in food prices, leaving many Americans feeling the pinch. According to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices have jumped to the highest in three years. The cost of foods such as fresh produce, coffee, and meat has sent overall prices sky high, causing many Americans to struggle to make ends meet. Among the steepest price increases, instant coffee has risen by 4.9%, tomatoes 4.5%, beef roasts 4%, apples 3.5% and lettuce by 3.5%. According to The Guardian, the average cost of a dozen large eggs hit $6.23 in March, more than double the price just 12 months earlier.

USA - A slew of religious smartphone apps are allowing untold millions of users to confess to AI chatbots, some of which claim to be channeling God himself. As the New York Times reports, Apple's App Store is teeming with Christian chatbot apps. One "prayer app," called Bible Chat, claims to be the number one faith app in the world, boasting over 25 million users. "Our AI was trained exclusively on Scripture and developed with guidance from Christian pastors and theologians," the company's website boasts.