UKRAINE - In a world where deception is running rampant, it is so important to question the narratives that we are being fed. Ukraine’s “Pearl Harbor” attack on Russia was extremely impressive, and it appears that quite a bit of damage was done. But we are also extremely fortunate that this attack did not spark a nuclear war. If our nuclear bombers at Minot Air Force Base, Barksdale Air Force Base, and Whiteman Air Force Base were hit in a surprise attack, would we show similar restraint? We are literally closer to nuclear war right now than we have ever been in all of human history, and those that are mindlessly celebrating Ukraine’s recklessness don’t seem to have any idea. Striking Russia’s strategic nuclear assets is a really, really, really bad idea. Now Vladimir Putin will feel compelled to respond very forcefully, and the Ukrainians are very much counting on that.

UK - Monthly benefits to households with foreign nationals have surged to nearly £1 billion. The Telegraph has the details. Households with at least one claimant who is a foreign national received £941 million in March this year, up from £461 million in March 2022, representing nearly a sixth of the month’s Universal Credit payments. The figures are likely to reinforce calls for restrictions on benefits for migrants, which Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, urged Rachel Reeves to consider in a leaked memo seen by the Telegraph. Ms Reeves, the Chancellor, is already facing a growing backbench rebellion over her plans to cut welfare spending. Funding two months of benefits for households with foreign nationals cancels out the £1.4 billion the Government saved by axing winter fuel payments. Experts suggested the increase reflected a surge in the number of asylum seekers being granted refugee status and in net migration.

USA - The hidden dangers of plant-based milks and soy formula: Parents often choose plant-based milks or soy formula for infants, but research shows these alternatives may lack essential nutrients and disrupt hormonal development.

USA - The calculated extraction of faith from science is not merely an academic shift; it’s a symptom of America’s spiritual crisis. In recent decades, a subtle and sinister revolution has occurred in our scientific and educational institutions. It's not the kind of revolution that makes headlines or sets off protests in the streets. No, it was a quiet shift: an erosion, not an eruption. One classroom, one textbook, one policy at a time, faith was quietly displaced by a dogmatic secularism masquerading as neutrality. It’s time we return to a posture of humility — a recognition that science, at its best, is the study of God’s handiwork.

USA - Texas lawmakers voted on Friday to recognize gold and silver as legal tender while authorizing the Comptroller to create a program where the value of gold and silver can be transferred by electronic means. The Texas House of Representatives approved a number of Senate amendments to House Bill 1056, filed by Republican Texas Representative Mark Dorazio and Republican Texas Senator Bryan Hughes. “This is a major win for Texans,” said Representative Dorazio. “With the implementation of the transactional gold program laid out in House Bill 1056, millions of Texans will have access to sound money and a protection from the destruction of inflation.” Transactional gold legislation has been signed into law in Arkansas and Florida this year. Texas House Bill 1056 now heads to Governor Abbott’s desk, and with his signature, Texas will become the third state to authorize a transactional gold program. The Texas Bullion Depository was established by the 84th Legislature and began operating in 2018. It is administered by the Comptroller and currently holds approximately $380 million in precious metals.

EUROPE - Trump’s chaos is fuelling dreams of euro hegemony – but realising them is easier said than done. Despite the tough talk about slapping 50 percent tariffs on the EU, Donald Trump has given Brussels a golden opportunity. After years of disappointment, false hope and crises, the euro could at last wrest international dominance away from the dollar to become a – and possibly the – global reserve currency of choice. Or so Christine Lagarde hopes. The president of the European Central Bank (ECB) set out her master plan last week to at long last fulfil the dream of leading the financial world.

POLAND - Karol Nawrocki is set on scuppering Donald Tusk’s premiership until the 2027 parliamentary elections — as voters brace for two years of chaos. The novelty in Poland’s presidential election is not the closeness of the result, nor the profound divisions that lie behind it, nor the impending “cohabitation” between a premier and a head of state from rival blocs. It is that voters have signed up for two-and-a-half years of pandemonium with their eyes wide open. The victory for Karol Nawrocki, a historian backed by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) opposition party, is a disaster for Donald Tusk, the centrist prime minister, and a headache for many of Poland’s allies. Unless Tusk and his allies can muster the 60 per cent of votes in parliament that are required to overcome the presidential veto — an all but impossible task on any remotely controversial area of policy — they will be unable to pass meaningful reforms. It is not inconceivable that Tusk may be forced into holding an early election.

UK - More than 3,000 personnel are involved in the eight-month deployment of HMS Prince of Wales. The chief of defence staff has been told [the deployment] could cause ‘friction’. The head of Britain’s armed forces has been warned by China that the dispatch of a Royal Navy aircraft carrier through east Asia risks causing a “severe situation” at a time of heightened military tension over Taiwan and in the South China Sea. The message was delivered to Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, chief of the defence staff, by the head of the Chinese delegation at a gathering of defence officials and military officers in Singapore. Commenting on the deployment of the HMS Prince of Wales, Rear-Admiral Hu Gangfeng said that naval forces dispatched far from home “take quite a risk”.

UK - AI can’t even write my column, so how will it change the world? Have you actually used AI? This thing we keep being told is going to transform the world? It’s not even at the penny-farthing stage yet. It’s like a single wheel with a really great PR guy who will not shut up. Every time I google something, Google’s shiny new AI, Gemini, hijacks my search, and provides a hatefully chatty summary of what it thinks I’m looking for. It’s like Microsoft’s Clippy, cosplaying as an all-seeing Gandalf. And it always gets it wrong. I once whimsically asked ChatGPT to write a column “in the style of Caitlin Moran”, and despite the fact that large language models have scraped every single one of my books, at no cost, it opened with an AI Caitlin cheerfully boasting about how I was walking down the street in my high heels. Come ON, guys — if you’re going to STEAL my books, at least have the courtesy to remember I have infamously weak ankles and flat feet, and can’t even handle an espadrille. YOU’VE STOLEN THIS KNOWLEDGE. USE IT.

UK - Forget smartphones and wokery. There’s an even greater threat to our children’s education. Given that today’s children appear to spend much of their time in school being taught that the Vikings were champions of diversity and that human beings should be encouraged to choose between one or more of 72 different genders, you may fear that educational standards in this country are slipping somewhat. But perhaps we should be grateful. Because, believe it or not, things could actually be worse.

JAPAN - A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Hiroo, Japan, early Monday morning local time, one day after another 6.1-magnitude quake rocked the country. The US Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards Programme pinpointed the epicentre of the most recent quake to be roughly 40 miles south-southeast of the Japanese city, located in the Pacific Ocean. The city is still reeling from a shake-up, as another quake struck only yesterday, with Saturday night's jolt believed to be an aftershock of that initial tremor. Luckily, the Kushiro quake resulted in no reported casualties.

ITALY - Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, has erupted, sending tourists running. Mount Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe, started erupting once again on June 2. Extraordinary pictures of the massive eruption emerged on Monday morning, showing huge plumes of smoke rising sky high, sending tourists running for their lives.

GREECE - A huge earthquake has rocked parts of Greece and Turkey, causing at least one death. Several huge earthquakes have rocked the Greek island of Rhodes and parts of Turkey. At least one person, a 14-year-old, has died in Turkey, with reports of panicking locals jumping from buildings to try to escape any potential collapse. At least 69 people are injured. The first tremor, measuring 6.2 on the Richter Scale, struck 29km north of Rhodes around 12.30am local time and was felt across Greece, Turkey and the rest of the region. A second quake hit Marmaris in Turkey at 2.13am, registering 5.8.

USA - How are businesses supposed to plan for the future if they have no idea what the rules of the game are going to be? Businesses thrive in a predictable environment, but we have entered a period of time of extreme uncertainty. One day we are facing high tariffs, the next day one court strikes them all down, and then the next day another court temporarily reverses that decision. How is anyone supposed to make solid business decisions in such an environment? Our economy has been heading in the wrong direction for a long time, and we need to take bold action to fix things. But if legal battles are going to be constantly upending the rules of the game, there is no way that we are going to be able to pull out of our economic death spiral.

USA - The world economy is facing a predicted contraction due to physical limits related to resource extraction and diminishing returns in various areas, including energy and minerals. Current economic indicators, such as high debt levels, falling oil and coal production, and rising inflation, suggest an impending downturn that will affect global living standards and government stability. As existing economic systems falter, new economic models are expected to emerge, though the transition period will likely be marked by financial instability, job losses, and a decrease in overall prosperity. I predict that the world economy will shrink in the next 10 years. I think that this is bound to happen because of energy and debt limits the world economy is hitting.