GERMANY - Germany should take over the historically American role of Nato Europe commander, Donald Trump’s envoy to the Western alliance has suggested. Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to Nato, said he hoped Germany would one day volunteer for the prestigious role of Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He told the Berlin Security Conference: “I look forward to the day when Germany comes to the United States and says that we’re ready to take over the Supreme Allied Commander position. I think we’re a long way away from that, but I look forward to those discussions.” Mr Whitaker added that Washington would like to see Europe’s military capabilities become equal to America’s, describing this as an “aspirational goal that we should all look forward to”. For months, rumours have swirled that the US is eager to step back from the role and allow a European general to take command. Mr Whitaker’s remarks suggest the Trump administration would like to see Germany eventually overtake America as the main security guarantor in Europe.

UK - Nearly 500 migrants a day are signing up for benefits as claims by foreign nationals hit a record high, official figures show. Last month, some 472 migrants a day began claiming Universal Credit, while the overall number of foreign nationals receiving it rose to nearly 1.3 million, an increase of 6.7 per cent in a year. The disclosure comes as Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, will on Thursday announce new laws making migrants’ right to settle in the UK dependent on not claiming benefits. Under the new system of “earned” settlement, their rights to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) will depend on their ability to support themselves without claiming benefits, paying National Insurance, having a clean criminal record, speaking English to a high standard and volunteering in the community.

UK - Hundreds of Anglican vicars have converted to Catholicism since the early 1990s, a study has found. Roughly a third of all Catholic priests ordained between 1992 and 2024 were former Anglican clergy members. In total, about 700 former Anglicans or members of the Scottish Episcopal Church have been received into the Catholic Church over the same period. The study, carried out by St Mary’s University London, also identified 16 former Anglican bishops and two Continuing Anglican bishops who had converted over the same 32-year timespan.

ISRAEL - Israel is accelerating targeted strikes against Hezbollah positions, leading to Lebanon filing an urgent complaint to the UN Security Council, in a moment of increasing friction. As Lebanon struggles to implement the US-brokered 2024 ceasefire framework, which commits Beirut to disarming all nonstate armed groups by the end of 2025, a recent remark by a senior Lebanese government figure has ignited new tensions on the already volatile northern front. The official suggested that Hezbollah has a “right” to rearm — a declaration that landed poorly in Jerusalem, where Israeli leaders have repeatedly warned that the group is rebuilding its capabilities far faster than the Lebanese state is trying to curb them.

CHINA - Earlier this year, courts in China issued multi-year prison sentences and heavy fines to believers accused of distributing Bibles outside state-approved channels, ruling that even legally printed Bibles become illegal once they are sold or shared outside government control. In Malaysia, four Finnish missionaries were deported for handing out booklets that included Bible verses, part of a wider series of arrests involving both foreigners and local Christians. In several countries, simply owning or sharing a Bible can lead to arrest, imprisonment, or exile. The most dangerous nations include North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, where arrests, murders, and the destruction of churches are common. These same countries impose some of the strictest limits on Scripture, treating Bible possession as a criminal act.

CANADA - Canada’s Liberal government has poured millions of taxpayer dollars into euthanizing citizens as the nation pushes to advance the most aggressive state-run eugenics regime since the Holocaust. The rate at which the Canadian government is expanding and normalizing euthanasia under the socialized healthcare system was exposed in explosive new documents. Tax dollars continue pouring into the government’s “assisted suicide” program, even as Canadians struggle to access basic healthcare, wait months for treatment, and report being pressured into lethal injections because they are poor, sick, or disabled. According to government spending figures, Canada has spent over $16 million in taxpayer money on euthanizing citizens. However, the spending hasn’t been a one-way street. As Slay News previously reported, the Canadian government’s socialized healthcare system saved a staggering $136 million in 2024 by euthanizing patients instead of treating them.

NIGERIA - A church in rural Nigeria was attacked by jihadists Wednesday with at least two people murdered before the pastor and some worshippers were kidnapped, police and witnesses said. The attack comes just days after 25 girls were abducted from a boarding school. Video released by The Times shows the congregation cowering as masked men with rifles and machetes stormed the service in the western state of Kwara. The intruders sprayed the pews with bullets, killing at least two people. Reuters reports the assault puts more pressure on the government, which is under scrutiny from US President Donald Trump who has threatened military action over the seemingly endless persecution of innocent Christians.

USA - World's biggest company, Nvidia, stuns Wall Street as it gives biggest clue yet to state of US economy. Nvidia, the world's biggest company, has revealed its sales are soaring — a huge boost for the wider US economy, Wall Street and Americans' retirement savings. The chipmaker, which has been the engine of the AI boom and a key driver of the market's rally, delivered another blockbuster quarter that reassured investors the tech surge is still intact. The company reported $57 billion in sales, when analysts expected $54.9 billion. Profit was $31.9 billion, up 65 percent compared to the same quarter last year. It's up 245 percent in the past two years. Nvidia's earnings had been touted as a market-moving event unlike almost anything else in recent corporate America. Nvidia may take center stage today, but Walmart's numbers and the jobs report tomorrow turn this into a triple whammy of crucial economic signals.

USA - Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist organizations on Tuesday, citing each group’s ties to Islamic extremism and accusing them of seeking to “forcibly impose Sharia law.” Abbott’s action bans the Muslim groups from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas and subjects anyone affiliated with them to heightened state penalties. “The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” Abbott said. “The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable. Today, I designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations. These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas.”

ISRAEL - Israeli intelligence on Wednesday unveiled the dismantling of what it dubbed the “Hamas Octopus” — a sprawling Europe-wide terror network that stockpiled weapons to strike Israeli and Jewish targets on “command day.” Mossad said the months-long investigation exposed terror infrastructure built by Hamas leadership to carry out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets on European soil, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office acting on behalf of the spy agency. In a rare public disclosure, Mossad credited close cooperation with European intelligence and law-enforcement services for the arrests of Hamas operatives and the seizure of weapons caches across the continent. European law-enforcement authorities carried out a series of complex counter-terrorism operations that resulted in the arrest of Hamas operatives and the exposure of weapons stockpiles prepared for use by terror cells against civilians, the statement said.