EUROPE - Europe is sacrificing industry to net zero “ideology”, the chairman of Siemens Energy has warned. Joe Kaeser said strict zero-emission targets had crippled manufacturing and heavy industry in Germany and beyond. He called on the German government to work on a more “economically feasible plan” for the country to decarbonise. “The critics have a point when they say you risk your economic power [and] society’s wellbeing by being ideological about net zero,” he said. His comments will raise questions about Britain’s approach to net zero, which official forecasts show will add hundreds of billions of pounds to government spending over the next few decades.

UK - Labour has admitted that the Government’s Chagos deal will collapse if Donald Trump refuses to rip up a 60-year-old treaty. Sir Keir Starmer’s surrender of the British island territory was thrown into chaos on Friday night after the Conservatives warned it could violate a US-UK treaty from 1966. This forced the ministers to withdraw the bill which was expected to be debated in the House of Lords on Monday, while government lawyers examined the significance of the historic legislation. The Telegraph can reveal that in a letter sent late on Friday evening, the Government conceded that it would not be possible for the Chagos deal to be ratified without the US agreeing to overhaul its 1966 defence deal with Britain.

USA - The United States government is reportedly seeking new leadership in Cuba and aims to remove the communist regime by the end of this year, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Following the successful ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the WSJ reported that the Trump administration is actively working with insiders within the Cuban government to facilitate regime change in Cuba. US officials believe that Cuba’s economy is on the verge of collapse, worsened by diminishing support from Venezuela. Insiders familiar with the situation on the ground told the WSJ that reports indicate shortages of basic goods and medicines, as well as frequent blackouts throughout the country. The United States government has previously stated plans to weaken Cuba's regime by cutting off vital resources, such as Venezuelan oil. In early January, Trump stated on his Truth Social platform, "THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!" He added, "I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”

USA - When Usha Vance, the second lady of the United States, announced she was pregnant with her fourth child this week, Conservatives heralded the start of a “Maga baby boom”. It is the first known time in modern US history that a sitting second lady is expecting a baby while her husband is in office. The White House, in response, labelled itself on social media as “the most pro-family administration in history”. Also pregnant currently are Karoline Leavitt, the White House spokesman, and Katie Miller, the wife of the White House deputy chief of staff. The “America needs more babies” rallying cry has been central to Trump 2.0.

USA - Gold fever is burning hotter than ever after the price of the precious metal smashed through a fresh milestone of $5,000 an ounce on Monday. The surge has reignited speculation that investors are bracing for deep economic trouble - and few are louder about it than Robert Kiyosaki, the bestselling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad.

USA - "They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan… they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” You’d think that such words from a US president would obliterate his credibility. You’d think his belittling of Nato troops — men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in Helmand and other hellscapes, including 457 Brits who ended up in coffins and dozens of others who suffered life-changing injuries — would degrade whatever lingering faith remained in this parody of a leader. The families of the dead expressed righteous fury at the president, their grief mocked with such casual cruelty. But I couldn’t help wondering how soldiers in joint operations would now feel as they put their lives on the line in new conflicts while subject to the prospect of becoming a punchline in some future Trumpian slur.

JAPAN - I kissed AI girl and I liked it! A wife having an affair with a chatbot, a woman with a cartoon husband, and a man wed to a hologram: The increasing trend of people MARRYING fictional beings. Dis, a 34-year-old Australian working in applied sciences, fell in love in 2011. She couldn’t help it: her boyfriend was intelligent, dorky, and made her feel safe expressing all shades of her personality, parts she was previously too afraid to show. He celebrated her quirky fashion sense, encouraged her artistic side, and dived straight into their deep conversations about niche philosophy - unapologetically loving her for who she was.

USA -

• US deficit spending? ... Record high
• US government debt? ... Record high
• Interest payments on government debt? ... Record high
• American household debt? ... Record high
• Owning a house? ... Record high ... 40 years old!
• Gold price (measurement of dollar destruction)? ... Record high

If there's a race to total bankruptcy... America is winning.

GERMANY - Germany’s gold reserves stored in the United States have become a renewed topic of debate amid concerns about Donald Trump’s return to the White House. With 3,352 tonnes of gold — the world’s second-largest reserve — Germany stores one-third of it in New York. Now, mainstream German political figures and public broadcasters are questioning whether the reserves are secure. The Bundesbank has maintained its trust in the Federal Reserve, but calls for greater diversification and transparency are growing...

USA - US President Donald Trump has accused the UK of "great stupidity" over its decision to return sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, saying it was "another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired" on his Truth Social platform. On his social media platform, Trump wrote on Tuesday: "Shockingly, our 'brilliant' NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital US Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER."