USA - In a congressional hearing last week, acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao said that the US is "doing a pause" on weapons sales to Taiwan "in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury," the name of the US operation against Iran. Trump himself gave another reason for the pause on the way back from last week's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Weapons sales to Taiwan are "a very good negotiating chip for us, frankly," Trump told Fox News in Beijing. "I'm not looking for somebody to go independent, and we're supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I'm not looking for that. I want [Taiwan] to cool down. I want China to cool down." At that meeting, Xi warned Trump that conflict over Taiwan could go to "an extremely dangerous place." It's a quiet but massive shift in US policy.

USA - Donald Trump is postponing a highly unusual visit to Camp David on Wednesday, where he planned to huddle with his Cabinet as high-stakes Iran peace talks hang by a thread. Instead, Trump announced that he'd be holding the Cabinet session at the White House due to 'possible bad weather conditions.' In a major show of administrative unity, every single member of the Cabinet - including outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard - was expected to join Trump at the historic presidential retreat tucked away in rural Maryland. Trump's last visit to Camp David was in June last year, just two weeks before the US launched strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer. The shadow of war is set to completely hijack the summit after the US launched blistering airstrikes on targets in southern Iran late Monday.

USA - Donald Trump is planning to force all federal employees to sign sweeping non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in a dramatic bid to choke off leaks to journalists. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the HR arm of the federal government, published a draft NDA on Tuesday to be handed to staff across all agencies. Anyone who breaks the gag order faces being fired, banned from future federal employment, and hit with civil or criminal legal action. It bars workers from disclosing any non-public, confidential or proprietary information 'whether marked as such', covering internal operations and personnel matters. The gag would follow employees for five years after they leave government service.

USA - Trump's secret NATO ultimatum sparks panic! Donald Trump is set to slash the arsenal of US fighter jets, warships and submarines reserved for NATO allies should a military crisis erupt in Europe. A military envoy sent by Pete Hegseth blindsided senior NATO officials in a classified Brussels briefing late last week, revealing US firepower committed to defending Europe will significantly decline, Der Spiegel and Reuters reported. The US fighter jet commitment to NATO is to be slashed by a third, while the Navy will withdraw destroyers from the alliance's pool. Washington will also pull its submarines from the alliance altogether, envoy Alexander Velez-Green reportedly told officials behind closed doors. Europe will be left to maintain its own supply of reconnaissance drones, a weapon that has proved decisive on the battlefields of Ukraine.

MIDDLE EAST - As the conflict with Iran stretches into its fourth month, the world’s oil markets are confronting a harsh physical reality that headline inventory numbers obscure. Veteran strategist Jeff Currie of Carlyle Group delivered a sobering assessment Monday: Asia’s tanks are effectively at bottom, Europe stands weeks away from similar pain, and the United States could face acute challenges by July. The disruption of Middle East exports through the Strait of Hormuz has triggered a genuine supply shock, one that policy gimmicks cannot easily resolve. Every passing day of depleted inventories does indeed strengthen Tehran’s position at the negotiating table, as Currie observed. Yet yielding to urgency would reward aggression rather than deter it. Markets may eventually stabilize once the Strait reopens, but the deeper lesson endures. Nations that neglect their God-given resources and productive capacity invite precisely this kind of vulnerability.

VATICAN - Pope Leo XIV made a historic apology on Monday for the Holy See’s role in legitimizing slavery and for having failed to condemn it for centuries, calling the Vatican’s record a “wound in Christian memory.” Past popes have apologized for Christians’ involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. But no pope had ever publicly acknowledged, much less apologized for, the role that past popes played in giving European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave “infidels.” History’s first US-born pope, whose family history includes both enslaved people and slave owners, delivered the apology in his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” (Magnificent Humanity), which was released Monday.

UK - A rogue prince, even one mired in the kind of sleaze, greed and overbearing entitlement that Andrew has so unattractively displayed, could surely not undo an affection and a respect for our First Family that has flourished for generations.But will he bring down the monarchy? Not so long ago, that would have been an absurd question to ask as the Royal Family has overcome scandals in the past which have posed existential threats to its survival. For nearly seven years he has dominated royal headlines, overshadowing his family’s good deeds, sucking the air out of the room - all of which suits the agenda of the Left and those who want to bring down the Royal Family. It would be a tragedy if this spreading scandal is allowed to now encompass the reputation of the Queen who only ever wanted to do the best for her country.

UK - Hundreds of teenagers caused chaos as they descended on Southend Beach on Tuesday. Two people were arrested as teenage mobs stole from shops and skirmished with police along the beachfront in Essex in the latest 'linkup', with trouble also spreading to Bournemouth beach. The gathering, advertised on social media as a 'music event' with posters showing a young man holding a zombie knife, is part of a series of chaotic 'linkups' across the country to mark the 36°c half term heatwave. Around 300 youths assembled along the sea in Southend by the evening and fights broke out while police, some armed with guns, tried to disperse the crowds.

USA - Donald Trump told Arab leaders he will only broker a peace deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if they normalize relations with Israel, according to a leaked phone call. The most powerful leaders in the Middle East, including those from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt, joined the President on a conference call on Saturday to discuss progress toward ending the US-Iran war and reopening the vital oil passageway. In return, Trump pressed the leaders to normalize ties with Israel, a demand aimed at nations that have opposed the Jewish state since its founding in 1948. Arab leaders were so stunned by the demand that they refused to respond, remaining entirely silent on the call, according to Axios.

GERMANY - Germany’s self-imposed economic decline is no longer a warning — it is now visible in hard data, as foreign investment collapses to its lowest level since the aftermath of the global financial crisis. According to a new analysis by EY, reported on by various German media outlets, foreign direct investment projects fell for the eighth consecutive year in 2025, dropping to just 548. The figure marks a 17-year low and underscores a steady erosion of confidence in Europe’s largest economy. The numbers represent a 10 percent decline from the previous year. But more importantly, they reflect a structural downward trend that has now persisted for nearly a decade. Henrik Ahlers, head of EY Germany, issued a stark warning. “Germany is falling behind, and other European locations are developing significantly better,” he said.