EUROPE - France is growing increasingly concerned over Germany’s military buildup, fearing it will tilt the military and political balance in Europe and undermine its influence on the continent, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing sources. According to the agency, France is “watching with both awe and unease” as Germany has embarked on a “historic” rearmament campaign, committing to spend more than €500 billion ($582 billion) on defense by 2029. For 2026 alone, the German military budget is expected to reach about $127 billion. Berlin has also eased borrowing limits, meaning that few other European countries would be able to match its buildup speed due to fiscal constraints. Four French officials told Bloomberg that “there is a general unease about Germany’s growing military power and the political influence that comes with it.”

EUROPE - Member states have increased defense budgets, citing an alleged Russia threat, which Moscow dismisses as ‘nonsense’. The EU has been working to boost its defense capabilities in order to become a “military powerhouse,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said, Euractiv has reported, citing sources. The remarks were reportedly made on Wednesday during a closed-door meeting in the European Parliament, where von der Leyen told lawmakers that the bloc needs to draw up its own security strategy and that the Commission would present such a document in 2026. “We know that we need to be strong… We are not a military powerhouse, but we are building up to be a military powerhouse,” von der Leyen was quoted as saying.

GERMANY - Germans reportedly set to face US troops in Greenland. And so we’ve come to the point where the failing German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is flexing his supposed military power, bragging to be ready to simultaneously tackle Russians in Ukraine and Americans in Greenland. All this, despite repeated reports of unpreparedness in the Bundeswehr. It may sound like posturing in vain, but German press is reporting that Germany will send its first soldiers to Greenland already this week. German troops will arrive in Greenland tomorrow, under Danish command. This circumvents NATO's command structure, and allows Europe to defend Greenland in case of an invasion.

USA - The chairs of a dozen European and global central banks responded to US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s declaration of war on the US President by declaring “full solidarity” in a joint letter on Tuesday. Central bank bosses including key figures like The Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey and the European Central Bank’s anti-Trump chair Christine Lagarde co-signed a letter praising the “integrity” of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell after he broadcast a statement on Sunday, characterised as a “declaration of war” on the US President, alleging lawfare.

USA - President Trump has declared war on the price of credit. With Americans still smarting about high prices from recent inflation and the costlier mortgages, car loans and credit balances that resulted, politicians are scrambling for ideas to improve affordability. Democrats prefer subsidies and price controls to lower out-of-pocket costs on everything from rent to utilities. Trump’s instinct, shaped by real estate, is to force borrowing costs down, by edict, bureaucratic manoeuvre and to put pressure on the Federal Reserve. Trump has this week demanded a one-year cap of ten per cent on credit card interest rates, for example. He does not have unilateral authority to do this without legislation. Those with poor credit scores or lack of credit history will endure fewer approvals, closed accounts or higher fees. When the boiler breaks or car fails, these American families will not be consoled by Trump’s warm intent. They will be driven toward payday lenders, pawnbrokers and loan sharks.

IRAN - The Iranian rial has effectively collapsed, plummeting to an unprecedented low of more than 1.47 million per US dollar on unofficial markets this week. The currency crash has triggered a wave of nationwide 'revolutionary' protests, as the cost of basic survival spirals out of reach for millions of Iranians. On Monday, 12 January 2026, the dollar was quoted as high as 1.47 million rials in the 'free market' of Tehran, marking a catastrophic decline from 2025 levels. For comparison, the rial traded at roughly 70 to the dollar during the 1979 revolution; it has now lost approximately 20,000 times its value over four decades, according to The Economic Times.

UK - Four million people are to be denied the vote in May’s local elections in a “disgraceful attack on democracy” by Labour. The Government is expected to cancel at least 27 council elections, meaning hundreds of councillors will avoid the risk of being voted out. The Tories and Reform UK accused Sir Keir Starmer of “running scared” of the electorate at a time when polls show a collapse in support for Labour. Nigel Farage’s party will launch a judicial review on Thursday in an attempt to make the elections go ahead. The Prime Minister is relying on an obscure clause in the 2000 Local Government Act which gives his ministers the power to delay votes if there are exceptional circumstances.

IRAN - President Trump has cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials and told protestors that 'help is on its way,' suggesting direct intervention on his latest Truth Social post. In a significant escalation of 'maximum pressure' rhetoric, Trump has shifted from diplomatic sanctions to an overt call for grassroots regime change by urging Iranian citizens to 'take over' their institutions. "Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!'," he wrote this morning. Since the nationwide demonstrations began on December 28, the US–based human rights organization HRANA reports it has confirmed about 600 fatalities, but according to other reports that number is more likely in the thousands.

IRAN - Americans have been urged to flee Iran as protests spread and President Trump announces “immediate” tariffs of 25 per cent on countries doing business with the regime. The US embassy, which operates remotely, noted that many airlines had suspended flights until Friday and told citizens to leave by land to Armenia or Turkey if they could. France is understood to have evacuated all its non-essential embassy staff from Tehran. The White House said earlier that the Iranian regime was using a “far different tone” privately to its defiant threats in public, in a sign it wants to negotiate with Trump, who has said he is considering airstrikes on the country.

IRAN - An Iranian is due to be executed tomorrow, just four days after he was seized for taking part in anti-government protests. Erfan Soltani, 26, was held on Saturday in a brutal crackdown by the teetering regime which has seen more than 500 protesters killed and 10,000 arrested. It is thought he was charged with ‘waging war against God’, which is punishable by death in Iran, following his arrest in the city of Fardis, near Tehran. Supporters say he has not been allowed legal advice and had no chance to defend himself before a verdict of death by hanging was delivered. He was allowed to see his family for just ten minutes yesterday to say goodbye, according to activists.

YEMEN - Yemen’s battlefield reveals deeper power struggle between Saudi Arabia. In Yemen, Saudi forces reclaim key territories from UAE-backed STC, showcasing the growing rift between Gulf powers over regional influence and governance. As of now, the Yemeni Southern Transitional Council’s bold gambit to seize control of the Hadramawt and Mahra provinces in the eastern deserts of the country has failed. Forces associated with the Presidential Leadership Council, and backed by Saudi air power, have reversed the recent, very substantial, territorial gains made by the STC in its lightning December offensive. Saudi-backed forces have now retaken the port of Mukalla. STC leader Aidarus al-Zubaidi appears to have retreated to his home province of Dhaleh, accompanied by his fighters.

ISRAEL - Twenty years after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged before the US Congress that Israel would wean itself off American economic aid, he now wants to do the same with US military assistance. “I want to taper off military aid within the next 10 years,” he said in an interview with The Economist on Friday, adding that he meant reducing it to zero from its current level of $3.8 billion a year. If Netanyahu fulfills that pledge – as he did the earlier one – it would constitute nothing less than a revolution in US-Israeli ties. It would also reflect the internalization of one of the central lessons of the seven-front war that followed October 7: Israel must reduce its dependence on others for arms and munitions, even when those others are its closest allies.

UK - As a former secondary school teacher well-served by a state education, I am home educating my own children. This isn’t because I hated school or because I think I know best, but because I feel my three children deserve better than our state education system can offer. I am not anti-school, I’m certainly not anti-teacher (I am married to one) and I probably value literacy more highly than most – so why does the fact my children have never set foot in a school feel so radical?

USA - The headline of this article is not a misprint. The reason why “affordability” has become the number one issue for US voters is because most of the population is being absolutely crushed by the rising cost of living. Just look at how much you are paying for electricity compared to five years ago. And just look at how much you are paying for food compared to five years ago. Housing costs have risen to absurd heights, property taxes have become absolutely insane in many areas of the country, and health insurance premiums have more than doubled for millions of Americans. It isn’t just a coincidence that so many people are bitterly complaining about the cost of living these days. The truth is that most of the country is experiencing very real pain.

USA - Fed Chair Powell says he’s under criminal investigation, won’t bow to Trump intimidation. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is under federal criminal investigation related to the $2.5 billion renovation of the central bank’s headquarters and his congressional testimony about that, Powell said. Powell said the probe was the result of the Fed “setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of” President Donald Trump. Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, and Banking Committee member, said he would oppose any nominee by Trump to replace Powell, and any Fed board nominee, “until this legal matter is fully resolved.” Powell said the probe is the result of long-standing frustration by President Donald Trump over the Fed’s refusal to cut interest rates as quickly and as much as the President has demanded.