USA - Scientists have warned us that California is way overdue for a major earthquake and that “the Big One” could literally strike at any time. That is why I was so alarmed when the Los Angeles Times reported that “two sets of earthquake swarms” had just hit the state. After seeing that story, I went over to the Southern California Earthquake Data Center to check how many earthquakes have shaken the region during the past week. As I write this article, the total number of earthquakes in California and Nevada in the last 7 days is sitting at a grand total of 1010. To me, whenever that number goes above 1000 we are officially in the danger zone. Hopefully there will not be a very large earthquake in California any time soon, but when there is this much shaking going on we should all be on alert.

MIDDLE EAST - Hamas celebrated Wednesday as Ireland, Norway, and Spain announced that they would recognize a Palestinian state in the wake of the October 7 terror attacks against Israel, prompting Israel to recall its ambassadors from all three. The Times of Israel reported that Hamas stated: “We consider this an important step towards affirming our right to our land,” adding that it continued to call “on countries around the world to recognize our legitimate national rights.” Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz announced that Israel would be recalling its ambassadors from all three countries for consultations, and summoned the ambassadors of all three companies for reprimands — a severe diplomatic step. Israel has argued that to recognize a Palestinian state in the wake of the October 7 attacks would be to reward Hamas for terror and to invite more terrorist attacks — not just against Israel, but the West as well.

ISRAEL - Binyamin Netanyahu has described an ­attempt to seek an arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes in Gaza as “absurd” and insisted that any attempt to tie Israel’s hands was doomed to fail. Israel’s prime minister and defence minister, as well as senior leaders of Hamas, were all declared wanted for crimes against humanity by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, triggering protests and claims of “false equivalence” from both sides.The British barrister Karim Khan KC, chief prosecutor of the Hague court, accused Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, of crimes including “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare”, “wilful killing” and “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population”.

IRAN - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in north-western Iran on Sunday - now opposition in Iran is set to take advantage of the situation. Iran has been sent a five-word warning by the country's leading resistance group following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, which has been dubbed an "irreparable blow" to the oppressive regime. Following the death of Raisi, Mrs Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said: "This represents a monumental and irreparable strategic blow to the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the entire regime, notorious for its executions and massacres. It will trigger a series of repercussions and crises within theocratic tyranny." It will "spur rebellious youths into action," she added speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk.

SWITZERLAND - Arch-globalist and head of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab has reportedly informed staff that he will be stepping down as WEF executive chairman. The 86-year-old self-appointed Sultan of Davos sent an email to staff on Tuesday announcing that he will no longer run the world’s most prominent globalist advocacy group although he will likely stay on in some non-executive role, the website Semafor claimed. A WEF spokesman told the website that the Forum will be changing its governance structure and that as a result, Schwab “will transition from Executive Chairman to Chairman of the Board of Trustees” by the start of next year. Under his leadership, the WEF has become one of the leading forces behind numerous globalist projects, such as central bank digital currencies, transhumanism, artificial intelligence, world governance, veganism, carbon taxes, tech censorship, and a radical restructuring of the global economy, among others.

ISRAEL - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have discovered hundreds of tunnel shafts inside the Hamas stronghold of Rafah in southern Gaza, including dozens of tunnels that cross into Egypt. Israeli Deputy Attorney General Gilad Noam made the revelation while speaking at the International Court of Justice. “Rafah, in particular, is a focal point for ongoing terrorist activity. It is a stronghold for Hamas’ operators with several battalions belonging to the Rafah brigades entrenched in the area,” he said. “Also present in Rafah is an intricate underground tunnel infrastructure that runs underneath the city and provides ample space for operators, command and control rooms, and military equipment. Nearly 700 tunnel shafts have been identified in Rafah from which approximately 50 tunnels cross into Egypt,” he continued. “These tunnels are used by Hamas to supply itself with weapons and ammunition."

TURKEY - On May 14, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Erdogan’s ally in the parliamentary coalition, Devlet Bahceli, was the first to inform the parliament about a possible coup attempt. He stated that some law enforcement officers were trying to repeat the events of the failed military coup of 2016 and called not to limit the response to merely dismissing “a few police officers.” On May 15, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed members of parliament with a statement about a new attempted coup in the country. He said the alleged conspirators were supporters of preacher Fethullah Gulen, who resides in the US. The same day, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya posted on X (formerly Twitter) about a large-scale police operation in 62 provinces of the country, during which 544 people, presumably linked to Gulen, were detained. The next day, Yerlikaya warned on social media that Turkish law enforcement would identify and hold accountable all conspirators within government institutions.

USA - German bank executives need to increase their compliance with sanctions on Russia, and shut down any efforts to circumvent them, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Tuesday during a meeting with bankers in Frankfurt, according to Reuters. The US official reportedly stressed that Russia must not be allowed to procure “sensitive goods” to aid its military operation in Ukraine, and warned that Washington now has the authority to hit foreign banks with secondary sanctions if they are believed to be aiding Russian military-related transactions. “I urge all institutions here to take heightened compliance measures and to increase your focus on Russian evasion attempts,” Yellen said, warning that those who fail to do so may be prevented from using the US dollar.

USA - The US and Niger issued a joint statement on Sunday that set a deadline of September 15 for the withdrawal of all US forces. The departing American troops leave behind a $100-million military base built to support counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel region. The disposition of Airbase 201 in Niger’s city of Agadez was left unclear in the joint statement, which held out hopes that the US and Niger might be able to work on “issues of mutual interest” in the future. In a conference call with reporters on Sunday afternoon, a senior Defense Department official said the departing American forces would bring “sensitive equipment, lethal equipment, [and] hazardous equipment” with them.

IRAN - The death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a disastrous helicopter crash yesterday could trigger a crisis in the country and spur those who detest the regime into action, the leader of a resistance group has claimed. Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), described the crash in Iran's northwest that killed Raisi, his foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and seven others as an 'irreparable blow' to the country's mullahs. 'This represents a monumental and irreparable strategic blow to the mullahs' Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the entire regime, notorious for its executions and massacres,' Rajavi said.

USA - Did you know that US households are 17,690,000,000,000 dollars in debt? Of course household debt is only one part of a much larger story. The federal government is 34 trillion dollars in debt, state and local governments are absolutely drowning in debt and unfunded liabilities, and corporate debt is at an all-time high. As a society, we are on the greatest debt binge in the history of the world, and it just gets worse every single year.

USA - In a chilling turn of events, serious delinquency rates for auto loans have skyrocketed to 2.8% in Q1 2024, the highest since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. This surge paints a stark picture of financial distress among US households, with $45 billion of auto loans now perilously close to default. As delinquencies climb, reaching levels not seen in over a decade, it’s clear that American consumers are facing mounting economic pressures. The $9 billion jump in auto loan balances to a record $1.62 trillion amplifies concerns over the sustainability of household debt levels. What’s even more concerning is the parallel rise in car insurance costs, which surged by a staggering 22.6% in April alone, echoing inflation rates not witnessed since the 1970s. These dual pressures are squeezing household budgets, leading to missed loan payments at rates reminiscent of recessions past.

CHINA - China’s largest-ever military drills with Cambodia on Thursday included a showcase performance by the literal dogs of war — a squad of robot dogs with automatic rifles mounted on their backs. Both the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China and the US military have experimented with militarizing the increasingly common “robodog” design. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported in March that the PLA saw an opportunity to pull ahead in killer robot research because American designers seemed more interested in using the robots for utility tasks on the battlefield, such as carrying supplies. A Chinese research team published a study in February that found robodogs equipped with 7.62mm guns firing 750 rounds per minute could achieve respectable accuracy at ranges up to a hundred meters, equaling or exceeding the average accuracy of human riflemen.

SWEDEN - Spiralling gun crime, marauding migrant gangs and fascist violence - how Sweden became Europe's crime capital. Sweden is bordering on “civil war” as the country has become gripped by migrant violence, according to a leading expert. Göran Adamson, a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Uppsala University, told Express.co.uk that his country was becoming a “capital of violence” - partly due to a wave of suspected criminals moving there. According to official figures from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), the number of fatalities a year per million from gun violence is more than double the European average. The Swedish rate of death by shooting was more than twice that of the UK, despite Sweden having a population less than a sixth the size. Most startlingly, in 2022 the gun murder rate in Stockholm was around 30 times that of London, despite having a population of less than a million.

EUROPE - More than a third of the EU's 27 member nations now find themselves under the influence of right-wing forces, with their common agenda centred around halting uncontrolled migration, cracking down on crime, championing traditional family values, and putting the brakes on those pesky EU laws that demand radical changes in lifestyle to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In a startling political shift, right-wing movements are taking hold across Europe, transforming the continent's political landscape. From Sweden to Italy, Finland to Greece, the rise of right-wing parties is shaking the foundations of the European Union. But the wave of change does not stop there, as Spain gears up for national elections in just one week, followed by the Netherlands and even Germany could soon join the ranks of the right.