GERMANY - Railways in Germany have experienced days of “massive” disruption after a track bottleneck on the national network was found to have been sabotaged two days in a row, with a post-left ultra-anarchist group taking responsibility for what they called a strike against the global industrial economy. Thousands of international, intercity, and regional trains were disrupted, and many tens of thousands of passengers and freight consignments were hampered after a fire was set in the cabling trough that runs beside the mainline on Thursday, rendering the signalling and safety system inoperative and trains totally unable to run.

UK - Encouraged by an activist judiciary and a Government determined to increase the rights of workers, Britain’s “something for nothing” culture is spiralling out of control – and that is crippling the economy. Cases such as this one may be just the tip of a very large, and treacherous, iceberg. Britain has developed a troubling culture of entitlement that seems to be escalating. We can see that in the rising number of employment tribunal cases. In the latest year for which we have figures, there was a 23 per cent increase in both single and multiple claims; 42,000 single claims have been lodged over the last twelve months. Add it all up and one point is clear: we have developed a culture in which getting something for nothing is not only tolerated but increasingly encouraged. Britain is well on its way to becoming a second world country, and ultimately the only way to fix that will be for everyone to work harder. The trouble with this is that it is bankrupting the country.

USA - President Donald Trump said Thursday that the best and fastest way to solve the humanitarian problems facing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is for Hamas to surrender and to release its remaining Israeli hostages. He posted on Truth Social: “The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” Trump posted his statement as his administration slapped sanctions on the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization for seeking statehood outside the process of negotiations with Israel.

ISRAEL - The 140 heads of state threatening to recognize or ones that have already recognized a Palestinian state “can’t even tell you where this Palestinian state is,” US State Secretary Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on Thursday. “They can’t tell you who will govern it. And I think number three, it’s counterproductive,” Rubio continued. Rubio called the decisions irrelevant, saying that “it doesn’t mean anything.” “First of all, none of these countries has the ability to create a Palestinian state. There can be no Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to it.” He added that he wished there was more international attention paid to the Israeli hostages still in Hamas' captivity.

USA - President Donald Trump threatened trade consequences for Canada if it goes ahead with Premier Mark Carney’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September. As Breitbart News had reported, Canada announced that it would join France and the United Kingdom in recognizing Palestinian statehood — despite the ongoing war that Palestinian terrorists began; despite the fact that Hamas continues to hold 50 Israeli hostages, 20 of them living; despite the lack of borders for a Palestinian state; and despite the fact that even the “moderate” Palestinian Authority is a dictatorship. Trump has dismissed calls for a Palestinian state as a “reward for Hamas.” The families of the Israeli hostages agree, saying that giving Palestinians a state before freeing their loved ones rewards and incentivizes terror.

UK - Sir Keir Starmer has announced his plan for the UK to officially recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel meets a number of conditions. The Prime Minister laid out these terms in a speech at Downing Street. They include Israel agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza and committing to a two-state solution. In a Telegraph poll, readers were overwhelmingly opposed to the decision, with 86 per cent of over 50,000 voters saying Palestine should not be recognised.

UK - The number of migrants crossing the Channel on small boats has hit 25,400 at the earliest point in the year since records began. Some 898 migrants made the journey in 13 boats on Wednesday, bringing the total for the year so far to 25,436, according to Home Office figures. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary said the migrant Channel crossings were “now a national emergency”. “Almost 900 people crossed the Channel yesterday, meaning 25,000 people, mainly young men, have crossed the Channel this year,” he said. “It is the worst year on record so far, and the Labour Government are doing nothing to stop the crossings. This is now a national emergency.”

RUSSIA - The megaquake off Russia's coast may have done more than shake the region, it could trigger volcanic eruptions across the Pacific's 'Ring of Fire.' The Ring of Fire is a 25,000-mile chain of volcanoes and earthquake zones that stretches around the Pacific Ocean, home to about 75 percent of the world's active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. Experts warned the 8.8-magnitude quake released enough energy to disturb underground pressure systems far from the epicenter, potentially destabilizing magma chambers beneath active volcanoes along the arc. Michael Manga, a geoscientist at the University of California, Berkeley, told the Daily Mail: 'The volcanoes in volcanic arcs, including Chile, the US Cascades, Japan, Indonesia and Kamchatka, are prone to erupt after earthquakes.' The elevated threat is predicted to last from two months to two years because the earthquake's impact on underground pressure and magma movement can take time to trigger an eruption.

UK - To many Brits, it has long been a statement of the obvious that mass, uncontrolled migration is fuelling crime. It’s just common sense. Some societies have higher levels of violent and sexual crime, and individuals who migrate from those countries to the UK are unlikely to shed those cultural differences quickly. It’s a point I made recently in the context of the rape gang scandal. We have imported thousands of people from alien cultures who possess mediaeval attitudes towards women. Belatedly the debate is now changing as the facts emerge. We now know 40 per cent of sexual assaults committed in London last year were by foreign nationals – across the whole country that figure is 26 per cent.

EUROPE - Vice-President JD Vance has accused Europe of engaging in “civilisational suicide” by refusing to control its borders. Taking particular issue with Germany, which he has criticised before, he said some European nations were both “unable” and “unwilling” to stem the flow of migration. The 40-year-old said the idea of Western civilisation has its roots in Europe and led to the founding of the US, but added: “Europe is at risk of engaging in civilisational suicide. If you have a country like Germany, where you have another few million immigrants come in from countries that are totally culturally incompatible with Germany, then it doesn’t matter what I think about Europe,” he continued. “Germany will have killed itself, and I hope they don’t do that, because I love Germany and I want Germany to thrive.”

UK - The population of England and Wales is estimated to have grown by more than 700,000 people in the year to June - driven almost entirely by international migration. It is the second-largest annual numerical rise in more than 75 years - behind only the increase of more than 800,000 people that took place from mid-2022 to mid-2023. There were an estimated 61.8 million people in England and Wales in mid-2024, up 706,881 from 61.1 million in mid-2023, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Almost all of this increase was due to international migration, with natural change - the difference between births and deaths - accounting for only a small proportion.

UK - Our island’s population continues to soar. In the year to June 2024, the numbers living in England and Wales rose by more than 700,000 – almost all because of immigration. Such a scale of demographic change is unprecedented and unsustainable. Never before has migration, rather than natural growth, been responsible for 98 per cent of the rise in population. The sheer numbers are staggering, but the pressures on our infrastructure, public services and accommodation are hugely compounded by the impossibility of integrating so many migrants from utterly different cultural backgrounds. The biggest single challenge is housing. Angela Rayner, the minister responsible, talks constantly about cutting red tape and setting targets for housebuilding. But her plans are dwarfed by this influx of migrants, few of whom are interested in living far from London and the South East.

UK - A Ramadan meal and an LGBT+ History Month lecture at Windsor Castle this year have been hailed as exemplifying the King’s “momentous” commitment to diversity. The Royal Collection Trust – which oversees the upkeep of the royal palaces – said in its annual report, released on Tuesday, that “inclusion and diversity was a key priority this year” as it hosted a series of religious and LGBT+ celebrations. For the first time in its 1,000-year history, Windsor Castle hosted an Open Iftar meal in its state apartments to mark the breaking of fast for Muslims during Ramadan. Last autumn, it hosted an inaugural Diwali Family Day including prayers from the head priest of the Slough Hindu Temple. The King’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace also hosted its first event to mark LGBTQ+ History month in October, “exploring some of the Queer figures represented within the Royal Collection”.

USA - President Donald Trump on Wednesday is meeting with candidates to serve as 4-star generals ahead of the confirmation process. The nominees are part of Trump's backlog of candidates awaiting Senate confirmation. “President Trump wants to ensure our military is the greatest and most lethal fighting force in history, which is why he meets with four-star-general nominees directly to ensure they are war fighters first — not bureaucrats,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told reporters. Trump previously replaced the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff after taking office and has worked to root out "wokeness" at the Pentagon as part of his overhaul of military culture.

FRANCE - France’s prime minister François Bayrou was not going to spoil Bastille Day with a talk on debt doom. He waited 24 hours. Let the French have their military parade on the Champs Elysées and the magnificent fireworks in front of the Eiffel Tower; time would come soon enough to discuss the cost of it all. On July 15, from a lectern on which was written Le moment de vérité (“The moment of truth”), the French PM addressed ministers, lawmakers, civil servants and journalists. The tone was decidedly solemn. “Every second, France’s debt rises by €5,000. Every second. France is now the country with the highest public spending in the world. We must take responsibility; this is the last stop before the cliff.”