SAUDI ARABIA - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said in an interview published Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, was a “capable and credible” entity that should be considered a contender to govern both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, united in a hypothetical state of “Palestine.”

USA - A rain-loaded ‘atmospheric river’ stalled over the west coast of America threatens further ‘dangerous’ flooding, landslides and heavy snow. California faces a torrential deluge through the week as the state battles historic downpours which have left thousands without power and killed three people. A ‘siege’ of low-pressure storm systems – known as a ‘pineapple express’ – will sweep the west coast prompting fresh warnings from national weather officials. California has this winter been the target for a series of atmospheric rivers – bands of moisture in the atmosphere carrying up to a tonne of rain. Fresh flood watches are this week in force across California, predominantly in San Francisco, Fresno, and Los Angeles.

USA - President Joe Biden plans to introduce a resolution at the United Nations Security Council calling for a temporary “ceasefire” and demanding Israel refrain from conducting an attack on the last Hamas battalions in Gaza that are the key to winning the war. Israel has been adamant that it must attack Hamas in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza on the Egyptian border, to win the war. Rafah is the last stronghold of the Palestinian terror organization, and also the key to smuggling routes into and out of Gaza.

AUSTRALIA - Australia has announced plans to boost defense spending and procure several combat-ready warships. Canberra wants to build up its naval capabilities due to concerns over tensions with China and Russia. The Australian navy is set to receive a substantial $11 billion boost over the next ten years, aiming to augment its fleet of warships from 11 to 26 vessels. Australia’s strategic overhaul is geared towards enhancing the defense force’s readiness for potential conflicts in the Indo-Pacific region. The plan involves acquiring up to 11 new general-purpose frigates, intended to replace the aging Anzac-class ships. Additionally, a new fleet of unmanned vessels, capable of operating autonomously without sailors on board, is in the pipeline.

IRAN - In the strategic waters of Bandar Abbas, Iran unveils two advanced warships, the 'Shahid Sayyad Shirazi' and 'Shahid Hassan Bagheri'. These 67-meter-long catamarans, equipped with stealth technology and long-range missile systems, represent a significant leap in Iran's naval capabilities and self-reliance in defense technology. These vessels, stemming from the domestically designed Shahid Soleimani-class, mark a bold stride in Iran's ongoing quest to bolster its maritime prowess. The ceremony, graced by the presence of high-ranking military officials, was not just a display of military might but a testament to Iran's self-reliance in defense technology.

ITALY - Italy's state-owned Leonardo (LDOF.MI) said on Monday that the Ministry of Defence had asked it to study the development of its military space cloud architecture project, the first in Europe. The project, dubbed MILSCA, will provide Italy's government and armed forces with a system of high-performing computing, cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) and storage capacity directly in space, the statement said. It falls in line with Leonardo's main goals for the years ahead to focus on the space industry - key for defence and security in the future - and setting up interconnected, multi-domained digitalised platforms, aimed at supporting its traditional products. MILSCA will guarantee users access to strategic data such as communications, earth observation, and navigation data, anywhere and at any time.

USA - Order is breaking down all over the western world as governments lose control of their populations. Farmers have been holding angry protests throughout Europe, enormous groups of migrants have been rioting on a regular basis, looting has become a way of life in many communities in the United States, and now truckers are calling for a historic boycott of New York City. We are witnessing very alarming explosions of anger and frustration all over the western world right now, and there are no easy answers because most of us have lost faith in those that are governing us.

ITALY - A blanket of smog covers Milan, empty reservoirs bake in Sicily and wine production is down in Piedmont as a lack of rain across Italy exacerbates pollution and sparks droughts. Gas-guzzling cars were banned from roads on Tuesday in Milan and eight other cities across Lombardy after the northern Italian industrial region registered high levels of particle pollution that is dangerous for health. The region, home to many intensive livestock farms, also banned the customary spraying of animal waste onto fields, a practice that causes high nitrate pollution.

USA - California continues to be under the threat of flooding as an atmospheric river, which pounded the coast with landslides and floods, moves through the region. Significant damage is still possible as heavy rains are forecast to douse much of northern California Tuesday and southern California into Wednesday. The storm knocked down trees, wiped away cars and put hundreds of homes at risk of destruction in Rancho Palos Verdes as the rain and mudslides cracked the road open as the hillside is shifting at a rapid rate. Mayor John Cruikshank has asked Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency specifically for Rancho Palos Verdes.

ISRAEL - Israel will allow Ramadan prayers at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque during the upcoming holy month but limits will be set according to security needs, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Monday. The Hamas militant group, Israel's main enemy in the Gaza war, denounced the proposed restrictions and the top Palestinian Islamic council called on all Muslims to visit Al Aqsa regardless. Al Aqsa, one of the holiest sites in the world for Muslims, sits on a hilltop in Jerusalem's Old City in a compound also revered by Jews as the site of their temples of biblical times.

ISRAEL - If the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are not freed before Ramadan, which starts in approximately three weeks, the Israel Defense Forces campaign against the terror group will continue, including in Rafah, War Cabinet member Benny Gantz pledged on Sunday. “I say this very clearly: Hamas has a choice. They can surrender, release the hostages, and this way, the citizens of Gaza can celebrate the holy holiday of Ramadan,” Gantz told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations at their annual gathering in Jerusalem. An Israeli triumph over Hamas consists of four elements, the former IDF chief of staff told attendees: military victory, returning the hostages, replacing Gaza’s terror rulers through a diplomatic settlement and restoring the Jewish state’s national resilience.

MIDDLE EAST - In a recent statement published on Telegram, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh pointed fingers at Israel for the lack of advancement in reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the terrorist group disclosed on Saturday. Yet, Arab media later reported that Hamas suspended all negotiation and ceasefire talks due to a demand for aid. Haniyeh emphasized Hamas’s consistent efforts to engage positively with mediators to halt aggression against the Palestinian people, end the unjust siege, and facilitate aid delivery, shelter, and reconstruction efforts. Despite Hamas’s purported flexibility in negotiations, Haniyeh lamented Israel’s perceived maneuvers and delays, which, he claimed, exacerbate the plight of the Palestinian population.

BELGIUM - Imam recites Quran at Belgian parliament, calling for killing, kidnapping of Jews. Since the war in Gaza began, between October 7 and December 7, Belgium's anti-discrimination agency registered 91 reported incidents related to the conflict, exceeding the 57 recorded in 2022. An Imam at the Belgian parliament last week began reciting a verse from the Quran that explicitly calls on Muslims to kill and take Jews captive.

GERMANY - The German government has approved the deployment of armed forces in a European Union naval mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant ships from attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia, a government spokesperson said on Friday. Many commercial shippers have diverted vessels following attacks by the Houthis, who control much of Yemen and say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians as Israel and Hamas wage war in Gaza. "The ongoing escalation of violence and the threat to life and limb of the crews of ships, particularly in the southern Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, require a robustly equipped military operation," the government spokesperson said during a regular press conference in Berlin. In early February, a German air defense frigate was sent to join the EU mission. They will be mandated to protect commercial ships and intercept attacks, but not take part in strikes against the Houthis on land.

GERMANY - First, the whole NATO apparatus and mainstream media landscape went into full meltdown mode with Donald Trump’s suggestion that the US would only help alliance countries that obey the minimum of 2% GDP investment in defense. And then Europe’s greatest power, Germany, immediately announced that it was fulfilling the spending level, as you can read in TRUMP’S TOUGH TALK WORKS: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Now Vows To Meet NATO’s Agreed Minimum and Spend More Than 2% of GDP on Defense. Now, it is reported at once that Germany means to spend MORE than 2% of its gross domestic product on defense, and at the same time is urging its European partners to increase their own spending.