USA - In “The Wizard of Oz”, at one point Dorothy tells her dog that she has “a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”. She had been dropped in a strange new world that was crazier than anything she had ever imagined. Needless to say, many of us feel the exact same way. We’re not in the America that we grew up in anymore. Instead, we now live in a country that appears to be a cross between a really bad science fiction movie and a freak show. Sadly, the pace of change has now reached an exponential rate, and things will get even more insane during the years that are ahead of us. The following are 8 signs that demonstrate how truly bizarre our society is becoming…

EUROPE - Europe erupts in widespread farmer protests as revolt against 'Green' policies intensifies. Farmers in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Romania, and other countries across Europe are protesting radical leftist governments by obstructing major transport networks with tractors. This widespread populist movement is sweeping Europe at a time when over-regulation, taxes, and the climate change agenda threaten the livelihoods of not just farmers but working-class people and comes several months before the European election cycle kicks off in June.

USA - The US has approved plans for a series of strikes on Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq, officials have told the BBC's US partner CBS News. The strikes would take place over a number of days, officials say, and weather conditions will likely dictate when they are launched. It comes after a drone attack killed three US soldiers in Jordan, near the Syrian border, on Sunday. The US has blamed an Iranian-backed militia group for the attack. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq - which is believed to contain multiple militias that have been armed, funded and trained by Iran's Revolutionary Guards force - has said it was responsible for the strike. Iran has denied any role in the attack which injured 41 other US troops at the military base.

USA - US officials told NBC News that the US is planning to launch a weeks-long bombing campaign in the Middle East in retaliation for the drone attack in northeast Jordan that killed three American soldiers. The officials said that the targets are expected to include Iranian targets outside of Iran, and the campaign will involve strikes and cyber operations. Other reports have said the US is considering targeting Iranians in Iraq and Syria or the Iranian navy. While the potential targets are not inside Iran, direct attacks on the Iranian military could provoke a full-blown war between the US and Iran. The US is considering taking this course of action even though the Pentagon admitted it has no evidence Iran was directly involved in the drone attack in Jordan. Iran has vowed to respond to any US attacks on Iranians in the region. “The Islamic Republic would decisively respond to any attack on the county, its interests and nationals under any pretexts,” said Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the UN.

MARS - News that the Mars helicopter Ingenuity had broken a blade and could no longer fly was a sad day for fans of the pioneering chopper. It also added an extra 1.8 kilograms to the growing pile of junk left on the Red Planet by humans. Since Russia’s Mars 2 lander touched down at 5.22pm on May 19, 1971, humans have been littering our planetary neighbour – although all in the name of science. Now, there’s more than seven tonnes of debris scattered across Mars, from parachutes and heat shields deployed during fiery landings, to drill bits, chunks of tyre and, of course, the tip of Ingenuity’s wing.

SOUTH KOREA - South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol told attendees at a major defense council meeting on Wednesday that the “irrational” communist regime North Korea would likely execute “many provocations aimed at interfering in our elections,” scheduled for April. Yoon declared the recent actions of communist dictator Kim Jong-un – including a barrage of cruise missile launches, the launch of an alleged spy satellite, and the debut of an alleged underwater nuclear device – “anti-national and anti-unification, and provocations and threats that run counter to history,” according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

GAZA - Hamas militants have returned to northern Gaza, where they are mobilising against Israeli forces and rebuilding a system of governance, aid officials, Gaza residents, analysts and Israeli officials say. Elsewhere in Gaza, Hamas administrators and police maintain firm control of the south, where much of the population is concentrated, though civil order is breaking down in central regions. The apparent resurgence of Hamas in areas seized and cleared by Israeli troops during the nearly four-month offensive underlines the difficulties Benjamin Netanyahu faces in meeting his pledge to “crush” the militant group. Eyal Hulata, who until January 2023 was the head of Israel’s national security council, said: “We are hearing more, unfortunately, of the recovery of [an] insurgency in both central and northern Gaza… We’re hearing more and more that Hamas are doing policing in northern Gaza and governing trade, and that is a very bad outcome. You can’t say if they have come back or never went away, but either way they are there now,” said an IDF officer, whose unit recently fought Hamas militants in Shaati camp, the scene of fierce combat in November. The Israeli offensive in Gaza could go on for months at its current intensity and hostilities may continue for years, military officials, analysts and some politicians in Israel believe.

ISRAEL - A covert Israeli plan aims to establish a military government in Gaza and foster regional ties, eyeing a future Palestinian state and peace with Saudi Arabia. Stage one involves the creation of a comprehensive Israeli military government in Gaza to oversee humanitarian aid and assume responsibility for the civilian population during a "transition period." Concurrently, stage two will see the formation of an international Arab coalition, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and others. This coalition is to be part of a broader regional normalization agreement, backing the establishment of "the new Palestinian Authority."

ISRAEL - "Joint Perspectives" - a German-Israeli summit - February 24th 2024, Berlin 4 pm. The event will be streamed on The Jerusalem Post and Die Welt websites and social media channels. Three months ago, on October 7, the Islamist terror group Hamas attacked Israel. More than a thousand people were cruelly murdered, many of them women and children.

ISRAEL - Previous methods of destroying the passages have reportedly proven ineffective. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on Tuesday that it has been flooding Hamas’ underground tunnel network with seawater, a controversial tactic that it first trialed late last year. In a statement shared with Israeli media, the IDF said that it had developed and was using “several tools for injecting high-flow water into Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip.” Not all of the roughly 350-400 miles of tunnels are being targeted, the military said, adding that the operation would cause unacceptable damage in some areas.

MIDDLE EAST - The White House has blamed an “Iranian-backed” umbrella group in Iraq for an attack that killed three American troops at a base in Jordan. The administration of US President Joe Biden has identified the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organization for several Islamist Shia militias in the region, as the group responsible for the drone strike that killed three American soldiers and wounded over 40 others on Sunday.

SUDAN - The latest news from Sudan shows the country is still a long way from transitioning to civilian rule. Since April 2023, a conflict has been ongoing in Sudan. The two largest armed groups: the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), led by the de facto head of state, Chairman of the Sudan Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), controlled by Deputy Chairman Mohamed Hamdan Daglo “Hemedti.” At the heart of the conflict is a power struggle between Sudan’s power centers, which seek to maintain dominance, and with it access to key economic resources in a future Sudan controlled by civilians. In addition, the rivalry between the two sides was also affected by the historical opposition between the poor Arab groups of western Sudan (RSF) and the Arab elites of the Nile (representing SAF). All of this made their differences unresolvable, triggering an armed conflict in mid-April 2023.

USA - The Supreme Court decision to allow federal officials to remove parts of a razor-wire barrier Texas had erected along the border with Mexico — a case of DC overruling Governor Greg Abbott — has sparked further calls for the Lone Star State to declare independence from the United States, in a movement called Texit. "Texas' razor wire is an effective deterrent to the illegal crossings Biden encourages. I will continue to defend Texas' constitutional authority to secure the border and prevent the Biden admin from destroying our property," said Abbott. The concertina wire was installed on his order as a key part of his effort to control illegal immigration. The debate over Texan independence comes amid a broader discussion about the unity, and indeed viability, of the US in the face of current political tensions. In February 2023, House Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene sparked a fiery discussion by calling for a "national divorce" which would see the country "separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government."

UKRAINE - Aerial drones have changed the war in Ukraine. Now, both Russia’s and Ukraine’s militaries are deploying more unmanned ground robots—and the two are colliding. Near the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, a boxy robot zips along the rocky, cracked road. Snaking from side to side, the robot — a four-wheeled machine, around knee height — carries cargo and ammunition for Russian troops. However, it’s being watched. Hovering above the road, tracking the movements of the robot, is a Ukrainian drone. Suddenly, another drone smashes into the robot, blowing it to pieces.

USA - If Hamas survives the current war with Israel, then “they’ve won,” according to retired United States Army Major and urban and subterranean warfare expert John Spencer, who slammed the terror group’s use of “human sacrifice” tactics and warned that if Israel did not completely dismantle the organization then “massive genocidal attacks” and the taking of civilian hostages would be replicated by terrorists across the globe. In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Spencer, a world-renowned expert on urban combat who serves as chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point, noted how Israel’s past operations have primarily targeted the extensive tunnel networks of both Hamas and Hezbollah. He concluded by highlighting the importance of understanding that if Hamas survives, it “wins strategically,” and if Ukraine isn’t able to defend its sovereign territory, “Putin wins.”