ISRAEL - Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has criticized what he called the “unbalanced focus” of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), amid the IDF’s offensive in Gaza. He also blasted the Geneva-based aid group for failing to rescue Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. “The Red Cross has no right to exist if it does not succeed in visiting the hostages being held captive by the Hamas,” Cohen said in a telephone conversation on Wednesday with ICRC director Miriana Spolijaric, according to a summary released by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

LEBANON - Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Lebonon, an Iranian proxy army, spoke today to supporters in Beirut, Lebanon. Nasrallah warned of strikes against US bases in the region saying, “We will attack US bases. They must pay the price.” There have been at least 24 attacks on US bases in the Middle East since Hamas stormed Israel and massacred 1,400 civilians. Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel, “There will be more actions against Israel on many different fronts and this will become clear in the next few days.”

GERMANY - Hamas' terror and Israel's counterattacks have unleashed levels of anti-Semitism not seen in years in Germany. Jews are living in fear and now wonder if they should leave the country. The political response so far appears to be doing little to change the situation. Something has indeed shifted in Germany, the country that perpetrated the Holocaust. Solidarity with Israel and the Jews appears to have become threadbare. Not among the country's leaders, but clearly with many people. Hostility toward Jews has gripped broad strata of society. A new variant of anti-Semitism is rearing its head on the left, cloaked in the guise of solidarity with the Palestinians. It has a new quality and goes beyond the hostility to Israel that anti-imperialists on the left have harbored for decades. Meron Mendel has coined the term “woke anti-Semitism” to describe it.

GERMANY - MBDA Deutschland provided new details on the Laser Weapon Demonstrator [LWD] developed in cooperation with Rheinmetall and recently tested by the German Navy. “This has been an important step towards an operational high-energy laser system,” said Doris Laarmann, Head of Laser Activities at MBDA Germany, speaking at national and international media during on a visit to MBDA Deutschland’s in Schrobenhausen, the company’s main site in Germany. The LWD has proved to be capable of successfully engaging targets in a maritime environment, having performed more than one hundred firing tests aboard the Sachsen platform. “The conclusion drawn by the Bundeswehr are that the technologies are ready and proven,” and therefore the next step is expected to be the development contract but, “the customer is looking to reduce dimensions and weight, and to get higher performances to cope with a wider range of targets.”

GERMANY - The German government is using Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza and the NATO war offensive against Russia to aggressively push the militarisation of domestic and foreign policy. This is underlined by statements made by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (Social Democrat, SPD) in the latest edition of the ZDF programme “Berlin Direkt.”

USA - In Los Angeles, a man screaming "kill Jews" attempts to break into a family's home. In London, girls in a playground are told they are "stinking Jews" and should stay off the slide. In China, posts likening Jews to parasites, vampires or snakes proliferate on social media, attracting thousands of "likes". These are examples of incidents of antisemitism, which have surged globally since the attack by Hamas gunmen on southern Israel on October 7 and subsequent war on the Islamist group launched by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

VATICAN - Pope Francis has called for a “paradigm shift” in Catholic theology that takes widespread engagement with contemporary science, culture, and people’s lived experience as an essential starting point. Citing the need to deal with “profound cultural transformations,” the pope presented his dramatic vision for the future of Catholic theology in a new motu proprio issued earlier today. Titled Ad Theologiam Promovendam, or “to promote theology,” the document revises the statutes of the Pontifical Academy of Theology (PATH) “to make them more suitable for the mission that our time imposes on theology.”

VATICAN - There are no winners in war, Pope Francis said on Wednesday in an interview with the Italian broadcaster RAI, urging Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace as neighbors. “In war, one slap provokes another. One strong and the other even stronger, and so it goes on,” the Pope said, addressing the October 7 Hamas attack and Israel’s retaliation against Gaza in a lengthy feature that aired right after the evening news. The solution to the cycle of violence, the 86-year-old Jesuit argued, is to recognize an independent Palestinian state. “Two peoples who must live together. With that wise solution: two peoples, two states. The Oslo Accords: two clearly delineated states, and Jerusalem with a special status,” the Pope told RAI.

VATICAN - Pope Francis is scheduled to attend the upcoming COP28 climate summit in Dubai from December 1–3, while the US bishops' conference continues to echo his call for climate activism. In a recent interview with Gian Marco Chiocci, the director of Italy's TG1 television channel, Pope Francis offered his views on the significance of this summit. He noted that the upcoming summit serves as a critical juncture between the 2016 Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In fact, this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) marks the midway point between the legally binding Paris Agreement, which entered into force in 2016, and the culmination of Agenda 2030 and its globalist, socialist ideals seven years from now.

ITALY - Diners at restaurants around this tiny port streamed outside while moored boats and an eight-storey crane began to sway. Some cats milled about, unfazed by the umpteenth tremor to hit this picturesque seaside town. “You feel that? It’s nonstop earthquakes here,” said Luca Averna, a part-time fisherman, as he paused from working on his small boat during the 3.6-magnitude tremor. “We’re used to it, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t afraid.”

USA - In the final year of World War II, the US spent about 38% of its GDP on its military. When adjusted for inflation, the military budget over those four years of war came to a staggering $4.1 trillion in 2020 dollars. Almost 80 years later, modern day military spending isn’t much of a far cry from World War II budgets. The top spenders have continued to increase their military capabilities, while war in Ukraine has caused countries in the region to re-evaluate their budgets as well. In 2022, global military budgets hit an all-time high of $2.2 trillion, according to data released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the eighth consecutive year of increase.

MIDDLE EAST - In a recent visit to al-Arish in northern Sinai, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly made a bold declaration that NO Palestinian refugees will be accepted into Egypt. Accompanied by government officials and public figures, Madbouly said, “We are prepared to sacrifice millions of lives to ensure that no one encroaches upon our territory.” Madbouly’s comments underscore Egypt’s unwavering commitment to its territorial integrity and sovereignty. “Egypt will never allow anything to be imposed on it,” he added, emphasizing that regional issues would not be solved at Egypt’s “expense.” Madbouly’s statement echoes Jordanian leader King Abdullah’s sentiment that NO Palestinian refugees will be accepted into Jordan or Egypt.

UK - Couple left 'devastated' after their new £1.2 million home was raided by children wielding chainsaws, hammers and axes who ransacked every room and destroyed wife's wedding dress. During the spree of destruction, Joanna and Matt Pittard's six bedroom house was targeted by 'mindless' youths who also damaged a wrought-iron chandelier, flipped over antique furniture and destroyed the homeowner's wedding dress. Chainsaws, axes and sledgehammers taken from the garage were used in 'every bedroom of the property' after the youngsters ran riot, leaving it looking like 'a war zone'. A relative of Mr Pittard today told MailOnline: 'They are absolutely devastated at what's happened to their beautiful home.'

COLOMBIA - Colombia has upgraded its ties with Beijing – a new sign that Latin America is tired of Washington gatekeeping its development. Colombian President Gustavo Petro made an official visit to Beijing and met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday. The two countries officially upgraded their relationship to a ‘strategic partnership’, elevating their economic and diplomatic cooperation.

USA - Local bank branches are closing across San Francisco, as the city’s economic decline continues amid crime, homelessness, and a drug epidemic. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday: Bank branches are vanishing across the country, and San Francisco is having a record-testing year. Twenty branches shuttered across the city through October 28, according to data from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The closures — from the central Richmond District in the west to Mission Bay in the east, from Fort Mason in the north to Bayview in the south — add up to more than the previous two years combined and represent the most in a single year since at least 2000. All over California, 277 bank branches have closed so far this year, second only this century to 2020, when 325 branches closed. Branch openings are a much rarer occurrence: Only eight have occurred statewide this year.