MIDDLE EAST - The current wave of Palestinian violence may have been caused, ironically, by peace - the Abraham Accords and the growing acceptance of Israel by many Arab states. The Palestinians’ desire to somehow deal themselves back into the game, to avoid becoming irrelevant. A great deal of their situation is the Palestinians’ own fault. Had they accepted Ehud Barak's peace offer in 2000, they would have already had a state for 22 years. Instead, they chose a campaign of terrorist atrocities that mortally wounded the peace process. After two decades of low-intensity conflict, missile fire and periodic mayhem by the Palestinians, Israelis today are even less likely to give up on what little strategic depth they have in hopes of peace with an enemy they do not trust.

JAPAN - Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said he and his Italian counterpart agreed Tuesday to step up military cooperation as Japan expands security ties with Europe amid concern about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its impact on Asia. Kishi told reporters that he and Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini discussed the possible expansion of joint military drills and development of defense technology. Guerini, who is visiting Tokyo, especially expressed interest in possible Italian participation in Japan’s F-X next generation fighter jet, Kishi said, declining to elaborate. It would be Japan’s first domestically developed fighter jet in 40 years. Japan and Britain have agreed to jointly develop a future demonstration fighter jet engine and to explore other combat air technologies and subsystems. The project includes Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and IHI in Japan and Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems in the UK. The two ministers agreed that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine undermines the foundation of the international order, not only in Europe but also in Asia, and is “absolutely impermissible.”

USA - A contagious strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza wiped out flocks across the US and killed millions of birds. The direct effect has been a nasty ripple effect of tight poultry meat and egg supplies, sending retail prices sky-high - adding to record-high food inflation. The latest estimates from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) show around 24 million poultry birds like chickens and turkeys have died or been culled due to the virus since February. Bloomberg published a shocking map of the bird flu spreading across the US, covering nearly half of the country. National egg prices are off the charts for this time of year because of tight supplies. The average price of a dozen eggs has jumped to $2.60, up from $1.20 in early January.

TAIWAN - Russia's invasion of Ukraine has stoked fears in Taiwan that it might be next, as the country issues a wartime survival guide for its citizens. Taiwan’s military published a war survival handbook for civilians as fears grow that China may copy Vladimir Putin and invade the island. Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has raised its alert level since the Russian invasion, wary of Beijing possibly making a similar move on the island, though it has reported no signs this is about to happen. The survival handbook includes information on how to locate nearby bomb shelters via smartphone apps, along with finding water and food supplies, as well as tips for preparing emergency first aid kits.

GERMANY - As the global food crisis worsens thanks to the ongoing war in Ukraine, wholesale prices in Germany have spiked, seeing their greatest yearly rise in 60 years. The wholesale costs of fuel, minerals and food in Germany have seen their greatest yearly rise in 60 years, prompting fears of stock shortages and sky-high prices. Germany — along with a host of other European countries — is already experiencing chronic shortages of a variety of products, including the likes of flour and sunflower oil, with food manufacturers, in particular, struggling to adjust recipes and production methods to keep factory lines moving with substitute ingredients. The worst is still yet to come, though, according to a report by German Federal Statistics Office Destatis which records the cost of wholesale goods as having gone up 22.6 per cent in March 2022 compared to March last year. This represents the single greatest jump in prices since record-keeping for the statistic began.

RUSSIA - Russia's military action in Ukraine is meant to put an end to the US-dominated world order, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has explained. Washington has been seeking supremacy by imposing ad-hoc rules and violating international law, he claimed, in an interview aired by Russian television on Monday. He was referring to America's attempts to impose its own so-called “rules-based international order,” which have met with strong resistance from Moscow and China. “Our special military operation is meant to put an end to the unabashed expansion [of NATO] and the unabashed drive towards full domination by the US and its Western subjects on the world stage,” Lavrov told Rossiya 24 news channel. “This domination is built on gross violations of international law and under some rules, which they are now hyping so much and which they make up on a case-by-case basis,” he added.

CHILE - The Governor of the Santiago metropolitan region Claudio Orrego has announced an unprecedented water rationing plan to avoid catastrophe, as Chile is living through a more-than-a-decade-long drought and the country’s capital is facing the possibility of being cut off from water resources. “A city can’t live without water. And we’re in an unprecedented situation in Santiago’s 491-year history, where we have to prepare for there to be not enough water for everyone who lives here,” the governor stated at a press conference on Monday. “This is the first time in history that Santiago has a water rationing plan. Over three-quarters of Chile have been affected by the decade-long drought. As a result, the South American nation is experiencing the worst water crisis in the entire western hemisphere. Experts blame the lack of water on the scarcity of rainfall, but also on the water ownership regime, established in 1981. Former military ruler and president Augusto Pinochet’s Water Code gave nearly 80 % of the country’s water resources to private agricultural, energy, and mining companies.

UK - An ECO mob has forced Lloyd's of London to close its City headquarters after protesters blocked all 25 entrances and scaled the outside of the building to unfurl banners demanding it stops insuring coal, oil and gas projects. Extinction Rebellion fanatics descended on the office at 7am this morning and used superglue, chains and bike locks to block ways in and out of the building, forcing staff to work from home for the day. Extinction rebellion said people had scaled the outside of the building and unfurled banners, reading 'End Fossil Fuels Now' and 'Insure Climate Justice'. Some protesters even dressed up as rats in suits, claiming the firm is putting 'profits before planet'.

SWITZERLAND - In the video at the end of this article, comedian JP Sears outlines the primary reasons why this makes Schwab easily among the most dangerous people in the world — and arguably the most dangerous. One of The Great Reset’s “new normal” dictums is that you’ll own nothing and be happy. This is part of WEF’s 2030 agenda, and a plan is already in place to make it happen. Schwab is also author of the book, “COVID-19: The Great Reset,” which was published July 9, 2020. “Wonder how he got it written and published that fast?” Sears said. “It’s almost like he prewrote it before he started the pandemic. I mean, before the pandemic started.”

USA - Nearly half of the Twitter accounts spreading messages on the social media platform about the coronavirus pandemic are likely bots, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University said Wednesday. Researchers culled through more than 200 million tweets discussing the virus since January and found that about 45% were sent by accounts that behave more like computerized robots than humans. It is too early to say conclusively which individuals or groups are behind the bot accounts, but researchers said the tweets appeared aimed at sowing division in America. Such bogus ideas on the Internet have caused real-world harm. In England, dozens of wireless towers have been set on fire in acts officials believe have been fueled by false conspiracy theories linking the rollout of 5G technology to the coronavirus. "We're seeing up to two times as much bot activity as we'd predicted based on previous natural disasters, crises and elections," Carley said.

USA - Two weeks ago Joe Biden warned Americans to expect “real” food shortages. He wasn’t kidding. Two weeks later and Walgreens starts rationing baby formula. A national shortage of baby formula brought on by pandemic-related supply-chain issues has forced US retailers such as Walgreens to ration the all-important product. The company – the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS – said Friday that amid the supply-chain crunch, it is limiting customers to three infant and toddler formula product purchases at a time, at its 9,021 US locations.

RUSSIA - Vladimir Putin is believed to be rubbing his hands with glee as a "scared Europe is losing the financial war", it has been claimed. In the month following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many Western commentators have commended the united front their leaders have taken against the actions of the Kremlin. Geopolitical forecaster George Friedman noted the war “has brought the United States and Europe closer than before”. But despite having been hit by a range of heavy sanctions, Moscow now appears to be taking back ground on the financial front, with the West only able to go so far without inflicting too much damage on itself. One metric of Russia’s state in the face of sanctions is the value of its currency, the ruble. On the day Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, this opened at 81.4 against the US dollar. In just seven days, this had risen dramatically to 138.95. To ensure the Kremlin feels the full force of Europe’s frustration at its anger, Mr Verhofstadt urged leaders to “double down on sanctions now”. To do so would, however, amount to a good deal of self-harm.

USA - Naomi Wolf warned the Tucker Carlson audience on Monday to beware of an unfolding emergency in the weeks ahead to help Joe Biden and Democrats in the upcoming election.

USA - States that imposed the harshest lockdowns had the most devastating impact on the public, the most wide-ranging study into Covid restrictions in the US to date has found. New York, California, New Jersey and Illinois were panned for their pandemic performance after bringing in draconian measures to shut their citizens in their homes.

EUROPE - The stunning spectacle of the EU committing slow motion hara-kiri is something for the ages. Like a cheap Kurosawa remake the movie is actually about the Empire of Lies-detonated demolition of the EU, complete with subsequent rerouting of some key Russian commodities exports to the US at the expense of the Europeans. It helps to have a 5th columnist actress strategically placed, in this case astonishingly incompetent European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen, with a brand new vociferous announcement of an extra sanctions package: Russian ships banned from EU ports; road transportation companies from Russia and Belarus prohibited from entering the EU; no more coal imports (over 4.4 billion euros a year).