USA - Formally identified as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a group of manmade chemicals known as PFAS are found in everything from soil and food to common household items and water. An overabundance of these compounds has been detected in US drinking water and that of other industrialized nations, sparking discussion on control and mitigation among experts. Exposure to PFAS has been linked to serious chronic health issues such as increased risk of certain cancers, fertility problems, and immune system challenges. Unlike some industrial chemicals, PFAS don’t break down and are difficult to destroy, thus earning the moniker “forever chemicals.” With more than 7,200 public water systems affected, water and waste professionals say tackling America’s contaminated water is no easy task.

GERMANY - An obsession with green energy has the German economy on the brink of collapse. Germany has foolishly been chasing a dream of achieving net greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045, and this has taken a very heavy toll on the German economy. German GDP contracted in 2023, and it appears that it will contract again in 2024. The manufacturing sector is dealing with the greatest crisis that it has faced since the 1940s, the big banks are struggling, and the coalition that was running the government has collapsed.

UK - Labour has been accused of dealing another Budget blow to farmers with its so-called “fertiliser tax”. In the Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed plans to introduce a levy on key agricultural imports such as fertiliser in order to meet net zero goals. The carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), due to begin in 2027, will tax carbon-emitting imports such as fertiliser, cement, aluminium and products from the hydrogen and steel industries. It comes amid outrage over the Chancellor’s £1 million cap on agricultural property relief, nicknamed the “family farm tax”, also introduced in the Budget. The carbon tax on fertiliser is expected to be set at around £50 to £75 per tonne. Government sources said they expect the impact on farmers to be modest and for there to be no effect on food prices. But farmers disagree. "If you tax fertiliser, you make it more expensive. We’re going to use less of it. That means we’ll produce less food. We’re not going to eat less food in this country, so we’re just going to import it from a country that doesn’t tax fertiliser.”

UK - Labour’s total ignorance of the reality of a farmer’s life will undoubtedly lead to mass protest. The Labour Government’s Budget reforms – in particular a new 20 per cent levy on farmers passing on assets worth more than £1 million from April 2026 – is stirring them to take their tractors beyond their own estates or contracted farms; to steer their combines and heavy machinery onto our motorways and to London. If the Government ploughs on with its seemingly anti-farming policy then there may be protests. And chances are they’ll be farm-like ones: noisy and stinky. “The £1 million cap to APR [Agricultural Property Relief] shows how little this Government understands the sector,” said Tom Bradshaw, the president of the National Farmers’ Union. “Just because a farm is an asset, it doesn’t mean those who work it are wealthy.” He added that “farmers have been left reeling” and demanded the changes be “overturned and fast”. He didn’t add, “or else”, but that’s the feeling among many farmers.

UK - Church of England clergy have declared that “God is not a white man” and are working to make images of Jesus more diverse. Dioceses across the country are reviewing how biblical figures should be depicted as part of a drive for “racial justice”. Clergy have been urged to question whether images of Jesus truly “reflect diversity”. One diocese has declared that “God is not a white man” and moved to ensure it used “correct images” that better reflected diversity. This was relayed to the Church’s new racial justice unit and included in a 2024 report into how dioceses are meeting diversity and inclusion targets. These targets were set in 2021 by the Archbishops’ “anti-racism taskforce”, which advocated for affirmative action for jobs within the Church.

GERMANY - Tens of thousands of people celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years ago in Germany’s capital on Saturday with open-air concerts, art installations and official events commemorating one of the country’s most historic days on November 9, 1989. It was “a lucky day for which we Germans are still grateful today,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

MIDDLE EAST - Qatar has told Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel it will stall its efforts to mediate a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal until they show "willingness and seriousness" to resume talks, its foreign ministry said on Saturday. The Gulf country has been working alongside the United States and Egypt for months on fruitless talks between the warring sides in Gaza and any disengagement from that process could further complicate efforts to reach a deal. The Qatari ministry also said press reports on the future of the Hamas political office in Doha were inaccurate without specifying how. Reuters had on Friday quoted a US official saying Washington had asked Qatar to expel the group and that Doha had passed this message on to Hamas."Qatar will resume those efforts with its partners when the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war," Qatar's foreign ministry said.

MIDDLE EAST - Qatar has told the leaders of Hamas to leave the country where they have enjoyed a luxurious exile for many years, just days after President-elect Donald Trump won the US election, according to reports in the Israeli media. Hamas, the Palestinian terror group, has been able to protect many of its leaders because they have taken refuge in Qatar and Turkey, both of whom are US allies. Turkey is a member of NATO, while the Biden-Harris administration declared Qatar a major non-NATO ally, despite its ongoing support for Hamas and other terrorist organizations. The Biden-Harris administration had pressured Qatar to evict Hamas. But Trump’s election seemed to be the trigger.

USA - Independence campaigners have hailed "a revolution in Texas politics" after 10 Republicans who have committed to supporting a referendum on secession from the United States were elected to the state legislature. According to the secessionist Texas Nationalist Movement, the 10 politicians, all of whom won seats in the Texas House of Representatives, were signatories to its "Texas First Pledge." Signatories of the pledge have vowed to "vote for legislation and resolutions to call for a vote on Texas reasserting its status as an independent nation" and to "work toward a fair and expedient separation of Texas from the federal government" if this referendum is won.

GERMANY - Germany’s coalition government collapsed on Wednesday night as Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, sacked his finance minister, Christian Lindner, after last-ditch crisis talks. Scholz announced that he would hold a vote of confidence in January, which would lead to early elections in March if he were to lose. Germany’s conservative opposition has called for the vote of confidence to be held straight away. Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) chairman, said Scholz’s three-party coalition between his Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and and the neo-liberal Free Democrats (FDP) had “failed”.

GERMANY - Mr Scholz also announced there will be a vote of confidence on his government on January 15 next year, a move that could push parliamentary election to as early as March. The sacking came after the FPD issued a paper urging economic reforms which Mr Scholz's Social Democratic Party and the Greens couldn't stomach. Chancellor Scholz, Mr Lindner and Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens have been desperately trying to boost Germany's faltering economy but have long been at odds as to how to do it. The meeting of the coalition was focused on how a billion-euro hole in the 2025 budget could be plugged and how the German economy can be put back on track. But the coalition leaders disagree fundamentally over how to kickstart the economy.

USA - Some 25 million people are under a 'life-threatening' fire warning after a fast-moving California wildfire ripped through communities, sending millionaire mansions up in flames. More than 10,000 acres in affluent Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, had already been ravaged as of 4pm yesterday, a shocking new map has shown. Dozens of houses have been razed to the ground with pictures showing firefighters tackling huge blazes at million-dollar homes in the county. More than 10,000 people have also been told to evacuate with at least 3,500 buildings around Camarillo at risk of being destroyed, California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

USA - President-elect Donald Trump dismissed concerns Thursday about the costs associated with his proposed mass deportation plan. During a phone interview with NBC News, Trump stated that “there’s no price tag” to his promised deportation plan. He said that he’d initiate an unprecedented immigration crackdown from his first day in office, aiming to deport those in the US illegally, particularly individuals with criminal records. “It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not — really, we have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag,” Trump said, according to NBC News.

EUROPE - A top priority for the next European Commission will be making the EU self-reliant and ready for war, as the US is likely to focus on China in the coming decades, Andrius Kubilius, the nominee for the EU’s new top defense post, has said. Kubilius made the statement at his confirmation hearing in Brussels on Wednesday, after he was nominated to become the first-ever EU commissioner for defense and space. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen designated the former Lithuanian prime minister for the position in September. The new commissioner is expected to take office by December 1. “Defense is one of the top priorities for the next Commission,” Kubilius told MEPs. “Von der Leyen’s mission letter tasks me with helping Europe prepare for the most extreme military contingencies, which means preparing for the possibility of Russian aggression.”

USA - Democrats have quietly begun to distance themselves from more extremist elements of transgender ideology in the wake of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, fearing the issue will further alienate voters. Speaking with the New York Times, New York Representative Tom Suozzi (Democrat) said Democrat calls to push the party left will alienate the voters they desperately need to stay relevant. “The Democrats have to stop pandering to the far left,” he said. “I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in girls’ sports. Democrats aren’t saying that, and they should be.” The message is markedly different from what Democrats were saying in the lead up to the election, with Times columnist Masha Gessen arguing Kamala Harris needed to embrace transgender ideology.