VATICAN - Pope Francis suffered two respiratory attacks on Monday, more than two weeks into a hospital stay for pneumonia. Doctors had to intervene to extract a large build-up of mucus from the lungs of the 88 year-old, who is battling double pneumonia in the Gemelli Hospital in Rome. “Today, the Pope experienced two episodes of acute respiratory failure, caused by a significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm,” the Vatican said in a statement released on Monday evening. The medical team looking after him intervened to help him breathe. The Pope, who has been in hospital since February 14, was put back on non-invasive mechanical ventilation, the Vatican said.

USA - Nato could be in its final days, a former Supreme Allied Commander has warned, as America’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance wavers. Admiral James Stavridis, an American who served as Nato’s Europe commander from 2009-2013, said we could be witnessing the “last days” of the alliance and the start of a new “European Treaty Organisation”. Donald Trump’s insistence on European leaders increasing their defence budgets, combined with his falling out with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, has sparked concern among members of the alliance.

UNITED NATIONS - At the Security Council, America sided with Russia – and against the founding principles of the United Nations. Nothing could be simpler than the procedure for casting a vote in the United Nations Security Council. Fifteen ambassadors gather around a horseshoe table, beneath a mural of a phoenix escaping the ashes, and raise their hands like obedient pupils. Until Donald Trump regained the White House, the easiest duty of America’s representative was to vote alongside Britain and France to denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as exactly the kind of blood-soaked tragedy which the UN was created to prevent.

USA - Elon Musk has sparked fear into the heart of the European establishment after he spoke out in support for the United States leaving both the UN and NATO. The tech billionaire made the remarks in a post on X, formerly Twitter, yesterday evening. Gunther Eagleman, a political commentator with 1.3 million followers, who describes himself as a 'Proud America First MAGA Patriot', wrote 'It's time to leave NATO and the UN' in an X post on March 1. That message was reposted by Musk, the leader of Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), who simply added 'I agree'. Musk also today reposted a tweet by Republican congressman Thomas Massie, the representative for Kentucky's fourth congressional district since 2012, which called NATO 'a Cold War relic that needs to be relegated to a talking kiosk at the Smithsonian'.

USA - President Trump just revealed his negotiation strategy with Ukraine and Russia by posting part of a Facebook post on the mineral rights deal with Ukraine and what that really means. Now, Zelenskyy will have no choice but to back down and accept Trump’s terms. But here’s the genius part — Trump is actually protecting Ukraine without dragging the US into war. By negotiating a mineral deal, Trump ensures that Americans will be involved in Ukraine’s mining industry. This prevents Russia from launching an invasion, because attacking Ukraine would mean endangering American lives — something that would force the US to respond. Trump played both sides like a master chess player. In the end, Zelenskyy will have no choice but to concede, because without US support, Ukraine cannot win a prolonged war against Russia. And once US companies have mining operations in Ukraine, Putin will be unable to attack without triggering massive international consequences. Don’t underestimate Donald Trump. In this game of chess, he’s 10 moves ahead of everyone.

EUROPE - Starmer and Macron working together on a European security guarantee for Ukraine saying ‘we need to move quicker’. Britain and France will lead a European “coalition of the willing” to provide security guarantees to Ukraine and enable peace negotiations with Russia, Sir Keir Starmer said. The Prime Minister said he and Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, were working together on a security plan which is believed to include peacekeeping troops on the ground. This European security guarantee would then be put to the US for approval, Sir Keir added.

EUROPE - Leaders fear the US will pull its troops out of Europe and hope a joint force could deter an aggressive Russia. Donald Trump’s public attack on Volodymyr Zelensky has given impetus to plans for a joint EU fighting force that could one day become the “embryo” of a European army. European leaders are scrambling to boost their collective defence amid fears US troops will pull out of Europe, and the transatlantic alliance has been badly damaged by Friday’s clash between the two presidents in the Oval Office. The crisis has increased calls to ensure Europe can act independently of Washington, and raised the prospect of a common army coming a step closer. European leaders faced with Trump’s insistence they will police the peace in Ukraine have been shocked into action by the combination of an unreliable US and aggressive Russia.

USA - Senator Mike Lee (Republican for Utah) called for the United States to leave NATO in response to a Norwegian fuel company, Haltbakk Bunkers, deciding to stop refueling US military ships. “Europe doesn’t love us,” Lee wrote in a post on X. “Let’s leave NATO.” Lee’s post came in response to another post that noted that the company, Haltbakk Bunkers, had “stopped refueling the US Navy ships” and was reportedly urging other European countries to “follow suit.” In a statement issued by Haltbakk Bunkers, the company explained that it would “no longer supply American military ships in Norway or those docking in Norwegian ports,” adding that the US was “excluded based on their behaviour towards” Ukraine, according to the Daily Mail.

EUROPE - European leaders are confronting their worst-case scenario: maybe they really are going to be dealing with a bellicose Russia alone. When the US lined up alongside Russia and North Korea earlier this week to oppose a UN motion condemning Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, some European officials knew that the transatlantic relationship was in deep trouble. Then they watched in horror as Donald Trump gave Volodymyr Zelenskyy a public dressing down in the Oval Office and something broke.

GERMANY - Now stronger and harder to ignore, the AfD will likely be an even more provocative opposition to the next government, hoping to best position itself to enter a coalition government in the 2029 election. Considering Germany’s history and the catastrophically failed attempt of Germany’s interwar Weimar Republic — which sought to tame Adolf Hitler’s political movement — the country’s “firewall” has long been one of Europe’s best enforced. However, the AfD’s formidable performance, as well as the endorsement of US political figures including Elon Musk, will contribute to a feeling of momentum for far-right parties in Europe, such as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France. Support for the AfD could surge if the new government fails to address grievances over migration, cost of living, and a stagnant economy.

AUSTRIA - The far-Right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) has been blocked from government despite winning the country’s election. After five months of deadlock, the conservative Peoples’ Party, centre-Left Social Democrats and liberal Neos reached a three-party coalition agreement on Thursday for the first time in Austrian history. Christian Stocker, the conservatives’ leader, will become chancellor, and Andreas Babler, leader of the Social Democrats, vice- chancellor. With the so-called “firewall against the far-Right” just about holding – as it has done in neighbouring Germany – Herbert Kickl, the FPO leader, branded the arrangement a “coalition of losers” and called for a snap election. The FPO came out on top in September’s election with 28.9 per cent of the vote, although it did not win enough seats in parliament to form a government.

EUROPE - Key German industrial leaders have expressed their desire to see Russian gas return to Europe once a resolution to the Ukraine conflict is found, Bloomberg has reported. Chemical and manufacturing sector representatives argue that affordable energy is crucial for Germany’s economy to recover, the agency wrote on Friday. In 2021, Russian pipeline gas accounted for 32% of the total demand of the EU and UK, while Germany relied on Russia for 55% of its consumption, according to the European Council and Statista. Since cutting ties with Russian energy, the EU has turned to expensive LNG imports, primarily from the US. The shift has driven natural gas prices on the continent to their highest levels in two years, prompting discussions in Brussels about price caps. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that soaring energy costs could cripple the EU economy.

USA - Donald Trump’s threatened 25% tariffs on EU imports could trigger “economic turmoil”, sharply push down growth and send inflation soaring, according to a German thinktank. The Kiel Institute said the US president’s promise on Wednesday that he would impose the levies “very soon” was a profound moment in the postwar relationship between Washington and Brussels and could prove to be an economic shock to both parties. German manufacturing exports to the US would be the worst hit, dropping by almost 20%, the institute added.

USA - We have a government that is literally fighting against itself. The federal workforce has always been more liberal than the population as a whole, but in recent years things have gotten really bad. Prior to this year, Democrats had been in control of the White House for 12 of the past 16 years. Over time, leftists that were hired for key positions just kept hiring more leftists underneath them. In fact, it got to a point where DEI policies at various agencies essentially institutionalized the systematic hiring of leftists. By the end of the Biden administration, leftist domination of most of our federal agencies was virtually complete. But now we have a new administration that most of our leftist federal workers absolutely detest. Many of them have absolutely no intention of cooperating with the new administration, and some of them have started to openly rebel against it.

VATICAN - The Vatican has tonight issued a fresh update on the health of Pope Francis a little more than a day after the Pontiff was put on a ventilator after suffering an 'isolated' breathing crisis. The Pope, 88, has not suffered any new respiratory attacks today and remains in a stable condition, the Vatican announced in its Saturday evening update. 'The Pope's clinical condition remains stable,' a statement read. 'He is alternating between non-invasive mechanical ventilation and long periods of supplemental high-flow oxygenation, maintaining a good response to gas exchange. The prognosis remains guarded.'