UK - More than once while talking to friends in the United States recently, I have encountered chuckling, head-shaking and a comment along the lines of: “What’s goin’ on with you guys? You guys are crazy!” They’re referring, of course, to the constant stream of strange, worrying news emanating from our sceptred isle – news that, as the world heaves against the era of woke and political correctness, puts us awkwardly and very clearly at odds with the direction of travel in the United States, as well as other parts of the free world. With its anti-woke backlash in full swing, America is detoxing from the poisonous brew of diversity, inclusion, social justice, and identitarian rubbish that it cooked up and exported all over the Western world in recent decades, with Britain one of the most willing takers.

UK - An exodus of wealth creators will show Rachel Reeves can’t tax her way out of this economic and fiscal crisis. Traditionally, Labour is supposed to govern with the heart, and Conservatives with the head. The Tory governments of the last decade or so seemed to forget that rule, but Labour is sticking to form. Needing to fulfil accumulated years of promises to its client groups, a growing list of spending commitments is already busting through even the additional £70 billion in expenditure that Rachel Reeves’ Budget demanded. But here’s the rub: after 20 years of low-to-no growth, we have fallen from our former status of having near to the highest GDP per capita in the world. Now, of the 40 or so developed countries, we are in the bottom half. We are well into a doom spiral, where more government spending leads to lower growth, leading to less money to spend. The big question is: when will the debt markets go on strike?

USA - Firefighters are bracing for the return of ferocious Santa Ana winds that are expected to fan the flames of massive wildfires raging across southern California, as the death toll climbs to at least 25 people. The National Weather Service warned of a “particularly dangerous situation,” with critical to extreme fire weather conditions anticipated to develop into mid-week.

GERMANY - The German military will establish a new division tasked exclusively with territorial defence, the army said on Saturday, bringing all existing reserve units under direct army command. The reorganization will take effect in April and raise the number of German divisions - units of some 20,000 troops - to four without increasing the total number of around 180,000 soldiers in the German forces. "The territorial defence will be put under army command from April 1, 2025," an army spokesperson said, confirming a report by German news agency dpa. The Western military alliance NATO is at its highest alert stage since the Cold War, with its more pessimistic officials, including German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, saying that an attack by Russia on its borders could happen within four years.

GERMANY - The AfD’s Alice Weidel has said that Germans “can count” on her party to restore energy links with Russia. Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel has pledged to put the sabotaged Nord Stream gas pipelines back into operation if her party emerges victorious in next month’s general election. AfD members met in the town of Riesa on Saturday to formally approve Weidel as their candidate to succeed Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose coalition government collapsed late last year. Weidel’s nomination marks the right-wing AfD’s first bid for the chancellery in its 11-year history.

GERMANY - Thousands of left-wing protesters from across Germany have swarmed to the Saxon town of Riesa in an attempt to derail the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s convention, resulting in multiple scuffles with police. AfD membership has swelled by 50% during 2024 alone, the party’s spokesperson told Reuters in December. According to local media, citing the activists ahead of the event on Saturday, a number of groups from Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, and other cities chartered more than 200 buses to transport demonstrators to Riesa. Yet more have arrived reportedly by train. The authorities and organizers put the number of protesters at around 15,000 in total, according to Die Tageszeitung. There is a heavy police presence in town, with officers in riot gear with dogs, batons, and pepper spray. Several water cannons as well as mounted officers have also reportedly been seen to the locality.

ISRAEL - The last year has been characterized by more than 45,000 deaths in Gaza, the destruction of Hezbollah, confrontations with Yemen’s Houthis and an exchange of fire with Iran. 2025 will probably continue this trend. Yet, with the return of Donald Trump to the US presidency, Israel may also be given opportunities, including the expansion of its historic Abraham Accords.

USA - Trump was a close ally of Netanyahu during his term in the White House, and described himself as “history’s most pro-Israel US president.” He imposed sanctions on Iran at Netanyahu’s request, moved the US embassy in Israel to West Jerusalem, and brokered the Abraham Accords, which saw Israel normalize relations with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan.

USA - Attorney Mike Davis Issues Dire Warning to Judge Juan Merchan and Democrats Over Weaponized Lawfare Against President Trump: “On January 20th at Noon, They’re Going to Become the Hunted”. Attorney Mike Davis, founder of the conservative Article III Project (A3P) and a staunch ally of President-elect Donald Trump, has issued a stern warning to Judge Juan Merchan and Democrat prosecutors, accusing them of engaging in “weaponized lawfare” against Trump.

GREENLAND - Prime Minister Mute Egede has stressed that the island wants to be independent, rather than Danish or American. Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has said he is prepared to speak with US President-elect Donald Trump, who has stated that ownership of the Danish overseas territory is an “absolute necessity” for American national security. Trump, who takes office on January 20, refused to rule out military force or coercive economic methods to secure US ownership of the island, in a statement on Tuesday. At a press conference alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Copenhagen on Friday, Egede was asked whether he had been in contact with Trump. “No, but we are ready to talk,” he said.

DENMARK - Denmark has privately reached out to President-elect Donald Trump’s team, showing readiness to discuss boosting the US military presence in Greenland, Axios reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter. Trump recently ruffled feathers in Copenhagen when he suggested that the US should acquire the self-governing Arctic island from Denmark. He refused to rule out the use of force, but offered little specifics on how his government would convince Denmark to relinquish control over Greenland.

NIGERIA - Boko Haram militants shot Suzanne in the head as the Christian woman tended a field, murdering her father and robbing her of eyesight in an attack that exemplified the persistent violence impacting Nigerian people of faith in the last several years. Nearly 10,000 Nigerian Christians (9,814) died at the hands of Boko Haram and other Islamic extremist groups between November 2022 and November 2024, according to the newly released 2025 Global Christian Relief Red List. The data for the Red List comes from the Violent Incidents Database maintained by GCR, a US-based nonprofit monitoring Christian persecution worldwide. “Despite government assurances that they will defeat the extremists, the violence continues to escalate. Nigeria’s grim statistics are unmatched,” the document continued.

USA - The financial cost of the Los Angeles wildfire has risen to between $135 billion and $150 billion, according to the latest estimate from the private forecaster Accuweather. Jonathan Porter, the company’s chief meteorologist, described it as “one of the costliest wildfire disasters in modern US history”.

USA - A California fire chief has told the BBC there is no “conclusive evidence” yet that the wildfires were started deliberately. However David Acuna, battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the investigations were only just beginning as the priority up until now had been saving lives. He told the Today programme on Radio 4: “Now that the life safety is primarily taken care of, and that we have sufficient resources to assist with that, now they’re able to start digging into the investigation and see what they can discover.” It follows the arrest of a man on suspicion of arson in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles.

USA - Major insurance companies have provoked the ire of California homeowners - including Hollywood stars - after revoking fire coverage for tens of thousands of residents just months before devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles, DailyMail.com can reveal. And hundreds of displaced residents now face multi-million dollar bills to clean up and rebuild their properties without any coverage at all. In 2024 Liberty Mutual and State Farm, two of the largest insurers in the country, told nearly 50,000 homeowners in the Golden State – some of whom were in high risk areas – that their fire insurance would be terminated in a bid to prevent 'financial failure'. At least 1,600 people in the affluent neighborhood of the Pacific Palisades – the hardest hit area of the fires – lost coverage when State Farm pulled out in April.