GERMANY - The tables were packed at the Waldhaus, a restaurant on the wooded outskirts of an east German town, as the regulars — workers shaking calloused hands, retirees clutching purses in their lap — settled in for a pub gathering of the far-right Alternative for Germany. But the die-hards worry Germany’s political leadership less than people like Ina Radzheit. An insurance agent in a flowered blouse, she squeezed in among platters of schnitzel and frothy beers for her first visit to the AfD, the German initials by which the party is known.

USA - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is working on a platform that would allow various central bank digital currencies (CDBCs) to interoperate on a global scale, which comes amid a broader push toward cashless societies and concerns about risks to freedoms. IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva told conference participants on Monday in Rabat, Morocco, that the transnational agency is developing a global platform for central bank controlled digital currencies. “CBDCs should not be fragmented national propositions… To have more efficient and fairer transactions, we need systems that connect countries — we need interoperability,” Georgieva said. “For this reason at the IMF, we are working on the concept of a global CBDC platform.” Georgieva said the IMF wants central banks to reach a consensus on a common global regulatory framework for digital currencies that would give global adoption a major boost.

USA - The US and Russia must find a way to resume dialogue as good bilateral relations are vital for both countries, Suzanne Massie, a scholar of Russian history who advised the administration of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, has told RT. Massie, who is considered to have played an important role in efforts to end the Cold War, said in an interview on Tuesday that her desire is now to help Washington and Moscow start talking again. “I believe that we [the US] need Russia, and Russia needs us,” Massie argued. The two countries “should go and find a way to get back to discussing something else besides war,” the former adviser insisted, referring to the conflict in Ukraine. Russia has described the fighting in the neighboring country as a “proxy war” waged by the Americans and their allies against Moscow. “It’s a lot easier and a lot cheaper [to talk] than to use weapons,” the 92-year-old added.

UK - A teacher who berated a pupil over a classmate who 'identified as a cat' refused to comment yesterday when confronted by the Mail. The video, filmed by a pupil at Rye College, includes a heated exchange in which the disgruntled teacher says the youngster needed a 'proper educational conversation about equality, diversity and inclusion'. It begins with the teacher asking the pupil: 'How dare you? You just really upset someone, saying things like [you] should be in an asylum.'

UK - Schools are allowing children to identify as cats, horses and dinosaurs - and teachers are 'failing to question them', it was claimed today. There was widespread outrage earlier this week when a 13-year-old girl was branded 'despicable' by her teacher for rejecting her classmate's claim that she identified as a cat. Now further stories are emerging of pupils who identify as animals with very human characteristics - often known as 'furries'.

UK - A girl who detransitioned after deciding to identify as a boy and undergoing a mastectomy at age 15 has blamed professionals for letting her go ahead with the procedure. Jasmine, who was a patient at the controversial Tavistock transgender clinic, says her decision to transition to male was a 'mistake' and she now feels like a 'mutilated experiment gone wrong', The Telegraph reported. She was reportedly referred to the London-based clinic by a trans charity and only saw professionals three times. Jasmine also claims she was referred to be prescribed cross-sex hormones and put on the waiting list for a mastectomy after her second appointment.

USA - The Satanic Temple (TST) announced last week that it is raising money to host a “Let Us Burn” music tour at state capitols. TST is looking to bring Satanic Planet, described as an “experimental avant industrial band,” to different states in the name of “religious liberty” and “pluralism,” according to the announcement. The tour is designed to specifically respond to Christian musician Sean Feucht’s “Let Us Worship” concert tour, which has performed in several state capitols.

CHINA - Tony Blinken made this announcement from mainland China, “We do not support Taiwan independence.”Tony Blinken: “On Taiwan, I reiterated a longstanding US ‘One China’ policy. That policy has not changed. It’s guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, three joint communiques, the six assurances. We do not support Taiwan independence. We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution to cross-state differences.” This was a quick turnaround from Biden’s promise to use US troops to defend Taiwan from China in September, 2022 and back in May 2022.

CHINA - Stable relations between China and the US are vital for the international community, which doesn’t want to choose sides between the two countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing on Monday. “Planet Earth is big enough to accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of China and the US,” Xi told Blinken, according to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The Chinese leader said that the world is interested in “generally stable” ties between Beijing and Washington, because “whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity.”

USA - Liberals who cheered when a Michigan city elected America's first Muslim-majority city council are now voicing a "sense of betrayal" after the council voted to ban LGBT Pride flags from city property. In 2015, Hamtramck, Michigan - a Detroit suburb and former Polish and Ukrainian enclave - put itself in an international spotlight when Muslims were elected to four of six city council positions. As the Guardian recounts, liberals rejoiced: "They viewed the power shift and diversity as a symbolic but meaningful rebuke of the Islamophobic rhetoric that was a central theme of then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign."

BANGLADESH - Bangladesh has become the latest country to express interest in joining the BRICS economic group, with reports on Monday revealing that Dhaka has sent a formal request to become a member. The issue is expected to be discussed at the BRICS summit scheduled to take place in South Africa in August. News of Bangladesh’s request was first shared by the Dhaka Tribune newspaper, citing a source familiar with discussions held between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Geneva last Wednesday. According to the outlet, Dhaka officially asked to join the bloc, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, during the meeting. Over the past year and a half, a number of countries from around the world have shown increased interest in joining the BRICS group, amid the West’s leveraging of international financial systems to wage a widespread economic campaign against Russia.

UGANDA - A militant group linked to the Islamic State stormed a secondary school in western Uganda on Friday night killing at least 41 and kidnapping others. Ugandan authorities have recovered the bodies which reportedly includes 38 students. The victims were burned, shot or hacked to death. During the attack, the gunmen allegedly asked for Muslims to identify themselves so they were not murdered saying that they “do not kill fellow believers.”

UK - A model human embryo with a heartbeat and traces of blood has been created by scientists in a move that could offer insights into the first weeks of life. The synthetic structure was created from human stem cells without the need for eggs, sperm or fertilisation. It replicates some of the cells and structures that would usually appear in the third and fourth weeks of pregnancy, but was designed to never have the ability to develop into a foetus. Despite the heartbeat, the structure does not have the tissues that go on to form the placenta and yolk sac in a natural embryo. 'I'd like to emphasise that these are neither embryos nor are we trying to make embryos,' said Dr Jitesh Neupane, from the University of Cambridge's Gurdon Institute.

USA - The largest restaurant chains in America are struggling to overcome waning demand as the economy continues to slow down. Even giants like Domino’s Pizza, which operates almost 19,000 stores worldwide, are reporting a series of challenges and financial losses in 2023. The chain is now closing thousands of underperforming locations after recent price hike controversies depressed domestic and international sales and sent its shares plummeting to the lowest level in over a decade. The latest data shows that the pizza company is in far more trouble than we all thought, and experts say that if it fails to fix its problems before the current downturn gets worse, the American pie chain may rapidly become overwhelmed by its debt and fall victim to the Great Retail Collapse. In February, conditions for the company went from bad to worse. In a single day, share prices plunged by a whopping 16%, marking the largest price decline since 2010.

USA - The US national debt hit $32 trillion for the first time ever this week. Treasury Department data released Friday said federal borrowing crossed the $32 trillion mark on Thursday, less than two weeks after President Biden signed legislation into law that suspended the debt ceiling. That bill, which also included tens of billions in spending cuts demanded by House Republicans, will allow the government to borrow whatever it wants until the end of 2024, when the debt ceiling suspension ends. The national debt grows as long as the federal government keeps spending more than it collects. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, the government has already spent $1.2 trillion more than it collected. The national debt hit $31 trillion for the first time in October, less than nine months ago.