UK - Tech firms are buying up new washing machines so they can harvest their computer parts in a desperate bid to beat the global microchip shortage. Once solely used in PCs and mobile phones, semiconductors are now vital in cars, kitchen appliances, TVs, smart speakers, thermostats, smart light bulbs and even some dog collars. Microchip manufacturers are unable to meet the ever-growing demand – accelerated by families buying more computers and gadgets during lockdown – as it takes two years and billions of pounds to build each factory. When the bosses of big industrial conglomerates are reduced to scavenging like Steptoe & Son to get their hands on vital components, it’s obvious something has gone badly wrong in the global economy. The very idea that global captains of industry are ordering subordinates to dismantle domestic appliances for their semi-conductor chips shows we are in the realms of Alice In Wonderland. We had better get used to it, though. Future historians may look on the shortages and cost of living crisis we are suffering now as an ominous sign of difficult times ahead.

CHINA - International disputes should be resolved through dialogue and not by sanctions, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday, while presenting his country's new Global Security Initiative. Speaking via videolink at the international forum in the province of Hainan amid the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, Xi chose not to comment on other specific international issues, highlighting instead his general vision of a global security framework. “We, humanity, are living in an indivisible security community. It has been proven time and again that the Cold War mentality would only wreck the global peace framework, that hegemonism and power politics would only endanger world peace and that bloc confrontation would only exacerbate security challenges in the 21st century,” Xi said. The Chinese leader called on the international community to remain committed to “peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue,” and to “oppose the wanton use of unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.”

CHINA - The Chinese Communist regime on Thursday published a report titled “Youth of China in the New Era” that claims Chinese young people are head over heels in love with communism and cannot wait for their chance to become the authoritarian leaders of tomorrow. China’s state-run Global Times touted the report as “highlighting the historical achievements the country has made in youth development in the new era, the generation’s amazing vibrancy and passion, and their arduous tasks and responsibilities for national rejuvenation.” According to the report, young people in China have not a single complaint about the policies of their dictatorship, and feel not the slightest twinge of envy for the freedoms enjoyed by their peers in other nations

USA - The bureau said a rise in ransomware attacks targeting farming co-ops could disrupt “the entire food chain”. The top US law enforcement agency has warned of increased cyber attacks on agricultural cooperatives, saying hackers could target large-scale farms and potentially impact the world’s food supply. The FBI’s Cyber Division issued a notice to private industry earlier this week, pointing to a growing number of ransomware attacks on farming co-ops throughout the fall 2021 harvest and the early months of 2022. “Ransomware actors may be more likely to attack agricultural cooperatives during critical planting and harvest seasons, disrupting operations, causing financial loss, and negatively impacting the food supply chain,” it said, adding that such breaches could affect the planting season “by disrupting the supply of seeds and fertilizer.” Ransomware is a form of malicious software used to encrypt and block access to a victim’s data until a ‘ransom’ is paid to the attackers, who often threaten to publish or destroy files if no payment is made.

CHINA - Chinese state media announced on Wednesday that coal production will increase by a whopping 300 million tons in 2022 to “ensure energy supplies,” making a mockery of Beijing’s breezy promises to climate change activists. The Chinese Communist government enjoys lecturing the rest of the world about climate change and signing high-profile global warming treaties with gullible and opportunistic Western leaders like President Joe Biden, but when the rubber hits the road, China’s steely-eyed rulers will do whatever it takes to keep their factories humming. If that means burning epic amounts of high-pollution coal, both within China’s borders and across its Third World interests, then so be it. China was already digging, importing, and burning record amounts of coal last year, and its consumption will only increase for the foreseeable future, no matter what Chinese envoys say at climate conferences.

UK - Fruit and vegetables sold in the UK now contain half the amount of some key nutrients as they did in 1940, a major study reveals. Depleted levels of iron, magnesium, sodium and copper mean Britons are at increased risk of malnutrition, experts warn. A greater reliance on imported produce and a shift to industrial agriculture and higher-yielding varieties may be to blame.

ISRAEL - Israel Police have informed the Temple Mount Administration that the Temple Mount will be closed to Jewish visitors "until further notice" due to clashes between Arabs and Israeli security forces in recent days, the administration reported on Saturday night. The administration added that Jewish prayers will be held at the gates of the Temple Mount and next to the Western, Southern, Eastern and Northern Walls of the Temple Mount. A record 4,625 Jewish visitors entered the Temple Mount during the Passover holiday. Earlier this week, authorities had stated that the Temple Mount would be closed to Jewish visitors until the end of Ramadan. Violent clashes have broken out between Arabs and Israeli security forces at the Temple Mount and al-Aqsa Mosque in recent days, as Muslims celebrated Ramadan and Jews celebrated Passover.

SAUDI ARABIA - Relations between the US and Saudi Arabia – which go back to 1945 – have never been this bad, according to a report published on Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal. Insiders in Washington and Riyadh blamed the situation on a personal rift between US President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Both the White House and the Kingdom have officially denied any trouble, however. Saudi Arabia led the 1973 oil embargo against the US, citing Washington’s support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. It resulted in the worst US economic crisis since the Great Depression. Yet relations between Washington and Riyadh have never been as difficult as they are now, according to Norman Roule, whom the WSJ described as a former senior US intelligence official in the Middle East who maintains ties to senior Saudi officials. The Saudis ware “dismayed” at the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last August, disapprove of efforts to revive the nuclear deal with Iran, and “bristle” at Washington’s presumption that they will fall in lockstep with whatever the US decides, according to the WSJ.

USA - America is running out of military munitions and can't replace them for years due to industrial decline and supply chain collapse. Just as Russia has now completed the test firing of its global ICBM "Sarmat" missile system - which can reach any target anywhere in the world with a dizzying array of re-entry (nuclear) vehicles - alarm bells are being sounded over America's rapid depletion of munitions due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The US Pentagon has shipped thousands of Javelin anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, along with millions of rounds of ammunition, artillery shells, rockets, drones and troop transport vehicles, leading to a sudden drop in the available stockpiles of such equipment should US forces need to defend the homeland.

USA - With the cost of energy skyrocketing and record-breaking inflation, the Biden administration came out last month and warned the public about “food shortages” hitting the US. Naturally, like with the ‘Putin price hike’, fingers were pointed at the war in Ukraine for causing the shortages. Biden himself was warning that the shortages in the US would be nothing short of “real.”

USA - Farmers in China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Vietnam — the largest rice-producing countries could experience reduced output due to soaring fertilizer prices. The International Rice Research Institute warns that harvests could plunge as much as 10% in the next season, equating to about 36 million tons of rice, or enough food to feed a half billion people, according to Bloomberg. Chemical fertilizers, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, are the most applied nutrients for high-yielding rice cultivation. Farmers have been particularly vulnerable to soaring fertilizer prices as some have reduced the amount of nutrients to save costs. This threatens future harvests as production declines could stoke food inflation for a crop that feeds half of humanity. Humnath Bhandari, a senior agricultural economist at the institute, said the 10% drop in global rice production is a "very conservative estimate." He said if the Ukraine conflict continued and fertilizer prices remained high and supply limited, then the decline of rice output could be even more severe. This may trigger a full-blown global food crisis, similar to the one that the UN has been warning about.

GERMANY - First the US, now Germany is reporting massive inflation rates. The German government released their version of the producer price index for inflation, and they are reporting 30.9% inflation for products leaving German factories. That’s the highest rate of inflation since shortly after the second world war. The inflation rate is being driven mostly by energy costs which are more than 80% higher than last year. However, each nation’s overall inflation rate is also driven by the amount of central bank spending they used during the COVID economic lockdowns. The more any government spent on subsidies, the more money they printed, the more they devalued their money and subsequently, the higher their current rate of inflation. Germany will have to import more Russian oil to keep prices down. Ukraine will not like that. The US and the world are in a mess.

USA - Identity politics, political correctness, virtue signaling, and wokeism have broken down intellectual integrity and scholarly standards in the academic world. Scholarship now exists in attenuated forms that serve ideological purposes, not factual ones. In short, “scholars” have come to serve ideological agendas, not truth. Even mathematics and science have been corrupted. Recently, Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran had to reject 41% of the mathematics texts for Florida’s K-12 curriculum because they contained critical race theory and other propaganda used to indoctrinate students.

CHINA - Growing lockdowns in China have me believing more and more that the country isn’t exactly crestfallen about the supply chain crisis it is creating for the rest of the world. Days ago, I wrote about suspicions I had about China’s latest round of Covid lockdowns. In that piece, I drew the conclusion that the country’s “Covid Zero” plan is irrational and egregious, and that China’s lockdowns may have to do with something more than Covid.

RUSSIA - Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rejected claims that Moscow could resort to the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Lavrov was questioned on the issue during an extensive interview with India Today in Moscow on Tuesday. When the journalist mentioned that “President Zelensky said that Russia plans to use tactical weapons,” the foreign minister didn’t even let her finish the question. “He says many things,” Lavrov said. He reminded that Russia had never mentioned the use of nuclear weapons as an option during its military operation in the neighboring country, and the Ukrainian leader was the only one to speak about this. Lavrov reiterated the notion that “there could be no winners in a nuclear war,” and assured that Russia would only rely on conventional weapons in Ukraine. Zelensky claimed that Moscow could use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine during his interview with CNN on Friday.