MIDDLE EAST - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a joint press conference with his Qatari counterpart in Doha on Wednesday. Hamas has sent back an “unworkable” counter-offer to a US-backed ceasefire proposal for Gaza, Antony Blinken warned on Wednesday. The US secretary of state said “the war will go on” because Hamas was unable to agree to the plans that would include a release of hostages in exchange for a ceasefire. He added that Hamas had “made a choice to continue the war that they started”.

ISRAEL - Hezbollah launched a massive missile attack on Israel, firing over 200 rockets into the north of the country. The unprecedented strike was in retaliation for the death of Taleb Sami Abdullah, a senior field commander who was killed in an attack by the Israel Defence Force (IDF) on Tuesday night. The funeral for the commander was held on Wednesday and attended by a top Hezbollah official, who promised to increase the intensity, force and quantity of its attacks. Sirens sounded across northern Israel as Hezbollah launched a deadly barrage of missiles at communities in the area. The Iran-backed group said it targeted IDF headquarters in Ein Zeitim and Ami'ad, an air surveillance station in Meron, and a "military factory" in Sasa. The missiles started fires in several places, which Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority said had endangered "strategic sites and facilities".

UKRAINE - Historically linked to far-right extremism, the Azov Brigade has been striving to distance itself from its ultranationalist origins, especially since the onset of the current conflict. A controversial Ukrainian battalion associated with white supremacist and neo-Nazi ideologies will receive American weapons and training following a policy change by the Biden administration. The move aims to support the Azov Brigade, one of Ukraine’s most effective and well-regarded fighting units, as it seeks to transform its image and enhance its capabilities. Despite US laws prohibiting military aid to foreign units implicated in severe human rights abuses, the State Department reported finding “no evidence of Gross Violations of Human Rights committed” by the brigade. The unit has been integral in defending strategic locations such as Mariupol.

USA - Every night, huge groups of young people are literally taking over streets in large cities all over America. In many cases, major intersections are completely blocked off for stunts and dangerous competitions involving vehicles. These events are called “street takeovers”, and they are often accompanied by theft, violence and other acts of crime. You have probably heard of “street takeovers” happening in big metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and Chicago, but at this point they are even happening in many rural areas. The scale of these events is often so large that police will just sit back and do nothing to stop them. Our politicians can’t reverse what is happening to our society. We are descending into chaos and they are powerless to stop it. All over America, our communities are being plagued by looting, violent crime, hordes of addicts, criminal gangs and wild throngs of restless youths.

MIDDLE EAST - Gaza-based Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar believes that “[W]e have the Israelis right where we want them,” despite massive losses to the terror organization, because of growing international pressure on Israel to stop short of victory. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Sinwar, who is likely hiding in a tunnel in southern Gaza, possibly surrounded by Israeli hostages as human shields, is happy with how the war is going — civilian casualties and all.

USA - If the economy is fine, why are so many signs of trouble erupting all around us? Those that keep insisting that the US economy is heading in the right direction conveniently ignore the very troubling facts and figures that I regularly share with my readers. When you take an honest look at the cold, hard numbers that the economy keeps producing, there is only one logical conclusion. Our entire system is crumbling, and it appears that conditions will soon get significantly worse.

NEW ZEALAND - New Zealand is scrapping a scheme to price gas emissions from livestock — squelching a so-called burp and fart tax initiated under the previous left-wing government led by now departed authoritarian Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. New legislation will be introduced to parliament this month by the ruling conservative coalition to remove the agriculture sector from a new emissions pricing plan, thus responding to farmer pressure that the plan would make their business unprofitable. “The government is committed to meeting our climate change obligations without shutting down Kiwi farms,” said Agriculture Minister Todd McClay.“It doesn’t make sense to send jobs and production overseas, while less carbon-efficient countries produce the food the world needs.”

CHINA - Venezuela makes bid to join China-Led BRICS – with support from Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov welcomed the interest of Venezuela’s socialist Maduro regime in joining the BRICS anti-Western bloc on Wednesday in remarks given on the sidelines of the group’s foreign ministers’ meeting. BRICS is a China-led trade and security group originally made up of Russia, China, Brazil, India, and South Africa. The bloc agreed to expand in 2023 and as of January 2024 includes Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran. Saudi Arabia is reportedly in the process of finalizing its membership.

USA - You can burn an American flag, but if you deface the gay flag, the regime will put you in prison… In America, you can spit on Vietnam veterans, defecate on the US flag, threaten the lives of US Supreme Court Justices, mock Christianity, and burn entire cities to the ground in the name of a career felon. But if you dare to trample on the rainbow flag, oh, there will be serious hell to pay, mister. That’s what three teenagers in Washington are finding out the unjust, immoral, and hard way, as they face felony charges for disrespecting the national homo religion.

USA - Storm trackers in the Texas Panhandle recovered a massive hail stone that researchers say is likely to be a new state record. Val and Amy Castor, veteran storm chasers with Oklahoma City television station KWTV, discovered a piece of hail more than 7 inches (17.78 centimeters) long Sunday along the side of the road near Vigo Park while they were chasing a major thunderstorm system. Val Castor said the stone was about the size of a pineapple. “That's the biggest hail I've ever seen, and I've been chasing storms for more than 30 years,” Castor said.

USA - Very few supporters of President Joe Biden believe prioritizing marriage and having children is beneficial for society, polling from the Pew Research Center found. Only 19 percent of Biden voters say that “society is better off if people make marriage and having children a priority,” compared to 59 percent of former President Donald Trump supporters and 39 percent of registered voters overall. The results come amid a singleness and loneliness epidemic among young people and as the United States continues to experience the lowest birth rate in a century.

EUROPE - According to Europe Elects, France has seen a 31 percent increase in popularity amongst what they call "right-wing ID groups". Austria is the other country that has experienced this trend, with an uptick of 26 percent. They have also identified "centre-right EPP groups", which have been succeeding in Spain (34 percent), Germany (31 percent), Poland (37 percent), Latvia (35 percent), Slovenia (46 percent), Croatia (35 percent), Greece (28 percent), and Cyprus (25 percent). Finally, "national-conservative ECR groups" have seen their popularity rise in two countries: Italy (by 29 percent) and Czech Republic (by 33 percent).

FRANCE - France’s government faces its highest borrowing costs this year after Emmanuel Macron’s shock decision to call a parliamentary election. The yield on 10-year French bonds has climbed as much as 10 basis points to 3.19 percent, which is its highest level since November. The yield - which is the return that the French government promises to pay buyers of its debt - was as much as 54 basis points higher than for Germany’s 10-year bund, the benchmark for the European debt market. By contrast, the UK’s 10-year gilt yield has risen less than four basis points today to 4.3 percent.

GERMANY - Olaf Scholz is coming under pressure to follow Emmanuel Macron’s example and call a snap election after his party suffered a humiliating defeat in EU elections. “This government is basically finished and we need to do what France has done,” Markus Söder, the conservative governor of Bavaria, said on Monday. Mr Söder added that Mr Scholz’ government “no longer has the trust of the population, that’s why there should be new elections as soon as possible.” The centre-Right Christian Democrats, the main opposition in Germany’s parliament, also called on the Chancellor to call a vote of confidence on Monday to test whether he still has the support of his shaky three-way coalition.

EUROPE - The world's second-largest democratic exercise is complete and the results are not pretty for the so-called 'leaders of Europe'. The parties of Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, who are at the helm of the EU's two largest and most powerful countries, suffered major defeats to right-wing and conservative groups. Such a defeat unquestionably undermines their rule at home - so much so that the French president last night called a snap election in a move resembling a bloodied boxer on the ropes preparing to throw a final desperate punch before suffering a knockout blow. Meanwhile in Germany, Scholz's rivals declared the election results a 'disaster' for the Chancellor's government which since coming to power in 2019 has presided over a litany of crises.