UK - Now we learn that one of our leading universities is demanding recognition for people who identify as cats. Beam me up, Scotty.

GERMANY - The power struggle that the West is waging against Russia is provoking a long-term hike in natural gas prices in Germany as well as a tendency toward unreliable supplies. This results from the German government’s plans to rely more on liquefied gas imports in the future. Liquefied gas is more expensive than pipeline gas, and is also more unreliable, in the current situation. Liquefied gas tankers can be diverted to another destination at any time, if higher prices can be obtained. In addition, liquefied gas is “nearly as harmful to the climate as coal,” an expert at Germany’s Federal Environment Agency explains. Industry representatives confirm that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will still not be commissioned, even though it could remedy Germany’s current gas shortage, which is taking on serious proportions. Gas is more expensive than ever. Germany’s gas storage facilities’ levels are lower than they have ever been at this time of the year. The supply would collapse, if there were a cold spell for only a week. Berlin is insisting on importing gas from Groningen – preventing the shutdown of that gas field in spite of the risk of earthquakes.

USA - In these tough financial times, a new study finds it’s getting harder and harder for people to save any of their money. In fact, seven in 10 Americans say they’re living paycheck to paycheck. A recent survey of 2,007 adults found that 63 percent don’t see themselves reaching a level of financial security that will allow them to live the lifestyle they want. Lack of financial education and resources may be to blame, particularly for women, who were less likely to say they had access to these tools in comparison to men (65% vs 84%). On average, respondents feel they’d need $686 of disposable income per month to feel financially comfortable.

TAIWAN - With Russia massing troops along Ukraine’s borders, President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan felt compelled to act. She ordered the creation of a task force to study how the confrontation thousands of miles away in Europe could affect Taiwan’s longstanding conflict with its larger, vastly more powerful neighbor. “Taiwan has faced military threats and intimidation from China for a long time,” Ms Tsai told a gathering of her national security advisers late last month, according to a statement by her office. Perhaps more than people in any other place in the world, Taiwanese know what it is like to live in the shadow of an overbearing power, with China claiming the island as its own. Ms Tsai added, “we empathize with Ukraine’s situation.”

UK - Classic children's novels have been given "content warnings" by university chiefs. English undegraduates at Leeds are being told Anna Sewell's 1877 novel Black Beauty contains "depictions of cruelty to animals". Daniel Defoe's 1719 adventure tale Robinson Crusoe "discusses race and slavery" and has "attitudes typical of its time". And Edgar Rice Burroughs's 1912 classic Tarzan Of The Apes is said to contain "expressions of racism". Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: "Each week brings more ludicrous examples of universities cosseting adults from the 'horrors' of children's literature. Perhaps the first thing that they should be teaching their students is that the real world doesn't come with a trigger warning."

USA - Ford Motor Co tumbled into a bear market after a fourth-quarter profit and sales missed Wall Street expectations. Chief Executive Jim Farley warned of "persistent supply-chain disruptions" limiting its ability to meet strong demand. Reuters reports the Detroit automaker will shutter eight factories in the US, Mexico, and Canada, beginning on Monday as it copes with chip shortages. Reuters' report paints a challenging 2022 backdrop for the company as it continues having trouble sourcing chips, an ongoing issue for well over a year, and still not yet resolved. The good news is Ford's turnaround is underway with the launch of electric vehicles. However, it has to reduce the complexity of its supply chain, a transition that won't be easy.

IRAN - A hacktivist organization has revealed a highly sensitive Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps document that asserts Iranian “society is in a state of explosion” because of the crippling sanctions imposed on the nation due to its illicit nuclear program. According to Radio Farda’s Golnaz Esfandiari, who authored the exclusive article, “the document covers a meeting with IRGC’s intelligence wing and quotes an official named Mohammadi saying that Iran’s “society is in a state of explosion.” Mohammadi added that “social discontent has risen by 300% in the past year.” Revolts against the clerical state have erupted in Iranian society since the 1979 Islamic revolution, including the widespread Green movement protests in 2009 and massive unrest in 2019.

USA - While the overwhelming majority of Americans favor clean air and water, they also want affordable food and energy prices, but thanks to a series of bad policy decisions on the part of US and Western leaders, they can’t have both. The global financial system was sent into a tailspin and the world has yet to recover. The economic system is out of whack and it’s not clear at this point what will bring it back into alignment, but in the meantime, there is a crisis building regarding the cost of food that is directly related to skyrocketing oil and energy prices. Bloomberg News has more: Global food prices jumped toward a record last month, further adding to the surging cost of living for consumers. While it’s true that inflation has become rampant in the United States, it’s actually become a global problem: According to the United Nation’s world food index, household budgets will be further pressured as prices continue to rise for basic items. What’s more, the cost of producing food is also skyrocketing, and “that’s particularly bad news for the poorest consumers and nations with the least disposable income,” Bloomberg noted.

UK - On Thursday, the Bank of England warned that Brits face the biggest decline in living standards in three decades over the next year. The reason is that just about everything is getting more expensive, but incomes will not rise anywhere near enough to match this surge of inflation. The Bank's governor, Andrew Bailey, even pleaded with workers not to demand big pay rises – in effect, to accept lower living standards. And central to the rising cost of living is the startling increase in the cost of energy. Britain's energy crisis has been two decades in the making: rejecting fracking, coal, and (until too late) nuclear; over-reliance on renewables; spending too much time listening to eco-warriors and grandstanding about climate-change policies; and spending too little time worrying about cost and security of supply. All epitomised by the irrational drive to Net Zero by 2050. The result will be hardship for millions and it's happening right now.

USA - In a single day, two members of the American press asking for clarification and evidence from the Biden administration were painted as sympathizers of Russia and ISIS. Efforts by US media to establish objective truth – rather than acting as stenographers for the government and its official narratives – is now apparently considered an act of disloyalty to your country, and loyalty to its enemies.

UK - The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) describes itself as “the most trusted broadcaster in the world.” That's quite a confident assertion to make about oneself. At first glance, such a label may seem appropriate to some. The BBC is, at least objectively speaking, a pioneering institution that shaped the world of modern reporting from the early 20th century onwards. It represents a style that is both authentic and classic, embodied by that formal British accent that is a hallmark of its reporting. The BBC has undeniably been popular as a source of news, entertainment, and educational material for many around the world. Every other international broadcaster is, in some ways, a carbon copy of the principles and norms that the BBC established.

UK - Brits are being told to reduce their living standards and tighten their belts even as it’s announced that the government is spending £4.7 million pounds a day on housing refugees in hotels. Yes, really. Earlier today, the Bank of England said citizens must prepare for the biggest fall in their standard of living for decades since records began. GDP estimates have been slashed while interest rates have been raised as the Bank says inflation will surpass 7 per cent. However, there’s plenty of money for illegal migrants arriving on boats. UK taxpayers were initially told that the bill for asylum seekers’ accommodation was £1.2 million a day. Many of the migrants are being housed in hotels in popular resorts alongside holidaymakers. This has prompted a wave of complaints about aggressive behaviour, thefts, urinating in elevators and general chaos. But remember, diversity is a strength!

GERMANY - "Where is Olaf Scholz?" That's a question that has been circulating on social media in Germany since the beginning of the year. Whether it's about arms deliveries to Ukraine, the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in China, the debate about introducing a general vaccine mandate to combat the COVID pandemic or measures against galloping inflation figures — the chancellor seems all but invisible, his statements seem vague. This negatively impacted his approval ratings in the latest survey by pollster Infratest Dimap, in which 1,339 individuals across the country were polled by telephone (876) or online (463) between January 31 and February 2. Only 43% of respondents said they were satisfied with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. One month ago that figure still stood at 60%. Two months after taking office, Germany's new government is slipping in the polls. Voters are expressing dissatisfaction over the crisis in Ukraine and especially with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

USA - A new generation of fear entrepreneurs in the IT industry are promoting anxieties and fatalism about the threat quantum computing poses to the future of encrypted data, cyber-security and our way of life. You can’t make this stuff up. Just when we can breathe a sigh of relief as we appear to have overcome the Covid pandemic, ‘the quantum apocalypse’ draws us back into new anxiety about life on Earth – just like Al Pacino in ‘The Godfather’ trying to escape his criminal past, but being pulled back in. However, this is not a Hollywood movie. It is a real thing. And just like the doomsday predictions of environmentalists, ‘the quantum apocalypse’ is being presented as a real existential threat to life as we know it. So, what is this ‘quantum apocalypse’? Well, to put it simply, it is the imagined outcome of a world where encrypted, secret files are suddenly cracked open by quantum computers. The “quantum apocalypse” is the latest fear being used to stoke the fatalism that now underpins the public imagination.

USA - DC school makes masked kindergarten students march with BLM Signs while chanting Black Lives Matter. When liberal activists masquerading as teachers claim that they are not teaching Marxist critical race theory, they are lying. Like several other schools around the country, a private school in Washington DC has given up on educating in favor of indoctrinating young children to support the extremist Black Lives Matter movement.