USA - Have you noticed that there has been a very alarming rise in volcanic activity in recent months? According to Volcano Discovery, 38 volcanoes around the globe have recently erupted, and dozens more are showing signs of either unrest or minor activity. In all my years, I have never seen anything quite like this, and I am entirely convinced that seismic activity will only increase during the months ahead. Here in the United States, I am watching Mount Rainier very closely, and Yellowstone is a threat that is constantly hanging over our heads. But scientists are warning that Mount Spurr could actually be the next volcano to erupt inside US territory… A full-blown eruption of Mount Spurr would be spectacular, but not much damage would occur because that area of Alaska is very lightly populated. On the other hand, a full-blown eruption of Mount Rainier would have the potential to be cataclysmic, and we are being told that “it is only a matter of time” before it happens…

MIDDLE EAST - How hard is it to condemn a group that strangles a baby and a toddler, mutilates their corpses with rocks to make it look like they were killed in an airstrike, then returns them amid cheering crowds in locked coffins – no keys provided – with propaganda material stuffed around the bodies? Quite hard, as it turns out. The Prime Minister bravely said he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths but his thoughts-and-prayers statement avoided naming the perpetrators, let alone condemning their crimes.

ISRAEL - Jews are no longer shocked by barbaric violence against us, but there is one thing we are shocked by. What has shocked and hurt us the most is the abandonment by those we thought were our political or ideological allies who have remained silent. Those people who regularly raise their voices against global injustice and inequality. Jews have once again been “othered” and banished from “the community of the good”. The cries of our babies were ignored and we will never forgive or forget. We know Hamas and their sympathisers don’t see Jews as human beings. That was clearly the case during the October 7 massacre as they whooped with joy while filming themselves killing and mutilating families, raping young people and live-streaming murder on social media. There is no gentle way to write these words. No way to sugarcoat evil.

ISRAEL - Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “decisive action” to return all remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza, after Hamas on Saturday freed the final living hostages slated for release under the first stage of an increasingly fragile truce. Urgent high-stakes negotiations for stage two are set to begin next week after more than a fortnight’s delay, but experts have warned that the talks are unlikely to go smoothly – and Israel has already begun amassing troops on Gaza’s border in case fighting resumes.

GERMANY - Europe should not hesitate to put pressure on the US if it fails to fall in line with “liberal democracies,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Friday. The diplomat made the remark following talks between the US and Russia that excluded representatives from the EU and Ukraine. Speaking at a campaign rally in Potsdam on Friday, the Green politician stated, “We’re increasing pressure on the Americans [so they know] they have a lot to lose if they don’t stand on the side of Europe’s liberal democracies.”

VATICAN - Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection, the Vatican said. The 88-year-old pope, who remains conscious, received “high flows” of oxygen to help him breathe. He also received blood transfusions after tests showed low counts of platelets, which are needed for clotting, the Vatican said in a late update. “The [Pope's] condition continues to be critical, therefore, as explained yesterday (Friday), the pope is not out of danger,” the statement said. It was the first time “critical” had been used in a written statement to describe Francis’ condition since he was hospitalized February 14.

VATICAN - Whether or not Pope Francis survives this latest bout of ill health, recent events have focused the minds of the curia in the College of Cardinals. The task falls to them to pick the next pontiff should the current one die or retire like his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first to resign the papacy in 600 years. This is a possibility Francis is said to be open to. “There is no question that if he was in a situation where his ability to have direct contact [with the public] was compromised, then I think he might decide to resign,” Ravasi said.

USA - US president Donald Trump’s approach to negotiations with Russia has triggered outrage in Europe. Leaders in capitals across the continent feel sidelined as its fate is decided, and have reacted with anger to Mr Trump’s words towards Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Many, too, are evidently dissatisfied with the ground apparently ceded to Moscow in early talks on a possible peace deal. The question left unanswered, however, is their proposed alternative, and their ability to enforce it.

ISRAEL - Israel is “enraged by the monsters of Hamas,” Benjamin Nentayahu has said after the terror group paraded the coffins of four hostages in Gaza. The Israeli prime minister vowed to “eliminate” the Palestinian fighters after coffins assumed to contain the bodies of Shiri Bibas, four-year-old Ariel and his infant brother Kfir as well as 85-year-old Oded Lifshitz were presented on stage in Khan Yunis, central Gaza. “We are all enraged at the monsters of Hamas,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement, adding: “We will return all our hostages, destroy the murderers, eliminate Hamas and together - with God’s help - we will secure our future.” “The parading of bodies in Gaza is abhorrent and cruel and flies in the face of international law,” said Volker Turk, the UN’s human rights chief.

GERMANY - The candidates to lead Germany’s next government are avoiding telling voters painful truths before Sunday’s crucial general election about Russia’s war in Ukraine, the coming disengagement of the US from Europe and the huge defence funding that is needed. Instead, the debate has largely focused on how to revive the ailing German economy after two years of recession and how to control migration, which has fuelled support for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland. Neither of the main contenders to run Europe’s largest economy dares tell the domestic electorate just how dire Germany’s security situation is looking, now that Donald Trump is pursuing a quick deal with Vladimir Putin – apparently largely on Moscow’s terms – to stop the fighting in Ukraine and draw down US forces from Europe.

USA - Vice President JD Vance has shown himself to be a most valuable asset for President Donald J Trump, especially now that the whole liberal media and planetary Globalist establishment are up in arms against the administration for its no-holds-barred approach to Foreign Policy. Vance caused a sensation (or an outrage if you are leftist-Globalist) with his groundbreaking speech in the Munich Security Conference, where he put European ‘allies’ on notice over the very clear Trump choices for free speech and peace.

USA - The US Senate voted to confirm Kash Patel as America’s next FBI Director. Now, Patel has released his first comments since his confirmation, and MAGA Nation will love them. His fiery statement should also send shivers down the spines of the Deep State and America’s enemies. “I am honored to be confirmed as the ninth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Patel wrote on X. “Thank you to President Trump and Attorney General Bondi for your unwavering confidence and support.”

USA - Vice-President JD Vance delivered a brilliant history lesson to a neocon foreign historian (Niall Ferguson) who tried to dunk on President Trump over the Ukraine conflict. As The Gateway Pundit’s Jordan Conradson reported, Trump went off on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday for his desire to continue an unwinnable war and for canceling elections. All while American taxpayers foot the bill to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. “Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the US and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

USA - Nato faces a “paradigm shift” after JD Vance warned that Europe must pay for its own security, a leading British defence industry boss has warned. Charles Woodburn, the chief executive of BAE Systems, said the defence industry was ready to ramp up production to deter the threat from Russia, although he said many governments are yet to act on pledges to increase military spending. His comments come just days after Mr Vance, the US vice president, warned European leaders that they must “step up in a big way” on rearmament.

USA - Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, told senior staff at the Pentagon to work out plans to cut 8 per cent from the defence budget over each of the next five years, according to reports. If implemented, the cuts would see the defence budget of $850 billion slashed by billions at a time when the US is facing looming threats posed by China and Russia. It would amount to the largest effort to curtail defence spending since 2013. “President Trump’s charge to DoD is clear: achieve peace through strength,” Mr Hegseth wrote in the memo. “The time for preparation is over — we must act urgently to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence. Our budget will resource the fighting force we need, cease unnecessary defence spending, reject excessive bureaucracy, and drive actionable reform including progress on the audit.”