UK - Ultra-Processed-Food (UPF) is where we get most of our calories in the UK. Breakfast cereal? Mostly UPF. Supermarket bread? Mostly UPF. The meal deal you grab for lunch? All UPF. The ready meal you prep for dinner? UPF. Gym snacks, nutrition drinks? UPF. And that’s before we get to the obvious junk food: confectionary, fizzy drinks, snacks and crisps. In the UK, UPF makes up 60 per cent of our calories on average, and it’s not unusual for many people, particularly teenagers, to get 80 per cent of their calories from UPF. And yet the New Scientist story said: ‘UK officials have dismissed recent concerns that ultra-processed food is automatically unhealthy because of the way it is made or its artificial ingredients.’ It seemed like the government was disagreeing with the science.

RUSSIA - Europe remains an important strategic focus for Russia, but it’s no longer the main topic of discussion. Today, many see it as a “lost continent,” where the Western half has stopped acting based on its own interests and finds it difficult to even define them. States are increasingly losing their autonomy and succumbing to pressure from the US. The growing presence of NATO on Russia’s western borders worries our country. There are signs of the US-led bloc’s transition from hibernation to preparations for a major military confrontation in Europe. The path of increasing escalation and pressure on Russia is a dead end: Moscow takes the NATO threat seriously and has the means to deal with it.

UKRAINE - Many US-made munitions that rely on satellite guidance have failed to withstand Russia’s jamming technology after being supplied to Kiev, the Washington Post (WaPo) reported on Friday. The Ukrainian armed forces have had to stop using some of those armaments altogether because of Russia’s extensive electronic warfare capabilities, the paper said. The affected munitions include Excalibur GPS-guided artillery shells, rockets for HIMARS multiple rocket launch systems and JDAM aircraft-dropped bombs, the report read. The US completely ceased deliveries of Excalibur shells half a year ago after Ukraine reported that they had been rendered ineffective, unnamed Ukrainian officials told WaPo. The success rate of JDAMs also dropped significantly just weeks after they were first provided to Kiev. During that period, the US-made bombs were missing their targets by between 200 meters and 1.2km, it said.

UKRAINE - Russian forces have secured an advantage in the field of electronic warfare in Ukraine, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing military experts and Ukrainian soldiers. Kiev’s troops have been unable to effectively use their drones on the battlefield due to constant jamming by the Russians, the outlet claims. Drones have played a key role throughout the conflict and have been extensively used by both sides. For Kiev, as noted by the NYT, cheap commercial First Person View (FPV) racing drones have proven an effective alternative to artillery shells. “FPVs play a critical role for us, as these toys are essentially mobile artillery that compensate for the lack of ammunition,” one Ukrainian drone operator told the outlet. Over the past year, however, Russia has improved its jamming capabilities, significantly reducing the impact of Ukraine’s drones and straining its limited supply of off-the-shelf devices, threatening to completely sideline a “key component of Ukraine’s arsenal.”

ISRAEL - An Egyptian soldier has been killed in a firefight with Israeli soldiers, it has been reported. The rare exchange of force between the militaries of both countries is understood to have happened at the Gaza border near Rafah on Monday with sources in the Israeli Defence Force claiming Egyptian soldiers fired at Israeli soldiers who returned fire. The Jerusalem Post said no Israeli soldiers were injured in the incident and that commanders of the two forces were quickly in touch to arrange a ceasefire. Tensions are high between the two countries, as in June last year an Egyptian police officer shot dead three IDF soldiers. In October an Egyptian police officer killed two Israeli tourists and an Egyptian tour guide.

USA - You know how Google's new feature called AI Overviews is prone to spitting out wildly incorrect answers to search queries? In one instance, AI Overviews told a user to use glue on pizza to make sure the cheese won't slide off (pssst...please don't do this.) Well, according to an interview at The Verge with Google CEO Sundar Pichai published earlier this week, just before criticism of the outputs really took off, these "hallucinations" are an "inherent feature" of AI large language models (LLM), which is what drives AI Overviews, and this feature "is still an unsolved problem."

USA - Google Search now comes with fancy-schmancy "AI Overviews" — and predictably, they're already giving some pretty dumb answers. This latest one, though, really takes the cake — or shall we say pie. Someone looked up "cheese not sticking to pizza" on Google. The search engine's AI Overview authoritatively began that "cheese can slide off pizza for a number of reasons." "Here are some things you can try," it lectures. Its first suggestion is to mix in cheese into the sauce. Then, without so much as a warning, it recommends adding "about 1/8 cup of non-toxic glue to the sauce to give it more tackiness." That, we can all agree, is absolutely horrible, if not dangerous, advice — whichever way you slice it.

SWITZERLAND - Experts have issued a stark warning that the world is 'unprepared' for a new disease which could be far more catastrophic than Covid-19. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has previously stated that the world is not ready for 'Disease X'. This term was coined by the UN agency in 2018 to describe an unknown infection that could trigger another future pandemic. It's considered more of a theoretical threat than a real illness, but leading medics have insisted we must remain vigilant. Throughout this year, world leaders have been discussing how to prepare for the next pandemic. Experts predict that it could result in 20 times more deaths than the coronavirus pandemic.

ZAMBIA - Severe drought in Zambia is threatening hunger for millions of people, cutting off electricity for long periods and destroying the country’s social fabric and economy, the environment minister has warned, in a harbinger of what is in store for the region as the climate crisis worsens. Collins Nzovu said the “crippling drought” his country was experiencing hammered home the message that developing countries were facing catastrophe from the climate crisis, even as richer countries failed to muster financial help for the most afflicted.

EUROPE - There is little time left to conclude the Ukraine conflict, which risks escalating out of control and inciting a global war, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has warned. Speaking on Friday to the broadcaster Prva Srpska Televizija, Vucic claimed the world is standing on the brink of an all-out global conflict, and it is likely already too late to avoid it. “I am afraid that there is little time left for the war in Ukraine to be stopped. I hope it's still possible, but I’m afraid it’s actually not. I’m afraid that the train has already left the station, started moving, and no one will stop it,” he said. Explaining his doomsday prediction, the Serbian leader said the conflict is being pushed by the global military industry, war profiteers who are interested in expanding and prolonging it rather than seeking a resolution. Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated that Moscow’s readiness to engage in meaningful negotiations must be based on “common sense” and an acknowledgement of “realties on the ground.”

GAZA - Hamas fired rockets at the Tel Aviv area on Sunday, marking the first time in four months that a barrage reached central Israel from Gaza, and emphasizing the importance of Israel’s fight against Hamas in its last stronghold. According to Cumta, an app that publishes warnings from Israel’s Red Alert system, the rockets targeted areas north and west of Tel Aviv, including Petah Tikva and Herzliya Pituach, one of the wealthiest communities in Israel.

GAZA - Israel has insisted the attack by its air force in the Gazan city of Rafah which reportedly caused mass civilian casualties was a “precise strike” targeting two senior Hamas leaders. The IDF hit Rafah’s Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood, killing at least 35 people and injuring dozens, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave. Footage from the area – supposedly designated a safe zone for displaced civilians – showed widespread devastation, as a blaze ripped through a tent camp. The Israeli military has acknowledged the air raid, but insisted it targeted a Hamas compound and successfully eliminated two “senior terrorists,” accused of planning and carrying out “numerous attacks, in which IDF soldiers were killed.” “The strike was carried out against legitimate targets under international law, through the use of precise munitions and on the basis of precise intelligence,” the Israeli military said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

IRAN - Experts have warned that the Iranian regime is set to become even more fierce, cracking down on dissent following President Ebrahim Raisi's death. Iran is now in a period of deep instability that could see it plunge even deeper into conservativism by a hardliner tipped to take over following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, experts have warned. Raisi's death was announced last week after his helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain following a visit to Azerbaijan, forcing his deputy Mohammad Mokhber to take over before the next election. Dr Haian Dukhan, Lecturer in Politics & International Relations at Teesside University, explained that the new leader will want to make Iran appear strong, and will achieve this by being even stricter in cracking down on dissent.

SWITZERLAND - The World Health Organization (WHO) has been forced to suspend the launch of its controversial ‘Pandemic Treaty‘ due to pushback from millions of citizens who are demanding justice for the crimes perpetrated by the globalist elite during the pandemic. “We are not where we hoped we would be when we started this process,” Roland Driece, co-chair of WHO’s negotiating board for the agreement, admitted on Friday. A final draft treaty was scheduled for presentation at next week’s World Health Assembly, but will now be suspended indefinitely. “This is not a failure,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted in Geneva after the talks ended. “We will try everything — believing that anything is possible — and make this happen because the world still needs a pandemic treaty,” he threatened.

UK - Nigel Farage has come under fire for using his first election interview to “spout Islamophobia, hatred and divisive comments” after he said a growing number of Muslims do not share British values. The honorary president of the Reform UK party drew heavy criticism on Sunday after claiming Rishi Sunak had allowed “more people into the country who are going to fight British values” than any UK leader before him. Speaking on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the former Ukip leader said: “We have a growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values, [who] in fact loathe much of what we stand for.” When asked if he was talking about Muslims, Farage responded, “We are… And I’m afraid I found some of the recent surveys saying that 46% of British Muslims support Hamas – support a terrorist organisation that is proscribed in this country.”