UK - Just one in five (21.1 per cent) of traditional, opposite-sex marriages in 2018 were religious ceremonies, the lowest on record, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). While the Church of England, the seat of the worldwide Anglican communion, forbids people legally of the same sex to marry, the Methodist Church of Great Britain announced last month that “marriage can be between any two people”. The Methodist Church, which ordained its first transgender vicar in 2017, stated in a resolution which was passed by 254 to 46 against that it “consents in principle to the marriage of same-sex couples on Methodist premises… by Methodist ministers”. Plans for the two English churches to reunite could be put at risk by the Methodists’ seismic shift to embrace non-Biblical unions; however, the Church of England itself appears confused over the relationship to gender and marriage.

HAITI - Haiti is facing the threat of a tropical storm bringing heavy rains and strong winds just days after a devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the country on Saturday, killing more than 700 people. There are fears that Tropical Storm Grace, which is projected to hit the island between Monday and Tuesday, could hamper rescue efforts. The quake comes over a decade after a disastrous 7.0-magnitude shock in 2010 that struck closer to the country’s capital of Port-au-Prince, killing an estimated 220,000 people.

The US Ambassador to Afghanistan and some of his staff were seen fleeing their Kabul workplace with the stars and stripes flag Sunday, as the Pentagon increased the number of troops deployed in the region by 1,000 to 6,000.

AFGHANISTAN - US mulls EVACUATING Kabul embassy as Taliban advances! According to sources, there are internal discussions underway at the State Department about evacuating the US embassy in Kabul, with one saying as early as the end of the month. After a 20 year war and over 2 trillion dollars spent, America is retreating from Afghanistan, a third world country, also known as the graveyard of empires. How humiliating! Without US troops, there’s no way for the so-called Afghan government to hold Kabul, as the overwhelming majority of the population of Afghanistan supports the Taliban, something that Americans are still not aware of. The Pentagon spent $88 billion dollars training the Afghan Army for 20 years. It collapsed in 1 month.

AFGHANISTAN - The Allies' reckless withdrawal has plunged Afghanistan back into darkness and allowed the Taliban – that horrifying group which brutalised the Afghan population and provided safe haven to Osama bin Laden – to take most of the country in just a few days. It's a terrible irony that by the 20th anniversary of 9/11 in a few weeks, the whole country may be ruled by the Taliban again.

UK - Britain is in a state of shock after its first mass shooting since 2010. Jake Davison gunned down five people, including his mother and a three-year-old girl, in the killing spree in Plymouth on Thursday evening. He took the lives of Maxine Davison, 51, Sophie Martyn, three, Lee Martyn, 43, Stephen Washington, 59, and Kate Shepherd, 66. The attack lasted around six minutes before Mr Davison turned the gun on himself, police said. In videos posted online prior to his death, Mr Davison described his life as “just me against the world". He also shared hate-filled views on Reddit forums used by “incels”, part of an online community and wider ideology which is growing in size.

UK - An incel is a man who expresses online hostility and resentment towards those who are sexually active, particularly women. It is an abbreviation used in online communities for ‘involuntary celibate’ - someone who is unable to find romantic or sexual partners despite wanting them. Online forums, hosted on websites such as Reddit, play host to discussions of resentment, misogyny, and racism, in particular towards women, especially those they perceive in a sexual way. Tim Wilson, director of Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St Andrews, said an incel is the idea sexual fulfilment is a human right and a “man not getting it is being actively repressed by women". “The basic idea, I’m afraid, is the idea that sexual fulfilment is a human right and that, as a man not getting it, you’re somehow being actively deprived and repressed by women.” Davison’s posts were filled with hatred for his mother, whom he described as “my vile dysfunctional chaotic mother”. He also ranted in general against the concept of single mothers.

USA - Joe Biden has been facing criticism after shelving his opposition to Germany striking a new energy deal with Russia, a move former Energy Secretary Rick Perry said would allow Moscow to "hold the European Union hostage." Despite initial opposition to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline ahead of his inauguration, US President Joe Biden U-turned on his stance effectively backing the project that will link the European Union to Russia. Supporters of the pipeline have insisted the connection will ensure the security of gas supplies to member states but detractors warned about the potential influence Moscow could exercise upon the bloc. Former US Energy Secretary Rick Perry raged at President Biden for his decision, telling Fox News his support effectively green-lighted Russia holding the European Union "hostage." Mr Perry said: "It is stunning to see how fast we went from energy independence to now being reliant on countries like Iran to get our energy."

CHINA - China is building a third missile field that will hold more than 100 new DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles, The Washington Times has learned. Construction of a silo array for DF-41s was identified from satellite imagery by US intelligence agencies in the past several weeks and appears equal in size to two other new Chinese missile fields recently identified, according to Pentagon officials familiar with intelligence reports on the strategic development. Admiral Charles Richard, commander of the US Strategic Command, said Thursday that the first two missile fields being built are part of China‘s “explosive” expansion of nuclear forces. “We are witnessing a strategic breakout by China,” Admiral Richard told a missile defense conference in Alabama. “The explosive growth in their nuclear and conventional forces can only be what I described as breathtaking,” he said, adding that “frankly, that word ‘breathtaking’ may not be enough.”

JAPAN - Japan's meteorological service has put three prefectures and the city of Hiroshima on the highest possible emergency alert, which means it’s too late to evacuate elsewhere, as torrential rains cause flooding and mudslides. The highest-possible Level 5 “special” weather warning was issued for Saga, Nagasaki and Fukuoka prefectures in the country's southwest on Saturday, as rains continue to batter parts of Japan. Earlier, the same warning was issued for the city of Hiroshima after several rivers running through the region were deemed at high risk of overflowing. In its advisory on Saturday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said that “there is a high possibility that some kind of disaster has already occured” in the areas that are especially prone to mudslides and flooding. “It's been raining heavily like never before,” the agency noted.

KAZAKHSTAN - In a world plagued by a pandemic, some stories get left behind. One that has escaped headlines, probably understandably, is the Kazakh government’s new six-month ban on exporting food for livestock, insisting produce stay at home. The reason for this intervention, which has come after the resignation of an agriculture minister and against the wishes of some farmers and exporters, is a severe drought in much of the west of the country. Following on from a dry winter, it has lasted for months and already inflicted great damage to pastures, the livestock depending on them, and the communities who, in turn, need the livestock.

USA - We haven’t had an extended bout of painful inflation like this since the days of the Carter administration, and our leaders in Washington have decided that the best way forward is to rapidly create even more inflation. They keep using words like “transitory” to describe the current inflation crisis, but then they turn right around and talk about the need to create, borrow and spend even more money. It is utter madness, but at this point there is nobody that is going to stop them. We are all passengers on a “highway to Weimar”, and those that have their hands on the wheel have gone completely nuts.

USA - A harvester rumbles through the fields in the early morning light, mowing down rows of corn and chopping up ears, husks and stalks into mulch for feed at a local dairy. The cows won’t get their salad next year, at least not from this farm. There won’t be enough water to plant the corn crop. Climate change, drought and high demand are expected to force the first-ever mandatory cuts to a water supply that 40 million people across the American West depend on — the Colorado River. The US Bureau of Reclamation’s projection next week will spare cities and tribes but hit Arizona farmers hard. They knew this was coming. They have left fields unplanted, laser leveled the land, lined canals, installed drip irrigation, experimented with drought-resistant crops and found other ways to use water more efficiently.

USA - California’s largest single wildfire in recorded history continued to grow Wednesday after destroying more than 1,000 buildings, nearly half of them homes, while authorities in Montana ordered evacuations as a wind-driven blaze roared toward several remote communities. The dangerous fires were among some 100 large blazes burning across 15 states, mostly in the West, where historic drought conditions have left lands parched and ripe for ignition.

ALGERIA - Algeria’s government has announced an investigation to identify the “criminal hands” responsible for 50 “horror” fires that destroyed swathes of forest to the east of the country’s capital city and killed more than 20 people. Speaking on Tuesday, Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud declared that the government would launch an inquiry to find the “criminal hands” who are “behind the simultaneous outbreak of about 50 fires across several localities of the province.” The country’s emergency services have been battling to contain the blazes that have destroyed woodland and homes. In a statement posted to Facebook late Tuesday, the country's defense ministry said that 18 military personnel have died tackling the fires. Earlier, Algerian authorities said seven civilians had been killed. The thick smoke billowing from the fires has caused additional difficulties for firefighters trying to bring them under control.