USA - Powerful storms killed at least 15 people and left a wide trail of destruction Sunday across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after obliterating homes and destroying a truck stop where drivers took shelter during the latest deadly weather to strike the central US. Seven deaths were reported in Cooke County, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, where a tornado Saturday night plowed through a rural area near a mobile home park, officials said. Storms also caused damage in Oklahoma, where guests at an outdoor wedding were injured. Tens of thousands of residents were without power across the region. “It’s just a trail of debris left. The devastation is pretty severe,” Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington told The Associated Press. More severe storms were predicted in Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky. The risk of severe weather moves into North Carolina and Virginia on Monday, forecasters said.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA - The Papua New Guinea national disaster centre has said that Friday’s landslide in a remote village in the northern part of the country buried more than 2,000 people, and has formally asked for international help. Unstable terrain, remote locations and damaged roads have been hampering relief efforts in the aftermath of the landslide, the United Nations said on Monday. “The landslide buried more than 2,000 people alive and caused major destruction to buildings, food gardens and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country,” an official from the national disaster centre said in a letter to the UN, seen by Reuters and Associated Press.

ISRAEL - Israel remained defiant on Friday after the UN’s top court ruled that it should stop its operations in Gaza. Israeli officials lashed out at the landmark ruling, claiming that the International Court of Justice had got it wrong. “Israel has not and will not carry out military operations in the Rafah area that create living conditions that could cause the destruction of the Palestinian civilian population, in whole or in part,” national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a joint statement with the foreign ministry spokesman. Judges at the court ruled Israel must immediately halt its military offensive in Gaza. Orders from the ICJ, which rules in disputes between countries, are legally binding and cannot be appealed, but the court has no means of enforcing its decisions.

TAIWAN - Taiwan said Friday the island nation has tracked dozens of Chinese warplanes and navy vessels off its coast, marking what would be the second day of a large military exercise launched by China's military. Taiwan has been governed independently of China since 1949, but China's government considers the island part of its territory and has vowed to eventually unify Taiwan with the mainland. In recent months and years, China has become increasingly opposed by what it sees as Taiwan's effort to align closer with Western nations and move more toward a democracy. China's most recent military maneuver toward Taiwan, which started Thursday, is over its inauguration of new leaders who refuse to accept its insistence that Taiwan is part of China, according to the Associated Press. A video released Friday showed military forces from communist-led China approaching Taiwan from all sides.

TAIWAN - The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) initiated a significant event, Operation Joint Sword-2024A, on Thursday. It involved the creation of a simulated blockade around the self-governing island of Taiwan, as well as areas around the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu, and Dongyin. It’s worth noting that this is the largest military drill of its kind in a year and follows the recent inauguration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who has made it clear that he will escalate the issue of formal independence. During his address, Lai broke his promise of maintaining the status quo with the mainland. As Kathrine Hille, writing for the Financial Times, noted, he “used conspicuously different language, while also spelling out some of the facts that most jar Beijing.”

UK - A man was left in a rage after being made to stroll around a supermarket carrying cheese locked in a security box. In the UK, it's common to see security tags attached to high-value items such as TVs and game consoles. But in recent years, everyday goods such as coffee, butter and even baby formula have been spotted in plastic cases as a deterrent for shoplifters amid ever-increasing prices. One Tesco shopper caused a stir on social media after revealing his go-to cheese, Cathedral City light mature cheddar, had been the latest item to fall victim to the anti-theft measures at his local supermarket. Taking to X (formerly Twitter) he said: "Currently carrying a security box of cheese to the checkout, the country may be cooked."

USA - Nearly 80 percent of Americans now consider fast food to be a “luxury item” as families feel the squeeze from the Biden regime’s failing economy. According to a survey from Lending Tree of around 2,000 adults, what was once considered an affordable option for low-income workers is fast becoming the opposite. The company noted: Thanks to rising prices, most Americans now see fast food as a luxury and are eating it less often, according to a new LendingTree survey. Rampant inflation has forced millions of Americans to reassess their spending habits. For many, that has meant fewer trips to the drive-thru for that burger, burrito or spicy chicken sandwich they love — and even a change in how they perceive fast food.

UK - Would you like a side-order of plastic with your meal? The chances are it will come with one anyway. The number of microscopic plastic particles that have found their way into our environment is so numerous that virtually any food that you choose to eat – fresh or frozen, precooked or raw - is likely to contain them. But you won't spot them in your food – or feel them as you swallow. These tiny particles are known as microplastics - sized from 5mm down to 0.0001mm, or nanoplastics, which are anything smaller than that. Researchers are urgently trying to find ways to limit the amount of plastic absorbed into our bodies

SCOTLAND - Massacres of newborn lambs by armies of ravens are threatening the viability of Scottish sheep farming, it was claimed yesterday. One shepherd has revealed he considered quitting his career after 220 lambs were killed on a single farm. Five ewes also had to be destroyed. Finn Yorston, who tends flocks on Balnabroich Farm near Blairgowrie in Perthshire told The Times he lost 30 lambs in a single day and that the growing raven population had brought a surge in attacks. The 45-year-old said: ‘I have been a shepherd for 30 years and this was the worst lambing I have ever experienced.’ He added: ‘It is the only time in my life I nearly quit. I was born and bred on a hill and I think I am pretty tough, but it has been heartbreaking.’ Ravens are a protected species in Scotland which means a licence is needed to kill them.

ISRAEL - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made yet another veiled allusion to the biblical war of extermination against "Amalek" during his speech denouncing the ICC, Mondoweiss reports. For Netanyahu, the ICC news was an occasion to once again make allusions to the biblical war of extermination against "Amalek." This was the same biblical reference Netanyahu invoked in a statement on October 28 at the outset of the Israeli ground invasion in Gaza. "Remember what Amalek did to you," he said, quoting the biblical verse where God commanded the Israelites to wipe out the enemy nation of the Amalekites down to their babies and animals.

TAIWAN - Taiwan's defence ministry has condemned China's military exercises around the self-ruled island as "irrational provocations". The drills come just three days after the inauguration of Taiwanese president William Lai, whom Beijing has labelled as a "separatist" and a "troublemaker". They are happening all around the main island, and the Taipei-controlled islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin. A spokesperson for the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has called them a "strong punishment" for "separatist acts". Taipei has dispatched naval, air, and ground forces to "defend the [island's] sovereignty", its defence ministry added. Taiwanese media cited military expert Chieh Chung saying the ongoing exercise is aimed at "simulating a full-scale armed invasion of Taiwan".

JAPAN - Japan has issued a complaint against the Chinese ambassador to Tokyo after the envoy warned that the Japanese people will be “brought into the fire” if their government plots to support a Taiwanese independence movement. “We consider it to be extremely inappropriate for an ambassador stationed in Tokyo to make such a comment, and we have immediately lodged a severe protest against it,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Wednesday. Hayashi added that Japan’s government has consistently called for issues surrounding Taiwan to be resolved peacefully, through dialogue. “Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is important not only for the security of our country, but also for the stability of the international community as a whole,” he said. Analysts have told the BBC that grey zone warfare tactics are aimed at weakening an adversary over a prolonged period - and that is exactly what China is trying to do with Taiwan.

CHINA - China is flogging arms to Russia in a major boost to Putin’s war in Ukraine, Britain's Defence Minister claimed. Spies tracked “lethal aid” from China to Russia and into Ukraine, Grant Shapps revealed Wednesday. He said intel reports were a “significant development” and warned: “We should be concerned.” Shapps said it blows open China’s claim to be a handbrake on Putin’s Ukraine slaughter. He told the London Defence Conference: "US and British defence intelligence can reveal that lethal aid is now flowing from China to Russia and into Ukraine. We should be concerned about that because in the earlier days of this war, China would like to present itself as a moderating influence.” Shapps' warning comes just a few days after Putin met his Chinese counterpart in Beijing during his two-day visit. The two despots, who remain close allies, pledged a "new era" of partnership.

UK - The increasing popularity of ketamine has left a trail of grieving families in its wake, while the NHS is also counting the cost of a spike in health issues caused by the substance. As Finn Henry, 21, was jailed for seven years for battering his mother while high on the addictive Class B substance, the government estimates that use of the drug has more than trebled amongst the under-25s since 2016. With record amounts seized in the UK in the year to March 2022, rising by nearly 900 per cent, problems, including severe bladder issues, are devastating the lives of some users. Other long-term effects can include agitation, panic attacks, damage to short and long-term memory and depression.

USA - New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced a special conference dubbed the National Urban Rat Summit, which will be held in September to address the spiraling problem with rodent pests plaguing the metropolis. The announcement comes one month after the city’s health authorities recorded a significant rise in cases of human leptospirosis — a disease caused by contact with the urine of animals, particularly rats. NYC has recorded one of the highest populations of brown rats in the US, with experts estimating that there were approximately three million of them living in the city as of August 2023. Meanwhile, animal rights activists at PETA have accused Mayor Adams of “villainizing rats” and urged him to “show kindness and respect for all New Yorkers.”