USA - It isn’t just a coincidence that there has been an explosion in interest in the subject of UFOs and aliens recently. The truth is that we are being conditioned. For decades, books, movies, television shows, and video games have been conditioning us to think a certain way about encounters with very strange unidentified aircraft that are flying through our skies and encounters with very strange unidentified beings that seem to have unusual powers. But now this year it appears that the level of conditioning is reaching a crescendo. We are being told to brace ourselves for some sort of a “big reveal” that will change everything, and that should deeply alarm all of us.

USA - Fresh wave of UFO files to be released after Trump sparked chaos with alien picture. The second phase of the Trump Administration's UFO disclosure is underway, with officials saying the next batch of files is expected to be released 'very soon.' Lawmakers previously noted that the initial disclosure was only the beginning, teasing that far more explosive material remained hidden from the public. The latest update arrived just one day after President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself standing beside a handcuffed alien at a US military base, further intensifying online discussion surrounding the administration’s disclosure campaign. The surreal image, shared on Trump’s Truth Social account, showed the president and his security detail escorting the extraterrestrial figure across the tarmac while armed military personnel looked on.

USA - Microsoft (MSFT) generated $281 Billion in trailing revenue and $149 Billion in operating income, with Azure growing at double-digit pace and unique competitive advantages in AI infrastructure through entrenched enterprise ecosystems. The Bill Gates Foundation Trust exited its final position by selling all remaining shares after reducing holdings from 28.5 Million to zero shares, a move driven by portfolio diversification, valuation optimization, and funding obligations rather than confidence loss. For decades, owning shares of Microsoft felt almost synonymous with owning a piece of the modern economy itself. That is precisely why the latest SEC filing from the Bill Gates Foundation Trust landed with such force. Bill Gates, the company’s co-founder, no longer owns a single share through the Trust. For investors, the question is obvious: If Gates is out entirely, should shareholders be worried too?

USA - The American economy now has a new slogan: Buy now. Pay later. The idea is spend now. Borrow now. Pretend everything is fine now. And let somebody else deal with the bill later. More and more Americans are not buying luxury items with credit cards, they’re buying gas and food for their family. And many of them are using these buy it now pay later services to survive.

USA - Americans are getting behind on their debts at a very frightening pace. US households are now 18.79 trillion dollars in debt. In 1980, US households were just 1.4 trillion dollars in debt. Over the past several decades we have witnessed a household debt binge that is unlike anything that we have ever witnessed in our entire history. But if consumers could handle that debt load, there wouldn’t be such a high level of concern. Unfortunately, just like we witnessed prior to the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, Americans are getting behind on their debts at a staggering rate. This isn’t going to end well, but of course many of you know that already. The latest numbers published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York show that delinquency rates for auto loans, student loans and credit card debt have all soared to very alarming levels…

CHINA - Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Beijing on Tuesday for a meeting with dictator Xi Jinping in a clear demonstration by both sides that their “no-limits partnership” remains intact after President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing just a few days earlier. Putin enjoyed a nearly identical reception to Trump’s as he disembarked from his plane, right down to the student cheerleading squad waving flags and chanting welcome messages, which helped to thematically position Putin’s visit as a response to Trump’s: The similarity between the two receptions also helped China polish its image as the go-to destination for global leaders. “Xi likely wants to remind Trump that Beijing has other solid and robust relationships that it can count on, so Washington can’t easily isolate or harm Beijing if it tries to,” International Crisis Group senior analyst William Yang told the UK Guardian. “The Xi-Putin summit will telegraph to the world that the China-Russia strategic partnership remains the cornerstone of both countries’ foreign policies..."

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO - Global health authorities are extremely concerned about an outbreak of Bundibugyo virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The death toll has already reached triple digits and new cases have been detected hundreds of miles away from the original outbreak. BVD is a type of Ebola disease, but unlike other types of Ebola there is no effective treatment and there is no cure. The incubation period can range from 2 to 21 days, and once you are infected you will either live or you will die. For those that do not recover, it can be an absolutely excruciating death. Unfortunately, we are being told that the death rate for BVD is somewhere between 30 and 50 percent, and the WHO has already designated the outbreak that we are witnessing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a “public health emergency of international concern”. Normally, outbreaks of Ebola are not a huge concern because doctors have highly effective tools that they can use to fight it. But BVD is an entirely different story. There is not much that health authorities can do about BVD except to contain it and hope that an outbreak eventually burns out.

USA - Donald Trump has claimed he called off a planned attack against Iran tomorrow as “serious talks” take place. The US president claimed he had planned to bomb Tehran on Tuesday, but had been convinced by the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to continue peace talks instead. “I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to hold off on our planned military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

USA - Donald Trump has demanded a clause that would amount to a “veto” over any future Chinese or Russian investments in Greenland, The Telegraph can report. Diplomatic sources have revealed that preventing Beijing from accessing the substantial mineral reserves buried deep beneath the ice has become a key objective for the Trump administration in talks over the island. Officials from the United States, Greenland and Denmark have been locked in secret negotiations over a deal that satisfies the US president’s desire to control the territory. The talks were designed to provide Mr Trump with an off-ramp to his threats of a military takeover of the Arctic island, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is understood that the US sees the minerals buried deep under the island’s ice sheets as a strategic reserve in case of a war with China.

USA - Thousands of Americans are gathering on the National Mall TODAY for a powerful day of prayer, praise, and patriotism as we chart the course for America’s next 250 years and rededicate ourselves to ONE NATION UNDER GOD. REDEDICATE 250

IRAN - The country’s parliament is set to vote on a bill offering rewards for the assassination of the United States and Israeli leaders following February’s strikes on Iran that killed Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader. Ebrahim Azizi, the chairman of Iran’s national security commission, said the body was preparing a bill titled “Reciprocal action by military and security forces of the Islamic Republic” that would formalise payment of €50 million (£43.5 million) to any individual or entity who kills Mr Trump or Mr Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Iran has handed an updated peace proposal to the US, according to a senior US official cited by Axios. The source said, however, that the proposal did not represent a meaningful improvement on Tehran’s previous position. “We are really not making a lot of progress. We are at a very serious place today. The pressure is on them to be responsive in the right way,” the official said, according to the outlet. The US wants to see a serious conversation over Iran’s nuclear programme, they added. “If that’s not gonna happen, we will have a conversation through bombs, which will be a shame.”

IRAN - Iran does not intend to "surrender" as it enters into diplomatic dialogue with the United States, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a Twitter/X post on Monday. "Dialogue does not mean surrender," Pezeshkian said. "The Islamic Republic of Iran enters into dialogue with dignity, authority, and the preservation of the nation's rights, and under no circumstances will it retreat from the legal rights of the people and the country." This comes as a response to US President Donald Trump, who said on Monday he had paused a planned attack against Iran after Tehran sent a peace proposal to Washington, and that there was now a "very good chance" of reaching a deal limiting Iran's nuclear program. After Iran sent the US a new peace proposal, Trump said he had instructed the US military that "we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow, but have further instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached."

UK - Nearly 80 countries have now introduced emergency measures to protect their economies as the world approaches a new, more dangerous phase in the energy crisis driven by the Iran war. Governments are stepping up their responses ahead of a looming tipping point, when traders warn that oil prices could jump again sharply unless more fuel trapped in the Gulf can be exported through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. Paul Diggle, chief economist at fund manager Aberdeen, said his team was now examining a scenario where Brent crude rockets to $180 a barrel, causing surging inflation and recessions in a host of European and Asian countries. “We are taking that outcome very seriously,” he told the FT, adding that it was not yet his base case. “We are living on borrowed time.” Across large parts of the developing world, shortages are already apparent.

PAKISTAN - Pakistan has deployed 8,000 troops, a squadron of fighter jets, and an air defense system to Saudi Arabia under a mutual defense pact, ramping up military cooperation with Riyadh even as Islamabad serves as the main mediator in the Iran war. The deployment, the full scale of which is reported here for the first time, was confirmed by three security officials and two government sources, all of whom described it as a substantial, combat-capable force intended to support Saudi Arabia's military if the kingdom comes under further attack. The full terms of the defense agreement, signed last year, are confidential, but both sides have said it requires Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to come to each other's defense in the event of an attack. Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has previously implied that it places Saudi Arabia under Pakistan's nuclear umbrella. Pakistan has long provided military support to Saudi Arabia, including training and advisory deployments, while Riyadh has repeatedly stepped in to support Islamabad financially during periods of economic stress.

USA - Putin gains upper hand as Trump triggers European missile crisis. When Joe Biden announced in July 2024 that the Tomahawk missile was coming to Europe, his allies on the Continent heaved a sigh of relief. The weapons, with a range of up to 1,550 miles, were to be deployed in Germany in what was seen as a show of American commitment to NATO in Europe. What Mr Biden did not say, but which NATO army chiefs knew all too well, was that the Tomahawks were closing a fatal gap in Europe’s ability to defend itself from Russia.