Via SchiffGold.com,

A new round of tariff announcements from the Trump administration sent markets reeling, with gold dropping briefly only to soar back to new record highs above $4300 today, signaling collective doubt in the system itself as investors rush to protect themselves with hard assets. 

Collectively, markets are reaffirming gold’s role at the center of sovereignty, monetary stability, and global reserve strategy, even as it has become a favorite target of Keyneseian ridicule as everything from a “barbarous relic” to a waste of physical and financial space in investment portfolios and balance sheets.

Yet, confidence in US debt continues to decline, with the “safe” status of Treasuries increasingly being questioned. That’s why now, for the first time in decades, collective central bank gold holdings have surpassed the value of their Treasuries. Central banks now hold 20% of all gold ever mined, protecting themselves from the effects of currency debasement even as they, ironically, cause it. Instead of earning yield by holding Treasuries, they continue stocking up on gold, which is a powerful statement against the results of their own monetary experiments.

Because gold is very difficult to manipulate compared to other asset classes, and isn’t subject to the whims of central bankers or the ability of an overindebted, over-spending country to pay back what it owes, central banks are rushing to stock more of it. While uncontrolled debt issuance, dollar weakness, and a massive sovereign balance sheet, central banks buy gold to protect themselves from exactly the same problems that were caused by centralized control.

Meanwhile, investors, commentators, and asset managers, love to sing about stock market highs while ignoring the problem: those stocks are being measured in a currency that’s constantly being debased.

When you price them in gold, you’re using a true measuring stick that hasn’t been reconfigured by central bank wizards.

Suddenly, denominated in real money, most other “booming” assets don’t look nearly as good.

Equity indexes like the S&P 500 are well off their nominal highs when you measure them in gold instead of dollars.

Even as equities rise in dollar terms, zoom out, and those gains often fail to beat gold’s rise.

That’s because asset booms are being driven by manipulations in the form of money printing, low interest rates, and liquidity instead of real fundamentals.

‘Dow Jones to Gold Ratio is about to cross a level only seen 3 times in history. 2008, 1973 and 1929’ via @FinanceLancelot 📉 pic.twitter.com/MhyCyhCHM1

— Davide Iacovozzi (@davideiacovozzi) October 10, 2025

Bitcoin is no different. Bitcoiners, who love dunking on gold, are celebrating recent latest all-time highs, but love to ignore the fact that real gold is massively outperforming “digital gold.” 

A spectacular Bitcoin crash after Trump’s recent tariff announcements brought Bitcoin down from its highs of over $125k down to $107k, all while gold held its ground.

Bitcoin is crashing. It just dropped below $112,000. In terms of gold, Bitcoin is now down over 25% from its record high set in August. It still has a long way down to fall.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) October 10, 2025

As Peter Schiff said on X, formerly Twitter, last week:

“Today is another example of why Bitcoin is not digital gold or even digital silver. Gold closed the week up 3%, above $4,000, and silver rose 4.4%, closing above $50. Both represent record-high weekly closes. In contrast, Bitcoin dropped over 5%, double the decline of the Nasdaq.”

Despite being the subject of status quo ridicule, gold is still the king of financial assets. 

Wall Street’s reflexive scorn of gold is due to the fact that gold exposes Keynesians as frauds and sometimes thieves, and threatens the premise of the existence of an entire category of academics and professionals, from Ivy League academics to mom-and-pop retail investment advisors. If a 5,000-year old rock performs just as well as a traditional 60/40 stock-bond portfolio, a lot of people are wasting their time and money.

When you measure much of the financial world in gold, many of the supposed winners lose their luster.

All you needed was a honest yardstick.

Novo Nordisk A/S shares in Copenhagen appear to be experiencing yet another dead cat bounce following last month’s surge. That’s because President Trump told reporters late Thursday that GLP-1 drugs like Novo’s Ozempic, which currently costs about $1,000 per month, could soon cost “$150 out of pocket.” Bad news for Goldman analysts, who have been Novo’s ‘super bulls’ –  but for those trying to catch a bottom in the stock, there may still be more downside ahead. 

Trump told reporters the cost of Ozempic will soon be “much lower,” adding,  “Those are going to be $150 out of pocket.” The comments were made at a press conference in the Oval Office, during an event centered around a deal Trump folks made with Germany’s Merck KGaA to reduce fertility treatments in exchange for a reprieve on looming pharmaceutical tariffs. 

Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, quickly chimed in after Trump spoke about future Ozempic pricing. He said negotiations over the drug’s price are still ongoing. “We haven’t negotiated those yet.” 

Q: “You mentioned a $1,300 drug?”

Trump: “Ya, I was referring to Ozempic, or the fat loss drug.”

Q: “Those are going to be $150 out of pocket?”

Trump: “They’ll be much lower.”

Dr. Oz, interjecting: “We have not negotiated those yet…Ozempic has not been negotiated yet.” pic.twitter.com/IlmCexTJL9

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) October 16, 2025

BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman told clients that Trump’s comments “signal aggressive posturing” in the negotiations. However, he pointed out that the negotiated price may not represent a fundamental change to Novo’s business. 

When Trump was asked about a timeline for the negotiations, the president responded that GLP-1 drug prices would come down “pretty fast.”

The comments were enough to send Novo shares down 7% in Copenhagen trading. The risks of a bounce in the stock, which started with a positive study revealed at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes last month, could soon reverse. Yet elevated risks of yet another dead cat bounce in the 16-month bear market. 

We asked a simple question last month: Dead Cat Bounce or Bottom?

Related:

• Goldman, UBS React To Novo Nordisk Axing 9,000 Jobs, Slashing Guidance Amid GLP-1 Headwinds
• Novo Shares Gain As Wegovy Shows Big Edge Over Lilly’s Tirzepatide In Heart Study
• Dead Cat Bounce Or Bottom? Novo Jumps On Ozempic Study As Goldman Weighs In

U.S. headwinds for Novo still include compounded GLP-1s from companies such as Hims & Hers Health. Earlier this year, Novo nuked its partnership with the telehealth firm due to violations of federal law related to mass sales of compounded drugs disguised as “personalized” treatments, along with deceptive marketing practices that allegedly jeopardized patient safety. 

• Novo Shares Crash Most On Record After Forecast Slashed On Compounded GLP-1 Headwinds

All indications appear that Novo shares will retest 300 DKK. 

Via Remix News,

New data shows that foreigners account for a substantial share of people living in absolute poverty in Italy, even as the poverty rates of families with two Italian parents drops. One director of La Verita newspaper, Maurizio Belpietro, has run an opinion piece in his newspaper lamenting that Italy is “importing poverty.”

“We are importing poor people. Of the total immigrant population, 35.6 percent live in absolute poverty. This rate is five times higher than that of Italians,” writes Belpietro, who is an influential voice in Italian politics with 360,000 followers on X.

He further notes that although foreigners make up a small percentage of the population, they represent a huge share of the number of people living in poverty.

“Of the 2.2 million households living in poverty, i.e., do not have enough income to support a minimum standard of living, 1.5 million are Italian and 733,000 are foreigners. This means that, despite being less than a tenth of the population, poor non-EU citizens are one third of the total,” he wrote.

The data, from the Italian government’s Istat, shows that for those families with one Italian and one foreign parent, the absolute poverty rate is only slightly lower, at 30.4 percent.

Claims that mass immigration would “save” European pension systems are increasingly running into reality.

Citing the article, Italian commentator Francesca Totolo wrote on X: “No, immigrants do not pay pensions to Italians. The absolute poverty rate among families of only foreigners is 35.2%, while among families of only Italians it is 6.2%. This means that it is and will be Italians who have to pay for assistance, subsidies, housing, and pensions to foreigners without resources.”

No, gli immigrati non pagano le pensione agli italiani.

Il tasso della povertà assoluta

👉 fra le famiglie di soli stranieri è pari al 35,2%

👉 fra le famiglie di soli italiani è pari al 6,2%

Ciò significa che sono e saranno gli italiani a dover pagare assistenza, sussidi,… pic.twitter.com/MqxL8XnN5K

— Francesca Totolo (@fratotolo2) October 15, 2025

This finding has been replicated in many other countries, which shows that the left’s promise that foreigners would feed into the pension system falters when confronted with the data. Notably, there are substantial differences between EU and non-EU foreigners, with EU foreigners often boosting GDP and contributing to the tax base, in particular those from certain EU countries.

According to a landmark study from the Netherlands, the report found that migrants had cost the state €400 billion between 1995 and 2019.

In Germany, the estimated cost of migrants is currently at €50 billion a year, including social benefits, housing, integration, education, and child allowances.

In 2021, French author and academic Jean-Paul Gourévitch said in an interview with Radio Sud that employment data show that it is a myth that immigration to France has economic benefits.

“I have studied this topic extensively and today everyone in France, from the left to the right agrees that immigration costs more than it brings in,” Gourévitch said. “There is a major difference between left and right (oriented) economists regarding the costs: the leftist economists say the deficit is six to ten billion [euros per year], while those on the right say it is 40 to 44 billion. My own scientific research shows that the deficit is 20 to 25 billion [euros],” he said.

As Remix News recently reported, the rapid economic progress of China in relation to the EU — despite China’s extreme immigration restrictions policy — has blown up the myth that foreigners are needed to fuel the wave of future innovation and support the pension system.

Germany is a case example, with China dominating the nation in a wide range of industries, including green technology and automobile manufacturing.

Read more here…

The long-rumored iPhone Fold could finally become a reality in the next few years, according to industry insider and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who recently revealed new details about the smartphone’s construction costs. But that’s not the focus here. The spotlight we shine is on YouTuber JerryRigEverything, who put Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold through a durability test that ended in a catastrophic fire. 

“This is by far the weakest folding smartphone I’ve ever tested,” JerryRigEverything, also known as Zack Nelson, stated in the video. “And it gets worse. While straightening it back out for round two, the battery decides it’s had enough. Surprisingly, in the decade that I’ve been durability-testing phones, I have never had a smartphone explode before.” 

Nelson continued, “The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the first phone to go up in smoke.” And while he explained this is an extreme test,” he added that “I’ve also subjected every mainstream smartphone made in the past 10 years to these exact same tests. And this is the first time I’ve ever had one fail so spectacularly to the point where my fire alarm is going off.”

the Pixel 10 pro fold HAS EXPLODED in the latest JerryRigEverything durability test 😭 pic.twitter.com/ZyeOK3cknF

— Holly – I like tech (@AnxiousHolly) October 14, 2025

iFixit’s Elizabeth Chamberlain told The Verge, “As dramatic as a battery fire is, we don’t think this is necessarily a sign that something is wrong with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold design. The possibility of thermal runaway is just a reality of Li-ion batteries. Looks like Zack probably didn’t discharge the battery before opening up the phone (most new phones have 60%+ charge out of the box). We usually recommend discharging a battery below 25%, but with the extreme stresses Zack places on devices, that may even be too high.”

As for the first foldable iPhone, rumored for release in 2027, let’s hope Apple irons out all the kinks before its commercial launch.

Submitted by Thomas Kolbe

On the eve of an emergency crisis summit with the steel industry, Germany’s ruling Social Democrats (SPD) have unveiled their “crisis roadmap.” If subsidies and protectionism fail, the sector will be nationalized. Just like that.

Germany’s steel sector has become the perfect parable for the pitiful state of the country’s broader industrial base. Its decline over the past eight years is almost without precedent in modern economic history. Output has plunged by more than 30% since 2018, with the first half of this year alone showing a brutal 12% year-on-year drop — a collapse accelerating at high speed.

In absolute numbers: crude steel production fell from its 2018 peak of 42.4 million tons to what will likely be only 29 million tons this year. It’s simple: producing in Germany no longer pays. So capital is fleeing to more profitable locations. China — and now increasingly the U.S. — is where business gets done.

Unprofitable Location

The capital exodus from once-mighty producers like ThyssenKrupp and Salzgitter AG has left deep social scars: roughly 30,000 of what were once 120,000 steel jobs have already vanished.

And the capital flight isn’t confined to steel — it’s happening across the entire industrial landscape. No surprise, then, that the particularly expensive and technically demanding “green steel” production — the CO₂-free moral gold standard — is collapsing just as fast as conventional steelmaking.

Politically, this might cause some “concern,” but intellectually no one is budging. What bureaucrats label “market failure” is answered with yet another round of subsidies. Both Brussels and Berlin have already mobilized fresh billions on the bond market to flood the dry channels of this “green planned economy.”

It’s remarkable how German politics resolves cognitive dissonance by throwing ever more taxpayer money at it. This has nothing to do with real policy-making or setting a viable framework for business. It’s the ritual execution of a green cult.

Talk-shop Mode

This obvious disconnect with economic reality is being papered over with a steady stream of “summits.” Politicians seem stuck in permanent talk-shop mode — gatherings that change nothing but look busy.

A “steel summit” is now supposed to follow the recent auto industry summit.

In these ritualized roundtables, industry demands subsidized electricity, unions call for job guarantees and short-time work schemes, and politicians promise to cut red tape — an empty phrase that has become grotesque in light of the regulatory flood they themselves created.

These “talk shops” serve one purpose: defending the status quo. They simulate reform, projecting “action” and “awareness” to a public that increasingly tunes out.

But the collapse of Germany’s industrial base requires no more fake summits. It demands a new understanding of the state’s role in society: only a minimal state, setting clear rules for a free market and then disappearing from view, can enable real problem-solving.

SPD’s “We Understand” Moment

The date of the steel summit is not yet set, but given the catastrophic figures, it will be on the agenda soon. In North Rhine-Westphalia, once the heartland of coal and steel and an SPD stronghold, the party has already launched a cosmetic PR operation.

Under the slogan “We have understood,” local SPD officials are pretending to reconnect with the people they lost long ago.

They now claim to “focus on the real problems” and “fight for every job.” It’s classic social-romantic rhetoric, straight out of the party’s postwar playbook. One might think they’ve dug up an old speech by Johannes Rau.

Socialism in Small Steps

But the real direction was revealed in a new SPD parliamentary position paper.

The language is clear: in “exceptional cases,” the state should take equity stakes in struggling steel companies. And since crises tend to multiply in this environment, “exceptions” will soon become the rule.

Before outright nationalization, of course, the SPD wants to deploy the full toolbox: subsidies, tariffs, and protectionism — the usual. And if one intervention fails, the answer is always the same: double down.

Without dismantling this eco-socialist nightmare, there is no turnaround for German industry. And, as always, the center-right opposition will comply, offering token criticism while fundamentally agreeing on the green transformation agenda. The course set in Brussels will be defended at any cost — against all economic logic.

We are witnessing the step-by-step construction of a new, real-world socialism. This time, it’s green.

The Causes Are Obvious

The causes of Germany’s industrial collapse are hardly a mystery: a self-inflicted energy crisis, a cult-like CO₂ fixation metastasizing through every layer of EU policy, and the slow suffocation of competitiveness.

More troubling still is how deeply this eco-socialist faith has penetrated the political class. Climate dogma is so deeply embedded in the population’s mindset that a swift return to U.S.-style economic pragmatism is almost unthinkable.

No pressure from the grassroots. No ideological rethink.

The full rollback of the climate complex — the deliberate dismantling of this vast crony economy, the end of CO₂ taxes, the clearing of the regulatory jungle — will fall to a future generation forced to clean up this mess.

It’s not a pleasant prospect. But if a prosperous, free society is the goal, returning to market principles and a minimal state as guarantor of security — without ideological baggage — is the only way to unleash the forces needed for renewal.

* * * 

About the author: Thomas Kolbe, born in 1978 in Neuss/ Germany, is a graduate economist. For over 25 years, he has worked as a journalist and media producer for clients from various industries and business associations. As a publicist, he focuses on economic processes and observes geopolitical events from the perspective of the capital markets. His publications follow a philosophy that focuses on the individual and their right to self-determination.

Russia in its latest salvo launched another major missile and drone attack on Ukraine, specifically targeting its energy grid, involving over 300 strike drones and 37 ballistic missiles.

Following this, and amid existent rolling blackouts and power woes, Ukraine’s national grid operator NEC Ukrenergo has announced Thursday it must introduce power restrictions across the country.

“Due to the difficult situation in the power system, emergency power cuts have been introduced in all regions of Ukraine. Power restriction schedules for industrial consumers will also remain in effect in all regions until the end of the current day,” the statement said.

The European Union and NATO have been scrambling to come up with ways to both keep the lights on in Ukraine and defend its cities and vital infrastructure from being devastated by Russia.

On Thursday the EU unveiled a ‘five year plan’ for its own airspace defense, in relation to the Ukraine conflict: 

The European Union has unveiled its plan to ensure that it can defend itself from a Russian attack by the end of the decade, as Russia continues to test its defenses through airspace violations across Europe.

It will include the European Drone Defense Initiative, which aims to build counter-drone capabilities to detect, track, and disable rogue drones.

The system is expected to be initially operational by December 2026 and fully functional in late 2027.

As she unveiled the European Commission’s plan, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said danger would not disappear, even if the Ukraine war were to end. “Russia has no capacity to launch an attack on the European Union today, but it could prepare itself in the years to come.”

This as BBC notes the following:

This will be the fourth consecutive winter of blackouts throughout Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The energy ministry said all but two regions were affected. Only the eastern Donetsk region at the forefront of the war is exempt, while the northern Chernihiv region is already facing hourly outages.

All of this is part of Moscow’s attrition strategy, knowing it can outlast, out-gun, and out manpower Ukraine. This is also about inflicting broader pain and suffering among the population, in hopes of destabilizing the Zelensky government enough to replace him.

Ukraine’s southern military command says this morning Russia launched a “massive combined strike on Ukraine, including two ballistic missiles targeting the territory of one of the training units of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, located in a rear and relatively… pic.twitter.com/RemaPy56B6

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) October 16, 2025

But Europe is equally scrambling to pull resources to prop up Zelensky as well as Ukraine’s civic sector. But looming is the continued escalation, and the potential for the West to pour more powerful weapons into the conflict, such as the US Tomahawk.

If this happens, Moscow will probably unleash more intensive ‘shock and awe’ style strikes on population and decision-making centers like Kiev. Meanwhile, this was the scene in the UK parliament building on Wednesday…

Poland’s Sikorski brings Iranian-made Shahed-136 drone to Westminster, warns Europe to prepare for ‘deep’ Russian strikes. pic.twitter.com/QDO5LUH22t

— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 15, 2025

Despite the hopeful sign that Trump and Putin are at least still talking, things look to worse before they get better, at the rate things are going.

Via The Cradle

The Israeli army’s Intelligence Unit 504 has launched an online campaign targeting Yemenis, urging them to cooperate with Tel Aviv against Yemen’s Ansarallah (Houthi) movement. 

According to multiple media reports, the Israeli intelligence unit has launched a series of paid advertisements in a bid to recruit spies in Yemen. “Yemen has long experienced crisis after crisis. But real change begins with those who refuse to give up. Unit 504 gives you the tools and opportunities to build a different tomorrow,” one of the advertisements reads. 

“Are you tired of watching Yemen collapse? Are you tired of life without work, security, or a future? If you are willing to do what needs to be done, Unit 504 gives you a chance to put your skills to use, have your actions make a difference, and put your future in your own hands,” another advertisement says. “This opportunity will not come again.”

The ads are geared mainly toward critics or political opponents of Ansarallah. Al-Akhbar newspaper reveals that “observers in Sanaa are warning that this campaign reflects an Israeli intent to expand intelligence operations in the country and prepare for retaliatory attacks in response to Yemen’s support for Gaza.”

A Yemeni military source told the Lebanese newspaper that “Yemen will not stand idly by in the face of any violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and will retaliate in the event of any Israeli aggression against the strip.”

Israel is reportedly gearing up to continue attacks against Yemen – despite Ansarallah and the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) halting operations during the ceasefire, as it had repeatedly vowed it would.

Hebrew news outlet Channel 12 reported that “intense discussions within the security establishment recently led to separating the Yemen front from that of Gaza, allowing military action against Yemen to continue post-ceasefire.” This week, Yemeni President Mahdi al-Mashat said Sanaa will respect the ceasefire, but vowed that the country will remain “vigilant.”

The Israeli government is actively recruiting through paid and targeted @Facebook and @Instagram (@Meta) advertisements inside Yemen. The ads appear to come from “Unit 504,” identified in Hebrew as a branch of Israeli military intelligence focused on human intelligence… pic.twitter.com/qETwhIxjI8

— Basha باشا (@BashaReport) October 13, 2025

“Work is underway to develop military capabilities in all fields in order to achieve deterrence amid the fierce aggression against Yemen and its security,” he added. 

Ansarallah, which is merged with the YAF, was among the first to open a front against Israel at the start of what it has denounced as genocide following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in October 2023.

Since then, the YAF and Ansarallah have carried out scores of successful missile and drone strikes against Israeli targets, and opened up a naval front that has decimated global shipping and Israeli maritime interests over the past two years.

As the result of this front, the southern Israeli port of Eilat was forced shut. Late last month, a Yemeni drone attack injured 20 Israelis in Eilat. 

🇮🇱🇾🇪 Israeli Unit 504 targets Yemen with online campaign | @AUCTCentre

According to reports, Israeli *Unit 504* has launched a targeted online campaign in Yemen. Paid advertisements are used to try to recruit informants and local contacts.

The ad is aimed exclusively at users… pic.twitter.com/ek1jNqHZqu

— AUC3I (@AUC31) October 14, 2025

Yemen had vowed repeatedly since the start of the war two years ago that its operations would not stop until the killing of Palestinians ended and the siege was lifted. 

The Yemeni front was the last of the Gaza support fronts that were opened in support of the Palestinian resistance. These included Lebanon’s Hezbollah – the first group to open a front against Israel after October 7 – as well as a coalition of Iraqi resistance factions. Despite deadly and destructive Israeli and US strikes on Yemen, Ansarallah and the YAF’s military capabilities remained largely unaffected.

China’s intelligence service conducted “large scale espionage operations” against the UK – accessing classified government computer systems for over a decade – a senior British government official told prosecutors in a case against two Brits allegedly involved – which collapsed in court. 

And why did said case collapse? Because the left-wing Labour government failed to refer to China as a threat to national security, so prosecutors could not produce evidence to bolster that claim, the UK’s director of public prosecutions – as well as opposition conservatives who say Labour has been “too weak to stand up to Beijing on a crucial matter of national security.”

Starmer has been criticized by conservative politicians for pursuing a thaw in relations with Beijing, despite a mountain of evidence that China is behind various cyber-attacks and espionage attacks in the UK. He also faces pressure from members of his own cabinet not to approve China’s new mega-embassy in London.

As Bloomberg reports, Chinese hackers infiltrated UK computer systems for over a decade, routinely accessing “low- and medium-level classification information on UK government servers,” including information marked “official-sensitive” and “secret”  – along with some material on the government’s secure IT networks, according to anonymous sources. 

The data accessed included confidential documents relating to the formulation of government policy, private communications and some diplomatic cables, the people said. One described Chinese efforts to access British government systems as endless. Information and intelligence deemed top secret was not believed to have been compromised and is held securely, the people said, pushing back against a report Wednesday in The Times newspaper.

One compromise related to a data center in London used to store some sensitive government information, which was sold to an entity aligned to China when the Conservatives were in power, flagging major security concerns, one of the people said, confirming a report in the Spectator. Ministers in the then government briefly proposed a plan to destroy the data center before it was made secure in a different way, they added. -BBG

The UK’s documents classification system has three levels;

• Official – which “includes routine business operations and services, some of which could have damaging consequences if lost, stolen, or published in the media, but which are not subject to a heightened threat profile.”

• Secret – some of which was asked accessed by China, and is “where compromise might seriously damage military capabilities, international relations or the investigation of serious organized crime.”

• Top Secret – the government’s “most sensitive information, requiring the highest levels of protection from the most serious threats, where compromise might cause widespread loss of life or else threaten the security or economic wellbeing of the country.”

According to Matthew Collins, the UK’s deputy national security adviser, the alleged activities of two men accused of spying for China were “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK,” and that “information and material” passed along to Beijing would be “directly or indirectly” useful to the Chinese state. Collins also emphasized to prosecutors that Britain was committed to “pursuing a positive relationship with China to strengthen understanding, cooperation and stability.” 

Christopher Cash, 30, a former researcher for a Conservative MP, and Christopher Berry, a 33-year-old teacher, both denied allegations that they passed sensitive information to an alleged Chinese intelligence agent between 2021 and 2023. The Crown Prosecution Service unexpectedly dropped the charges against them last month, prompting a political backlash. –Politico

“I cannot understand why the CPS took the nuclear option of collapsing this case rather than leaving it to a jury,”  Emily Thornberry, who chairs the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told the House of Commons on Thursday. 

Another MP, Matt Western – who chairs the Joint Committee on National Security – told the chamber that his panel will hold an inquiry into the case “as soon as we possibly can.

On Wednesday evening, the UK government published three witness statements provided by Collins to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) between December 2023 and August 2025 – in which Collins says Chinese intelligence services are “highly capable and conduct large scale espionage operations against the UK to advance the Chinese state’s interests and harm the interests and security of the UK. China’s espionage operations threaten the UK’s economic prosperity and resilience, and the integrity of our democratic institutions.”

Yet, like a stockholmed rape victim he also said that the UK is committed to a “positive” relationship with Beijing, and that the official government position was to “co-operate where we can; compete where we need to; and challenge where we must, including on issues of national security.”

Last year, Bloomberg reported that British government officials feared Chinese state actors had made widespread and likely successful efforts to access British critical infrastructure networks.

Earlier on Wednesday, former premier Boris Johnson’s chief of staff in Downing Street, Dominic Cummings, told The Times newspaper that China had hacked secret information from the British government’s classified computer system.

“Vast amounts of data classified as extremely secret and extremely dangerous for any foreign entity to control was compromised,” Cummings said.

China Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing that the accusations are “purely vilification,” adding “we urge relevant personnel in the UK to stop their baseless hypes and stop this kind of political manipulation.”

Yet, Ciaran Martin – former head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, told Bloomberg that “for many years China has been, and continues to be, a significant cybersecurity threat to Britain and British interests,” adding that “Chinese state actors target British government, commercial and other networks for espionage purposes.”

That said, Martin said that China hadn’t managed to access systems containing “highly classified state secrets.” 

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

Poland has reached its capacity when it comes to accepting Ukrainian refugees and must instead concentrate on integrating those already living in the country, Marcin Przydacz, head of Poland’s Presidential Office of International Affairs, has said.

“Poland cannot constantly accept Ukrainian refugees because Warsaw should focus on the integration and adaptation of people already staying in Poland,” Przydacz said in an interview with RMF24.

Currently, about 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens live in Poland, but only 26,000 have received Polish citizenship over the past five years. He warned that Poland’s capacity to integrate newcomers is being stretched and that “separate migrant districts” are already forming.

“When the scale exceeds the capacity of inculturation, problems begin. We don’t want such problems in Poland. I think we’re already at the limit – we can’t accept any more,” Przydacz added.

A new study published this week by Germany’s Ifo Institute drove home the challenge facing European nations that have accepted large numbers of Ukrainians, with polling showing a tiny fraction realistically plan to return home after the conflict.

A new study warns that the vast majority of Ukrainian refugees living in Europe may never return home unless Ukraine regains its territory and secures Western security guarantees.

Just 3 percent of Ukrainian refugees in Europe would return to their home country in the most pessimistic post-war scenario, the study found, with respondents regarding territorial integrity and security guarantees as the most decisive factors when weighing up their decision.

While nearly half of refugees (46.5 percent) would return if Ukraine fully restored its 1991 borders, joined NATO, cut corruption, and boosted incomes, this hypothetical is not politically realistic while NATO members like Hungary oppose its accession.

Just 2.7 percent would do so if Russia retained most occupied territories, no peace deal was signed, security guarantees were absent, and the economy worsened.

Przydacz also urged NATO to strengthen its deterrence posture in response to Russian provocations on the eastern flank. He said the alliance’s reaction so far had been “appropriate,” but called for more troops and advanced equipment, “especially anti-drone equipment.”

Referring to reports of “little green men” on the Russian-Estonian border, Przydacz warned that Moscow “will constantly test our reaction and our internal cohesion” and said similar incidents could occur on the Polish-Belarusian frontier, where a border wall built by the previous government had proven effective.

The presidential adviser also commented on public frustration with the current government, citing a new Opinia24 poll showing that 80 percent of Poles see no improvement since the change of power, with only 12 percent saying their lives are better and 31 percent saying they have worsened.

“This government was supposed to bring hope,” Przydacz said.

Discussing the situation in the Middle East, Przydacz welcomed a newly signed peace agreement with “cautious optimism” and said that “violations of international and humanitarian law have certainly occurred” in Gaza, which should be “assessed in an appropriate manner by experts.”

Read more here…

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Lavrov suggested that they could facilitate the dispatch of aid to Africa, but it’s also possible that they might host complex military-diplomatic talks between all stakeholders in Syria while also helping its armed forces maintain national unity by re-equipping, training, and advising them too.

Russian-Syrian relations are interesting for many observers due to the realpolitik that’s come to define them since Assad’s downfall last December.

Ahmed “Jolani” Sharaa’s Al Qaeda-descended Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was designated as terrorists by Russia prior to their Turkish-backed seizure of power, and they accordingly hated Russia for bombing them, yet both swiftly put that aside. The fact of that matter is that their respective state interests require continued cooperation regardless of whoever’s in power in Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hinted at the future of his country’s bases there in an interview that aired last week ahead of Sharaa’s trip to Moscow on Wednesday to meet with Putin.

While their summit was certainly important, Lavrov’s remarks shed more light on this subject than the opening statements from their talks (there was no press conference afterwards), which is why his words form the basis of this analysis.

Here’s exactly what he said, which will then be analyzed:

“The function must be reconfigured. One clear task that could benefit the Syrians, their neighbours, and many other countries is establishing a humanitarian hub, utilising the port and airport to deliver humanitarian supplies from Russia and the Persian Gulf states to Africa.

There is a shared understanding that this will be in demand, and we are prepared to coordinate the details. The matter has, in principle, been discussed, and there is mutual interest.”

This is a unique proposal that would allow these facilities to become logistical hubs for supplying Russian, Arab, and possibly others’ aid to Africa. Russia’s continued dispatch of donated foodstuffs, mostly wheat, as well as discounted energy and fertilizer helped avert a chain reaction of tragedies over the past 3,5 years that could have exploded due to the West’s unilateral sanctions.

There might be more to the future of Russia’s bases in Syria than just that, however, judging by what else Lavrov said:

“We understand Israel’s legitimate security concerns (in Syria)…

Yet, the interests of other actors must also be safeguarded. In the northeast, there are the Kurds, whom the Biden administration began courting, actively encouraging separatist sentiments.

Our Turkish counterparts maintain a presence in the north, along their border with Syria. Meanwhile, Alawites and Christians continue to face persecution – recently exemplified by a barbaric attack on a church.”

He then added that all those with influence in Syria must prioritize its unity and declared that “We are prepared to collaborate on these matters with other nations pursuing their interests in the Syrian Arab Republic.”

Accordingly, it can be intuited that Russia’s military facilities could hypothetically host security talks between these conflicting parties, while its armed forces and diplomats could also provide advisory services to their Syrian counterparts to advance their shared goal of maintaining national unity.

Therefore, while the official reason for retaining Russia’s bases in Syria might be to facilitate aid to Africa and possibly host complex military-diplomatic talks, the real purpose might be to re-equip, train, and advise its army, albeit within the unofficial limits imposed by Israel and agreed to by Syria in that event.

This vision was first shared in early February here and thus presciently predicted what’s thus far come to pass. These plans could still be offset, but for the time being, they arguably appear to be on track.