The British monarch’s trip showcases an alliance held together by shared complicity and decline King Charles III has gone to Washington, ostensibly to help the transatlantic cousins celebrate getting rid of his predecessor George III 250 years ago. But being a royally gracious loser is, of course, only a pretext. In reality, as The Economist, the premier British mouthpiece of transatlantic orthodoxy, has deplored, Charles’s mission is to salvage what’s left to be salvaged from the sinking “special relationship” between Washington and London. That the relationship is in very bad shape is obvious from the compulsive manner in which Britain’s leader Keir Starmer keeps insisting that it still exists, while also emphasizing that he “will remain laser-focused on what is in the British national interest.” Indeed, the abysmally unpopular Starmer has been subjected to so much typical Trump hazing that, as The Guardian notes , he may be enjoying “a vanishingly rare moment of public approva...
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The recent fragile stabilization of the EU’s largest economy is being erased in light of the shocks of the Iran war Germany’s economy has been struggling to stay afloat in recent years. High energy costs, partly the result of rejecting cheap Russian gas, have rendered much of the country’s heavy industry uncompetitive, while its export-oriented model has come under pressure from shifting economic trends, not the least being rising competition. Germany no longer sits alone in its niche and hasn't yet adapted. Read more Middle East war fallout hits consumers worldwide After consecutive years of negative growth in 2023 and 2024, Germany eked out marginal gains in 2025. Propelling this tentative emergence from the doldrums of recession was a massive increase in government spending, aimed in particular at infrastructure and defense. Meanwhile, German exports declined for the third straight year in 2025, a stark sign that the structural malaise remains. Now, however, whatever fra...
Republican Mitch McConnell has blasted Donald Trump, claiming he has continued Joe Biden’s strategy of failing to meet Kiev’s needs The US must expand its support for Ukraine if it wants to preserve its status as a global superpower, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell has claimed. The veteran lawmaker and former Senate majority leader criticized military officials in the administration of President Donald Trump for carrying out his policy of shifting the burden of Ukraine assistance onto European NATO allies in an op-ed published by the Washington Post on Tuesday. Americans “can’t learn from a war… if they can’t properly observe it,” McConnell wrote. He called for more “military trainers” to be sent to Ukraine so they can “witness the conflict up close” and better understand the use of drones in modern warfare. China, he asserted, “is doubtless watching [the current armed conflict] closely as it refines its military investments and plans.” “If we’re keen on remaining the world’...
Ray Dalio’s warning comes amid a consumer price hike triggered by the Iran war and an economic downturn The US has slipped into stagflation for the first time in decades, billionaire hedge fund boss Ray Dalio has said. The assessment comes despite the Federal Reserve’s insistence that the term overstates the current crisis, caused in large part by the war on Iran. Dalio, who founded the Bridgewater Associates hedge fund and is famed for correctly predicting the 2008 financial crisis, made the remarks in a wide-ranging interview on Monday, offering his take on US monetary policy and the Iran war, which he said is contributing to a sweeping breakdown in the global order. “We are certainly in a stagflationary period,” he said. He also warned the US Federal Reserve against cutting interest rates at this point, arguing that “you will lose your credibility.” Read more Middle East war fallout hits consumers worldwide Stagflation is a toxic combination of stagnant economic growth, hi...
All of the victims were women who were traveling in a rear carriage that was struck from behind by another train Two trains have collided on the outskirts of Indonesian capital Jakarta, killing 15 people, all women. The crash occurred on Monday when a long-distance train struck the rear carriage of a stationary commuter train at Bekasi Timur station. The carriage was reserved for women, a common feature on Indonesian trains aimed at preventing harassment. The emergency teams completed the evacuation of victims from a damaged commuter car on Tuesday, state railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia said. A total of 84 people were injured and hospitalized, while the bodies of the victims were transferred for identification. Mohammad Syafii, head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, said the evacuation was a “delicate process” due to crushed train cars and trapped passengers. “There are no further casualties,” he said, adding that specialist teams were deploye...
The continent’s expenditure has risen by an estimated 14%, as Russia accuses the EU of reckless militarization European military spending helped to propel global defense expenditure to a record high of almost $3 trillion in 2025 despite the US decreasing its outlay, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on Monday. Worldwide military expenditure rose 2.9% in real terms last year to reach $2.887 trillion, marking the 11th consecutive annual increase and lifting the global military burden to 2.5% of GDP, the report said. SIRPI experts explained the trend by citing several ongoing conflicts and persisting geopolitical tensions. The entire European continent accounted for the largest regional increase, with spending rising 14% to $864 billion. SIPRI linked the surge to the Ukraine conflict, a standoff with Russia, and “the ongoing pursuit of European self-reliance alongside increasing pressure from the United States to strengthen b...