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US secretly planning five-nation club including Russia to sideline G7 – media

The US is secretly planning to create a five-nation power bloc with Russia, China, India and Japan to sideline the Western-dominated G7, several media outlets have reported.

The idea was reportedly outlined in a longer unpublished draft of the US National Security Strategy released by the administration of President Donald Trump last week. According to the Defense One news portal, that version circulated before the White House published the unclassified document and reportedly proposed a new group, dubbed the ‘Core 5’, as a forum for dialogue among major powers outside the G7 framework.

Under the reported plan, the five-nation format would hold regular summits, similar to the G7, each focused on a specific theme, with Middle East security – and the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia in particular – said to be first on the agenda.

The unpublished version reportedly lays out plans to downgrade Washington’s role in Europe’s defense, push NATO toward a tougher “burden-sharing” model and focus instead on bilateral ties with EU governments seen as closer to the US outlook, such as Austria, Hungary, Italy and Poland.

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Somali Immigrants Linked to Extremism, Gangs, and Criminal Activity

ICE announced that during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, launched on December 1, 2025, federal agents arrested multiple criminal illegal aliens described by the Department of Homeland Security as “the worst of the worst.”

Those arrested included individuals convicted of child sexual offenses, domestic abuse, gang-related crimes, and other repeat offenses who had been living in the community despite prior criminal records. DHS attributed their continued presence to sanctuary policies and local leadership decisions, stating that ICE intervened to enforce federal law and address public safety concerns.

Several of those arrested were illegal aliens from Somalia. According to the ICE press release, Abdulkadir Sharif Abdi was identified as a former Gangster Disciples member and a current member of the Vice Lord Nation. His convictions include fraud, receiving stolen property, possession of a stolen vehicle, vehicle theft, and multiple probation violations.

Sahal Osman Shidane, also from Somalia, was convicted of criminal sexual conduct involving a minor between the ages of 13 and 15. Mukthar Mohamed Ali, another Somali national, was convicted of assault, fraud, robbery, and larceny.

Ahmed Mohamed Said, an illegal alien from Somalia, has multiple convictions, including two domestic violence offenses, three convictions for driving under the influence, assault, property damage, and probation violations. Feisal Mohamed-Omar, also from Somalia, was charged with two counts of domestic violence.

In a separate case, a 19-year-old Minnesota gang member, Ibrahim Ahmed Mohamud, also known as “Ibbs” or “30,” pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of a machinegun. Mohamud is a member of the YSL (Young Slime Life) criminal street gang and was implicated in a February 24, 2024 drive-by shooting after mistaking the victim for a member of a rival gang affiliated with the Muddy group and the Somali Outlaws.

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The Inevitable Decline of Developed Nations’ Fiat Money

Governments assume they can print as much currency as they like and it will be accepted by force. However, the history of fiat currencies is always the same: first governments exceed their credit limits, then ignore all the warning signs and finally see the currency collapse.

Today, we are living the decline of developed economies’ fiat currencies in real time. The global reserve system is slowly but decisively diversifying away from a pure fiat currency anchor towards a mixed regime where gold plays the dominant role, not fiat currencies.

IMF COFER data show that, while the US dollar still dominates, its share of reported reserves has drifted down towards the high 50s. Gold has overtaken the US dollar and euro as the main asset in central banks for the first time in 40 years.

There is a reason for this historic change. Developed economies have surpassed all their limits to indebtedness.

Public debt is currency issuance, and the credibility of developed nations as issuers is fading fast. It started when the ECB, the Fed and major global central banks reported large losses. Their asset base was yielding negative returns as inflation and solvency issues became evident. Mainstream economists and governments dismissed these losses as insignificant, yet they demonstrated the extreme risk associated with the asset purchases made in previous years.

Inflation is a form of de facto gradual default on issued obligations, and global central banks are avoiding the debt of developed nations because they see a deterioration in the fiscal and inflationary outlook. Sovereign debt is not a reserve asset anymore.

Global public debt has reached about 102 trillion dollars, a new historical record, well above pre‑pandemic levels and close to the peaks hit during the most aggressive monetary expansion. Sovereign debt has driven this phenomenal rise, with countries like France and the United States running enormous annual deficits in non-crisis periods. Bidenomics in the United States was the clearest evidence of imprudent fiscal policy, running record deficits and increasing spending by more than two trillion US dollars in a period of strong economic recovery.

How did this loss of confidence happen? Monetary sovereign nations do not have an unlimited ability to issue currency and debt. They have clear limits that, when surpassed, generate an immediate loss of global confidence. Developed economies have breached the three limits, especially since 2021:

The economic limit is reached when ever-higher debt leads to a decrease in marginal growth. Government spending has bloated GDP, but productivity has stalled and net real wages are stagnant or declining.

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Ending the Woke Monopoly: White House Takes Aim at Higher Ed’s Ideological Capture

Last week, the White House convened an education roundtable with U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon titled, “Biased Professors, Woke Administrators, and the End of Free Inquiry on U.S. Campuses.”

Secretary McMahon opened the event by stating, “It was an honor to be at the White House today with this dedicated coalition of students, faculty, institutional leaders, and policy advocates to highlight the issue of woke ideology and the capture of our institutions of higher education. DEI policies have turned universities from free marketplaces of ideas to purveyors of manufactured ideological conformity, chilling free speech and undermining academic rigor.”

She explained, “We are committed to working with higher education leaders to reverse course from these decades of decline.”

The Secretary highlighted actions taken by the Trump Administration, including dissolving DEI programs, enforcing merit-based practices, and guiding universities to comply with federal law, noting that over 400 institutions have made substantive changes. The U.S. Department of Education is working to incentivize universities to operate with fairness, academic rigor, and civil discourse.

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Western officials ‘alarmed’ over secret FBI-Ukraine meetings – WaPo

Western officials are concerned by the secrecy surrounding meetings between Ukrainian negotiators and the FBI, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing sources.

Kiev’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, has visited the US three times in recent weeks to meet with President Donald Trump’s top envoy, Steve Witkoff, and also held closed-door talks with FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino.

Several unnamed Western officials said the meetings could be aimed at speeding up Kiev’s acceptance of Trump’s peace roadmap. Leaked versions require Ukraine to abandon its NATO ambitions, drop its territorial claims, and cap its army at 600,000 – terms which Kiev and its European backers believe favor Russia.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishina, confirmed the FBI meetings, but declined to provide details. Sources say the secrecy “has caused alarm” among those not privy to the talks over their true purpose.

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In echoes of Minneapolis, whistleblower says Maine company bilked Medicaid dollars

Ahealth services contractor in Maine founded by a Somali immigrant is now accused by a whistleblower of defrauding the state’s Medicaid program, raising concerns in Congress that fraud in government programs is more widespread than previously known.

The recent charges from last month connected to a $1 billion fraud ring among Somali immigrants in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have focused renewed attention from lawmakers on rooting out fraud in federally-funded programs across the country. 

Just days after the Minnesota fraud ring surfaced in the national conversation, a whistleblower who worked for a health services contractor in Maine came forward in a public interview and alleged the company, Gateway Community Services, defrauded the state’s Medicaid program for years. 

The company was founded by Abdullahi Ali, a Somali-American who also ran for office, a position equivalent to governor, in a Somali state. At the time, he was serving as Gateway’s executive director. 

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, says that he plans to probe the cases in both Minnesota and Maine to determine whether similar fraud using public dollars exists elsewhere. He believes there is a high chance his committee will find more.  

“This does appear that it’s a very organized scheme in multiple states with groups of Somalis,” Comer said in an interview with NewsNation, which first aired the whistleblower’s allegations. “I would go out on a limb and say this is happening in other states with other social programs with other groups,” Comer said.

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Cook County’s electronic monitoring system is putting people in danger. Fix it now.

When we learned that the man who allegedly set 26-year-old Bethany MaGee on fire on a Blue Line train last month not only had been arrested more than 70 times but was also out on electronic monitoring after assaulting a social worker at MacNeal Hospital — in spite of the Cook County state’s attorney’s request that he be held — we were alarmed. That man, Lawrence Reed, had violated his electronic monitoring terms multiple times prior to the attack.

Given the shocking, high-profile nature of this story, you might be tempted to believe it an anomaly.

It is not.

In June, Chicagoan Arturo De La Mora was sentenced to 52 years in prison for murdering his girlfriend while he was on electronic monitoring for a prior felony gun case, crime news site CWBChicago reported. In October, a Chicago man received 22 years in prison for carjacking a Facebook Marketplace seller at gunpoint while on electronic monitoring for an earlier case in which he allegedly tried to kill a Cook County sheriff’s deputy.

A little over a year ago, Lacramioara Beldie was stabbed to death in Portage Park by her estranged husband, Constantin Beldie, who was on electronic monitoring at the time. A wrongful-death suit filed this month alleges he had dozens of monitoring violations leading up to the killing without any meaningful intervention from the county or its monitor vendor.

These are but a few horrific examples of a disastrous system that must be fixed, and quickly.

We spoke Tuesday with Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke about this serious problem. Burke assured us that her office is committed to requesting pretrial detention whenever the public is at risk, and the data she shared encourages us that the state’s attorneys arguing these cases on the front end are doing their part to prevent more danger.

Her team touted an increase in pretrial detentions under her watch, noting that, for example, detentions for aggravated domestic battery cases had increased to 85% from 61% under her predecessor. For cases involving handguns converted to the equivalent of machine guns, Burke’s office requested detention in 97% of cases, with judges approving pretrial detention 76% of the time. Again, these numbers and the higher frequency of judges approving prosecutors’ requests for detention are encouraging. But the problem of past detention refusals that have left violent folks on the streets with inadequate guardrails — and the potential for more in the future — continues to plague us.

“Electronic monitoring needs a law enforcement component,” Burke added, addressing the need to be able to enforce electronic monitoring terms and restrictions when people don’t comply. She’s right. As the system exists today, there’s next to no accountability and no muscle at all to ensure compliance while people remain free ahead of their court dates. Burke described herself as “the skunk at the garden party” for questioning what happens when someone, say, cuts off their monitor ahead of trial.

We need answers to questions like that. The county cannot continue operating a system without clear protocols for violations, otherwise Chicagoans and visitors to our city aren’t safe. Thankfully, the new chief judge understands this and is taking action. On Dec. 2, Cook County’s new Chief Judge Charles Beach ordered an urgent review of the county’s electronic monitoring program.

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Four times as many illegals in NY prisons than their share of population

New data shows that in the state of New York, a self-designated sanctuary state, illegal immigrants make up only 3.38% to 4.15% of the state’s population. Yet, when compared to the number of illegals who are incarcerated, they are overrepresented in prison and jail populations by a factor of roughly 3 to 4 times.

Furthermore, the Empire State has, according to the Department of Homeland Security, released 6,947 illegal immigrants since January 20 of this year, while still holding roughly 7,100 such individuals in its prisons and jails. These incarcerated illegal aliens account for approximately 14% of the total prison population of approximately 50,803, despite comprising only 3.20% to 3.38% of the state’s overall population of about 19.99 million.

DHS: “The worst of the worst” 

This results in an overrepresentation factor quadruple their demographic share. The state also has an attitude of reluctance toward sharing immigration status and therefore, these estimates are conservative. 

The released 6,947 illegal immigrants were convicted of severe offenses, including 29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 199 burglaries, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous drug offenses, 300 weapons offenses, and 207 sexual predatory crimes. 

Meanwhile, the current inmates with active ICE detainers include 148 convicted of homicide, 717 for assaults, 134 for burglaries, 106 for robberies, 235 for dangerous drugs, 152 for weapons offenses, and 260 for sexual predatory acts. 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has characterized these individuals as encompassing “hundreds of murderers, hundreds of sexual predators, drug traffickers, the worst of the worst.”

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Arkansas will become first state to end PBS affiliation

Arkansas’ statewide public television network will end its affiliation with PBS starting in July 2026, the Arkansas Educational Television Commission announced this week.

The station, formerly known as Arkansas PBS, will also rebrand as Arkansas TV.

The commission cited a $2.5 million reduction in annual federal funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the cost of PBS membership fees as factors in its decision. A news release announcing the move called the dues “simply not feasible.”

Programming is expected to remain largely unchanged through June 30, 2026. After that date, the network plans to introduce locally produced programming, including children’s, food and history series currently in development, as well as “favorites from the last 60 years.”

“Public television in Arkansas is not going away,” Executive Director and CEO Carlton Wing said in the release. “In fact, we invite you to join our vision for an increased focus on local programming, continuing to safeguard Arkansans in times of emergency and supporting our K-12 educators and students. … We are confident that we can secure ongoing and increased support from individual donors, foundation partners and corporate sponsors who see the value in investing in new local programming that serves our state.”

PBS content will continue to be accessible to Arkansas residents through other platforms, Arkansas TV said.

In response to the announcement, a PBS spokesperson told Nexstar’s KNWA that Arkansas TV’s decision to end membership “is a blow to Arkansans who will lose free, over-the-air access to quality PBS programming they know and love.”

The spokesperson cited a June 2025 YouGov survey, which PBS said showed strong support for the network in the state. According to the company, the survey found a majority of survey participants opposed limiting funding for PBS and agreed that its programming was beneficial for children and the community.

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Climate Change Forever

Earth’s weather and climate have always been in a perpetual state of flux. These changes are driven by shifting ratios of land and sea over geological epochs, tectonic forces, and external influences such as the Sun and the planets — “wandering stars” — of our solar system. Science has significantly advanced our understanding of the intimate relationship between the Sun’s energy outputs and Earth’s weather and climate systems.

However, it is troubling that anti-science organizations and global governments are now promoting the notion that Earth’s climate must remain static and unchanging. These groups argue that the climate is deteriorating due to rising carbon dioxide levels since the onset of the Industrial Revolution some 240-260 years ago. This belief is pushed despite the lack of direct or indirect evidence proving that carbon dioxide is causing dangerous global warming. Nonetheless, these elements have succeeded in convincing a largely disengaged public that we must stabilize Earth’s climate by reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide, without defining what concentration is desirable or specifying the “correct” global temperature to maintain.

On July 9, from the garden of Laudato Si’ Village, Pope Leo XIV delivered a homily stating:

We must pray for the conversion of so many people, inside and outside of the church, who still don’t recognize the urgency of caring for our common home. … We see so many natural disasters in the world, nearly every day and in so many countries, that are in part caused by the excesses of being human, with our lifestyle.

The pope also issued a warning ahead of the September 1 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation:

Our earth is being ravaged. On all sides, injustice, violations of international law and the rights of peoples, grave inequalities and the greed that fuels them are spawning deforestation, pollution and the loss of biodiversity. Extreme natural phenomena caused by climate changes provoked by human activity are growing in intensity and frequency.

I feel compelled to remind readers of what I wrote when the encyclical Laudato Si’ was released by the late Pope Francis 10 years ago: “Only around 2% of the encyclical addresses climate change — 4 out of 246 items — and even these contain half-truths. Half-truths are the enemy of science and must be eradicated.”

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