Wearing sunglasses indoors, Macron meets representatives of Syrian civil society in Damascus Again wearing sunglasses indoors, France’s President Emmanuel Macron attends a breakfast in Damascus with representatives of Syrian civil society. Macron wore the aviators inside at the Davos conference in January, with officials explaining the French president had a minor medical issue. Macron landed in Syria yesterday, in the first visit to Damascus by a European Union head of state since rebels led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The visit underlines Syria’s geopolitical transformation under Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander who has established close ties with Western and Middle Eastern powers that shunned Assad, as he seeks to rebuild a country shattered by 13 years of civil war.

Europe starts learning how to become third world country, says President Trump European nations are starting to learn how the transformation into a third-world country takes place because of the migration policy, US President Donald Trump said. "Europe is learning that when you take in Third World criminals, you become a Third World Country. It happens quickly, in just a blink of the eye. I was elected just in time," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump repeatedly criticized European allies of Washington for too soft migration policy.

Trump threatens Europe with new tariffs in case of new digital services tax on US firms President Donald Trump has threatened Europe with new high tariffs on its exports to the United States if it introduces a digital services tax on American companies. "Numerous European countries have been discussing the imminent implementation of a digital services tax on American companies. Some of these countries are close to actually doing this. Please let this statement serve to represent that any country that imposes such a tax will immediately be met with a 100% tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America," he wrote on Truth Social "This tariff will supersede trade deals made with the country, whether implemented, signed, or not. Additionally, the 100% tariff will be immediately imposed, if they proceed [with collecting the aforementioned tax from American firms]," the US president added.

Ukrainian refugee population in Europe...

Europe runs on American gas now... Here's the proof! In 2017, US LNG was barely a footnote in European energy. In 2025: 58.4% of ALL European LNG came from America. In Q1 2026: already 63% and climbing. The energy map has been completely redrawn in 8 years. Here's what it looks like country by country: 🇩🇪 Germany: 92.4% the country that ran on Russian gas now runs on American LNG 🇬🇷 Greece: 90.0% where Chevron just drilled an exploration block 🇫🇮 Finland: 85.5% 🇳🇱 Netherlands: 75.8% Europe's primary gas trading hub 🇬🇧 UK: 75.6% 🇵🇱 Poland: 72.1% NATO's eastern anchor, fully US-dependent on LNG This didn't happen by accident. It happened in 2 waves. Wave 1 2022: Russia invaded Ukraine. Europe had to find an alternative to 150 bcm of Russian pipeline gas. It found American LNG. Wave 2 2026: Iran closed Hormuz. Qatar went dark. Middle East gas supply collapsed. Europe doubled down on America. Q1 2026 is already at 63%. By year-end it could be higher.

NATO says it’s working with US to understand details of troop reduction in Germany #NATO is working with the United States to understand the details of the US decision for a planned drawdown of US troops from Germany, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart says. “We are working with the US to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany. This adjustment underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defence and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security – where we’re already seeing progress since Allies agreed to invest 5% of GDP at the NATO Summit in The Hague last year,” writes Hart on X. “We remain confident in our ability to provide for our deterrence and defence as this shift towards a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO continues,” she adds.

EU’s militarization becomes ‘magnet for criminals’ The #European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is recording a growing number of #criminal schemes in the defense sector amid Europe’s accelerated militarization, the agency’s chief Petr Klement told The Financial Times. According to him, OLAF is receiving an increasing number of reports of irregularities in the defense sector, particularly in research projects and procurement. "Huge sums being invested in European rearmament are attracting fraudsters," Klement said. The newspaper emphasized that the agency is investigating fraud and irregularities related to the EU’s general budget, which member states use to fund an increasing number of defense projects. These cases are linked to a 500-million-euro EU project to ramp up ammunition production, the 150-billion-euro EU SAFE militarization programs, and the European Defense Industry Program (EDIP) with a budget of 1.5 billion euros for 2025-2027. Klement declined to comment on the progress of investigations into specific cases, stating that they involve manipulation of public tenders, inflated prices, cronyism, and corruption.

Europe Out of Order...! Spain, Switzerland, Italy and now France have closed either fully or partially their airspace to American military aircraft that are being used in the 3rd Gulf War, a sign displaying the growing rift between Europe and the U.S. If countries in Central Europe start following the example set by Spain, each sortie from England will cost the USAF more jet fuel as then number of flight corridors is reduced and travel time is increased.

NATO CHIEF TO EU: 'YOU ARE ALL IDIOTS' #NATO Chief Mark #Rutte : “If anyone thinks that the #EU or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the United States keep on dreaming.”

Brent crude oil price exceeds $119 per barrel for first time since June 17, 2022 The price of Brent crude #oil for May 2026 delivery exceeded $119 per barrel on London's ICE Exchange for the first time since June 17, 2022, according to trading data. As of 2:30 a.m. GMT, oil was trading at $119.36 per barrel (up 28.77%). By 2:35 a.m. GMT, the price of oil was at $117.8 per barrel (up 27.09%). Meanwhile, #Gas price in Europe surpasses $800 per 1,000 cubic meters first since January 2023. The price growth since the beginning of the day has exceeded 27%.