USA - The US military “failed miserably” in an October wargame scenario reportedly involving a battle for Taiwan, and now military leaders are looking at how to change the US joint warfighting strategy, a top US general revealed for the first time this week. During a Monday speech before the National Defense Industrial Association’s (NDIA) newly-formed Emerging Technologies Institute (ETI), Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman and US Air Force General John Hyten said, the US tested out its joint warfighting strategy in a wargame scenario in October of last year. “Without overstating the issue, it failed miserably,” Hyten said of the US joint warfighting strategy. “An aggressive red team that had been studying the United States for the last 20 years just ran rings around us. They knew exactly what we’re going to do before we did it.” A defense official told Defense One on Monday that one of the wargame’s scenarios centered around a battle for Taiwan. China has increasingly practised for an invasion of the island and has frequently described “reunification” with Taiwan in recent months.

IRAN - Iran is now facing the most significant domestic protests in 18 months, with demonstrations moving from the parched southwest of the country where they began two weeks ago over water shortages, to Tehran, where they are taking on a distinctly anti-regime character. Among the chants heard at Monday’s protests were “Death to the dictator,” “Shame on Khamenei, let go of the country,” and “Neither for Gaza nor Lebanon, I sacrifice my life only for Iran.” And the US response? Take the foot off the gas. America’s lead Iran negotiator, Rob Malley, revealed that since March, the US has agreed to remove all sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for Iran coming back into compliance with the 2015 deal. In the meantime, Tehran is moving ahead with its nuclear ambitions during this “limbo” period, enriching uranium to its highest-ever levels, using more advanced centrifuges and producing uranium metal. Israeli officials have expressed concern that the Iranians are using the lull in the talks – the last round broke off at the end of June – to inch perilously close to a nuclear weapon.

MIDDLE EAST - Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Tuesday in a special interview with the BBC that "the Iranian nuclear project is a threat to world peace and the peace of the region, and also to the security of the State of Israel." Gantz added, "There is a paradox between the Iranian people, a people with a rich and warm culture, and the tyrannical regime that violates the human rights of Iranian citizens. Billions of dollars go every year to nuclear weapons, terrorism and armaments throughout the Middle East, instead of the Iranian people in need. There is a shortage of water, food, electricity and Iran is still choosing to continue developing a military nuclear program that threatens world peace." Regarding Israel's activities, Gantz said, "Israel will know how to ensure its security. We will maintain our freedom of action and our ability to act, but the Iranian issue is an issue that the world needs to deal with realistically - not by hoping for good but in actual actions. We all hope that Iran will not move forward with the nuclear project, but the actions on the ground indicate the opposite."

USA - The fuel needle is moving closer to “empty” at some US airports. American Airlines says it’s running into fuel shortages at some smaller and mid-size airports, and in some cases the airline will add refueling stops or fly fuel into locations where the supply is tight. The airline said that the shortages showed up first in the West, where they could affect efforts to fight wildfires. They are now being reported in other parts of the country and will last through mid-August, according to a company memo to pilots on Monday. It asked pilots to conserve fuel by, for example, leaving one engine off while taxiing. American said fuel supplies are being squeezed at “several” airports, which it didn’t name, mostly because of a shortage of tanker trucks or drivers.

USA - Speculation is growing about where the next world war may break out as global powers modernize their nuclear arsenals and tensions between nations mount. It comes as a Council on Foreign Relations paper revealed that Taiwan is becoming a "dangerous flashpoint" for the US but the threats posed by Iran, North Korea, and Turkey have not disappeared. Admiral John Aquilino told Senators that he thinks a possible invasion of Taiwan by President Xi is “much closer than we think”. Global powers wonder how to solve a problem like North Korea. Biden's foreign policy aims to strengthen partnerships between Washington and its allies. China is expanding its nuclear program and could bolster its arsenal by incorporating drones. Beijing continues to stage war games as concerns about a conflict mount.

USA - During a recent endocrinology course at a top medical school in the University of California system, a professor stopped mid-lecture to apologize for something he’d said at the beginning of class. “It was certainly not my intention to offend anyone. The worst thing that I can do as a human being is be offensive.” His offence: using the term “pregnant women.”

ALASKA - Alaska has been rocked by a major earthquake, registering at magnitude-8.2, with authorities issuing a tsunami warning shortly after. An earthquake stuck just off the coast of the Alaskan Peninsula, near Sandpoint, Aleutians East, at 10.15pm on Wednesday local time (7.15am Thursday BST), the USGS reported. The major tremor was measured at a depth of 29 miles (46.7km), and has sparked a major tsunami warning which has been issued for as far away as Hawaii. The US Tsunami Warning System said: "Based on all available data a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicentre."

USA - Shutting down the economy triggers a depression? Print money.

Stock market experiences fastest 30% crash in history? Print money.

Municipal bonds collapse because the bond markets don’t believe cities and states will be able to meet their debt obligations? Print money.

The economy still hasn’t come back because state officials continue to keep their economies on partial or complete lock downs? Print money.

The economy isn’t coming back fast enough despite vaccines and states reopening? Print money.

USA - $10 Trillion! That's the market cap of Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, Microsoft and Tesla these days. Not only is that 25% of the S&P 500's market cap, it's closer to 1/3 of their earnings and, over at the Nasdaq, the Big 6 make up over 50% of that index's market cap… If we are heading into that Dystopian Future where a few dozen corporations control every aspect of life on this planet - it makes perfect sense that, at some point, 6 companies should be worth 1/3 as much as the other 12,000. That's just a natural progression.

CHINA - The Chinese government relocated 1.65 million people from areas at high risk of floods in eastern China’s Zhejiang province as of Sunday night, China’s state-run Global Times reported Monday. “The province has sent rescue teams to transfer residents from risky areas to emergency shelters as it upgraded its typhoon emergency response to level 1. As of Sunday night, more than 1.65 million residents have been transferred,” according to the newspaper. “As Typhoon In-Fa made its second landfall on the coast of Pinghua, East China’s Zhejiang Province, on Monday morning, China’s National Meteorological Center (NMC) said it is estimated that Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu Province and other East China areas may be hit by strong winds, rain and storm tides,” the Global Times reported. “More than 12.9 million people have been affected by the latest round of downpours,” Henan’s information office further revealed. “A total of 933,800 residents in Henan have been relocated to safer places, and about 972,000 hectares of crops damaged,” the office added.

USA - Devastating 'Bootleg' fire rips through southern Oregon forcing more than 2,000 people to flee their homes. A wildfire roaring through drought-parched Oregon is now so large it covers an area the size of Los Angeles and is generating its own weather. The so-called Bootleg fire is the largest so far this year in the United States, having already burned more than 530 square miles of forest and grasslands and displaced more than 2,000 people. The blaze, which has been burning for more than two weeks, has begun affecting winds and disrupting the surrounding atmosphere. “The fire is so large and generating so much energy and extreme heat that it’s changing the weather,” said Marcus Kauffman, a spokesman for the state forestry department. “Normally the weather predicts what the fire will do. In this case, the fire is predicting what the weather will do.” Experts say the blaze is cresting Pyrocumulus clouds, which form when extreme heat from the flames of a wildfire force the air to rapidly rise, condensing and cooling any moisture on smoke particles produced by the fire. These clouds essentially become their own thunderstorms and can contain lightning and strong winds.

UK - Every time there is a so-called ‘freak’ weather event, we hear from politicians and scientists about how it is down to climate change. But my time as an MEP showed me how the issue is hijacked to further individual interests. London, like parts of Germany and China, has suffered a series of flash floods over the past few weeks. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, warned that the recent flash flooding “shows that the dangers of climate change are now moving closer to home.”

USA - This is a summer that none of us will ever forget. There has been one apocalyptic disaster after another, and we haven’t even reached the halfway point yet. The following are 10 plagues that our world has had to deal with so far this summer…

USA - There are few people left alive today that remember the last time a severe drought that destroyed crops combined with a collapse of the financial system left millions of Americans hungry and homeless, back in the 1930s.

USA - We are witnessing an epic global struggle for freedom, and the outcome of that struggle is going to greatly shape what our world is going to look like in the years ahead. Ultimately, one of the most fundamental rights that we have is the right to make our own health decisions. If someone else has the authority to make those decisions for you, then you aren’t really free.