AFRICA - The world faces the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. Four countries across Africa and the Middle East are on the brink of disaster. Roughly 20 million people in those areas could starve to death before 2018. The United Nations is desperately seeking funding to cope with the biggest catastrophe since the organization’s inception in 1945. As part of a series exploring the causes of global famine, RT puts the spotlight on the countries in the midst of peril; Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, and Nigeria. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared in March that $4.4 billion in emergency funds were required to overcome the almost insurmountable task of feeding roughly 20 million people across the four different conflict zones.

USA - Are we right on the verge of one of the greatest financial collapses in American history?  I have been repeatedly warning that our ridiculously over-inflated stock market bubble could burst at any time, but former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan believes that the bond bubble actually presents an even greater danger. 

ISRAEL - Mass civil disobedience of thousands of Palestinian people has defeated an Israeli attempt to take territory around al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem by installing barricades and metal detectors at entrances.

IRAN - On Saturday, the United Nations Security Council slapped sanctions banning exports of North Korean coal, lead, iron ore and seafood that could reduce the hermit regime's export revenue by one third. Iran's official IRNA news agency reported Kim Yong Nam, head of North Korea's parliament, arrived Thursday for the weekend inauguration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. But given he is expected to stay 10 days, the trip is being seen as a front for Pyongyang to perhaps increase military cooperation with Tehran and to boost the hard currency for the dynastic regime led by Kim Jong Un. "There could be very problematic cooperation going on," an Israeli-based national security expert said.

CHINA - India is creating infrastructure and deploying a large number of troops on its side of the border at the disputed area in the Himalayas, China's foreign ministry has said, adding, that New Delhi’s actions indicate it’s not interested in a peaceful resolution of the standoff. The impasse between the neighbors and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) partners began on June 18, when Indian troops were sent to the strategic Doklam valley, which separates India from Bhutan. New Delhi said the move was necessary to curb Chinese road construction on the Himalayan plateau, which, according to India, violates the status quo. Beijing, which views Doklam a part of Chinese territory, has accused India of breaching an internationally recognized border.

USA - US President Donald Trump has called for an expansive post-Brexit trade deal with Britain, offering American food producers greater access to the UK market. He also cautioned Scotland against holding a second vote on independence. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump called for one big deal that would “include everything.” Asked whether such an agreement “could kick in pretty much as soon as Brexit happens,” Trump said “as soon as it’s appropriate to have it kick in, absolutely. And it’ll be a big trade deal - much, much more business than we do right now, many, many times.” Trump said the “very all-in” deal will involve greater trade in such sectors as financial services and agriculture.

USA - Fears of American power and influence have risen dramatically around the globe in just four years, with more people, even those in some US allied countries, feeling more threatened by American policies than that of Russia or China, a latest Pew poll has found. The trend has been recorded by the reputed Pew Research Center “amid steep drops in US favorability and confidence in the US president. The pollster’s latest survey, released Tuesday, found that on average, 38 percent of people around the globe now regard American power and influence as a major threat to their country. The figure is up 13 percentage points from 2013.

RUSSIA - With the US minimizing efforts to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iraq expressing weariness of the US's extended presence in its country, Russia has become an increasingly important power broker in the region.

ISRAEL - The crisis between Israel and the Palestinians that raged in recent weeks over the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa holy site in Jerusalem has died down, but the affair provides important clues about the rising ability of fundamentalist Islamists to seize control of the narrative. Radical rhetoric espoused by those who sought to inflame religious conflict dominated the Temple Mount crisis.

AUSTRALIA - Commonwealth Bank of Australia stands accused by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) of a stupefying 53,700 violations of money laundering and counter-terrorism-financing laws, in which the financial institution failed to notify in a timely fashion — and, sometimes, not at all — transactions topping a mountainous A$77 million. As the case unfolds, it should be noted, each breach of the act carries a jaw-dropping potential penalty of A$18 million — meaning Commonwealth Bank could be slapped with an astonishing level of fines.

UK - The Church is "abandoning" the poor because middle-class clergy are unwilling to move away from "trendy coffee shops", a bishop has said.  The Rt Revd Philip North launched a stinging critique of Church of England priests who are too wedded to wealthy areas to minister to the poor. 

UK - Food banks across the country are coming under pressure as children lose access to free school meals during the summer holidays. David McAuley, chief executive of anti-poverty charity The Trussell Trust, has warned that some hubs within the 420-strong network are running dangerously low on supplies. “Rising demand in the summer holidays as families struggle to get by without free school meals” is at the root of the problem, he said. The Trussell Trust handed out 4,412 more three-day emergency food parcels for children during July and August last year than in the previous two months.  Around one million children currently receive free school meals during term time.

USA - For the first time in Harvard University’s history, the majority of students accepted into the incoming freshman class are not white, a milestone for an institution that prides itself on educating future presidents, CEOs, and world leaders. But Harvard’s push to broaden the diversity of its student ranks comes as the Trump administration intensifies its focus on affirmative action policies and suggests it will investigate how colleges shape the racial makeup of their campuses. The US Justice Department is preparing to redirect resources from its civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants, The New York Times reported this week.

USA - YouTube, which is owned by Google, is placing restrictions on videos that comply with its official policies but which it feels are contrary to political correctness. These restrictions range from denying advertising revenue, preventing sharing, and making them difficult to find in searches. The ‘experts’ who will set the limits of political correctness include the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which publishes a so-called hate list that focuses on conservative, and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which collaborated with the Swedish government to block 14,000 Twitter users over so-called hate speech because they opposed the government’s immigration policies.

USA - The Dow hit the 22,000 mark for the first time ever on Wednesday, and investors all over the world greatly celebrated.  And without a doubt this is an exceedingly important moment, because I think that this is a milestone that we will be remembering for a very long time.  So far this year the Dow is up over 11 percent, and it has now tripled in value since hitting a low in March 2009.  It has been quite a ride, and if you would have told me a couple of years ago that the Dow would be hitting 22,000 in August 2017 I probably would have laughed at you.