UK - Before the summer holidays, a client came to see me with a leaflet that had been sent home in her six-year-old’s school bag. 'Let’s get sugar smart,’ it said, but I quickly realised it was anything but. The mother was confused, as the leaflet went against everything I’d taught her. Its overriding message was right: that sugar is lurking everywhere, from cereal to drinks, and that too much can lead to a build-up of harmful fat, which can eventually lead to serious diseases such as type 2 diabetes. However, the advice it went on to give astounded me.
UK - Theresa May has told her Cabinet that there can be "no attempts to stay in the EU by the back door". Mrs May met with her top team this morning at Chequers, the Prime Minister's country retreat in Buckinghamshire, to discuss the UK's approach to leaving the EU.
GERMANY - The German political establishment’s worst nightmare could become reality this weekend when voters head to the polls for an election in the northeast: the far-right Alternative for Germany might, for the first time, become the most powerful party in a state.
JAPAN - Tensions in the South China Sea have led Japan to splurge on British-made hardware to prepare for a confrontation with China. Recent saber-rattling by North Korea has also given Japan cause to restock its armory. Antagonism between China and Japan over a contested island archipelago has the Japanese Defense Ministry chasing an injection of cash to buy a range of new kit.
USA - The clock is ticking for America. There are 70 days remaining until the presidential election, and after the results are counted, America will be a tinderbox ready to explode no matter who wins. What follows is an educated analysis of the political friction now escalating in America. Note carefully that nothing in this article should be construed as any intention to call for violence of any kind. I do reference such acts, however, as part of human history as well as likely outcomes in our near future. What I'm offering here is an analysis and a warning, along with a call to prepare for what's coming.
USA - Violence and drugs are flooding the streets of our major cities, but those that live in cushy suburban neighborhoods may not have heard much about this because the mainstream media is so obsessed with covering Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Drug overdose deaths involving heroin and prescription opioid pain relievers have soared to unprecedented levels, and in some areas of the country health authorities are finding themselves absolutely overwhelmed by overdose cases this summer.
USA - Frightened travellers fled Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Sunday in the latest case of panic at US airports and other public gathering places. Are Americans getting jumpier about the threat of attack? Reports of a shooting sent passengers running onto tarmac and through security checkpoints without being screened, airport authorities said. Nearly 300 flights were delayed as a result of the security alert.
However, LA police said reports of a gunman turned out to be false. They are still investigating the source of "loud noises" that might have sparked concerns. Minutes before the panic broke out, officers detained a man carrying a plastic sword and dressed as the fictional character Zorro, who was questioned on suspicion of having fired a gun but was later released, police said. The incident comes two weeks after parts of New York's JFK airport were closed amid reports of gunfire that later proved to be unfounded.
USA - The presidential election could be delayed or scrapped altogether if conspiracy theories become predictive and a candidate dies or drops out before November 8. The perhaps equally startling alternative, if there's enough time: Small groups of people hand-picking a replacement pursuant to obscure party rules. The scenarios have been seriously considered by few outside of the legal community and likely are too morbid for polite discussion in politically mixed company. But prominent law professors have pondered the effects and possible ways to address a late-date vacancy.
UK - Some scandals are so massive that they're simply hard to believe. As many as one million white English children may have been the victims of Muslim rape gangs, better known as grooming gangs, in towns up and down Great Britain. Policy analyst George Igler says, "When you encounter an issue that is just so unbelievable, just so outside your frame of reference and understanding, the immediate human reaction is just one to not believe it at all."
UK - Patients should be warned about the dangers of chemotherapy after research showed that cancer drugs are killing up to 50 per cent of patients in some hospitals. For the first time researchers looked at the numbers of cancer patients who died within 30 days of starting chemotherapy, which indicates that the medication is the cause of death, rather than the cancer. The study by Public Health England and Cancer Research UK found that across England around 8.4 per cent of patients with lung cancer, and 2.4 per cent of breast cancer patients died within a month. But in some hospitals the figure was far higher. In Milton Keynes the death rate for lung cancer treatment was 50.9 per cent, although it was based on a very small number of patients. Chemotherapy is toxic for the body because it does not discriminate between healthy and cancerous cells.
ISRAEL - A significant step was recently taken towards reinstating the Temple service when the nascent Sanhedrin selected Rabbi Baruch Kahane as the next Kohen Gadol (high priest). The selection was made as a precaution for Yom Kippur. If the political conditions should change, allowing the Jews access to the Temple Mount, they will be required by Torah law to bring the sacrifices. Rabbi Kahane is confident that if that should happen, Temple service could begin in less than one week.
ISRAEL - Israeli institutions and organizations are preparing to build the so-called “Third Temple” in place of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and are waiting for a political decision to start, Israeli channels reported. Israeli TV reported, on the alleged anniversary of the temple’s destruction, that Israeli institutions which seek to build the temple were met with wide political and popular support. It was noted that these institutions were previously marginalized but, nowadays, enjoy a political presence. These organizations explained, according to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency, that they are ready to bring the equipment and tools to start building the temple in the place of both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. They further stated that the total time needed to accomplish the building is three years, according to their plans.
USA - What would happen if some sort of major national emergency caused a massive transportation disruption that stopped trucks from running? The next time you talk to a trucker, please thank them for their service, because without their hard work none of our lives would be possible. In America today, very few of us live a truly independent lifestyle, and that means that we rely on the system to provide what we need.
EUROPE - The European Union’s long-planned trade deal with the US has collapsed with negotiations showing no sign of progress despite three years of talks, according to Germany’s economy minister. Sigmar Gabriel, also Germany’s vice-chancellor, claimed this weekend that disagreements between the EU and the US, and between countries within the EU, appear to have “de facto” killed off any prospect of a deal to create the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which would be the largest bi-lateral free trade agreement ever. TTIP was envisaged as a wide-ranging free trade deal between the two enormous economic blocs, which European officials estimated would boost the EU’s GDP by €120 billion, or 0.5 percent. “In my opinion, the negotiations with the United States have de facto failed, even though nobody is really admitting it,” Mr Gabriel said.
USA - After years of giveaways to megabanks, marketed to the taxpayers as ‘quantitative easing,’ the crutches shoved under the banker-controlled global stock trade are about to snap. Bankers now say they are preparing for the collapse. In June of 2015, former Congressman Ron Paul predicted that these crutches would fail, and the financial bubbles created by them would send the stock market into a free-fall.