UK - London is next on the list of target cities for twisted jihadis along with the US capitol Washington DC, it has been claimed. Images threatening attacks in London and other major world capitals have been posted on jihadi messaging app Telegram, according to SITE Intelligence Group. One picture chillingly shows New York’s Statue of Liberty engulfed in flames but with the caption “Washington soon” - referring to the US capital 225 miles away. The threat comes as security at British churches is being ramped up amid a new terror alert after ISIS knifemen forced a French priest to kneel before slitting his throat on camera. The source of the threats against London and Washington and whether they are credible is unknown.

EUROPE - The European Union must immediately merge into a huge superstate or face fast approaching oblivion, a leading credit ratings agency has warned. Standard and Poor’s (S&P) said only the rapid creation of a United States of Europe, run by a federal government in Brussels, can prevent the bloc from total collapse. The only alternative, they say, is to roll back decades of political integration including the euro currency and return the project to its original status as a trading bloc. In a report out this week the respected finance experts branded the EU “unsustainable” after downgrading its credit rating in light of the Brexit vote. They said constant haggling between 28 bickering member states created “too many moving parts” at the heart of the project which were fuelling uncertainty for business.

USA - Trump is going to take care of America first, and he has started by saying he will pull the US out of the WTO if they try to block his proposal to tax companies who move jobs overseas. He said if they think they can build air conditioners, fire the people here in the US who make them, then move those jobs overseas, then try to sell those same conditioners back to the US… they are wrong… there will be a tax!

USA - I recently proposed that the liberty movement capitalize on Brexit with “Fed-exit”: a campaign to “secede” from the Federal Reserve. Fed-exit could be accomplished with a few simple policy changes. Passing Audit the Fed is a good first step toward Fed-exit.

PHILIPPINES - In his first state of the nation address before Congress, Duterte said he wanted a "permanent and lasting peace" before the end of his six-year term, which commenced on June 30. The ex-city mayor, who built a name for his tough, crime-busting style, also focused on his battle against illegal drugs, threatening drug dealers anew with death.

USA - Buying milk about as close to nature as it gets – directly from the cow – is still a punishable offense in many areas of the US, and residents of the Houston, Texas, suburb of Katy were reminded of this recently, after being paid a visit by police officers for the "crime" of buying and selling raw dairy products on private property. According to reports, county health inspectors in cahoots with a police entourage raided a raw milk exchange taking place in the parking lot of Holy Apostles Church, a drop-off point where area residents come to pick up raw milk they've legally purchased from nearby farms. Sheriff's deputies broke up the gathering, despite the fact that it in no way violates the law concerning raw milk sales in Texas. State interference with the sale and distribution of food is one reason why many people are turning to backyard gardening and farming.

INDIA - Think twice before killing the next cockroach you find in your apartment. A team of scientists at India’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine discovered that cockroach milk may be the greatest superfood of them all. The Pacific beetle cockroach (the only kind that gives birth to live young) feeds its babies by lactating protein-dense crystals, which pack fats, sugars, amino acids, and more than four times the nutrition of cow’s milk. “It’s time-released food,” project lead Subramanian Ramaswamy told The Times of India. “They can be a fantastic protein supplement.” But don’t swap out your smoothie’s almond milk just yet. Despite its nutritional value, cockroach milk is extremely high in calories. Researchers are currently working to sequence the genes so they can be reproduced in a lab — and the world can avoid the horror of a cockroach milking farm.

FRANCE - A priest has been killed in an attack by two armed men at his church in a suburb of Rouen in northern France. The attackers entered the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during Mass, taking the priest, Fr Jacques Hamel, 84, and four other people hostage.

GERMANY - Has the world gone mad? This question is occupying the minds of many people these days. It feels like the world is out of step, that multiple crises are encroaching upon us and that the distant world of international politics is about to get dangerously personal. How are we supposed to deal with the feeling of living in an era that we no longer seem to understand?

JAPAN - Nineteen residents have been killed in a knife attack at a care centre for people with mental disabilities in the Japanese city of Sagamihara. Such attacks are extremely rare in Japan - the incident is the worst mass killing in decades. Police have arrested a local man, said to be a former employee of the centre, who went to a nearby police station and allegedly admitted to the attack. He reportedly said he wanted people with disabilities to "disappear". The attack has shocked Japan, one of the safest countries in the world. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said it was "a very heart-wrenching and shocking incident in which many innocent people became victims". The victims were aged between 19 and 70, the Kyodo news agency, said citing the Sagamihara City Fire Department. Another 25 people were injured, 20 seriously. Both men and women were reported to be among the dead.

USA - Former US Senator Ron Paul explains that “…understanding the Petrodollar system and the forces affecting it, is the best way to predict when the US Dollar will collapse. The chaos that one day will ensue from our 35-year experiment with worldwide fiat money will require a return to money of real value. We will know that day is approaching when oil-producing countries demand gold, or its equivalent, for their oil rather than dollars or euros. The sooner the better.”

UK - After an amateurish, occasionally shambolic, national convention, Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination with a promise: when he ascended to the White House in January 2017, “the crime and violence which afflicts our nation will soon come to an end…” This messianic utterance was delivered in the course of a very long speech in which he veered from endorsing the rights of the LGBT community and equality for women – views associated more with liberal Democrats than the people who comprise his core vote – to avowing the old proto-fascist sentiment “America First”.

UK - Natwest and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have warned businesses they may have to charge them to accept deposits due to low interest rates. The move, if enacted, would make them the first UK banks to introduce negative interest rates, in effect, charging to deposit money. "Global interest rates remain at very low levels... this could result in us charging interest on credit balances," it wrote in a letter to customers. Personal customers are not affected. The underlying idea is much the same as cutting interest rates in more normal times. The aim is to encourage more borrowing and spending by firms and less saving. In 2014, the European Central Bank was the first major central bank to introduce negative interest rates, with the aim of encouraging banks to lend to businesses rather than hold on to money.

ITALY - A Catholic priest was suspended this week after defending pedophilia during a television interview. During the interview, the reverend Gino Flaim claimed to “understand pedophilia” and said it’s caused by the child’s attempt to find affection. He told Italy’s La7 television channel, “I’ve been to lots of schools, and I know children. Unfortunately, there are children who seek affection because they don’t receive it at home and I understand that some priests can give up. Pedophilia is a sin, and like all sins has to be accepted.” When the interviewer asked Flaim, “So, you actually mean that most of the time it’s because of the kid’s fault?” Flaim responded by saying, “Yes, most of the time.”

IRAN - Iran destroyed 100,000 satellite dishes and receivers on Sunday as part of a widespread crackdown against the illegal devices that authorities say are morally damaging, a news website reported. The destruction ceremony took place in Tehran in the presence of General Mohammad Reza Naghdi, head of Iran's Basij militia, who warned of the impact that satellite television was having in the conservative country. "The truth is that most satellite channels... deviate the society's morality and culture," he said at the event according to Basij News. "What these televisions really achieve is increased divorce, addiction and insecurity in society." Naghdi added that a total of one million Iranians had already voluntarily handed over their satellite apparatuses to authorities. Under Iranian law, satellite equipment is banned and those who distribute, use, or repair them can be fined up to $2,800 (2,500 euros).