ISRAEL - Knesset committee meeting adjourns early; Arab MK warns ‘blood will flow’ if status quo changed. A Knesset committee convened Tuesday to discussed a possible increase of the Jewish presence on the Temple Mount quickly deteriorated into a shouting match as MKs hurled insults at each other. Ten minutes into a meeting of the Knesset’s Interior and Environment Protection committees, as lawmakers reviewed an initiative calling for changing the Temple Mount status quo, Balad MK Jamal Zahalka yelled at Jewish Home MK Yinon Magal, calling him a fascist.
MIDDLE EAST - The Palestinian government is to be dissolved within 24 hours, AFP reports, quoting a statement made by President Mahmoud Abbas. The government's spokesman, however, denies any such discussion of dissolution. "Within 24 hours the Palestinian government will resign," Abbas told members of the Revolutionary Council of his Fatah movement in Ramallah, AFP reports, citing several officials present at the meeting.
ISRAEL - Press reports said on Sunday that the Israeli government had sent a "direct threat" to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier this month, demanding him and the Palestinian leadership to be "patient and stay calm until the end of this year, and to stop their illusions about isolating Israel".
USA - Texas Governor Greg Abbott held a ceremony to sign the toughest and most comprehensive border security plan of any state in the United States of America. The legislative package provides historic levels of funding to secure the border, establishes a Child Sex Trafficking Prevention Unit, strengthens penalties for human traffickers, increases funding for the border protection unit, and seeks reimbursement from the federal government for Texas funds spent on border issues.
RUSSIA - Russia-West relations took a downturn this week when Moscow warned that any stationing of military equipment along its border with Europe could have "dangerous consequences" and President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would add more than 40 ballistic missiles to its nuclear arsenal this year.
GREECE - Greek premier Alexis Tsipras has accused Europe’s creditor powers of trying to subvert Greece’s elected government after five years of “pillaging”, warning in solemn terms that his country will defend its sovereign dignity whatever the consequences. The defiant stand came as the European Commission lashed out at the Greeks and warned that the country would collapse into a “state of emergency” unless there is a deal to avert a financial crash.
TURKEY - Terrifying new travel advice has been issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, warning Britons of active terrorist groups plotting attacks in the Mediterranean country. Holidaymakers visiting beach resorts, particularly those from Britain, are at risk of kidnap, suicide bombings, car bombings, rocket attacks and improvised explosives.
UK - We used to laugh at conspiracy theorists, but from Fifa to banking scandals and the Iraq War, it seems they might have been on to something after all, says Alex Proud. Conspiracy theories used to be so easy. You’d have your mate who, after a few beers, would tell you that the moon landings were faked or that the Illuminati controlled everything or that the US government was holding alien autopsies in Area 51. And you’d be able to dismiss this because it was all rubbish.
UK - British embassies have been ordered not to fly the rainbow flag during this summer's gay pride marches, according to reports. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond is believed to have said the flag, which is a symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement, should not replace the Union flag on special occasions.
USA - On June 4, Oklahoma joined Utah, Texas, and Louisiana in affirming that gold and silver coins are (as they always have been under the Constitution) legal tender in the payment of debts in the state. On the surface this seems almost nonsensical: affirming a right that already exists in Article I, Section 10 of the US Constitution. But it is much more than that.
USA - Just two weeks after California's farmers - with the most senior water rights - offered to cut their own water use by 25% (in an attempt to front-run more draconian government-imposed measures), AP reports that the California government has - just as we predicted - ignored any efforts at self-preservation and ordered the largest cuts on record to farmers holding some of the state's strongest water rights.
ZIMBABWE - The Zimbabwean dollar will be taken from circulation, formalizing a multi-currency system introduced in 2009 to help stem inflation and stabilize the economy. The central bank will offer $5 for every 175 quadrillion, or 175,000 trillion, Zimbabwean dollars, Governor John Mangudya said in an e-mailed statement from the capital, Harare. While it marks the official dropping of the currency, transactions in the southern African nation have been made using mainly the US dollar and rand of neighboring South Africa for six years.
UK - Sebastian Lyon, who runs the popular Personal Assets investment trust, openly admits that its performance has “not been exciting” over the past couple of years. But this will not come as a surprise to the trust’s investors. Like many rival funds, it holds global shares. But its main aim is to preserve investors’ capital and to achieve this it also holds other assets such as gold and cash.
EUROPE - [Translated by Google:] It is brewing what together over Greece. The euro countries are preparing.
• If the euro zone finance ministers in debt dispute with Greece not reach an agreement, the leaders want to meet in Brussels.
• An emergency plan of the euro area provides, prepare capital controls from the weekend. However, the Greek parliament would adopt these controls.
• Already on Wednesday decided by the Board of the European Central Bank, whether they grant Greece more emergency loans (ELA).
GREECE - Greek premier Alexis Tsipras threatens Europe's creditors with a "big no" unless they yield on debt servitude. The radical wing of Greece's Syriza party is to table plans over coming days for an Icelandic-style default and a nationalisation of the Greek banking system, deeming it pointless to continue talks with Europe's creditor powers.