FAR EAST - The governments of the Philippines and Vietnam announced on Friday that they would sign a defense agreement that would expand their cooperation out of trade and into military and security projects, including “maritime” defense operations. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, made the announcement while welcoming Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang to Manila’s presidential palace, Malacañang, on Friday. The neighboring countries have traditionally maintained cordial, if not necessarily friendly, relations, partially impaired by the Philippines’ status as a democratic US ally and Vietnam’s as a communist tyranny. In the past decade, however, their diplomacy has improved in the face of the mutual threat presented by Communist China, which illegally claims significant chunks of both Vietnamese and Philippine territory in the South China Sea.

USA - “I think our country’s missing a lot of religion. I think it really was a much better place with religion. It was some … it was almost a guide, you know, to a certain extent,” Trump explained, noting that there are “no real guardrails without it.” “You want to be good to people. Without religion, there’s no real, there are no guard rails. I’d love to see us get back to religion, more religion in this country,” Trump added. Trump has spoken about God more openly and often after his near-death encounter at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, crediting “God alone” for preventing the “unthinkable.” “Our Secret Service sniper, from a much greater distance and with only one bullet used, took the assassin’s life,” he said during his speech at the Republican National Convention, adding, “I’m not supposed to be here tonight.” While the crowd disagreed, shouting, “Yes you are!” Trump added, “Thank you, but I’m not, and, I will tell you, I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God.”

GERMANY - Germany will clamp down on illegal immigration, Islamism, and knife crime in the wake of last week’s deadly stabbing attack in Solingen, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has announced. She added that police and regional authorities would be given more powers to enforce new regulations. On August 23, a knife-wielding attacker began lunging at revelers at the Festival of Diversity in the city of Solingen in Germany’s western North Rhine-Westphalia region. The man killed three people and injured another eight before fleeing the scene. Authorities later detained a 26-year-old suspect, identified as Issa Al H, a Syrian asylum seeker who entered the country in 2022. According to media reports, he may have been operating on orders from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), which has claimed responsibility for the attack.

VATICAN - Pope Francis has once again positioned himself as a staunch advocate for open borders, declaring in a recent statement that rejecting migrants is a “serious sin.” He stated, “It must be said clearly: there are those who work systematically and with every means possible to repel migrants… this is a grave sin.” This statement, however, is not merely about promoting compassion — it represents a dangerous agenda that threatens to undermine Europe’s Christian heritage and sovereignty. The Marxist Pope’s call for more immigration, particularly from predominantly Islamic countries, raises serious concerns about the future of Europe and the survival of its Christian identity.

GERMANY - The far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has won its first state election in Germany since the Nazi era in a landmark result. The AfD emerged as the clear victor in Thuringia, in the east of the country, securing almost a third of the vote. It was nine points ahead of the center-Right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which garnered around 24 percent, and far ahead of Germany's three governing parties. In neighboring Saxony, it finished only just behind the CDU, which leads the national opposition. The election outcomes underscore a deepening discontent with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, which has been mired in unpopularity and internal conflicts. An AfD spokesperson told Newsweek: "We are not a Right-wing extremist party."

GERMANY - The September 1 regional elections German Chancellor Olaf Scholz didn't want to see coming hit him and his ruling coalition like a ton of bricks anyway. "Crushed" was a commonly used adjective from Bloomberg to other major news organs routinely covering Europe. The gloom about the populist party's rise is tangible through all the reports. The margin of the gains has to be an especially bitter pill with all the concerted demonization, vitriol, and hyperbole - not to mention flat-out politically based persecution - thrown against the AfD's party members for the better part of the past year. But in the world of parliamentary legislating, "winning" isn't all it's cracked up to be. The clear victors with over 30%, AfD still needs a partner for a ruling coalition in order to move legislation through, and no one wants to play with them.

SWITZERLAND - It is time for Switzerland, which has been neutral since 1515, to redefine its non-alignment status, a group of Swiss experts have said, in a report ordered by the defense ministry in Bern. Critics, in response, have accused the panel behind the paper of bias and insist that neutrality is forever enshrined in the country’s constitution. The study committee, which was set up a year ago, presented a paper on Thursday with 100 recommendations on how to boost the Alpine nation’s security.

MIDDLE EAST - Military action in Palestine unites Arab countries of the Middle East in righteous anger towards their common enemy. During Arbaeen, Iraqis traditionally dress in black. This Shiite religious ritual marks the end of 40 days of mourning for Imam Hussain, the grandson of Islamic Prophet Muhammad, who died in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD.

TURKEY - Türkiye has formally asked to join the BRICS economic bloc, as it seeks to forge new ties beyond its traditional Western allies, Bloomberg has reported, citing people familiar with the matter. According to the outlet, Ankara submitted an application to join the group “some months ago.” “Rifts” between NATO member Türkiye and the military bloc’s other member states over the Ukraine conflict were reportedly among the reasons for Ankara’s BRICS application. Since the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in 2022, Ankara has called for a diplomatic solution. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously criticized his allies' strategy of providing military aid to Ukraine and stated that Türkiye “will not be a party to this war.” Ankara has maintained close ties with Moscow despite the Ukraine conflict, noted Bloomberg.

USA - With our industrial capacity only a fraction of what it was 85 years ago, and our allies’ industrial capacity in even worse shape, how would we find the capabilities we know we will need to push the fight? I've often argued that the conversion of the American economy to a service/info system rather than manufacturing is a national-security risk. We need to rethink everything, especially education. We don't produce well-trained men and women for a manufacturing economy, and we don't allow for the extraction and use of natural resources needed to make it work. It's not just building a 350-ship Navy, which we can't do at the moment anyway, but replacing losses in real time. We are no longer the Arsenal of Democracy, and that makes us weaker than we have been in a century or more.

ISRAEL - A nationwide strike has started in Israel as pressure mounts on Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas. The country’s biggest unions said they would disrupt the “entire economy” on Monday, following the deaths of six hostages found in a tunnel under Gaza. Grieving families have blamed Mr Netanyahu, the prime minister, for putting politics ahead of the safety of civilians abducted by the terror group on October 7 last year. Sunday night’s protests were the largest since the war was declared 11 months ago, with organisers estimating that 300,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv and that another 200,000 took part in protests elsewhere across the country.

MIDDLE EAST - Hamas has rejected a renewed US proposal to help finalize a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sabotaging negotiations and Washington of indulging him, Middle Eastern news outlets reported on Sunday, citing an official statement from the militant group. The statement was issued following the latest round of talks in the Qatari capital, Doha last week involving officials from Israel, Qatar, the US, and Egypt. Hamas skipped the negotiations, citing the absence of a clear plan. A senior Hamas official told the BBC on Thursday that the group would “not engage in negotiations for the sake of negotiations.” In its latest statement, Hamas held Netanyahu completely responsible for thwarting the mediation efforts and derailing the agreement. The group said the new demands do not meet its conditions regarding the release of prisoners.

GERMANY - Exit polls show the party has triumphed in the state and is vying for first place in neighbouring Saxony. German hard-right nationalists are set to win a regional state election for the first time since the end of the Second World War, with voters breaking a political taboo in place since the fall of the Nazis. According to exit polls the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party widely regarded as right-wing extremists, has won in Thuringia in the country’s east, taking 32.8 per cent of the vote ahead of the mainstream conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) on 23.6 per cent. The AfD is also vying for first place in neighbouring Saxony, with predictions that it has taken 30.6 per cent with the main opposition CDU on 31.9 per cent — a margin considered too close to call as polling stations closed.

USA - As Statista's Anna Fleck reports, currently, there are estimated to be 9,585 nuclear warheads in military stockpiles for potential use across nine countries, with Russia and the US accounting for 8,088 of these. China has added 90 nuclear warheads to its arsenal since January 2023, increasing from 410 warheads to 500. This is according to data from the peace research institute SIPRI. India and North Korea have also expanded their arsenals, bringing their total figures to an estimated 170 warheads and 50 warheads, respectively. The two European nuclear powers, France and the UK, together have 515 operational nuclear warheads.

USA - A leading oncologist is raising the alarm about the staggering surge in cancer cases among young people. North Carolina‘s Duke University oncologist Dr Nicholas DeVito is warning that “every new patient” who now comes to his clinic is under 45 years old. Dr DeVito says he and his colleagues have experienced a complete demographic switch in recent years. Based on what he’s seeing every day, talking to patients on the ground and analyzing the data, DeVito is now issuing a red alert to warn the public about the phenomenon. However, the doctor is raising concerns that US government officials are refusing to address or even acknowledge the dramatic surge in cancer cases. The physician wrote for STAT News: “The desire to protect Americans from substances that cause cancer and other diseases should transcend party affiliation and political motivation to overcome industrial lobbying efforts.”