ISRAEL - Former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said Sunday: "Iran is the sugar daddy of Hamas. The 11-day war that Israel just fought wasn't just with Hamas. Israel was fighting against Iranian weapons, Iranian money and Iranian-trained terrorists, and everyone knows it. We all want a better life for Palestinians. It's the leaders of Hamas who want Palestinians to suffer because it strengthens their grip on power. So let me be clear, Israel isn't responsible for Palestinian suffering. Hamas is responsible for Palestinian suffering."

USA - The White House is publicly blaming China for an attack on Microsoft's Exchange email server software that compromised tens of thousands of computers worldwide, allowing hackers to gain access to troves of sensitive data. Separately, the Department of Justice announced Monday that a federal grand jury in May had indicted Chinese nationals accused of working with official sanction from Beijing to break into computer systems belonging to US companies, universities and governments. The cyberattack on Microsoft, which is believed to have begun in January, reportedly injected computers with malware that secretly monitored systems belonging to small businesses, local and state governments and some military contractors. As part of the attack, an unidentified American company was also hit with a high-dollar ransom demand, according to a senior Biden administration official.

ISRAEL - Last April, six Water Authority facilities were targeted in the cyberattack in which hackers attempted to increase the amount of chlorine in the water supply to dangerously high levels. The attacks were countered before any damage could be caused. However, the incident raised major concerns about the ability of the Water Authority to protect itself from future cyberattacks… “Water utilities are at the forefront of global cyberattacks. But utilities have minimal tolerance for a downtime in service, and no utility would agree to a hacker deciding whether its infrastructure will operate or not,” Amir Samoiloff, co-founder and CEO of SIGA, said in a statement… “Israel is under constant threat in the cyber dimension, and attacks are sometimes carried out against it. We are able to deal with most of the threats through advanced defense capabilities,” Major General Tamir Hayman said at a conference at Tel Aviv University. “Those who attack Israel by air, sea, land, or cyber need to understand the risk they are taking,”

USA - Ever wondered where World War III might break out? A clear and troubling consensus has emerged in the American national security community that the Taiwan Strait is the most likely place for a major war to erupt between the United States and China; that it might start soon, and that such a conflict might quickly escalate into a nuclear confrontation. In March, the leading foreign policy organization in the United States, the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, issued a report concluding that Taiwan has become “the most dangerous flashpoint in the world.” There, a unique and troubling set of geopolitical developments have conspired to make a shooting war between the People’s Republic of China and the United States more likely than ever before. Recently the newly appointed commander of US forces in the Indo-Pacific Region, Admiral John Aquilino, remarked that a possible invasion of Taiwan by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) “is much closer than we think.”

USA - Washington and Berlin have struck a deal that would see the US drop opposition to the almost-complete Nord Stream 2 pipeline for Russian gas, in exchange for Germany promising investments in Ukraine. US President Joe Biden administration officials confirmed the existence of the agreement on Wednesday, details of which had been leaked to the press earlier. Under the four-point plan, Germany and the US would invest in energy security and green energy in Ukraine and Europe and back the “Three Seas Initiative” spearheaded by Poland and Croatia. Berlin also pledged to push Russia into extending the current gas arrangement with Ukraine, which provides Kiev with $3 billion in annual transit fees, through 2034 – and promised to back sanctions against Moscow if it commits “aggression” against Ukraine.

SOUTH AFRICA - The National Disaster Management Centre has declared a drought disaster due to the persistent drought conditions in the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. National resources will now be mobilised to assist affected farmers. Farmers from all three provinces are battling the effects of the drought, the worst experienced in 100 years, according to Agri SA. Agri SA’s risk and disaster manager, Andrea Campher, said they are positive that government will now assist farmers, farmworkers and rural economies affected by the devastating drought.

CHINA - A new video circulated among Chinese Communist Party channels has warned China will destroy Japan with nuclear weapons in a "full-scale war" if Tokyo interferes militarily in Taiwan. The new video singles out Japan, threatening it will be the “exception” to China’s stated policy to not use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear powers. “We will use nuclear bombs first. We will use nuclear bombs continuously. We will do this until Japan declares unconditional surrender for the second time,” the video said. The video ends by stating: "There will be no peace talks."

USA - Did you know that the US has averaged more than one and a half mass shootings a day so far this year? I know that sounds crazy, but it is true. Monday will be the 200th day of the year, and according to Wikipedia there have been 327 mass shootings up to this point in 2021. And actually the information on Wikipedia does not include all of the most recent mass shootings, and so the true number is actually a little higher. But you can’t really blame Wikipedia, because it is extremely difficult to keep up with all of the mass shootings that are happening these days.

USA - Lake Powell is getting an emergency release of water from upstream reservoirs. Water levels have approached a critical level. Water levels in Lake Powell are at record lows. If levels drop much further, hydroelectric turbines will cease to run. The lake supplies water to 30 million people and irrigation of 5 million acres. The Bureau of Reclamation began emergency water releases from reservoirs upstream in the Colorado River this week in an effort to keep Lake Powell, the country’s second-largest reservoir, full enough to continue to generate hydroelectric power.

USA - Wikipedia can no longer be trusted as a source of unbiased information since the online encyclopedia's left-leaning volunteers cut out any news that doesn't fit their agenda, according to the site’s co-founder. Larry Sanger, 52, co-founded Wikipedia in 2001 alongside Jimmy Wales, said the crowdsourcing project has betrayed its original mission by reflecting the views of the ‘establishment.’ He said he agreed with the assessment that ‘teams of Democratic-leaning volunteers’ remove content that isn’t to their liking, including information about scandals linked to President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. When asked by Unherd.com if Wikipedia can be trusted, he replied: ‘You can trust it to give a reliably establishment point of view on pretty much everything.'

EUROPE - European nations are scrambling to ramp up vaccination drives, using a carrot-and-stick approach to persuade the reluctant to get their shots as the more transmissible delta variant drives a surge in infections. Greece became the latest to enact new restrictions on Friday, requiring proof of vaccination or recent recovery from COVID-19 for access to indoor restaurants, cafes, bars and movie theatres. Children can enter with negative tests. The measure, part of a package of government incentives, had little immediate effect as virtually all public life moves outdoors during Greece’s hot, dry summers. Sidewalk cafes and restaurants and open-air movie theatres remain accessible to all.

USA - Investing in healthy ageing — rather than fighting specific diseases — could have an economic value worth trillions. We’re living longer, but not necessarily better. As the population over 65 in the United States is projected to double by 2060 — with one in five residents in retirement age — so will the number of Americans needing long-term care services. A new study suggests targeting ageing itself — rather than individual diseases associated with it — could be the secret to combatting many health care costs traditionally associated with getting older.

MIDDLE EAST - Nearly all Arab states are finding it difficult to cope with the challenges of the 21st century. The gap between them and the modern world is widening, to the extent that there is doubt it can be bridged without a deep social and cultural revolution. There is less openness, pluralism and tolerance, and more violence and autocracy. Blaming Arab failures on a history of colonialism is a pathetic excuse, when we compare the Arabs to the achievements of post-colonial India in establishing democratic rule and removing hundreds of millions of people from desperate poverty, despite a heritage of the caste system. The failure is due to a society that clings to its tribal, patriarchal structures, whose values are not pluralistic. This political culture explains, to a large extent, the Arab states' few scientific achievements, the prevalence of terrorism among themselves, the failure of many Arab migrants to Europe to integrate into society, the Palestinians' rejection of compromise and delusion about the destruction of Israel, and the culture of violence, crime, and tribalism that is rife in Arab society in Israel.

MIDDLE EAST - US lawmakers castigated Abbas for terror payments during ‘tense’ Ramallah meeting. He said families would be penniless without ‘welfare’ money; they asked if PA also pays cancer victims; opposed his call for Israel-Arab deals to wait ’til Palestinian issue solved. A visiting congressional delegation expressed their disapproval over payments to terrorists and their families during a meeting in Ramallah with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week, several members of Congress told The Times of Israel Tuesday. One congressperson described last week’s closed-door meeting with 10 visiting members of Congress as “tense at times, as it was clear that we didn’t see eye to eye on a number of issues.” The source spoke on condition of anonymity. Ramallah’s policy of paying stipends to Palestinians jailed for security offenses and the families of deceased attackers has long been a point of contention with Washington. While Israel argues that the payments encourage terror activity, Abbas has vowed to maintain the stipends, which the Palestinians view as a form of welfare and a national responsibility.

ISRAEL - In Israel, Jews and Arabs sit together in the waiting room of Hadassah Hospital waiting to receive the same care. I know, I have worked there. Jewish and Arab students doing top-flight research at Hebrew University and the Technion present their work side by side at major scientific conferences. I know, I have been there. Jews and Arabs start restaurants and other businesses together. I have seen it. Any claims of apartheid are fallacious. Given what I know, I was dismayed to learn of the Yale College Council (YCC) vote to condemn Israel and equate her with apartheid South Africa. The invalidity of this analogy is evident to any thinking student of history. I am frankly disappointed that the Yale administration has been embarrassingly silent in response to statements like that of the YCC. But I am doubly disappointed that Yale students, scholars-in-training, would so readily swallow the false claims underlying the YCC action.