TURKEY - Turkey says its largest-ever natural gas discovery in the Black Sea could lead to new cooperation with Iran even as Ankara aims not to be just a buyer, but also a producer. Turkey is dependent on imports for almost all of its energy needs and Iran is a key supplier of Ankara’s natural gas purchases which generate nearly 40 percent of the country’s electricity production. “The countries we have been cooperating with for years are Iran and Russia. This new period for Turkey may lead to new cooperation with these countries,” Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said in a televised interview on NTV Tuesday.

UK - This Saturday in London, protesters gathered outside of Buckingham Palace as part of a demonstration against child exploitation. Protesters shouted accusations of “pedophile” outside the gates of the palace, in reference to Prince Andrew’s involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s child trafficking ring. Meanwhile, Prince Andrew has been dodging investigators that want to question him about the accusations made by some of Epstein’s victims. New York prosecutors have said that the prince has “completely shut the door” on cooperating with authorities. They are now considering what further legal action can be taken. Andrew continues to deny any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s many crimes, despite a growing body of evidence indicating that he was involved. Andrew has previously promised to help investigators with the case, but has since removed himself from public life. He has also refused requests for interviews that investigators have sent him. He has stepped down from his official royal position and is now more than ever the black sheep of the royal family.

USA - Hurricane Laura's ferocious winds produced more damage than its storm surge as it pummeled portions of Louisiana. The storm left six people dead in Louisiana, including at least four from falling trees. Laura came ashore as a Category 4 storm early Thursday near the Texas border, tearing off roofs while knocking out power to hundreds of thousands. Laura, later downgraded to a tropical storm, was about 35 miles south of Little Rock, Arkansas, with sustained winds of 40 mph as of 7 pm CT Thursday. But it made landfall around 1 am with sustained winds of 150 mph, devastating southern Louisiana communities for miles. While there were widespread reports of wind damage, some communities were also beset by storm surge. US Coast Guard aerial video showed flooding in Cameron along the coast. "There's a lot of damage. People are going to need a lot of help around here," Paul Heard, who survived the ordeal in Lake Charles, told CNN.

USA - Wall Street and business groups are bracing for the possibility of a blue sweep in Washington that would leave Democrats in charge of the White House and both chambers of Congress. Such a scenario could lead to sweeping policy changes affecting taxes, regulations, coronavirus relief and other economic policies. “I would say that’s definitely a concern on a lot of investors’ minds,” said Judy Lu, CEO and founder of Blue Zone Wealth Advisors.

USA - Armies of lawyers have already been recruited, reasons to question the legitimacy of the 2020 election results are already being floated, and top politicians on both sides are already urging a fight to the bitter end. Initially, it appeared that we might avoid this sort of a scenario. For several months Joe Biden had a large lead in all of the major national polls, and some people were even discussing the possibility of a “landslide”.

USA - An EXTREME WIND WARNING has been issued for southwestern Louisiana, including Lake Charles and Cameron. Violent winds are coming inland in Laura's eyewall. Shelter in place in the most interior room of the lowest dry floor of your home. Treat this warning like a tornado warning. Laura is near the extreme southwest Louisiana coast and tracking to the north-northwest at about 15 mph. The hurricane is a Category 4 and steady weakening, it is now expected through the morning hours. Laura's maximum sustained winds jumped from 75 mph to 140 mph in the 24 hours ending 1 pm CDT Wednesday. That increase in maximum sustained winds easily meets the definition of rapid intensification in a hurricane. Hurricane conditions are ongoing in southwestern Louisiana. Destructive winds will spread well inland, more than 100 miles, along Laura's path.

UK - Brexit negotiations have been fraught, with both sides failing to find a compromise on trade agreements. Both sides have now conceded it is unlikely we will be able to strike a deal that suits both sides, leading to increased anxiety that a no-deal Brexit is almost certainly on the cards. The UK ceased to be a member of the EU from February 1, 2020, and is no longer part of the bloc's institutions. Despite this, the usual arrangements of our former membership are still in place, meaning we are still beholden to rules like freedom of movement and trade rules.

USA - In these heady times, it seems, incidents are quickly magnified and wildly distorted, leading to mass public outrage when really none should be warranted: Case in point, the state of Minnesota was forced to declare a "state of peacetime emergency" in Minneapolis last night after violent protests erupted following the death of a local black man.

USA - Lightning-sparked wildfires in Northern California exploded in size Friday to become some of the largest in state history, forcing thousands to flee and destroying hundreds of homes and other structures as reinforcements began arriving to help weary firefighters. More than 12,000 firefighters aided by helicopters and air tankers are battling wildfires throughout California. Three groups of fires, called complexes, burning north, east and south of San Francisco have together scorched 991 square miles (2,566 square kilometers), destroyed more than 500 structures and killed five people. At least 100,000 people are under evacuation orders.

USA - Investment advisor and former Assistant Secretary of Housing Catherine Austin Fitts says big change is ahead of the world, and “nothing will ever be the same.” Fitts lays out the so-called “reset” you’ve been hearing about for the past few years and says, “We are in the process that I would recall is a global reset. The entire financial system is being reset. There are two aspects of this: One is extending the old system, and the other is bringing in the new system. It’s very much being done on the fly by trial and error, but the new system is 100% digital.”

USA - So please keep in mind that there are real people and real dreams behind each of the numbers that I am about to share with you. The following are 17 facts that prove the US economy is a complete and total disaster zone at this point… In all the years that I have been writing about the economy, I have never seen anything that even comes close to what we are experiencing now. More than 100,000 businesses have permanently failed, and tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs.

USA - A small gaming lounge in the Democrat-run city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, announced on Monday that it will be forced to close permanently after being wiped out by looters. Gravity Gaming Lounge pinned the notice on its Facebook page.

USA - Black Lives Matter rioters were filmed attacking a business owner trying to save his business from looters, setting fires to apartments a woman claimed had "families trapped" inside, smashing cars and more on the second day of riots in Wisconsin seeking to avenge police shooting a violent felon wanted for domestic abuse and third-degree sexual assault. The riots on Monday night occurred as new footage from a second angle was released showing wanted felon Jacob Blake brawled with cops before being shot. The Kenosha man, who survived, has a criminal history that includes assaulting police, resisting arrest, domestic abuse, a felony sex crime & more. There is a warrant for his arrest. "Justice for Jacob Blake" means wanted felons accused of sex crimes and domestic abuse must be free to assault police with impunity!

CHINA - China's bubonic plague fears have skyrocketed today after 17 provinces in neighbouring Mongolia have now reported cases of the deadly virus. Three more cases of the virus have now been discovered in the central Mongolian province of Uvurkhangai. With this new cluster of cases, the health ministry has confirmed that almost every province in the country now has an active outbreak. Due to its proximity on the border with China, there are increased concerns the deadly infectious disease may soon migrate across. China had also reported outbreaks of the bubonic plague in the northern region of Inner Mongolia in July and earlier this month. Such was the potency of the disease, it caused 50 million deaths across Europe in the Middle Ages. The virus can cause a victim's limbs or body parts to become blackened hence why it was called the Black Death.

USA - Hundreds of Iowa farmers are still puzzling over what to do after the August 10 derecho, a storm that hit several Midwestern states but was especially devastating in Iowa as it cut through the middle of the state with winds of up to 140 mph (225 kph). The National Weather Service described the storm's intensity as a “once-in-a-decade occurrence in this region." The storm damaged crops in just over one-third of Iowa's 99 counties, according to early estimates. Iowa is typically a national leader in corn and soybean production, and farmers in the worst hit counties had planted 3.6 million acres of corn and 2.5 million acres of soybeans. Not all the damaged crops have been ruined, and even those like Pierce who saw the worst of the devastation might be able to salvage some kind of harvest. But for many it will be a devastating end to a season that at one time seemed so promising.