USA - The US government has made further attempts to force European firms to ditch the Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, Welt am Sonntag reported, citing people familiar with talks on the issue. According to the newspaper, officials from US Department of State, the Treasury Department, as well as the Department of Energy approached European contractors to make sure they fully understand the consequences of staying in the project. Up to a dozen officials reportedly held at least two online conferences with representatives of the firms in recent days.

ISRAEL - Rabbi Benyahu Bruner, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Tzfat hesder yeshiva, Mitzpe Yericho Chief Rabbi Yehuda Kroizer, Rabbi Elisha Wolfson, and other leading religious Zionist rabbis issued a special call during the Nine Days and Tisha B'Av for the public to support organizations working on behalf of the Temple Mount. Rabbi Bruner said in a video which was filmed on the Temple Mount: "We are in the days between the fasts. The sages say that this mourning is ancient - it has gone on for too long. Our goal is for this mourning to end. This mourning can only be ended by us redeeming the place [of the Holy Temple]. Therefore, I would like to thank all those who will donate to the Temple Mount organizations generously so that they can continue their activities with more vigor and courage for the redemption of the Temple Mount."

GERMANY - Defense Secretary Mark Esper has outlined proposals that foresee bringing about 6,400 troops back to the US and relocating another 5,400 within Europe. That entails reducing the presence in Germany by roughly one third. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed on Wednesday that troops would be pulled and relocated from Germany. in Wednesday's announcement, the first time the US set out concrete proposals on its "European Strategic Force Posture Review," Esper tentatively put the number at 11,800. Under the plan, the US will send home some 6,400 forces and relocate 5,400 out of Germany and to other European countries in Europe, the US Defense Department said. Roughly 25,000 troops are set to remain in Germany. The reassignment envisages troops moving to Italy and Belgium, but some could also go to Poland and the Baltic states, if Warsaw agrees to an accord that the two sides have been working on, Esper said.

USA - The eviction moratorium expired last Friday nearly four months after the US economy effectively shutdown due to the covid pandemic, and more than 12 million renters - all behind on rent payments because of the virus-induced recession - are now at imminent risk of getting booted to the curb. This Friday, some 25 million Americans will no longer receive their weekly $600 federal unemployment checks, and the next round of government handouts, currently discussed by Republicans and Democrats, could see benefits slashed from $600 to $200 (or be nothing at all if no deal is reached in Congress). This would crush household finances across middle-class America, resulting in an even higher number of households unable to pay their rent bill in the months ahead. The Trump administration doesn't have the tools to solve the crisis - fiscal and monetary policy can only delay round two of the economic crash until after the elections.

USA - US President Donald Trump has defended his decision to pull out almost 12,000 troops from Germany by invoking its gas imports from Russia. Washington has recently ramped up its efforts to block the deliveries. “Germany pays Russia billions of dollars a year for Energy, and we are supposed to protect Germany from Russia. What’s that all about?” Trump tweeted, shortly after Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the US would move out some 11,900 US soldiers from Germany, as opposed to the initial plan to withdraw some 9,500 personnel. Trump has also cited the long-running row over NATO contributions, accusing Germany of failing to fork out its fair share of the costs for the military alliance. “Also, Germany is very delinquent in their 2% fee to NATO. We are therefore moving some troops out of Germany!” Trump added, referring to the alliance’s minimum spending requirement for member states.

UNITED NATIONS - A new world will emerge from the tumult caused by the global coronavirus pandemic and people everywhere should be aware of what is coming, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday. Speaking during the launch of a UN policy brief entitled “COVID-19 in an Urban World,” Guterres sees change everywhere from the need for more “social cohesion” to “deeper cooperation between local and national authorities,” all predicated on a “green” ethos of sustainability. The lifelong Socialist conceded change would not be easy but he saw no alternative as we “reset how we live, interact and rebuild.”

USA - This is a critical point in US history. We’ve entered a dangerous, chilling period that could lead to a race or civil war - American democracy is in peril. Russiagate, Stormy Daniels, a politically motivated impeachment… the repeated coups d'états to try to remove an elected president, all show that Democrats will stop at nothing to overthrow Trump.

ISRAEL - The Israel Defense Forces deployed additional reinforcements to the country’s Lebanese and Syrian borders on Tuesday, indicating it was bracing for more violence along the frontiers after an alleged attempted attack by the Hezbollah terror group the day before. Israeli officials expected an attack on Israeli troops by the Lebanese terror group within the next 48 hours, before the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha on Thursday night, according to an unattributed Channel 12 report on Tuesday. Over the past week, Hezbollah has threatened some form of retaliation for the death of one of its fighters last week in Syria in an airstrike that it attributed to Israel, but which the Jewish state has not officially acknowledged conducting.

UK - Liberals and conservatives agree - children cannot consent to sex. Kids are developmentally unable to make decisions about things that they don’t understand, including sexual activity. Given this fact, it is reprehensible that some parents believe their children have the capacity to make life-altering changes to their sexual development through gender reassignment procedures.

ETHIOPIA - A week ago Ethiopia took the hugely controversial step of initiating filling the reservoir behind the 'Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam', further enraging Egypt which says the project will devastate its economy, farming, and ecosystem bound up with the Nile River downstream. Ethiopia days ago added further fuel to the fire when the country's foreign minister tweeted in the national language, Amharic, that "The Nile is Ours". Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew's tweet read as follows: "Congratulations! It was the Nile River and the river became a lake. It will no longer flow into the river. Ethiopia will have all the development it wants from it. In fact the Nile is ours!" International reports suggest the Ethiopians plan to fill the dam's reservoir within a period of three years. Once the effects of the dam are felt by the Egyptian population, which some analysts fear could lead to famine given the central importance a healthfully flowing Nile plays to Egyptian agriculture, Cairo will be pressured to possibly take military action. Andargachew's tweet has certainly intensified the standoff.

USA - A record high price for gold, known as the currency of last resort, is raising questions about the US dollar's future as the world's reserve currency, according to a Goldman Sachs research note published Tuesday. The commodity, which tends to see increased demand during economic uncertainty, reached an unprecedented price of $1,943 an ounce this week, in part because of record-low interest rates that Goldman Sachs analysts said may demonstrate a stronger appetite for inflation at the Federal Reserve. "Combined with a record level of debt accumulation by the US government, real concerns around the longevity of the US dollar as a reserve currency have started to emerge," the analysts wrote. The idea that the dollar may one day be seen as less of a safe currency jeopardizes its role as the world's reserve currency, a position that has given the US financial system a tremendous advantage in global financial markets for decades.

CHINA - Severe flooding across central and southern China over the past week has killed almost 130 people, damaged more than 1.9 million hectares of crops and led to direct economic losses of more than 38 billion yuan ($5.70 billion), state media said on Tuesday. Heavy rainfall had killed 128 people across 11 provinces and regions and 42 people are missing, state news agency Xinhua reported. More than 1.3 million people have been forced out of their homes, it said. Xinhua said more than 1.9 million hectares (4.7 million acres) of cropland had been damaged and another 295,000 hectares had been destroyed, resulting in direct economic losses of 38.2 billion yuan. It was not clear how that would affect the summer grain harvest, which was expected to reach 140 million tonnes this year. More than 40,000 buildings have also collapsed, it added. The stormy weather also took a toll on farm animals. In Anhui, the flooding killed some 7,100 hogs, 215 bulls and 5.14 million fowl, the China News Service reported.

ISRAEL - Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount, once a rare sight, have become commonplace, with the number of Jews visiting the holy site surging by several hundred percent in recent years. But what is less well known is the quiet revolution taking place on the Temple Mount, thanks to the tens of thousands of people who ascend the Mount, and thanks to the work of Matte Irguni HaMikdash*, which maintains a productive dialogue with police in the field, as well as with the local commander and even with Israel’s recent Public Security ministers.

USA - In individual talks with German and EU companies, the Trump administration is threatening repercussions, if they do not withdraw from the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. According to reports, up to twelve representatives of three US ministries have held separate video conferences with European companies, to coerce them into withdrawing from the Nord Stream 2 project. The latest US sanctions against the gas pipeline affect 120 enterprises from 12 EU countries. Should the construction of Nord Stream 2 remain unfinished, the direct damage could reach twelve billion euros. German business associations are calling on Berlin and Brussels to take harsh retaliatory measures, otherwise US reprisals could set a "dangerous precedent" that could be repeated at any time. Business representatives draw attention to the fact that the USA had tried to torpedo German-Russian energy relations, beginning already with those between West Germany and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1980s, but ultimately had to yield each time.

CHINA - The South China Sea dispute China and the US have been embroiled in for years could be on track to develop into a "medium-scale" conflict, expert Hu Bo warned. The South China Sea has long been at the centre of a row between China and several USA allies across Southeast Asia over who hold official control over the area. Freedom of navigation in the region is of key importance to the United States and Washington has over the years deployed frigates in a bid to keep Beijing under control. But South China Sea expert Hu Bo warned a "medium-scale" conflict could be on the cards. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced earlier this month Washington DC would effectively end its neutral stance on territorial disputes involving China and Southeast Asia nations in the South China Sea. Secretary Pompeo insisted the US would stand by its allies in the region to ensure Beijing respects international maritime law. He said: "The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire.