UK - Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has said that the self-professed “liberal” European Union in fact “crushes” democracy by taking the power away from European citizens and giving it to a political elite. Fox News host Tucker Carlson asked Mr Farage, who led his Brexit Party to European Parliament election victory last week, how it is considered a “liberal” position to remain in the “German Empire, which is basically what the EU is,” rather than for the UK to seek independence and freedom. The contempt that Eurocrats feel for ordinary people was expressed by President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker last week, during the EU-wide elections, who scorned “stupid” nationalists for a perceived irrational attachment to their own countries. “The people I blame are British politicians in Westminster who have not had the courage to take back the independence, sovereignty, democracy of our country.”

CHINA - President Trump has threatened to slap a 25% tariff on the remaining $325 billion in goods coming from China, announcing the plans the same day the US more than doubled duties on $200 billion in Chinese goods as trade talks ended in a deadlock. China has a potential trump card of its own via its massive pile of US debt. But will it use it? ...according to The South China Morning Post, China has its own "range of financial firepower at its disposal to punish the US" for the tariffs war, including its massive $1.123 trillion piggybank of US Treasury bills. Theoretically, if China were to dump this debt onto the market, US bond prices would drop and force the government to substantially increase yields. That, in turn, would make loans for US corporations and private borrowers more expensive, cooling US growth.

CHINA - China might “weaponize” its dominance of rare earth metals in an escalation of the trade war with the US, a state-controlled Chinese tabloid reported Tuesday.

Update: The Financial Times and others have confirmed the threat from China’s powerful state planner. “China’s powerful planning body has threatened to use rare earths exports as leverage in the trade war with the US, in a sign of increasing tensions between the two powers,” the Financial Times reported. US companies depend on rare earths for a variety of consumer goods and military equipment, including cell phones, automobiles, and guided missiles. China controls 96 percent of global production of rare earths.

USA - It’s bad enough that some libraries encourage little children to perch on the laps of transvestite males as they hear fables about well-adjusted homosexual families, in the so-called “Drag Queen Story Hours” featured in some communities. And then those guys turn out to be convicted child molesters, as recently happened in Houston. But other libraries have devised another method for mental molestation of youth. Middle and high-schoolers are invited to a private “safe space” session with a garishly dressed she-male to explore what “drag” is all about. And adults are excluded – until the public hears and cries “foul.”

GERMANY - Angela Merkel’s resignation plans appear to have been put on ice after the German Chancellor decided her successor isn’t up to the job. The German Chancellor vowed to step down and handed over leadership of the Christian Democratic Union to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer last year. But a free speech row has seen Ms Merkel seemingly withdraw her support for her apparent heir. Sources close to the veteran leader have suggested that she doesn’t have faith in her successor. Mrs Merkel’s plans to quit at the end of her term in 2021 remain intact but she is not willing to spend anymore political capital defending Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer. The revelation could spark a re-run of last year’s leadership campaign in order to find an alternative candidate.

USA - American soil. Those are two words that are commonly used to stir up patriotic feelings. They are also words that can't be be taken for granted, because today nearly 30 million acres of US farmland are held by foreign investors. That number has doubled in the past two decades, which is raising alarm bells in farming communities. When the stock market tanked during the last recession, foreign investors began buying up big swaths of US farmland. And because there are no federal restrictions on the amount of land that can be foreign-owned, it's been left up to individual states to decide on any limitations. It's likely that even more American land will end up in foreign hands, especially in states with no restrictions on ownership. With the median age of US farmers at 55, many face retirement with no prospect of family members willing to take over. The National Young Farmers Coalition anticipates that two-thirds of the nation's farmland will change hands in the next few decades.

AUSTRALIA - A scientific paper published by a team of Australian researchers has revealed a startling find: Scientists at the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) have been “adjusting” historical data regarding tide levels in the Indian Ocean. Their “highly questionable” activities have depicted rapidly rising seas — but the truth is that there is no reason to be alarmed at all. Scientists have found that sea levels are stable — and have been for the entirety of the 20th century. To put it simply, these PSMSL “scientists” have been arbitrarily changing their data in order to create the illusion of a problem that doesn’t actually exist. According to the Australian research team, sea levels in the Indian ocean have remained stable for decades. Dr Albert Parker and Dr Clifford Ollier recently published their astounding research in the journal Earth Systems and Environment; their extensive research gives an in-depth look at how this massive deception was undertaken.

GERMANY - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said "there is work to be done" in Germany to face up to the dark forces that are finding mainstream support there and in other parts of the world. "In Germany, obviously, they always have to be seen in a certain context, in the context of our past, which means we have to be that much more vigilant than others," she said. Speaking exclusively to CNN's Christiane Amanpour a day after the European elections, where nationalists failed to live up to a forecasted surge in support, Merkel said we have to face-up "to the specters of the past." "We have to tell our young people what history has brought over us and others."

ITALY - Italy’s hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, says the European parliamentary vote shows “that the rules are changing in Europe.” Salvini told supporters at party headquarters in Milan early Monday that the results of Europe’s four-day vote show that “a new Europe is born. I will say to those who have sunk the European dream, transforming it into a nightmare, that I am proud that the League participated in this new rebirth of a sunken Europe.” Salvini held a cross as he spoke, and at one point kissed it and looked upward, saying: “I thank whoever is up there, who is not helping Matteo Salvini and the League, who is helping Italy and Europe, to protect hope, pride, roots, work, security.” Salvini has faced criticism from Italy’s Catholic establishment for brandishing a rosary at rallies.

ITALY - Italian populist Interior Minister Matteo Salvini took to Twitter this weekend to comment on an Italian television programme on Swedish migrant areas, saying he did not want Italy to become like Sweden. Mr Salvini reacted to the programme Tg2, broadcast on national broadcaster RAI, that examined highly migrant-populated areas in Sweden and claimed that entire neighbourhoods were essentially ruled by Sharia. Following the airing of the programme, the Swedish embassy pushed back, claiming “There are no ‘no go zones’ in Sweden”. While the Swedish government has consistently denied the existence of no go zones, preferring to label them “vulnerable areas”, there have been reports of heavily migrant-populated neighbourhoods where local Muslim men attempt to enforce Sharia and Islamic morality codes.

USA - In this article I am going to share with you a perfect example of why so many people believe that there is so little hope for the future of America. The young adults of today are going to be the leaders of tomorrow, and generally speaking the young adults of today are not in good shape. Survey after survey has shown that Millennials reject traditional American values more than any other generation that has come before them by a very wide margin. They are selfish, rude, arrogant, boastful, proud, disrespectful, ungrateful, undisciplined, slothful and completely obsessed with themselves. In fact, one study found that they are the most narcissistic generation in American history. They feel entitled to everything, but they don’t want to work for it. They want to be treated like kings and queens, but they don’t see a problem with treating others like dirt. Of course there are plenty of young adults that are shining exceptions, but in general young adults under the age of 30 in America today are a complete mess.

EUROPE - France’s pro-EU president and the leader of Italy’s euroskeptic, far-right movement jockeyed for the role of chief powerbroker on the continent Monday after elections to the European Parliament hollowed out the traditional political middle. The four days of balloting that drew to a close Sunday across the European Union’s 28 countries ended the domination of the main center-right and center-left parties in Parliament and established the anti-EU forces on the right and the environmentalists on the left as forces to be reckoned with. Voters delivered the highest turnout in 20 years, rejecting mainstream politics in France, Germany, Britain and Italy. Steve Bannon, who helped propel Donald Trump’s populist campaign to the White House, was in Paris on Monday to celebrate the victories of like-minded parties in Europe and gird for the battle ahead. “You see the trend, and it’s definitely nationalist-versus-globalist,” he said. He predicted the far-right will prevail by grinding the European Parliament to a halt…

USA - The last 12 months have been the wettest in all of US history, and this has created absolutely horrific conditions for US farmers. Thanks to endless rain and historic flooding that has stretched on for months, many farmers have not been able to plant crops at all, and a lot of the crops that have actually been planted are deeply struggling. What this means is that US agricultural production is going to be way, way down this year. The food that each one of us eats every day is produced by our farmers, and right now our farmers are truly facing a nightmare scenario.

USA - The United States is on the verge of entering ‘uncharted territory’, experts say as the country stands on the verge of breaking an unfavorable record of tornado activity this week with more storm warnings issued. The deadly spate of weather has already killed one and injured hundreds more in the Midwest, but the slurry of volatile weather shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have already been ravaged by the barrage of gusting winds and powerful storms, but now New Jersey and New York City have been told to brace for impact. The National Weather Service has received 934 tornado reports so far this year, up from the yearly average of 743 observed tornadoes. More than 500 of those reports have come in the last 30 days.

SWITZERLAND - The elite Bilderberg group for 2019 includes 95 year-old Henry Kissinger and Jared Kushner. The two biggest topics will be the future of capitalism and the growing instability of their global order. More than a hundred of the world’s elite including Henry Kissinger, Mark Carney and the Dutch King will meet at the secretive Bilderberg summit this week. Bankers, Prime Ministers, CEOs and defence experts will meet in Montreux, Switzerland, to discuss a wide range of topics including Russia, cyber threats and Brexit. From Thursday to Sunday 130 influential men and women from 23 countries will meet under strict secrecy rules and the precise location of their venue has not been revealed. They do not vote, they do not set policy and they do not release statements, the group claim.