USA - The gap between Texas’ Hispanic and white populations continued to narrow last year when the state gained almost nine Hispanic residents for every additional white resident. With Hispanics expected to become the largest population group in Texas as soon as 2022, new population estimates released Thursday by the US Census Bureau showed the Hispanic population climbed to nearly 11.4 million — an annual gain of 214,736 through July 2018 and an increase of 1.9 million since 2010. Soon to become a plurality, the Hispanic population in Texas has grown massively since 2010. Meanwhile, the white population is barely staying ahead of the Asian population in growth.

USA - Ham, luncheon meat, sausage and bacon have been linked to cancer, obesity and heart disease, but Americans still can’t kick their processed meat habit. Although American adults are eating less red meat than they did 18 years ago, processed meat consumption has remained the same — accounting for one quarter of all red meat and poultry eaten in the United States every year, according to a study published Friday in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Yet even for bacon-lovers who know it’s bad, its appeal is strong. “Processed meat is cheap, convenient, it’s everywhere and everybody loves the way this stuff tastes,” said Marion Nestle, a professor emerita of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University.

USA - Six earthquakes have struck in the dangerous Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) off the coast of Oregon, and THREE of those quakes were higher than Magnitude 5.0. "The Big One" might be coming soon! This earthquake fault system is considered to be "the most dangerous in the world" because its location and the type of earthquakes this system can create, in relation to its location near heavily populated areas, means it can generate devastating earthquakes which could kill tens of thousands and destroy entire cities. Making the system even worse is its location in the ocean. A Mega-Thrust earthquake from this system (the type of quake that subduction zones typically cause) would generate a TSUNAMI WAVE that would move at 600 MPH into the US West Coast, obliterating almost everything west of Interstate 5. This quake swarm - at these magnitudes - is unprecedented.

MIDDLE EAST - We could be on the verge of the most cataclysmic war that the Middle East has ever seen. We are being told that there will be a “measured” US response to the downing of a US Navy drone by Iranian forces.  In other words, we should expect some sort of US military action against Iran to happen soon.  If the Iranians choose not to respond to that attack, that will hopefully be the end of it for a while.  But if the Iranians respond by firing their highly advanced anti-ship missiles at US warships in the Persian Gulf, the Trump administration would feel forced to use overwhelming force in return, and that would likely spark an all-out war in the region.

EUROPE - Currency war is the next phase of global conflict and Europe, the chief parasite, is defenceless. There is going to be an ugly fight for scarce global demand. Europe has been warned. Any use of monetary levers to hold down the euro exchange rate will be deemed a provocation by the Trump administration.

UK - Michael Gove has been eliminated from the final round of voting, with Boris Johnson [160 votes] and Jeremy Hunt [77 votes] now going head-to-head in the race to become the next UK prime minister. Boris Johnson secured the most amount of votes yet again in the final MPs' ballot, pushing him closer towards winning the Tory leadership and entering Number 10.

EUROPE - Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron have clashed again over who will fill the EU’s most senior posts, prompting one frustrated national leader to claim it would be easier to elect a pope. An unproductive meeting on Thursday between the German chancellor and the French president appeared to dash any hope of a swift resolution to their dispute over the future leadership of the EU’s institutions, including a replacement for Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European commission. The EU’s top five jobs – presidents of the commission, council, European parliament and European Central Bank and high representative for foreign affairs – are all changing hands. Ireland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, quipped as he arrived at the summit: “It’s quicker to elect the pope very often than it is to fill these particular positions.”

NORWAY - “The world’s largest gang of thugs, murderers, and rapists is masquerading as a religion of peace,” says Adrian Stavig, a resident of Oslo. Beginning this past January, the new Norwegian Prime Minister, Erna Solberg began a program which targets and deports Muslims who have ties to radical groups. Something stunning occurred: the country’s violent crimes are down more than 31% in less than a year since Muslim deportations began! Liberals everywhere are crying “Racism!” Al Jazeera has blasted Solberg relentlessly for her so-called “Islamophobia”, but she has pressed on by deporting any Muslims who belong to radical mosques or threaten violence against “non-believers” — and sent their entire families home too. Perhaps the rest of the world could learn a lesson or two about radical Islam here. Deport the radicals, keep the moderates, and everybody wins.

VATICAN - Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said in a recent message that “it is crucial also to share with our non-Catholic brothers and sisters what the Holy Spirit has sown in the Catholic Church, which is also intended to be a gift for them ... The communion among Christians can grow only if Christians are true disciples of Christ. It is fundamental to learn from Him how to create the bonds of communion. Therefore, ecumenism is part and parcel of our very identity as Catholics.”

INDIA - At least 92 people have died in India’s Bihar as the state remains in the midst of a punishing heatwave that’s affecting much of the country, bringing with it droughts and hundreds of cases of heatstroke. The country is experiencing its lowest rainfall before monsoon season in over six decades and is in its third week of a heatwave, set to become one of the longest on record. The majority of the recorded deaths in Bihar since June 15 have occurred in Aurangabad, Gaya, and Nawada, where temperatures have been around 45 degrees Celsius. At least 562 patients have been admitted to government hospitals with heatstroke, and officials fear the death toll will continue to rise.

USA - In a key seismic zone approximately 40 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, there have been more than 1,000 earthquakes since May 25th. Needless to say, it would be quite alarming for the entire state of California to experience more than 1,000 significant earthquakes in just 3 weeks, but in this case we are talking about an area that is “less than a square mile” in size. And what makes this even more concerning is that all of these earthquakes are happening in a location that is very close to the San Andreas Fault. Could it be possible that the San Andreas Fault is about to wake up in a major way? ...Scientists assure us that the San Andreas Fault is loaded and ready to spring at any moment, and they have also warned us that the entire fault zone “could unzip all at once”.

USA - The Pentagon document laying out the US doctrine of nuclear operations was publicly available for about a week, then made ‘official use only.’ What’s inside is a chilling reminder that Washington sees nuclear war as winnable. “Nuclear Operations,” or Joint Publication 3-72, was dated on June 11 and made private since, but not before it was downloaded by Steven Aftergood, an activist at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). It is currently available on the FAS website as a PDF.

MIDDLE EAST - A US military surveillance drone has been shot down by Iranian forces while flying over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said the aircraft had violated Iranian airspace, and that the incident sent a "clear message to America". But the US military insisted the drone had been over international waters at the time, and condemned what it called an "unprovoked attack" by the IRGC. President Donald Trump tweeted: "Iran made a very big mistake!" The incident comes at a time of escalating tension between the two countries.

EUROPE - The European Central Bank stands ready to cut interest rates and could re-start its bond purchase stimulus program if needed to help the economy, President Mario Draghi said Tuesday. Markets read the comments Tuesday as a step toward more stimulus in coming months, sending the euro lower against the dollar. Draghi said in a speech at an ECB conference in Sintra, Portugal, that “further cuts in policy rates… remain part of our tools.” He added that there was “considerable headroom” to re-start bond purchases, which inject newly created money into the financial system in the hope of boosting lending and economic activity.

UK - Sajid Javid has been knocked out of the Tory leadership race, leaving three contenders vying for the job and to be the next prime minister. The home secretary received 34 votes, coming behind Jeremy Hunt with 59. Michael Gove received 61 votes, leap frogging Mr Hunt to gain second place; while frontrunner Boris Johnson got 157 votes from MPs. MPs are now voting in a fifth ballot to select the two candidates who will go through to a party membership vote. The vote will close at 17:30 BST and the result is due at about 18:00. The remaining two MPs will compete in a run-off of the party's 160,000 or so members, and the winner will be announced in the week of 22 July.