ISRAEL - Over the past 24 hours, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have fired approximately 70 rockets and mortars into Israel, and the IDF has responded by conducting at least 60 airstrikes in Gaza. If the hostilities continue, we could very well see a full blown war erupt, and such a war could ultimately draw in the Palestinians in the West Bank, Hezbollah and more of Israel’s neighbors as well.  To say that things are tense in the region would be a major understatement. On Tuesday, it was reported that there was a full moon over Jerusalem that was “almost red”, and some are taking that as an ominous sign.  This is also the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, and that certainly adds an extra dimension to the events that are unfolding right in front of our eyes... we are closer to a major war in the region than we have been in a very long time.

USA - The new children’s film “Show Dogs” has officially been pulled from theaters after parents everywhere sounded the alarm about its grossly pro-pedophilia plot line. Like many children’s films with animated characters, each is played by a popular Hollywood voice that the audience is sure to recognize, including names like Ludacris the rapper and popular actor Will Arnett. There are also plenty of cute, fluffy dogs for viewers to look at while they journey along through the world of show dogs.

AUSTRIA - The US, under Donald Trump's administration, is becoming increasingly unpredictable and “unreliable” to its European partners, the Austrian chancellor noted, joining a chorus of EU members urging for more unity and self-reliance. “The US has become more and more unreliable for us,” Sebastian Kurz told the Financial Times. “The most important thing is that Europe has to remain united.” Concerns about Donald Trump’s administration have been growing across the EU recently. Earlier this month, a poll showed that 82 percent of Germans believe the US is not a reliable political partner after Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that Europe “needs to take its fate into its own hands.”

ITALY - This article from the World Socialist Web Site reveals the ongoing tension between Technocracy and Socialism/Communism. While both use a collectivist model, the difference is in who controls the system and how they are selected. ⁃ TN Editor

EUROPE - Italian MEP Marco Zanni claimed the European monetary project has its days numbered following an unprecedented move by Italian President Sergio Mattarella to overthrow Italy's would-be eurosceptic government before it has even formed. Speaking to Nigel Farage on LBC, the Italian eurosceptic MEP argued the eurozone project failed to deliver on its core promise to unify European citizens. 

EUROPE - With new Technocrat laws in hand, lawyers are descending like wild animals on tech companies who share data in Europe, which means just about every website on planet earth. For most companies in North America, defending against a lawsuit filed in Europe will be impossible, so they will simply be extorted into a ‘settlement’. TN Editor

USA - Journalists, Obama’s former speechwriter and other public figures all quietly deleted their misplaced horror at images of caged migrant children in the US when they found out the picture was taken under President Obama. CNN journalist Hadas Gold, NYT Magazine editor-in-chief Jake Silverstein, Obama’s speechwriter Jon Favreau, Women’s March co-founder Linda Sarsour and former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa were all caught out by a seemingly new article that featured an image of two migrant children sleeping in a cage at an ICE detention facility.

UK - The United Kingdom appears to be turning into a police state faster than even the most alarmist analysts believed possible. In what sounds like it could have come from George Orwell's nightmares, anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson, without even having access to his lawyer, was ordered to more than a year in prison after being caught reporting on the trial of an Islamic child-rape gang — and then, making matters worse, the judge gagged the press about the scandal, even forcing newspapers to delete their published articles. Unfortunately for British authorities, though, the news got out anyway. Now, the story is an international sensation. Growing domestic protests are demanding that the high-profile anti-Islamization activist be freed immediately. And supporters of the arrested activist around the world vowed to redouble their efforts.

USA - Use a credit card instead, where your liability, by law, is ZERO if your credit card number is stolen and you report the theft within 30 days. The same is NOT true of debit card fraud – it can take several months to get your money back from the bank, while they do an investigation – if you get it back at all.

GERMANY - The German army has more problems than previously reported, as the country's defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, had allegedly tried to hide the malfunctions of the military equipment, according to reports.  The Bundeswehr is in a disastrous condition, the German newspaper Bild wrote, referring to a report from the Federal Court of Accounts. 

ITALY - Italy’s president asked a former International Monetary Fund official to try to form a new government, hours after he blocked the formation of a government supported by two euroskeptic, anti-establishment parties. Sparking a new political crisis, Sergio Mattarella refused to approve the 5 Star Movement and the League’s pick to head the economy ministry, Paolo Savona, an 81-year-old economist who has criticized the euro. The president said he feared a new government with Mr Savona as economy minister could put Italy’s membership in the single currency at risk. In a closely watched meeting, Mr Mattarella asked Carlo Cottarelli to instead try to form a new government. But he is unlikely to win a vote of confidence in parliament and would remain as the head of a caretaker government until fresh elections are called.

ITALY - Italy’s pro-euro elites have overreached disastrously. President Sergio Mattarella has asserted the extraordinary precedent that no political movement or constellation of parties can ever take power if they challenge the orthodoxy of monetary union.  He has inadvertently framed events as a battle between the Italian people and an eternal ‘casta’ with foreign loyalties, playing straight into the hands of the insurgent Five Star ‘Grillini’ and anti-euro Lega nationalists. He unwisely invoked the spectre of financial markets to justify his veto of euroscepticism. Taken together, his actions have made matters infinitely worse.

ITALY - Any move by Italy’s insurgent government to issue parallel liquidity will set off a red alert in financial markets and call into question the survival of Europe’s monetary union, Standard & Poor’s has warned. The rating agency said the ‘minibot’ plan being prepared by anti-euro Lega nationalists and the alt-Left Five Star Movement would create a rival payment structure based on ‘IOU’ notes. This subverts the monetary control of the European Central Bank and risks a disastrous chain-reaction. “People need to be very careful. It is equivalent to introducing a quasi-second currency,” said Jean-Michel Six, S&P’s European strategist.

EUROPE - Europeans hoping to read the Los Angeles Times this morning were out of luck. So were those who peruse the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, and Baltimore Sun. Instead of the latest headlines, they saw messages reading the sites were unavailable, and the papers were unavailable and exploring options to return to the EU market. It was all due to the launch of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), an EU initiative aimed at giving citizens more control over their personal information. At least two media conglomerates, Tronc and Lee Enterprises, were affected by the rule change, which requires companies to get a user’s express consent to gather personal information or face large fines, up to 4% of its global turnover or $20 million euros ($23.4 million), whichever is higher.

UK - Attacks on small businesses by vegan activists are on the rise, according to the Countryside Alliance. Death threats, stoked by social media and encouraged by international groups of activists, have caused butchers and farmers to "live in fear." Marlow Butchers in Ashford, Kent, was targeted earlier this month by activists who daubed red paint on the doors and windows of the shop. Since then, the business has been subjected to online abuse. Wayne Marlow, who runs the business with his father and brother, told Kent Online: "On the internet it has been very threatening. It has got ridiculous - activists from as far away as Australia are getting involved. They usually attack small independent businesses rather than taking on the big boys - it's quite cowardly."