GERMANY - Boris Pistorius has received €5 billion ($5.4 billion) less than he had requested for his ministry. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is dissatisfied with the results of recent talks among the ruling ‘traffic light’ coalition on the country’s budget for 2025. According to the proposed budget announced by the leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens on Sunday, the defense ministry is going to get €53 billion (around $57.5 billion) next year instead of the €58 billion ($62.9 billion) that Pistorius wanted.

RUSSIA - Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with his newly elected Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin announced on Monday. Following the Iranian announcement of the election results, the Russian president sent Pezeshkian a congratulatory telegram. “I hope that your activities as president will contribute to the further expansion of constructive bilateral cooperation in all areas for the benefit of our friendly nations, in the interests of strengthening regional security and stability,” Putin said in the message, according to the Kremlin. “I wish you success, good health and prosperity.”

UK - The UK is set to boost its military and plans to gradually increase defense spending to 2.5% of its GDP, new Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday as he departed for a NATO summit in Washington. Starmer has pledged to publish a roadmap for defense expenditure following calls from both the UK military and NATO states to clarify his policy, his office has said. “I am committed to that 2.5% [of gross domestic product] within our fiscal rules, but that strategic review needs to come first,” he told Reuters ahead of the NATO summit. The timeline for the review or when the spending goal might be achieved has not been specified, however.

USA - The tremendous suffering that we are seeing all over the world right now is only just the beginning. As I have documented repeatedly, we are in the midst of the worst global food crisis in modern history, and we haven’t seen this many countries engaged in military conflict since World War II. In other words, this is a time of famine, and it is a time of war. This represents a major problem for those that believe that humans are intrinsically good and that humanity is moving into a new golden era of peace and prosperity. If humans are intrinsically good, why is there so much evil all around us? Of course the truth is that the evil that we see all around is the product of the evil in human hearts. Humanity is the reason why there is so much war, so much famine, so much greed, so much corruption, and so much suffering.

USA - John Deere sponsoring sickening DEI wokeness as they fire American workers and move factories to Mexico. Conservative activist Robby Starbuck on Wednesday dropped a sobering video report on a company rural Americans (mainly Trump voters) rely on to do their jobs: John Deere. It turns out that selling tractors is far from the only item on the manufacturing company’s agenda.

USA - Research shows that microplastics can be found anywhere — including in heart plaque buildup, which significantly increases risk of heart-related adverse events. Plastic is a crucial product in industrial production and is deeply intertwined with daily life. When plastic products break down, they become microplastics or even smaller nanoplastics. Microplastics are plastic pieces smaller than 5 millimeters, while nanoplastics measure below 1 micron (1,000 nanometers). Lin Xiaoxu, a US virology expert with a doctorate in microbiology, explained what microplastics and nanoplastics are on New Tang Dynasty TV’s “Health 1+1” program and how to reduce exposure to them.

USA - Nearly 1.7 million people in Texas are entering a third day without power in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. The acting governor, Dan Patrick, said in a statement that bringing back power will be a “multi-day restoration event”. Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas on Monday, taking down power lines that left nearly 3 million people without electricity at the peak of the outages. Much of south-east Texas including Houston is enduring dangerously high temperatures with no air conditioning amid an ongoing heatwave. “With power outages continuing across south-east Texas, the lack of air-conditioning will aggravate the risk for heat-related illnesses as high temperatures warm into the lower and mid-90s,” warns National Weather Service in Houston, where the heat index reached 106F (41C) yesterday and is expected to reach 105F today. At least 10 people in the US died in the wake of the category 5 hurricane.

USA - Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge related to the fatal 737 Max crashes, the Justice Department announced on Sunday. This comes months after US prosecutors accused the aerospace giant of violating a 2021 settlement that protected it from prosecution. As part of the deal, Boeing will pay a $243.6 million fine. Additionally, an independent compliance monitor will oversee Boeing’s adherence to compliance standards for three years during a probationary period. The company must also invest at least $455 million in compliance and safety programs, according to a court filing by US prosecutors late Sunday. This plea deal is pending approval by a federal judge. The agreement also stipulates that Boeing’s board of directors must meet with the families of the crash victims.

ITALY - Pope Francis warned Sunday democracy is in “crisis” around the world, likely with an eye to a rise in right-wing parties across Italy, Austria, Argentina, Netherlands, and Germany. It is evident that in today’s world, democracy “is not in good health,” the pontiff told a group of 900 participants in the 50th annual Social Week, celebrated in the northern Italian city of Trieste. The pope went on to compare the modern “crisis of democracy” to a wounded heart that has suffered a heart attack, manifested by “various forms of social exclusion” that “limit participation.”

GERMANY - Not a single German national appears to be fully satisfied with their government, the latest ARD-Deutschland TREND survey has revealed. The country is currently governed by the so-called traffic light coalition, which consists of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Free Democrats (FDP), and the Greens. According to the survey, conducted on July 1-3, zero percent of Germans said they were “fully satisfied” with the ruling coalition’s work, with just 19% saying they were somewhat “satisfied.” The overall dissatisfaction rate with the government’s policies rose to 81%, with 38% saying they were “not satisfied at all.” After the EU push to eliminate Russian energy imports as part of the sanctions, the German economy has taken several major hits, with many energy-intensive businesses either leaving the country or shutting down entirely.

USA - The Biden administration has warned China against continuing to conduct armed attacks on the Philippines, but China has blatantly ignored the warning, repeatedly harassing Philippine naval vessels and severely injuring its sailors over the past several months. Beijing, for its part, has accused Washington of using the Philippines as a pawn and seems to have every intention of continuing to escalate the dispute. That dispute centers on the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed reef within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, but also within China’s illegal “nine-dash line” maritime claim in the South China Sea.

USA - ‘It’s Going to Be Catastrophic’: Why the Next Pandemic Will Be Worse Than COVID. The former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning Americans to prepare for the next pandemic, which he fears will be more catastrophic than COVID-19. Dr Robert Redfield, a virologist who continues to treat patients suffering from COVID, oversaw the CDC’s initial response to the pandemic and served as a member of the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force under former President Donald Trump.

USA - Government censorship of people’s ideas, statements and thoughts is flourishing not only in the United States, according to a new report from the Foundation for Freedom Online. In America, the Supreme Court essentially gave such First Amendment-trashing operations a pass, in the recent Murthy lawsuit, by claiming that states and individuals weren’t being injured by the instructions from the Joe Biden administration to social media companies on what ideas to suppress. That ruling, killing the case because the plaintiffs didn’t have “standing,” allows Biden administration officials to continue to give censorship instructions to social media, to even coerce and threaten them, so they shut down ideas Biden dislikes.

CANADA - World-renowned psychologist and culture war crusader Dr Jordan Peterson is not afraid to voice his opinions — however unpopular they may be. The Canadian academic has been both praised and criticized for his take on trans medical issues, COVID-19 travel restrictions and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But his latest claim might be the most contrarian yet. In a podcast with UK politician Nigel Farage this week, Dr Peterson said burning fossil fuels was good for the environment. 'The influx of carbon dioxide from the fossil fuel industry into the atmosphere,' he said, 'is actually a net ecological good.'

USA - Gun owners in three US states can now buy bullets from vending machines in grocery shops, after a company launched automated kiosks to make ammunition “more available”. Some shops in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas now allow customers to scan their ID on a device similar to a drinks vending machine, and walk away with rounds for their weapons. American Rounds, the company that manufactures the machines, says they are as easy to use as an ATM. “Our automated ammo dispensers are accessible 24/7, ensuring that you can buy ammunition on your own schedule, free from the constraints of store hours and long lines,” it says on its website. The machines use “built-in AI technology, card scanning capability and facial recognition software” to match a buyer’s ID to their face and ensure they are over 18 years old.