USA - The film “Oppenheimer” is in theaters. It’s the story of American scientist J Robert Oppenheimer, who is credited as the father of the atomic bomb. Here’s a look at the history and current US nuclear arsenal. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the US nuclear arsenal includes over 3,800 weapons. About 1,740 deployed nuclear weapons are available for use. The Hiroshima bomb, nicknamed Little Boy, was air burst 1,900 feet above the city to maximize destruction; it was later estimated to yield 15 kilotons. Two-thirds of the city area was destroyed. The population present at the time was estimated at 350,000, and 140,000 died by the explosion and its radiation. In the current US nuclear arsenal, the W88 warheads deployed on Trident II submarine-launched missiles have an estimated yield of 475 kilotons. The atomic bomb was tested only once — an event Robert Oppenheimer said brought to mind words from Hindu scripture: “Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds.”

UK - The boss of NatWest apologised to Nigel Farage tonight for a 'deeply inappropriate' internal report that found he was not 'inclusive' enough to be a Coutts customer. In a letter to the former Ukip leader, Dame Alison Rose insisted the assessment of Mr Farage 'does not reflect the views of the bank'. She stressed that 'freedom of expression' and access to banking were fundamental to society, saying she has ordered a review of Coutts' processes. However, she stopped short of offering to restore Mr Farage's relationship with the exclusive private bank, instead repeating the offer of an account with NatWest. The letter emerged as the Treasury announced that UK banks will be subject to stricter rules over closing customers' accounts, in an effort to protect freedom of speech.

UK - But the prophets of doom ignore some very inconvenient truths... Was there anything more ludicrous during last week's European heatwave and worries about global warming than the BBC's climate editor travelling from London to Spain (and back again) to report on the high temperatures? It is not unusual in the summer for the Mediterranean to be hot and Britain a lot cooler. That is, after all, why millions go there on holiday every year. Yet it seems we are no longer allowed to enjoy the prospect of a hot summer's day, whether in Britain or the Med. Sun-kissed beaches, for Rowlatt and his ilk, are a portent of doom and a symptom of the fast-gathering 'climate emergency'. What's more, we are encouraged to feel guilty – partly because of all those carbon emissions spewed out by holiday jets.

SPAIN - When super-fit cyclist Andrea Sechi collapsed and died from a heart attack in Sardinia last weekend, it was instantly blamed on global warming despite it being 8.30 am and just 22C. Within hours of his death, Andrea Sechi was being held up as the latest climate change martyr. While riding his racing bike along the southern coast of Sardinia with friends last Saturday, the keen amateur scientist had collapsed and, though efforts were made to revive him, he died at the roadside. First to report the incident was a popular local news website. Since Mr Sechi was only 48 years old and seemingly super fit, and as the island was in the grip of a heatwave, they declared that his fatal heart attack was 'probably linked' with the freakishly high temperatures.

EUROPE - A major climate deception spread like wildfire last week after the world’s major media outlets falsely reported that southern Europe experienced its warmest temperatures on record. It turns out that the temperatures measured were ground temperatures as opposed to air temperatures, meaning they measured the temperature of the dirt or asphalt rather than the air two meters above ground, as is usually the norm. The claim is that southern Europe saw temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius, or 118.4 degrees Fahrenheit, in places like Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and Poland. But again, this was ground temperature in some spots rather than air temperature, which was conveniently unspecified in most media reports.

SPAIN - Every June for years, a rainbow-striped banner celebrating Pride Week had been draped over the long balcony of the magnificent city hall in Valladolid, northern Spain. But last month it was nowhere to be seen. Instead, flying from flagpoles on the baroque-style building overlooking one of Europe's most exquisite squares was the national yellow-and-red flag of Spain, alongside those of the city itself and the surrounding province of Castile and Leon. The reason for the banner's disappearance was that, a month earlier, the Right wing swept to power here in local elections, dethroning the ruling Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). 'It was the same all over Spain. Socialists were thrown out almost everywhere in this May's local elections …in Seville, Andalusia, Oviedo. And down came the rainbow flags or banners.'

UK - At least one teenager realizes that body dysmorphia is a mental illness that requires treatment, not transitioning. Too bad he realized it too late. Kobe, the young man facing facts actually said, “I was expecting it to help me help my mental health, and it didn’t do anything. I just wasted so much time and all I did really was become a medical patient for life.” Sadly, Kobe was actually CASTRATED as part of his “gender-affirming care” when he identified as a trans woman. Now, he wants to be a voice of reason in the cloud of leftist-haze. Of course ‘Kobe’ isn’t his real name; it is being purposely masked to avoid some of the backlash his public outcry will undoubtedly create.

UK - There has been a lot of media hype about today’s three by-elections, but almost no one has mentioned the extraordinary fact that the Labour candidate, and quite likely winner, in Selby and Ainsty is only 25. We are ruled by people who are either young or have limited (and sometimes no) previous ministerial experience. Very often they use the knowledge and contacts they acquire in office to become extremely rich when they leave it. This is hardly an ideal template for good government. It is also at odds with the way we used to be governed. Previous experience outside politics was once thought an advantage, while it was assumed one couldn’t reach the highest office without a lengthy and painstaking climb up the greasy pole.

CHINA - The Chinese president greeted the veteran US diplomat, who served as US secretary of state between 1973 and 1977, as an “old friend”. Chinese President Xi Jinping has welcomed former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger to Beijing, saying their two countries are currently at a critical juncture for the future of their relations. The veteran American diplomat, who recently turned 100, had earlier met with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu.

EUROPE - The EU in its current form is not nearly as strong as its population and economic power would suggest, Czech Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvorak said in an interview with EURACTIV.cz on Tuesday. Admitting that this position is “not at all popular,” the minister proposed that the European Union should be turned into “a European Federation or a United States of Europe,” which he claimed would put it in a position where it could be “a truly equal partner in the game between China, America, or Russia and India.”

UK - If you've lived in a major American city since the Covid pandemic, you've no doubt witnessed the 'dope lean'. The sight of drug users hunched over in a lifeless state, seemingly unaware of what's happening around them, has becoming increasingly common in recent years. Many experts point to the influx of an animal tranquilizer that has started to flood the US illicit drug supply - in everything from fentanyl to cocaine. Xylazine - known on the street as 'tranq' - is a potent sedative used to put large animals to sleep before veterinary procedures and surgeries. However, it's now being used as a cutting agent to make drugs more potent and last longer. But mixing this sedative with stimulants and opioids, some of which act like stimulants and keep the body awake, could lead to 'dope lean,' or someone hunched over and standing up while still unconscious.

UK - Rishi Sunak has intervened in the Nigel Farage banking row after Jacob Rees-Mogg and David Davis raised the scandal at PMQs. The Prime Minister said it "wouldn't be right if financial services were being denied to anyone exercising their right to lawful free speech". He also promised that a new Government Bill, the financial services and markets act, will put in place new measures to ensure politically exposed persons are treated in an "appropriate and proportionate manner". He said: "We are in the process of cracking down on this practice." Mr Rees-Mogg, Mr Farage's colleague at GB News, rose to ask whether the PM shares his "unease" that a bank "that has the Government as its largest shareholder, should close the account of a senior opposition politician?" Ms Braverman said the Coutts scandal “exposes the sinister nature of much of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion industry”.

CHINA - Today marks the 24th anniversary of the persecution of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong. It was on July 20, 1999, that then-Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin launched a vicious persecution of this group of peaceful meditators. If you’re a regular reader of The Epoch Times, you’ll have noticed that we regularly cover this story, while many other media largely ignore it. That’s because we understand its significance.

USA - President Joe Biden has threatened the “special relationship” between the US and Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes ahead with judicial reforms that are opposed by that country’s political opposition. As Breitbart News has noted, most of these reforms parallel existing practice within the US, and one that will go up for a vote next week is grudgingly accepted even by some members of Israel’s left-wing legal fraternity. Nevertheless, Biden has taken sides against Netanyahu’s government as it attempts to rein in the power of the most powerful judicial branch in the democratic world, fulfilling an election promise to conservative voters.

UK - Many of the millions who voted for Brexit — and cheered Boris Johnson’s pledge to ‘get it done’ — had one simple priority. To wean Britain off its addiction to cheap migrant labour. Across the country, ordinary people were united in their desire to see government and business invest in British workers, and get as many as possible off welfare and into rewarding work at fair wages. It’s now clear that nobody in Westminster is seriously interested in achieving this. As this surge in migration worsens, housing, education, welfare and healthcare are all spiralling, like the country itself, towards collapse. More than 60 per cent of British people believe immigration is ‘too high’, and more than 80 per cent say their leaders are handling it terribly. To be clear, this is not about race. Britain, as all the studies show, is one of the least racist, and most tolerant of nations. Levels of prejudice have never been lower than today. Nevertheless, the British people are right to worry that their identity, culture and history are being lost in a sea of immigration and globalisation.