USA - Joe Biden has been facing criticism after shelving his opposition to Germany striking a new energy deal with Russia, a move former Energy Secretary Rick Perry said would allow Moscow to "hold the European Union hostage." Despite initial opposition to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline ahead of his inauguration, US President Joe Biden U-turned on his stance effectively backing the project that will link the European Union to Russia. Supporters of the pipeline have insisted the connection will ensure the security of gas supplies to member states but detractors warned about the potential influence Moscow could exercise upon the bloc. Former US Energy Secretary Rick Perry raged at President Biden for his decision, telling Fox News his support effectively green-lighted Russia holding the European Union "hostage." Mr Perry said: "It is stunning to see how fast we went from energy independence to now being reliant on countries like Iran to get our energy."

CHINA - China is building a third missile field that will hold more than 100 new DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles, The Washington Times has learned. Construction of a silo array for DF-41s was identified from satellite imagery by US intelligence agencies in the past several weeks and appears equal in size to two other new Chinese missile fields recently identified, according to Pentagon officials familiar with intelligence reports on the strategic development. Admiral Charles Richard, commander of the US Strategic Command, said Thursday that the first two missile fields being built are part of China‘s “explosive” expansion of nuclear forces. “We are witnessing a strategic breakout by China,” Admiral Richard told a missile defense conference in Alabama. “The explosive growth in their nuclear and conventional forces can only be what I described as breathtaking,” he said, adding that “frankly, that word ‘breathtaking’ may not be enough.”

JAPAN - Japan's meteorological service has put three prefectures and the city of Hiroshima on the highest possible emergency alert, which means it’s too late to evacuate elsewhere, as torrential rains cause flooding and mudslides. The highest-possible Level 5 “special” weather warning was issued for Saga, Nagasaki and Fukuoka prefectures in the country's southwest on Saturday, as rains continue to batter parts of Japan. Earlier, the same warning was issued for the city of Hiroshima after several rivers running through the region were deemed at high risk of overflowing. In its advisory on Saturday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said that “there is a high possibility that some kind of disaster has already occured” in the areas that are especially prone to mudslides and flooding. “It's been raining heavily like never before,” the agency noted.

KAZAKHSTAN - In a world plagued by a pandemic, some stories get left behind. One that has escaped headlines, probably understandably, is the Kazakh government’s new six-month ban on exporting food for livestock, insisting produce stay at home. The reason for this intervention, which has come after the resignation of an agriculture minister and against the wishes of some farmers and exporters, is a severe drought in much of the west of the country. Following on from a dry winter, it has lasted for months and already inflicted great damage to pastures, the livestock depending on them, and the communities who, in turn, need the livestock.

USA - We haven’t had an extended bout of painful inflation like this since the days of the Carter administration, and our leaders in Washington have decided that the best way forward is to rapidly create even more inflation. They keep using words like “transitory” to describe the current inflation crisis, but then they turn right around and talk about the need to create, borrow and spend even more money. It is utter madness, but at this point there is nobody that is going to stop them. We are all passengers on a “highway to Weimar”, and those that have their hands on the wheel have gone completely nuts.

USA - A harvester rumbles through the fields in the early morning light, mowing down rows of corn and chopping up ears, husks and stalks into mulch for feed at a local dairy. The cows won’t get their salad next year, at least not from this farm. There won’t be enough water to plant the corn crop. Climate change, drought and high demand are expected to force the first-ever mandatory cuts to a water supply that 40 million people across the American West depend on — the Colorado River. The US Bureau of Reclamation’s projection next week will spare cities and tribes but hit Arizona farmers hard. They knew this was coming. They have left fields unplanted, laser leveled the land, lined canals, installed drip irrigation, experimented with drought-resistant crops and found other ways to use water more efficiently.

USA - California’s largest single wildfire in recorded history continued to grow Wednesday after destroying more than 1,000 buildings, nearly half of them homes, while authorities in Montana ordered evacuations as a wind-driven blaze roared toward several remote communities. The dangerous fires were among some 100 large blazes burning across 15 states, mostly in the West, where historic drought conditions have left lands parched and ripe for ignition.

ALGERIA - Algeria’s government has announced an investigation to identify the “criminal hands” responsible for 50 “horror” fires that destroyed swathes of forest to the east of the country’s capital city and killed more than 20 people. Speaking on Tuesday, Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud declared that the government would launch an inquiry to find the “criminal hands” who are “behind the simultaneous outbreak of about 50 fires across several localities of the province.” The country’s emergency services have been battling to contain the blazes that have destroyed woodland and homes. In a statement posted to Facebook late Tuesday, the country's defense ministry said that 18 military personnel have died tackling the fires. Earlier, Algerian authorities said seven civilians had been killed. The thick smoke billowing from the fires has caused additional difficulties for firefighters trying to bring them under control.

SICILY - Regional authorities in Sicily recorded temperatures of 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 Fahrenheit) Wednesday as an anticyclone dubbed "Lucifer" swept the country - which if confirmed would be a new Italy record. The heat has raised fears for the fires that have blighted Sicily and the region of Calabria all summer, many caused by arson but fuelled by warm winds and dry soil and plants. "The fires are an emergency that need immediate responses, first and foremost with the relief that must be given to those who have lost everything," Patuanelli said. Blazes have also devastated Sardinia, with 13 fires recorded during the day on Tuesday. Over 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) burned last month in the west of the island during the worst fires seen in decades.

TURKEY - The death toll from flash floods in northern Turkey has reached nine, according to local authorities, who said that more than 900 people have been evacuated as buildings, bridges and roads suffered severe damage. On Thursday, the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said that they had been working around the clock to reach those in need in the flood-hit regions of northern Turkey. In a statement, they highlighted the scale of their efforts, noting that both coastguard units and the Turkish Red Crescent were also involved. In Kastamonu, AFAD stated that 777 personnel, 61 vehicles, 32 ambulances, and nine helicopters were among the units engaged in the relief efforts. The region is no stranger to summer flooding; last year at least five were killed when flash floods swept through northern Turkey.

CANADA - Patrick King has been trending on twitter due to a viral video where it is claimed that the province of Alberta rolled back on their lockdown measures as a result of Patrick’s court proceedings and this is not true as Patrick states “I Wasn’t Successful, No I did Not Win The Court Case”. In this video Dan Dicks of Press For Truth speaks with Patrick King in order to clear up some discrepancies in regards to what is happening with his case.

USA - From the onset of the pandemic, social media giants, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, have flagged COVID-related posts the social media giants deem “false or misleading.” That’s not news — most social media users are aware of the practice, especially amid recent headlines citing increased pressure from Congress and the White House to aggressively crack down on “vaccine misinformation.”

USA - Researchers at Stanford develop a new imaging method that enables visualization in unprecedented detail of the myriad connections between nerve cells in the brain. A typical, healthy one houses some 200 billion nerve cells, which are connected to one another via hundreds of trillions of synapses. Each synapse functions like a microprocessor, and tens of thousands of them can connect a single neuron to other nerve cells. In the cerebral cortex alone, there are roughly 125 trillion synapses, which is about how many stars fill 1,500 Milky Way galaxies.

GERMANY - Germany's upcoming general election in September. "We need a new policy towards the east that revitalizes the principle of the OSCE and CSCE, but as a principle of the European Union," he told DW in an exclusive interview. He said there should be a return to the "mutual principles" for security and human rights in Europe agreed within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE and its former title as the CSCE) — the intergovernmental organization that enables dialogue between western and eastern countries in Europe. "I also say that Russia and other countries need to accept that European integration will continue," he told DW. "If we want to ensure joint security in Europe, then it's about the European Union and Russia."

USA - It's time for alarm bells. It's time for me to play the part of Paul Revere: "The communist tyrants and dictators are coming! They're coming first for unvaccinated Americans. This is 1938. I'm a Jew. I now understand just a little of what it felt like to be a Jew in 1938. No, it's not the Holocaust. Nothing can be compared to the Holocaust. Ever. But 1938 was not the Holocaust. It was the pre-Holocaust.