UK - The world is ill-prepared for the global crash in children being born which is set to have a "jaw-dropping" impact on societies, say researchers. Falling fertility rates mean nearly every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century. And 23 nations - including Spain and Japan - are expected to see their populations halve by 2100. Countries will also age dramatically, with as many people turning 80 as there are being born. Professor Christopher Murray told the BBC, "I think it's incredibly hard to think this through and recognise how big a thing this is; it's extraordinary, we'll have to reorganise societies." Japan's population is projected to fall from a peak of 128 million in 2017 to less than 53 million by the end of the century. Italy is expected to see an equally dramatic population crash from 61 million to 28 million over the same timeframe. They are two of 23 countries - which also include Spain, Portugal, Thailand and South Korea - expected to see their population more than halve.

YEMEN - Just a day after striking sensitive oil installations and military sites inside Saudi Arabia in a retaliatory operation, Yemeni armed forces say they will soon unveil a new type of domestic ballistic missile. Brigadier Abdullah bin Amer, deputy director of the Department of Moral Guidance for Media Affairs, hailed Yemen's major military operation that targeted a number of sites deep within the Saudi territory, including King Khalid airbase in the city of Khamis Mushait, an oil facility in Jizan industrial zone as well as military sites at Abha, Jizan and Najran airports and a military camp in Ma’rib Province. Unlike previous operations that involved launching only one ballistic missile, the recent strike was conducted using a combination of missiles and drones, al-Masirah TV channel quoted bin Amer as saying. Saudi Arabia waged a devastating military aggression against its southern neighbor in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allied states, and with arms support from certain Western countries. The war has claimed an estimated 100,000 lives over the past five years.

USA - The city council in Asheville, North Carolina approved paying reparations to black residents, while a mayor in Rhode Island signed an order promising to look into the act, leading many to argue this is the start of a major trend. "Hundreds of years of Black blood spilled that basically fills the cup we drink from today," Keith Young, one of the black members of the Asheville City Council, said. "It is simply not enough to remove statutes. Black people in this country are dealing with issues that are systemic in nature." The vote was 7-0 in favor of the measure.

USA - Two months ago, we said that it was just a matter of time before a "biblical" wave of bankruptcies was about to be unleashed on the US as a result of the coronavirus pandemic… and sure enough, the first wave of corporate defaults is starting to wash across US shores, with companies in every industry - from retailers, to airlines, and restaurants - but also sports leagues, a cannabis company and an archdiocese plagued by sex-abuse allegations. These are some of the more than 110 companies tracked by Bloomberg that have declared bankruptcy in the US this year and blamed Covid-19 in part for their demise. Among the filers are some of the most iconic names of US business: Hertz, JC Penney and as of last week, Brooks Brothers, too. The biggest - so far - is rental giant Hertz, which survived two world wars, a great depression, a cold war, but ultimately folded, beaten by a tiny Chinese virus.

USA - The new coronavirus pandemic, civil unrest after the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing movement to defund police are bringing in new buyers worried about their personal safety, according to buyers, store owners and gun experts. Gun sales began rising to unusual highs in March, as coronavirus cases began surging in the US and government-ordered lockdowns led to the highest unemployment levels since the Great Depression. The Federal Bureau of Investigation processed 7.8 million background checks for gun purchases from March to June, according to National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade group. In June, background checks for firearms were up 136%, compared to a year earlier, according to the trade group, which gives the best proxy for gun sales. Background checks in June for civilians seeking a license to carry were the highest since the FBI began conducting checks 20 years ago.

USA - More than two dozen shootings across New York City over the weekend left a one-year-old dead and at least 34 others injured, some potentially fatally, dwarfing the number of people killed there by the coronavirus during the same period. It appears that over the weekend, particularly that fateful Sunday that left the one-year-old dead, NYC residents had a higher chance of getting shot than dying from coronavirus. While NYC has largely tamed the lethal and highly contagious coronavirus, another epidemic is starting to rear its ugly head in the city once again — violent crimes. “A one-year-old child is dead. The baby was with his family enjoying a Sunday night in the Summer when someone started shooting,” NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey wrote on Twitter. “This. Must. STOP! We as a community, we as a police department denounce this disgusting violence.”

UK - The UK faces the biggest peacetime deficit in history with the risk of four million people out of work by next year - and the economy might not recover until 2025. In a bleak new assessment, the government's OBR watchdog warned tax rises and spending cuts - potentially as much as 7p on the basic rate of income tax - are inevitable as it poured cold water on hopes of a 'V-shaped' bounceback from coronavirus. It said GDP will fall by up to 14 per cent this year, the worst recession in 300 years, with national debt bigger than the whole economy. Underlining the scale of the hit, government liabilities will be £710 billion more than previously expected by 2023-4. That is equivalent to nearly £11,000 for every man, woman and child in the UK. Meanwhile, unemployment could peak at 13 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 - which would mean more than four million people on the dole queue.

USA - I had no idea that things had gotten so bad. Earlier today, my wife spoke with the manager of a local grocery store because she wanted to place a large order for some canned goods. What she was told surprised her, and it certainly surprised me. The manager of this local grocery store told her that there are numerous nationwide shortages going on at this moment, and he indicated that there are lots of products that he simply cannot get right now. When my wife told me what he had said, I decided that I had to look into this, because I hadn’t heard that canned goods were in short supply. Well, it turns out that the manager that my wife spoke with was right on target, and that should deeply alarm all of us.

UK - Britain still has a thriving slave trade – but for some mysterious reason, Black Lives Matter just don’t want to know. Well, maybe there’s a clue buried somewhere in this report. It describes how, according to the anti-slavery charity Justice and Care, there are nearly 100,000 slaves working across Britain. Perhaps one-tenth of these, we know from the courageous reporting of Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen, are based in the city of Leicester — working in cramped, unsafe conditions in sweatshops with boarded-up windows and no natural light, producing cheap clothing for the fashion industry. There are, I can absolutely guarantee you, many thousands of teenage girls all over Britain who decorated their Instagram pages with blacked out tributes to Black Lives Matter but who think absolutely nothing of buying cut-price fashions from the trendy online retailers who are able to charge such attractively low prices because the clothes are made, it turns out, by slave labour. This ought to be a national scandal.

GERMANY - Time for Germany to step up. With Germany at the EU helm, there’s a unique chance for Europe to fill the vacuum left by the retreating USA. ‘Not only is Angela Merkel’s government chairing the EU, it is a member of the UN security council until 31 December.’

EUROPE - Politicians are about to be confronted with the harsh reality of their insane lockdowns in Europe. Germany now realizes there is building massive civil unrest and there is no doubt that this New Green World Order is out to end the car industry which is a major industry that will leave the workers without a future. The government is preparing for major civil unrest and our computer has been warning Europe is being pushed into civil war as tourism has been crushed. Meanwhile, yesterday night demonstrators in Belgrade attacked the Serbian Parliament throwing stones and bottles at the windows of the parliament building. We are looking at serious civil unrest which can lead to revolution insofar as breaking up the EU as they push for this New Green World Order which will destroy the future of so many in Europe. Only elitists view that such a transition is no problem. They underestimate the economic damage and this is the END of perpetually borrowing with no intention of ever repaying any debt.

USA - Another wave of lockdowns has begun, and that is really bad news for the US economy. The first wave of lockdowns resulted in the permanent closing of more than 100,000 US businesses, colossal lines at food banks around the nation, and the loss of tens of millions of jobs. Needless to say, this new wave of lockdowns will make things even worse, and some are speculating that this is precisely what Democrats want.

UK - The Bank of England is reviewing whether it should create a central bank-backed digital currency, according to governor Andrew Bailey. “We are looking at the question of, should we create a Bank of England digital currency,” Bailey said Monday in a webinar event with students. “We’ll go on looking at it, as it does have huge implications on the nature of payments and society.” “I think in a few years time, we will be heading toward some sort of digital currency,” he added. The BOE is part of a group of major central banks teaming up to assess potentially developing their own digital currencies, acknowledging their role is being challenged by new technologies and private sector initiatives such as Facebook Inc’s Libra.

EUROPE - The previous religious envoy was influential in securing the release of the Pakistani Christian, Asia Bibi, from a death sentence in 2019. Calls are growing for the European Union to reinstate its Special Envoy on Religious Freedom, after the post was abolished by the new Brussels Commission under Ursula Von Der Leyen. “In some countries, religious oppression has now reached the level of genocide,” said Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, president of COMECE, which represents the EU's Catholic Bishops Conferences. “Vulnerable religious minorities and groups are at risk, and the EU must continue campaigning for religious freedom, with its own representative included.”

IRAN - Iran is caught in a dilemma between hiding the true scale of damage caused to its nuclear program by the Natanz explosion and fire and the urge to punish the culprit. On July 10, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi warned of “consequences” to foreign elements proved to be involved. He also hedged it round by saying it was “too early” to judge “the main cause and reason for the blast.”. He criticized media reports attributing the explosion to Israel for “portraying Israel as powerful.” Tehran knows perfectly well the exact cause and reason for the Natanz blast on July 2 (which occurred less than a week after an explosion at a secret underground tunnel system and missile production site east of Tehran.) They may not admit this, but they know that the damage to the Iran Centrifuge Assembly Center (ICAC) at the Natanz enrichment center was “extensive, severe and possibly irreparable,” according to analysts David Albright, Sarah Burkhard, and Frank Pabian of the Institute for Science & International Security.