HOLLAND - When Donald Trump claimed his administration would be “designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization [sic]” the day before threatening to send the military to quell nationwide protests against racist police violence earlier this summer, he found a notable voice of support in Thierry Baudet, leader of the Dutch far-right party Forum for Democracy (FvD).

RUSSIA - President Vladimir Putin on Friday mocked the US embassy in Moscow for flying a rainbow flag to celebrate LGBT rights, suggesting it reflected the sexual orientation of its staff. His comments followed a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms that included an amendment enshrining the definition of marriage specifically as a union between a man and a woman. Putin said the US embassy's move to raise the LGBT pride flag "revealed something about the people that work there". "It's no big deal though. We have spoken about this many times, and our position is clear," said Putin, who has sought to distance Russia from liberal Western values and aligned himself with the Russian Orthodox Church. "Yes, we passed a law banning the propaganda of homosexuality among minors. So what? Let people grow up, become adults and then decide their own destinies." The legislation has been used to stop gay pride marches and detain gay rights activists.

NIGERIA - The largest indigenous Christian denomination in the Northeast of Nigeria has reported a death toll of more than 8,370 of its members due to attacks from the Boko Haram Islamic terror group. The Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, known in Hausa as Ekklesiyya Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN), reportedly has 1.5 million members spread mostly across the Northeast of the nation. The majority of the Boko Haram slayings of EYN members have taken place in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States.

VATICAN - The Vatican issued a statement Wednesday warning Israel that “unilateral actions” in the West Bank and Jordan Valley would seriously compromise peace efforts in the area. In its statement, the Holy See press office revealed the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, met with the Ambassadors of the United States of America and of the State of Israel on Tuesday. At that meeting, Cardinal Parolin expressed “the concern of the Holy See regarding possible unilateral actions that may further jeopardize the search for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the delicate situation in the Middle East.” The Vatican’s “concern” relates to plans to extend Israeli law over parts of the West Bank and Jordan Valley in an effort to safeguard Jewish settlements in the West Bank and shore up Israel’s western border by annexing the Jordan Valley.

ISRAEL - Israel could soon begin the process of annexing some of the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to unilaterally apply Israeli law to portions of the territory — virtually guaranteeing their permanent retention by Israel — looms alongside an even larger elephant in the room: Netanyahu is well on his way to ensuring that a real Palestinian state based on June 1967 borders with a capital in East Jerusalem goes the way of the dodo. Regardless of what happens with annexation, that will be his legacy — and it will likely be an irreversible one. Leaders inside and outside the Middle East are now practically begging Netanyahu to show restraint. In recent weeks, the debate in Israel has shifted from whether to annex to how much to annex, underscoring the extent to which the game is being played on his terms. But having done his utmost to kill the two-state solution for most of the past decade, Netanyahu now waits, shovel in hand, to bury it.

USA - President Donald Trump described ongoing drives to destroy historical statues and monuments as part of a broader campaign to “far-left fascism” that seeks to “overthrow the American Revolution,” making his comments during his Salute America address on Friday evening at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

INDIA - World War 3 fears have reignited after India confirmed Pakistan had mobilised over 20,000 soldiers to their shared border as New Delhi continues to fend off hostility from China. India had previously expressed concerns Pakistan would join the tensions in support to China, a forecast that appeared to be confirmed after Islamabad moved 20,000 soldiers to the line of control (LoC). The move matches a similar deployment authorised by Beijing along the line of actual control (LaC) in the Ladakh region earlier in June. "This is an indicator that Pakistan is doing this on China’s orders, an order Pakistan can ill-afford to ignore. The fact remains, at this point in time, India is facing hostilities on two borders, Pakistan on the north and the west, China north and east. A threat that’s big on two fronts." Mr Sawant said: "What India faces is more than a two-front war, with two nuclear neighbours in a hostile axis and with both looking to pour fuel on terror activity."

CHINA - China's grand expansion plans have been laid bare this week amid the first arrests from its controversial new security law in Hong Kong - and Taiwan could well be next, an expert claims. On Tuesday China passed and implemented its controversial and wide-ranging security law in the autonomous region of Hong Kong. The details of the law’s 66 articles were kept secret until after it was passed. Now, secession (breaking away from the country), subversion (undermining the power or authority of the central government), terrorism (using violence or intimidation against people), and collusion with foreign or external forces [is outlawed]. Many have warned that the laws can be interpreted by China how it pleases, and are intended to allow Beijing to have a legal framework to deal with what it sees as serious challenges to its authority. Critics say the new law undermines the freedoms Hong Kong is meant to have under the “one country, two systems” framework. This came about when the island territory was handed back to China from British control in 1997.

MONGOLIA - Mongolia has quarantined a region next to the Chinese border following two suspected cases of the plague. The outbreak is being linked to marmot meat, health experts revealed on Wednesday. Lab tests have reportedly confirmed that two unidentified individuals had contracted the disease in the region of Khovd, Mongolia's National Center for Zoonotic Disease (NCZD) said in a statement. The NCZD analysed samples from 146 different people who may have had contact and discovered two individuals were infected. Local reports suggested that the victims include a 27-year-old male and a young woman. The bacterial infection can kill adults within 24 hours if not treated in time. The plague is spread by fleas living on wild rodents such as marmots. The bacterium was also linked to the Black Death in the 14th century. It killed more than a third of Europe's population.

ETHIOPIA - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today that 700,000 refugees, 1.15 million children aged between 6 and 59 months, and 750,000 pregnant and nursing women will be at serious risk if additional funding does not materialize in coming weeks. This funding crisis comes as Ethiopia is struggling to contain a four-pronged food security crisis linked to the combined impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a devastating desert locust invasion, widespread flooding and rising food prices. “The food security situation in Ethiopia could not be more precarious.” said Steven Were Omamo, WFP Representative and Country Director in Ethiopia. “The vulnerable people whom the Government of Ethiopia and WFP serve are struggling just to get by. They are utterly dependent on this support for their survival.”

GERMANY - A German equivalent to UK’s Financial Times and America’s Wall Street Journal is the Dusseldorf Handelsblatt or “Commerce Sheet,” which headlined on June 30th, “Former Chancellor Schröder: USA Ending Transatlantic Partnership”. They reported: Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has condemned possible new US sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline as “deliberate termination of the transatlantic partnership.” A draft law currently under discussion in the US Congress is “a widespread, unjustified attack on the European economy and an unacceptable interference with EU sovereignty and the energy security of Western Europe,” Schröder writes in his statement for a public hearing of the Economic Committee scheduled for Wednesday in the Bundestag. The article closes: Schröder sees the relations with the USA as “heavily burdened” by “escalating tariffs and going it alone” policy by the Americans. Schröder writes: “Economic fines against a NATO ally during the current economic recession are nothing other than a deliberate termination of the transatlantic partnership.”

GERMANY - Ambassador Michael Koch, German Ambassador to the Holy See discusses the upcoming German EU presidency and the challenges the EU will have to tackle in the following months. With regards to the role of the Holy See, Ambassador Koch says that "we cannot, and do not, expect their role to be one of telling us how to draft a EU budget". However, “what is important and what the Holy See and the Pope have contributed repeatedly” are very clear indications of the basis from which this sort of exercise ought to be launched.

UK - More than 12,000 people in the UK are set to lose their jobs after a raft of firms announced cuts in the past 48 hours. The cuts are mainly being made by High Street retailers and in aviation - two of the sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus lockdown. John Lewis has said it will close stores but has not confirmed how many jobs will go. Topshop owner Arcadia and Harrods said they planned a total of 1,180 job cuts. Businesses have been hit hard since the UK went into lockdown on 23 March, and even though restrictions are gradually being eased, consumer demand remains depressed. The government's furlough scheme will also start to be pared back from August, and firms are cutting jobs to control their costs.

PHILIPPINES - Manila and nearby cities will remain under a general lockdown until July 15, while a strict lockdown in Cebu City, where there has been a surge in coronavirus infections will be kept, President Rodrigo R Duterte said late Tuesday. Aside from Metro Manila, the provinces of Benguet, Cavite, Rizal, Leyte and Southern Leyte, and the cities of Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue and Ormoc will continue to be under a general community quarantine. “Cebu is now the hotspot for COVID-19,” Mr. Duterte said in a televised speech. “Why? Because many of you chose not to obey.” The President also criticized Talisay City, which he said appeared like a marketplace everyday. “You’ve been on a drinking spree, drinking, gambling and almost nonchalant of the dangers that are lurking around,” he said

USA - The dollar’s dominance will slowly melt away over the coming year on weakening global demand and a sombre US economic outlook, according to a Reuters poll of currency forecasters whose views depend on there being no second coronavirus shock. Caught between bets in favour of riskier investments, weak US economic prospects as well as an easing in the thirst for dollars after the Federal Reserve flooded markets with liquidity, the greenback fell nearly 1.0% last month. It was its worst monthly performance since December. While there was a dire prognosis from the top US medical expert on the coronavirus’ spread, the June 25-July 1 poll of over 70 analysts showed weak dollar projections as Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Monday reiterated the economic outlook for the world’s largest economy was uncertain.