USA - Those that have been hoping for some sort of a “V-shaped recovery” have had their hopes completely dashed. US workers continue to lose jobs at a staggering rate, and economic activity continues to remain at deeply suppressed levels all over the nation. Of course this wasn’t supposed to happen now that states have been “reopening” their economies. We were told that things would soon be getting back to normal and that the economic numbers would rebound dramatically. But that is not happening. In fact, the number of Americans that filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week was much higher than expected…

GERMANY - Given the growing conflict between the great powers over geopolitical zones of influence and trade routes, the rearmament is being systematically promoted by the grand coalition of Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and Social Democrats (SPD) as well as German industry. In mid-May, the two German shipyards Lürssen Group and German Naval Yards Kiel (GNYK) announced their intention to merge into a national German shipyards’ alliance. The declared goal is to create the necessary armament structures for the building of German warships.

GERMANY - Hensoldt will design and develop a new Active Electronic Scanning Array (AESA) radar for the entire German fleet of Eurofighters following a decision by the Bundestag to release €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) for the effort. Thomas Müller, CEO of Hensoldt, said: ‘With this decision, Germany is taking on a pioneering role in the field of key technology for the Eurofighter for the first time… This will create high-tech jobs in Germany and give the Bundeswehr the equipment it needs to respond to new threats.’ Responsibility for previous upgrades to Eurofighter sensor systems fell to a consortium of UK-based defence companies. Alongside approving funding for the AESA radar, the Budget Committee of the Bundestag also approved funding for the procurement of four MKS 180 multi-purpose combat ships for the German Navy for which Hensoldt will provide four TRS-4D naval radars based on AESA technology.

GERMANY - Angela Merkel has issued a damning warning about the implications of the devastating coronavirus crisis and 'how fragile the European project still is', during a speech in the German parliament. The European Union has been embroiled in a huge spat about how the Brussels bloc will manage the financial burden caused by the coronavirus crisis.

UNITED NATIONS - Nearly 80 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to violence and persecution, marking a near-doubling of global displacement in a decade, the UN said Thursday. By the end of 2019, one out of every 97 people in the world was living uprooted and displaced, according to a fresh report by the United Nations refugee agency, highlighting swelling displacement from conflicts in places like Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. "One percent of the world population cannot go back to their homes because there are wars, persecution, human rights violations, and other forms of violence," UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi told AFP in an interview. "With the international community so divided, so unable, so incapable of making peace, unfortunately the situation won't stop growing, and I am very worried that next year it will be even worse than this year."

USA - With race-driven anti-police protests nationwide, one-in-three voters continue to believe America is on the brink of another civil war. Blacks are the least optimistic that the protests will lead to positive change but the most supportive of removing Confederate symbols from public display. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 34% of Likely US Voters think the United States will experience a second civil war sometime in the next five years, but that includes only nine percent (9%) who say it’s Very Likely. As recently as last November, 73% of American Adults said Americans should be proud of the history of the United States. But 32% of Democrats share New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s view that “we’re not going to make America great again. It was never that great.”

USA - For all its talk of being a street uprising, Black Lives Matter is increasingly awash in cash, raking in pledges of more than $100 million from liberal foundations and others eager to contribute to what has become the grant-making cause du jour. The Ford Foundation and Borealis Philanthropy recently announced the formation of the Black-Led Movement Fund [BLMF], a six-year pooled donor campaign aimed at raising $100 million for the Movement for Black Lives coalition.

GERMANY - Germany has recorded its largest local Covid-19 outbreak since it started reopening its economy in early May, with more than 600 employees of a slaughterhouse testing positive for coronavirus this week, authorities said on Wednesday. The announcement highlighted the risk of a new spike in infections even as the pace of the coronavirus pandemic is slowing across Europe.

USA - Boats are being told to steer clear of the Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart, Florida, after the US Coast Guard (USCG) warned it could collapse at any moment. Concerned locals posted photos of a crack at the south end of the structure. The USCG and the state’s department of transport are among the agencies working to secure the safe closure of the bridge while maintenance is carried out on the affected area. The bridge spans the St Lucie River and is an important route for both land vehicles and maritime traffic within the state. Some concrete fell from the bridge overnight, according to local authorities, leaving a distinct pockmark in the structure’s facade. Photos taken by concerned Floridians and local news outlets show an alarming crack emanating from the gap.

USA - Urban communities all over the US are now facing the possibility of a mass exodus of businesses, and many local leaders are freaking out because they realize what such a mass exodus will mean for their cities. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, peaceful protests were held in more than 300 cities all across America, and a recent CNN poll found that 84 percent of all Americans supported those peaceful protests.

Unfortunately, rioting, looting and violence also erupted in major cities from coast to coast, and very little was done to suppress that violence. As a result, the core areas of many of our largest cities now resemble war zones, and in the months ahead there will be a constant threat that the violence could flare up again at any time. Needless to say, many businesses that have been torched or looted are going to be extremely hesitant to rebuild and start over in the same location when the same thing could easily happen again.

EGYPT - On Wednesday, the United States was hosting talks between the countries and their fellow Nile-user Sudan to try to restart stalled talks over the hydropower project. US President Donald Trump said he met with officials from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to discuss the issues involved. “The meeting went well and discussions will continue during the day!” Trump said in a Twitter post. But even if Washington succeeds where years of trilateral negotiations have failed, Egypt will still have broader water problems that have left it struggling to sustain food production. The stakes are high. Talk of physical conflict between the countries along the Nile has receded, but Egypt sees the dam as an existential threat that could decimate farming and damage power supplies. More than 80% of its water is used for agriculture, but scarcity means Cairo already imports about half its food and is the world’s largest wheat importer.

GERMANY - Disasters aren’t necessarily devastating to financial markets. That’s worth bearing in mind when considering a new report from Deutsche Bank that looked at the next massive tail risk for markets. Analysts, led by Henry Allen, say there is at least a one-in-three chance that at least one of four major tail risks will occur within the next decade: a major influenza pandemic killing more than two million people; a globally catastrophic volcanic eruption; a major solar flare; or a global war. (The current COVID-19 pandemic has killed 443,765 globally already.) If the time frame is two decades, then there is a 56% chance of one of these disasters occurring, the analysts say, based on various studies and risk assessments. Earthquakes were omitted from the numbers on the grounds that they are more local events.

ZIMBABWE - In a country grappling not just with coronavirus but with a string of deepening economic and political crises - including rumours and denials of a coup plot - the extraordinary and deeply controversial case of opposition activists Cecilia Chimbiri, Netsai Marova and Joana Mamombe seems to point to something grim and fundamental about Zimbabwe's current struggles: an overwhelming loss of public trust in its key institutions. "We see a very jittery state that is at war with its citizens," said Fadzayi Mahere, a spokeswoman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Zimbabwe: Key facts: 15.6 million size of population; 63% live below poverty line; 23% of children have stunted growth; 785.5% official annual inflation rate in May...

UK - Scientists using highly sensitive vibration detectors have decoded honeybee queens' "tooting and quacking" duets in the hive. Worker bees make new queens by sealing eggs inside special cells with wax and feeding them royal jelly. The queens quack when ready to emerge - but if two are free at the same time, they will fight to the death. So when one hatches, its quacks turn to toots, telling the workers to keep the others - still quacking - captive. Dr Martin Bencsik, from Nottingham Trent University, who led this study, described the tooting and quacking of these "wonderful animals" as "extraordinary".

USA - President Donald Trump said Monday he is planning to withdraw a little more than half of the US troops now stationed in Germany, despite concerns that such a move would reduce American influence throughout Europe. Claiming Germany is not paying enough toward the NATO military alliance, Trump said the total deployment of American troops in Germany would drop to 25,000. The president estimated around 52,000 military personnel are stationed in Germany, but that number may include Defense Department civilian employees.

"Germany's delinquent, they've been delinquent for years," Trump told reporters at the White House. “They owe NATO billions of dollars and they have to pay it.” Under NATO rules, countries have committed to spend at least 2 percent of their annual defense budgets on the alliance. Germany has not yet reached that goal. The country did spend 1.36 percent of its gross domestic product on the NATO alliance in 2019, though, because of its size, the country spends more on its military than its European neighbors.