MIDDLE EAST - A very dangerous geopolitical chess match is playing out right in front of our eyes. As I discussed yesterday, France and Saudi Arabia will co-chair “the Conference on the Two-State Solution” at the United Nations on September 22nd. The goal of this conference is to create an unstoppable wave of international momentum toward the creation of a Palestinian state. Israeli officials are very upset about this conference, and they are considering annexing large portions of the West Bank in response. If that happens, Israel’s Islamic neighbors will go absolutely berserk and a catastrophic war could break out in the Middle East. So let us hope that cooler heads prevail, because we are rapidly approaching a point of no return. This is something that could POTENTIALLY UNITE ALL OF THE SURROUNDING NATIONS. So what would Israel do if it was suddenly confronted with a military threat from a large Islamic coalition? It appears that this thing could spiral out of control very easily.

CHINA - The latest gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tianjin looks at first like another summit – handshakes, family portraits, scripted statements. But the meeting on August 31–September 1 is more than diplomatic theater: it is another marker of the end of the unipolar era dominated by the United States, and the rise of a multipolar system centered on Asia, Eurasia, and the Global South. At the table were Chinese President Xi Jinping, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – together representing more than a third of humanity and 3 of the largest countries on Earth. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin was less about formal speeches than about symbolism. It signalled that the unipolar world has ended. From development banks to energy corridors to parades of missiles, a new multipolar order is taking shape – and it no longer asks for Western permission.

USA - The grid is snapping. Not metaphorically. Not slowly. It’s breaking under unrelenting pressure, pressure from machines that never rest, never blink, never care. Data centers are not a part of the future. They are the future’s parasite. And they are feeding on your power. “Electricity prices across the country rose at more than twice the rate of overall inflation in the past year and are holding near a record high. Residential electricity prices have climbed about 10% from January until May and are projected to gain another 5.8% next year.” This isn’t inflation. It’s extraction. A siphon from your wall socket to their server racks. You pay more. They expand. You dim the lights. They light up the cloud. Every kilowatt is a vote of surrender. The grid wasn’t built for this. It was built for homes, neighborhoods, people. Now it’s twisted to serve machines.

EUROPE - German defence minister Boris Pistorius says VdL is 'totally wrong' to discuss possible troop deployment plans for Ukraine in public. Boris Pistorius told reporters during a visit to a Cologne ammunition factory on Monday (September 1): "Those are things that you don't discuss before you sit down at the negotiating table with many parties that have a say in the matter." He added: "I would know better than to comment or confirm such considerations in any way, apart from the fact that the European Union has no mandate or competency whatsoever when it comes to positioning troops."

SUDAN - A mountain village of more than 1,000 people in Sudan’s Darfur region has “disappeared” in a landslide triggered by weeks of rain, according to locals and the rebel group that controls the area. Only one survivor has been found since the village of Tarasin in the Marrah mountains was smothered on Sunday. A farmer from the neighbouring village Ammo said Tarasin was wiped out by the landslide after relentless downpours. “The village and its people disappeared. It’s an unprecedented tragedy,” Al-Amin Abdallah Abbas said, adding that locals were attempting to recover and bury the victims.

UK - This ‘visas for drag queens’ farce proves our immigration system is truly broken. Yes, Britain has skills shortages. But are we really running low on men who wear dresses? I merely ask why it is that we need to import drag queens at all. Unlike health or social care, drag is surely not a field in which Britain is suffering from an acute labour shortage. Homegrown drag queens are in abundant supply. We know this thanks to the remarkable number of stories about them published on the BBC News website.

CHINA - The slogan ‘freedom is not a gift, it must be seized back’ was beamed on to the side of a building in what is a rare sign of protest during Xi’s crackdowns. When police saw a slogan beamed on to the side of a building in a university district of the major Chinese city of Chongqing, they sprang into action. The slogan called for the overthrow of the Communist Party. “Freedom is not a gift, it must be seized back,” it said. “Rise up, people who refuse to be slaves, rise up and resist to reclaim your rights. Down with red fascism, overthrow the Communist tyranny.” It took 50 minutes, according to observers, for the police to find the projector. Of the perpetrator himself, there was no sign — because, according to the man who has claimed responsibility for the action, he was already in London. “I set it up so I could trigger it remotely,” he told The Times...

ISRAEL - The real question is not if it will happen, but when; and, more importantly, whether we are prepared. Recent reports of deadly earthquakes in Turkey, Afghanistan, Russia’s Kamchatka region, and even the Mediterranean basin serve as a stark reminder of the threats that preoccupied the Israeli public before the tragic events of October 7. Israel, situated along the seismically active Syrian-African Rift, is far from immune to such disasters. In fact, experts unanimously agree that a major earthquake in Israel is not a possibility; it is a certainty. The real question is not if it will happen, but when; and, more importantly, whether we are prepared.

TENERIFE - The exercise will mobilise 1,000 people, including technicians from the government, members of the Military Emergency Unit and scientific organisations. Tourists visiting Tenerife have been warned of a "potentially scary" volcano alert as it could activate its biggest ever warning system. The Spanish island is home to various volcanoes, the most famous being Mount Teide, which has experienced a series of underground tremors in recent weeks. Experts said everyone on Tenerife is about to receive an "eruption" alert which they need to be aware of. Many people will be asked to leave their homes as part of the largest ever volcanic emergency drill which was already in the planning stage. The simulated emergency will be based in the town of Garachico in the north and all Tenerife residents will receive a telephone alert on September 26.

FRANCE - France orders hospitals to be ready for war by next year as Germany warns it is on alert should Putin use forthcoming military drills to ATTACK Europe. French hospitals have been ordered to make preparations for an imminent war in Europe as Germany says it is on alert for Russia's military drills. France's ministry of health has told health bodies across the country to prepare for a possible 'major engagement' by March 2026, according to documents obtained by Le Canard Enchaîné. The French government is predicting a scenario where the nation would become a supporting state that has the capacity to take a massive number of wounded soldiers from France and other European nations. The order aims to 'anticipate, prepare and respond to the health needs of the population while integrating the specific needs of defense in the health field'.