EUROPE - The US president's branding of European allies as "foes" while slapping them with tariffs is "inappropriate," EU finance chief said at the G20 summit, which saw European countries upping their criticism of Trump's trade onslaught. European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici argued that the EU has done nothing to become the target of constant attacks, both economic and verbal, by US President Donald Trump. 

GERMANY - Despite having one of the toughest gun export laws in the world, Germany enjoys a comfy place among the top weapon exporters. How is that possible? A newly released Redfish documentary has some of the answers. “The laws are very strict and the practice is very-very leisure and very easy. Everyone was wondering how could it be that Germany has one of the strictest laws and always, depending on the ranking, is number three, in small arms is even number two of the biggest world arms trades and weapon producers?

UK - The Snapchat generation doesn’t seem to love the outdoors — at least not as much as doing other things. The average child between 6 and 16 years old spends only an hour a day outside, playing video games over twice as long, a new study finds. Researchers at Decathlon, a sports retailer in the United Kingdom, recently surveyed more than 2,000 British parents and children, hoping to learn more about the recreational attitudes of society’s youngest generation. The researchers’ findings shed light on a number of phenomena.

USA - More than a decade and a half after the septic holding tank was overturned in Boston, the unfathomable noxious waste of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in this country is still seeping out in fetid drips. As a Catholic, I believe that the Church was founded by the apostle St Peter at the behest of Christ Himself. I also believe that it was for many years and will for many more still remain a cesspool.

SOUTH AFRICA - The 10th annual Brics Leaders’ Summit will take place in Sandton, Johannesburg, and will see international heads of state, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Chinese leader President Xi Jinping and business leaders, civil society organisations and academics descend on South Africa. The five member states - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - account for approximately a fifth of the world’s economic output and 40% of its population.

USA - Some 13.5 percent of the US population - 44 million - is foreign born, the highest level ever, and many are not proficient in English, choosing to speak Spanish at home instead. A report from the Migration Policy Institute found that 22 percent of the US population does not speak English at home. The share was highest in Nevada at 31 percent and Florida at 29 percent. The report revealed a new trend in migration to the US where immigrants are dispersed throughout the nation instead of clustering in a few states and cities.

GREECE - Greece's prime minister told of the "unspeakable tragedy" the country faced after at least 74 [now 80+] people were killed by wildfires that swept through a resort, trapping people in cars and on the edge of cliffs as others were forced to jump off to survive. The scale of Monday night's devastation in Mati became apparent at first light on Tuesday. Scores of gutted cars lined streets in the coastal town, east of Athens, melted by the intensity of the heat. Bodies lay on roadsides, and in one area, a group of 26 people were found dead - some locked in an embrace as the flames closed in. The group, which included children, were found near the top of a cliff overlooking a beach. They had ended up there after apparently searching for an escape route. The lucky ones were able to leap off the cliffs to survive, or rush into the sea from the beach.

USA - President Trump late Sunday tweeted out to Iranian President Rouhani to never threaten the US again or face historic consequences. The tweet came on the heels of Rouhani’s warning to Trump that hostile policies could lead to the “mother of all wars" with Iran. Trump called for Rouhani to stop the rhetoric or - in caps lock - “suffer the consequences the like of which few throughout history have ever suffered before. We are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words of violence and death. Be cautious!” Sources told Reuters that US officials have launched an effort to foment unrest in Tehran and put pressure on the country’s leaders to end its nuclear program.

IRAN - Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that no country in the region will export oil if Iran’s exports are stopped.

The same threat was earlier voiced by President Hassan Rouhani.

Speaking to Iranian ambassadors and senior diplomats on Saturday, Khamenei backed Rouhani’s earlier warning to close the Strait of Hormuz, thus blocking all oil shipments from the Persian Gulf. “[These] were important remarks that reflect Islamic Republic’s approach,” the Ayatollah said, according to his official website. He added that Iran’s Foreign Ministry must closely follow the approach. The statement comes in response to anti-Iran rhetoric by the US, which is currently pressing allies to cut off Iranian crude exports. During a recent tour, a senior State Department official warned that those failing to reduce Iranian oil imports to “zero” by early November would face US sanctions.

GERMANY - Looking at a recent cover of the German news magazine Der Spiegel, one might be forgiven for thinking that all is lost for the Fatherland. A dismal performance of the German national football team (Die Mannschaft) is seen as the consequence of a general malaise. “Haggard”, “exhausted”, “tired” are not only words used to describe the football coach Joachim Löw but also Germany’s long-serving chancellor, Angela Merkel.  In the Der Spiegel article, Merkel is depicted as a spent force.

ISRAEL - Israel and the Palestinian authority Hamas have agreed to restore calm after a day of armed confrontation, which saw one Israeli soldier killed and dozens of airstrikes launched by Israel, killing four Palestinians. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum has attributed the armistice to the mediation of Egypt and the UN. "With Egyptian and United Nations efforts it has been agreed to return to the era of calm between (Israel) and Palestinian factions," he said, as cited by Reuters. Israel did not immediately issue any official reaction to the news of the ceasefire.

USA - As LGBT activists continue to push their agenda into schools, parents are starting to wake up to the assault taking place on their children. But now, LGBT activists have switched gears to a new tactic which makes things even worse. And even more horrific, they are deliberately keeping parents in the dark at what is taking place behind closed doors. LGBT activists have figured out the mass public doesn’t buy the “transgender” propaganda they are trying to sell.

USA - Three-year-old twins Zyler and Kadyn Sharpe scurried around the boys and girls clothing racks of a narrow consignment store filled with toys. Zyler, wearing rainbow leggings, scrutinized a pair of hot-pink-and-purple sneakers. Kadyn, in a T-Rex shirt, fixated on a musical cube that flashed colorful lights. At a glance, the only discernible difference between these fraternal twins is their hair — Zyler’s is brown and Kadyn’s is blond.

USA - This week, MSM screamed “Russia, Russia, Russia” in unison - and called Trump a traitor for meeting Putin… Meanwhile, Boeing executives quietly signed about $40 billion in contracts with Russian companies. “Russia Russia Russia!!!” is all we’ve heard for the past few days – how many members of the media or former defense/intelligence officials are screaming about Boeing executives signing about $40 billion in contracts with Russian companies over the same period? The US also criticized Germany for their NordStream2 pipeline – but Boeing is selling Russian companies freight jets which will primarily be used to transport oil equipment. Notice you must visit 2 Russian sites (RT and Sputnik) to piece the deals together to get the $39 billion total… no US MSM has covered these deals in their totality.

GREECE - At least 50 people are feared dead in wildfires burning in the Attica region around Athens, in Greece's worst fire crisis in more than a decade. According to the Red Cross, 26 bodies were found in the yard of a villa in the seaside village of Mati, which is at the centre of the disaster. Before news of the grim discovery, the official death toll stood at 24. As part of a huge rescue effort, emergency workers used boats and helicopters to evacuate a beach. Hundreds of firefighters are battling the blazes and the authorities are seeking international assistance. At least 104 people were injured, 11 seriously, with 16 children among the casualties. "Mati doesn't even exist as a settlement anymore," one woman was quoted by Reuters as telling Greece's Skai TV.