USA - It is difficult to find the words to describe just how serious America’s trade war with China is becoming.  As you will see below, the two largest economies on the entire planet are on a self-destructive course that almost seems irreversible at this point.  The only way that this trade war is going to come to a rapid conclusion is if one side is willing to totally submit and accept an extremely bitter and humiliating defeat on the global stage, and that is not likely to happen. 

USA - More than a month after the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, America's strategy for containing Iran’s nuclear program and regional expansionism remains murky. Having worked tirelessly for the agreement’s abrogation, this should be Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s finest hour. But, in practice, the Trump administration does not appear to have a coherent strategy towards Iran and is now focused on North Korea. What may be even more worrisome is that Israel, too, does not appear to have a coherent and practical strategy.

ISRAEL - Transportation minister says he has begun consulting with leaders of relevant countries regarding plan that would give Gulf easier access to Europe. “Tracks for Regional Peace” is based on the planned extension of railway tracks in northern Israel, which would link Haifa’s seaport to Jordan’s rail network, which in turn will be linked with that of Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states.

SWEDEN - The future is coming, and it is going to look very strange. In the past, many authors had raised the possibility of tyrannical governments forcibly microchipping their own populations someday, but what if most of humanity actually embraces this new technology enthusiastically? Today, thousands of people in Sweden are eagerly having microchips inserted into their own hands, and it is rapidly becoming a natural part of society. Even in the United States, at one time there was great resistance to the idea of microchipping our pets, but now it is almost universally accepted. Personal microchips are being promoted as a way to make routine tasks faster, easier and more convenient, and Swedish “biohackers” are quite thrilled to be on the cutting edge of this new trend… At this moment technology is advancing at a pace never seen before in human history...

CHINA - With the market tumbling today on worries that the tit-for-tat trade war escalation between the US and China is now "irreversible", the WSJ just poured gas on the fire with a report that China President Xi Jinping is responding to the Trump administration’s trade-clash escalations "with a bare-knuckle approach that makes a bruising fight more likely." Citing people who were present at a meeting last Thursday between Xi and a group of 20 mostly American and European multinational chief executives, the WSJ reports that the Chinese president said that Beijing plans to strike back. “In the West you have the notion that if somebody hits you on the left cheek, you turn the other cheek,” the Chinese leader said, according to the people. “In our culture we punch back.”

USA - Planned Parenthood affiliates from around the country are suing the Trump administration for its efforts to promote sex education programs in public schools that teach young people to make healthy lifestyle decisions… The lawsuits were filed in federal courts by Planned Parenthood affiliates in New York City, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, and Washington. Planned Parenthood claims the Trump administration wants to force an “abstinence-only agenda” on young people. “Young people have the right to the information and skills they need to protect their health,” Dawn Laguens, vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said, according to the Associated Press. “The Trump-Pence administration is trying to impose their abstinence-only agenda on young people across the country.”

USA - The nation’s largest supplier of abortions and other “women’s health” procedures, Planned Parenthood, is the subject of a new investigatory report that exposes the taxpayer-funded baby death organization as an active ally in the cover-up of rampant child sex abuse. In this report, Live Action reveals how Planned Parenthood has been aiding and abetting child rapists and sexual abusers for many decades, all while claiming to be a defender of women’s bodies. Citing eye witness accounts, court cases, video footage and direct testimony from victims, the Live Action report definitively shows how Planned Parenthood has been actively engaged in a criminal conspiracy to cover up sex crimes against young girls – many of whom were raped and abused by their fathers, brothers and other family members who forced them to get abortions.

ISRAEL - President Trump loves to talk tough. He loves to shock and disrupt, and to bully and brag. But bullies, as we know, are not strong; they are weak. When confrontations come, they back away. And to the extent that Trump’s foreign policy has a direction at all, it is to withdraw from overseas commitments and to extricate America from engagement abroad.

UK - Theresa May should take “inspiration” from Donald Trump in the Brexit negotiations and cast off Britain's "defeatist" attitude, according to the US ambassador to the UK. Interviewed for a new Channel 4 documentary, Woody Johnson questioned why the UK was "so nervous" about the prospects of leaving the EU, a process that in his view need not present a "major challenge". His comments come soon after Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, told a group of Tory donors that if Donald Trump was in charge of Brexit “actually you might get somewhere”. It came as Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, insisted the Treasury was not the "enemy of Brexit" but rather the “champion of prosperity for the British people…”

UK - Sell-by dates on packaged food will be reduced as a result of a nationwide shortage of carbon dioxide, the Telegraph has learnt. The gas is used in the vacuum-packing process for meat, poultry, cheese, salads and ready meals to preserve them. Industry insiders say that to avoid such products running out, they will have to be given a shorter shelf life.

EUROPE - As European officials struggle to do everything they can to save the WTO, which appears headed for an all-but-certain demise thanks to President Trump's aggressive trade policies, EU leaders have apparently circulated an "internal memo" drafted by the European Commission that accuses the US of deliberately instigating the collapse of the global trade order, and warns of an upcoming "trade apocalypse."

EUROPE - Britain is to team up with France, Germany and other willing nations to launch an initiative to co-ordinate European military deployments outside the framework of the European Union. Nine nations, including Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Spain and Portugal, have signed up to the so-called European Intervention Initiative (EII) - a coalition of willing states prepared to react to crises near Europe's borders without help from NATO or the United States. Speaking to Le Figaro newspaper on Sunday, Florence Parly, France's defence minister, said: "European defence needs a common strategic culture." The initiative involves "joint planning work on crisis scenarios that could potentially threaten European security", a defence ministry source said, including natural disasters, intervention in a crisis or evacuation of nationals.

USA - Before the 2016 election, people freely chose their sources for information, had discussions about the veracity and accuracy of those sources if they chose to question them, and then formed opinions based on those discussions. Now, however, this choice and discussion is quickly fading away and is being replaced by a seeming ministry of truth made up of ostensibly objective media outlets like Politifact, Snopes, and the Associated Press.

USA - Donald Trump has warned he will put pressure on his EU allies over NATO spending at this month's Brussels summit as he attacked member states for treating his country like a "piggy bank". President Trump has repeatedly hinted he may withdraw US support for NATO altogether, calling it “obsolete” and a waste of American taxpayers’ dollars. And today the US leader warned he will raise the issue once again of whether NATO allies are spending enough on defence at a NATO summit in Brussels next month. Speaking at the Nevada Republican Party state convention convention in Las Vegas, he said: “The trade stuff is coming along, just starting. But it's happening. We're a piggy bank that everybody likes to steal from.”

EUROPE - The newly-appointed Italian leader revealed his country had presented 15 leaders attending the European Union migration summit in Brussels with the new proposals. Giuseppe Conte told the press: "We are here to present the Italian proposal for a new migration policy. A completely new Italian proposal based on the new resolution paradigm to solve the migration issue. It’s called the European Multi-Level Strategy for Migration, articulated on six premises and ten objectives. It’s aimed at proposing a timely regulation and management policy to control migration flows that is truly effective and sustainable." The new proposal demands EU member states accept their share of economic migrants entering the bloc through Italian shares or face a reduction of EU money.