EUROPE - European Union foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has criticized the “unpredictable” US foreign policy under Donald Trump, and says the EU can become the main international partner of Russia, India and China. During a Q & A during a State of the Union conference in Florence, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs was asked if Trump’s “unpredictability” has given him an advantage in dealing with North Korea’s volatility.

GERMANY - A new poll shows that more than half of Germans support the idea of introducing a “dominant culture” as recently presented by the country’s Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere. His proposals ignited debate in political circles and on social media. The survey, conducted by the INSA research institute for the German Focus magazine, revealed that 52.5 percent of Germans believe that their country needs a “dominant culture” while 25.3 percent oppose the idea of ushering in any such values. Some people have meanwhile ridiculed bits of de Maiziere’s proposals on social media. Others, however, saw a dangerous incitement against Muslims in the minister’s words.

USA - Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican, has introduced new legislation that, taken to its logical end, might eventually provision for employers to force their employees to be vaccinated under the guise of “wellness.” House Resolution 1313, known as the “Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act,” contains certain provisions for “disease prevention” that, should employees refuse them, might end up costing them their jobs. That, or employees could face penalties in the form of ostracization or even higher insurance rates. Based on the legislation’s open-ended language, employees could one day be refused the option of rejecting whatever their employers decide is appropriate for wellness and disease prevention, including government-recommended vaccines.

SAUDI ARABIA - Political instability in Saudi Arabia is growing as King Salman bin Abdulaziz begins to overhaul the Saudi government, putting a long list of family members into positions of influence while increasing the power of his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

USA - There has been a tremendous amount of talk about the spending deal that was just reached in Congress. Most of the focus has been on who “won” and who “lost” politically, and if you have been keeping up with my articles you definitely know my opinion on the matter. But what nobody is really talking about is that this deal actually increases spending at a time when our debt has been absolutely exploding. We added more than a trillion dollars a year to the US national debt during Obama’s eight years in the White House, and our debt binge actually accelerated toward the end of his second term. In fact, the national debt increased by more than 1.4 trillion dollars during fiscal 2016…

USA - The United States has issued a new terror alert for its citizens traveling to Europe this summer in light of recent terror attacks in Britain, France and Sweden. The state department cited the Westminster attacks in March as evidence of the ability of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant "to plan and execute terrorist attacks in Europe".

USA - If you stay inside the United States you will remain free, safe, and prosperous. If you even so much as step foot outside of the United States, you will probably be murdered, if not taken. At least that is what the State Department would have you believe. Extremists are on the loose in Europe, where they have demonstrated their ability to carry out various attacks using firearms, explosives, vehicles, and blades. Because of this, the United States has issued a travel alert for Europe.

USA - President Donald Trump will travel to Saudi Arabia, followed by Israel and the Vatican, in his first foreign trip later this month. The Vatican visit will include a meeting with the Pope, according to a senior administration official. The visit to Saudi Arabia, he said, will include a “truly historic gathering in Saudi Arabia with leaders from all across the Muslim world.” “Saudi Arabia is the custodian of the two holiest sites in Islam, and it is there that we will begin to construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our Muslim allies, to combat extremism, terrorism and violence,” Trump said, “and to embrace a more just and hopeful future for young Muslims in their countries.” Last week, Israeli officials confirmed that they've been in talks with the White House about arranging a visit to Jerusalem.

USA - US President Donald Trump is giving “serious consideration” to moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds, Vice President Mike Pence has said. Speaking at the White House for an “Israeli Independence Day” on Tuesday, Pence said the president is considering the relocation “as we speak,” but he did not elaborate. “To be clear, the president has also personally committed to resolving the Israeli and Palestinian conflict,” he added. “Thanks to the president’s tireless leadership, momentum is building and good will is growing. And that while there will undoubtedly have to be compromises, you can rest assured, President Donald Trump will never compromise the safety and security of the Jewish state of Israel, not now, not ever.”

GERMANY - Merkel is emerging as a symbol of everything that is wrong with the German-dominated European Union. Amid a string of major European elections this year - including Merkel's bid for a fourth term in September.  Merkel's critics insist, her policies are at least partly responsible for giving a lift across the continent to nationalist populists such as Le Pen who may seek to unravel the EU. The chief of Italy's populist Northern League - posturing as Italians brace for possible elections as soon as this year - recently blasted Merkel's Germany as doing with economics what Hitler did with bombs. "They aren't employing tanks, but they're managing to economically subjugate the whole continent," Matteo Salvini told Italian radio in March.

PUERTO RICO - Puerto Rico files for bankruptcy protection in largest ever US municipal debt restructuring. Puerto Rico's creditors had filed a barrage of lawsuits against the insolvent Commonwealth and a bankruptcy was imminent. Moments ago Puerto Rico's governor announced the Commonwealth will request bankruptcy protection of a portion of the island's $70 billion in debt, setting up a showdown with Wall Street firms owed billions of dollars, in what will be the largest-ever US municipal debt restructuring and further complicating the US territory’s efforts to pull itself out of a financial crisis.

VATICAN - Every nation is free to vote for the political leaders it wants, said Pope Francis Saturday, while Europe itself is in danger of “falling apart.” “Every country is free to make the choices it believes are right for itself. I cannot judge if it is making this choice for this reason or another, because I do not know its internal politics,” Francis said, in reference to the upcoming French presidential elections. We must “respect people’s opinions, honest opinions of a political discussion,” he said.

EUROPE - With last Saturday's "Rome Declaration", the EU has declared its commitment to an offensive global policy, including an intensified militarization, as was demanded by Berlin. In the coming years, the Union must play "a key role in the world," the declaration states, while calling for "strengthening its common security and defence."

GERMANY - Lawmakers across the German political spectrum have criticized Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for calling for a "German dominant culture," or "leitkultur". With this latest iteration of the "leitkultur" debate de Maiziere "has overlooked something," said Jan Korte, the Left party's second-ranking Bundestag deputy. "And that something is the constitution. Everything's in there." Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU aims to win a fourth consecutive national election on September 24, but has lost supporters to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) as some voters have taken an increasingly aggressive stance on national borders. 

GERMANY - Interior minister claims defining German culture will help integration. The refugee crisis and a string of Isis-linked terror attacks has driven rising fears over Islamist extremism but Mr de Maizière emphasised that all religions were a “glue for society… in the Christian church, in the synagogue and in the mosque”. “Our country is shaped by Christianity,” he added. “We live in religious peace. And the basis for this is the absolute supremacy of the law over all religious rules in the state and society.”