ISRAEL - The Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, one of the oldest Christian churches in the world, has called on the Ukrainian government to repeal a law which exposes the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to a likely ban. Kiev has outlawed religious organizations that it suspects of having ties with Russia. The legislation, which Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky signed into law last month, is designed to shut down the UOC, the largest Christian denomination in the country. The UOC was previously targeted in a massive crackdown by the state, as officials told priests and the faithful that they should switch to the Kiev-supported rival Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

RUSSIA - A rattled Vladimir Putin has admitted that Russia is ready for peace talks with Kyiv as Ukraine continues its blistering offensive in Kursk. The Russian despot said at the 2024 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok today: 'Are we ready to negotiate with them? We have never refused to do so, but not on the basis of some ephemeral demands, but on the basis of those documents that were agreed and actually initialled in Istanbul,' referring to a failed peace deal from talks in the Turkish city early on in the war. Although the Kremlin says these conditions for peace talks with Ukraine do not currently exist, Putin named China, India and Brazil as potential mediators.

USA - It is incredibly sad to watch the US economy slowly but surely come apart at the seams all around us. For most of our history, the rest of the world marveled at our economic performance, and that is because we embraced economic values that led to great blessing. In recent decades, we have abandoned those values, but we were able to maintain a very high standard of living by going into unprecedented amounts of debt. Our leaders were able to keep the game going for longer than a lot of people thought, but now we have entered the final depressing chapters for the late, great US economy, and we can see evidence of this all around us. If you doubt this, just look at all of the businesses that are going bankrupt.

GERMANY - Germany’s army rushed an Iris-T air-defence system into service on its own soil for the first time Wednesday having delivered several of the sophisticated systems to war-torn Ukraine to take down Russian rockets, drones and missiles mid-flight. AFP reports Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the surface-to-air system was part of a long term build-up of German and European defences initiated in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin launching the Ukraine invasion in 2022. “Russia has been massively rearming for many years, especially in the field of rockets and cruise missiles,” Scholz said at the inauguration ceremony at a base in Todendorf near the northern city of Hamburg.

USA - Dollar Tree’s latest earnings report offers a grim reflection on the state of the American economy. What we are witnessing is not just a minor fluctuation in retail performance, but a broader indictment of an economy that, under the stewardship of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, has manifestly lost its way. For those unacquainted with Dollar Tree’s dual audience, its Family Dollar stores cater to lower-income households seeking everyday necessities, while its namesake brand draws in middle- and upper-income shoppers for affordable party supplies and seasonal goods. What makes this earnings report notable is the revelation that even households earning over $125,000 per year — once thought immune to such cutbacks — are now tightening their belts and shifting from “buying for want” to “buying for need.”

HUNGARY - The European Union has fined Hungary for failing to accept its delegated quota of migrants. Hungary has refused to pay the €200 million fine issued by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Will this be the issue that finally breaks ties between Hungary and the European Union? Hungary is constantly at odds with the elite in Brussels who wish to impose a one-Europe government over all member states. The EU has taken over trade, currency, and domestic law for each member. In June, the ECJ found the nation guilty of “unprecedented and exceptionally serious breach of EU law” for limiting the number of asylum seekers. “That conduct constitutes a serious threat to the unity of EU law, which has an extraordinarily serious impact both on private interests, particularly the interests of asylum seekers, and on the public interest,” the judges said. There is no European Union. There is a European authority within the pretend union that controls all members.

USA - The United States has said it is time to 'finalise' a deal between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to bow to pressure.

NIGERIA - A report from Open Doors International dated September 1 called No Road Home: Christian IDPs Displaced by Extremist Violence in Nigeria details the dire situation faced by Christians who have been hunted to the verge of extinction by the Islamic State, the jihadis of Boko Haram, and groups of Muslim militants known as the Fulani. It is not easy to say which Islamist faction is winning the competition to kill and displace as many Christians as possible, but Nigeria’s Christians are definitely losing. Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been rendered homeless by militant attacks. One Nigerian Christian said he and his brethren have become an “endangered species.”

USA - Southern California Edison notified Rancho Palos Verdes that electricity service would be discontinued at multiple homes due to fire risk because of the ongoing movement. While the city has long dealt with landslides, a historic storm in February intensified and accelerated the movements leading to shifts as great as 1ft a week. Rancho Palos Verdes is now grappling with buckling streets, buildings sinking and cracking and hundreds of families forced to leave their homes, said Janice Hahn, a Los Angeles county supervisor, at a news conference on Monday. Last year, hillside homes in the affluent Rolling Hills Estates in Los Angeles crumbled and cracked due to similar cliffside shifts, leading to rushed evacuations.

MIDDLE EAST - There is a burning issue in the Red Sea that needs to be resolved. Thirteen days ago now, the oil tanker MV Sounion was attacked by the Houthis. A French Aspides ship came to the rescue whilst destroying an approaching surface drone. They put out the initial fires and evacuated the crew to Djibouti. With the ship now abandoned at anchor, the Houthis went back two days later, placed charges and filmed the subsequent explosion for social media.

UK - The left-wing Labour Party government in Britain announced Monday that it will be suspending dozens of arms export licences to Israel over concerns of UK weaponry being used to violate human rights in Gaza. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the House of Commons that the British government will be suspending 30 of its 350 arms export licences to Israel, including UK-made components used in military drones, helicopters, and aircraft, including fighter jets used by the Israelis.

ISRAEL - In a series of posts on X on Tuesday, Netanyahu condemned the decision as “shameful,” as well as criticizing its timing. The suspension came two days after the bodies of six hostages presumably killed by Hamas were found in an underground tunnel in Gaza. Israel is pursuing “a just war with just means” and is “comporting fully with international law,” Netanyahu claimed. The Israeli prime minister noted that the Palestinian armed movement is still holding over 100 hostages, including five British citizens. Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also took to X on Tuesday to accuse Britain’s new government of “abandoning” Israel and of wanting Hamas to win.

GERMANY - Sunday’s regional elections are a rebuke to Berlin’s disastrous policies, Vyacheslav Volodin has said. The elections in the German states of Saxony and Thuringia have clearly shown that voters reject the ruinous policies championed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian State Duma, has said. Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) came in fourth in Saxony and fifth in Thuringia, losing in both regions to the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), and the newly formed left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). “The Germans have told Scholz: ‘You should leave,’” Volodin wrote on Telegram on Monday. He went on to argue that the election results are a testament to the “unpopularity” of the current government in Berlin.

USA - Hundreds of employees were let go abruptly after dozens of KFC restaurant locations across Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin closed suddenly this past week. As many as 25 KFC restaurants owned by fast food franchisee EYM Chicken are now empty retail shells, but parent company EYM Group, which owns other fast-food chains like Pizza Hut, Burger King, Denny's and Panera Bread, is not yet indicating the reason for the closures. EYM Group has been struggling for years, it turns out. EYM Pizza filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after closing more than a dozen Pizza Hut locations in Indiana and Ohio. These fast-food closures are just a drop in the bucket as America's entire retail sector is in the throes of an implosion. Inflation is sky-high and still rising while costs are exceeding what businesses can afford to pay in order to stay afloat.

FAR EAST - The governments of the Philippines and Vietnam announced on Friday that they would sign a defense agreement that would expand their cooperation out of trade and into military and security projects, including “maritime” defense operations. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, made the announcement while welcoming Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang to Manila’s presidential palace, Malacañang, on Friday. The neighboring countries have traditionally maintained cordial, if not necessarily friendly, relations, partially impaired by the Philippines’ status as a democratic US ally and Vietnam’s as a communist tyranny. In the past decade, however, their diplomacy has improved in the face of the mutual threat presented by Communist China, which illegally claims significant chunks of both Vietnamese and Philippine territory in the South China Sea.