CANADA - Canadian fires continue to burn and will send smoke over New York City and the east coast throughout the summer - as experts warn firefighting operations could last until September. Canada is experiencing its worst fire season on record with firefighters coming in from all over the nation to help. As of Sunday afternoon, there were more than 568 fires active across Canada - 281 of which are classified as 'out of control', the Canadian Agency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) reported. Meanwhile Karine Pelletier of SOPFEU, Quebec’s forest-firefighting agency, told CBS New York that barring many heavy periods of rainfall, the agency expects firefighting operations to last until September.

USA - Arizona’s Legislative District 3 Republicans are taking back pride month with a new resolution celebrating America and dismissing woke LGBT ideology. The new resolution designates the month of July as Pride in America Month to celebrate our Founding Fathers and recognizes “that God created two unalterable and immutable genders.” This is a contrast to Arizona’s illegitimate Governor Katie Hobbs, who kicked off LQBT pride month by flying multiple pride flags outside her office at the Capitol above the American flag and state flag, likely in violation of the US flag code. The vote for Pride in America Month was held on Thursday, June 29, and the resolution was passed with a 2/3 majority. GOP chapters across the nation can pass the same or similar resolutions.

USA - For the past several years coinciding with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and its ensuing economic aftershock, much of the world has been rattled by inflation. Economists and commentators alike have gone into the gutter to discuss what exactly is causing this phenomenon that is chipping away at real wages for average working people. One of the theories put forward by people in favor of more guardrails on profiteering has been that corporate profits have skyrocketed since the pandemic and that the state should intervene. Many mainstream economists and media commentators have dismissed this as a baseless conspiracy theory.

EUROPE - The first question asked by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in his Facebook post is: “The only question everyone is asking here in Brussels is: Where has the money gone?” Orbán also noted that the EU is demanding more money from member states, although it is only two years into its seven-year budget. In other words, the money that was approved to be spent and was supposed to be there for the next five years has already been spent. “The question arises: How did this situation come about and how did they bring the European Union to the brink of bankruptcy?” Orbán asked.

CANADA - According to Toronto Police Service (TPS), exposing oneself fully naked in front of children is legal when done during a Pride-related event. Over the past few weeks, several images have appeared on social media of adults doing just that. At the Toronto Pride event last week, an entire group of marchers proudly waved to the crowd while showing off their genitalia to onlookers, which included children. Similar scenes have been captured in US cities during their respective Pride events. On Tuesday, social media user Rob Primo, from Niagara, posted a video of himself calling the TPS to clarify if and when adults can present themselves fully nude in public. The officer told Primo that being nude in public is against the law. But when Primo said he saw naked people at the Pride parade, the officer replied “it happens every year.” Primo asked, “So it’s okay when it’s at the Pride parade, but not in other situations, obviously?” “Yeah, exactly,” the officer said.

UNITED NATIONS - A UN-certified “expert” on sexual orientation and gender identity declared Wednesday that religious communities must yield to the demands of LGBT persons to avoid charges of violence and discrimination. Freedom of religion or belief need not be incompatible with equality for LGBT persons, Victor Madrigal-Borloz asserted in his address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, as long as religious groups accept the claims of gay and transgender persons.

EUROPE - Spraying reflective particles into the atmosphere may cool one area of the Earth, but studies show it risks heating others even more. The European Commission has warned the bloc’s lawmakers that geoengineering – large-scale technological interventions to mitigate climate change – is fraught with potential “unintended consequences.” The EU executive body said in a statement released on Wednesday that deploying technologies like solar radiation modification without sufficient understanding of the potential dangers – either for Europeans or populations elsewhere in the world – could be devastating.

BELGIUM - Nationwide riots triggered by the fatal shooting by French police of a 17-year-old boy spread to Belgium on Thursday, unleashing chaos that resulted in 64 arrests, Brussels police revealed on Friday. The arrested included 47 minors and 16 adults who have been administratively detained, police said in a statement on Friday. Another minor, who was reportedly seen beating up a police officer, was arrested and questioned but released on Friday.

HUNGARY - Hungary needs strong people to survive as the world’s foundations are starting to crumble, the Hungarian PM has said. Hungary is being pressed in several directions due to the Ukraine conflict and surge in migration, and must strive to overcome these challenges, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday.

UK - Nigel Farage has said life in Britain is “becoming completely unlivable” after claiming his bank accounts were closed in revenge for Brexit. The former UKIP leader said the banking group he has been with for 43 years phoned him two months ago to say “we are closing your accounts”. Mr Farage described the bank as a “subsidiary of a big banking group with a very prestigious name”, but said he “would not name them just yet”.

UK - A building society with 3 million customers today admitted it does dump customers with views they consider discriminatory, MailOnline can reveal today. Yorkshire Building Society has been accused of closing an account of a client after he asked why their branches were festooned with Pride flags. Journalist Toby Young told Nigel Farage on GB News that the unnamed man who contacted him about the case was told in response that his account would be closed down. It came as lenders were accused of axing customers who say things they don't like on gender and LGBT issues or Brexit, including Mr Farage himself.

GERMANY - Russia's war in Ukraine — and the German and US response to it — will drive the future of the relationship between Washington and Berlin, Germany's outgoing ambassador to the US, Emily Haber, told Deutsche Welle. According to Haber, it is Russia's aggression against Ukraine — "and our capacity for resolve and determination and perseverance in responding to that aggression" — that will turn out to be an engine that will define the trans-Atlantic relationship in the future.

UKRAINE - Ukraine urgently needs to show progress on the battlefield, Polish MEP Witold Jan Waszczykowski has suggested. Many EU nations are not interested in the country and would rather restore trade with Russia, he told the Ukrainian media outlet UNIAN. “Most European nations, such as Germany and France, do not need Ukraine. They need Russia to return to the world economy. They need Russian gas and oil,” the veteran politician told UNIAN on Thursday. He added that Kiev had “three to four months” to show progress in its counteroffensive against Russia. If it fails to deliver, “Europe will push you to freeze the conflict and start negotiations with Russia, as happened in 2015,” he explained, calling the scenario “pessimistic.”

USA - More than 120 million Americans are now under 'very unhealthy' air quality alerts, with Chicago, Cleveland, Maryland and Pittsburgh the worst affected. Smoke from Canada's raging wildfires have drifted south over the past few days leaving dozens of states in the north east of the country under a thick smog. A Code Red alert, a warning of unhealthy air, was issued for much of the Midwest and Washington DC on Wednesday. Several cities across Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Iowa were also experiencing 'very unhealthy air' according to AirNow. The National Weather Service has warned that, with no end in sight to the Canadian wildfires, poor air quality is likely to continue. It comes amid fears that the smoke could compound already ongoing travel chaos over the July 4 weekend.

USA - Tiny aphids have arrived alongside a lighter bout of Canadian wildfire smoke with horrified New Yorkers sharing clips of the insects burrowed in their hair. Videos have been posted online at rapid fire to document the infestation with one man recording the bugs lodged in his beard. Another frightened woman turned her head around to show how scores of the insects had embedded themselves in her hair. In other videos commuters walking through the streets or riding bikes can be seen furiously swatting the air around them. The tiny insects could be green or black but their size has made it difficult to tell with the naked eye as their species is yet to be determined. Speculations that they could be among the pyrophilous, or 'fire-loving,' species has been floated.