EUROPE - Europe is facing a drought emergency as dry weather is causing crops to fail, villages to go without drinking water, and further wildfires erupting in parts of the European Union. The Continent has faced unusually dry weather this year followed by intense heatwaves in the summer that have caused a severe drought to sweep the continent. The European Drought Observatory (EDO) has new research to show that 45% of the European Union’s land is under drought “warning” conditions which means the soil has been impaired due to dry weather. Approximately 15 percent of the land is under the “alert” category which means crops have been damaged due to low rain and dry land. The EDO warns that the dry weather is likely to continue throughout August and into September.

UK - Desert-parched Britain faces up to another fortnight without rain as the drought crisis approaches the 100-day mark. Southern Britain will desiccate into the final stretch of summer as downpours swerve the region and head to Scotland and northern England. Parts of the UK, specifically the South and East, have entered their fourth month of below-average rainfall, according to Met Office records. Meteorologists warn ‘no significant rain’ will arrive until at least the final week of August as hosepipe bans loom in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Pembrokeshire and the Isle of Wight. August marks the fourth month that parts of Britain have seen little to no rain, according to government rainfall logs. Government forecasters warn of ‘little meaningful’ wet weather as Britain heads into another heatwave with only sustained rainfall able to replenish reserves. Provisional Met Office data reveals southern England has had its driest July on record, while overall the country has seen its driest period since 1935.

USA - Steve Bannon spoke at the Texas CPAC Convention and broadcast The War Room from Dallas, Texas this weekend. Of course, Steve also delivered a blistering speech at the convention on Friday. Steve, a former investment banker at Goldman Sachs, called for the end of the Federal Reserve before they are able to destroy the US Dollar. Ending the Fed was once promoted by the media as a conspiracy theory by the likes of Ron Paul. Maybe Ron Paul was right? “Steve Bannon: 0.5% of the citizens in this country own more assets than the bottom 90%. That’s all happened in the last ten years since 2008. The Federal Reserve, by the way, is not owned by the America people, a central bank that is owned by 24 prime brokers, being JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. How does that work?… We don’t need to audit the Fed, we need to end the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve has usurped its power and the power of the American people and our elected representatives. And, no, they do not have the consent of the governed. We will not comply. We will not submit. And it must be ended.”

BOSNIA - Bosnia and Herzegovina's Serb state has lashed out at Muslims and supported Vladimir Putin, amid fears a new crisis could break out in the Balkans. Republika Srpska is one of two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and was formed in 1992 at the outset of the Bosnian War. The three-year war, with a death toll over 100,000, saw a majority of Croats and Bosniaks expelled from the republic’s claimed territory. It achieved international recognition as an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Dayton Agreement of 1995. Mr Pavlovic then told Sky News: “There will be no peace in this area as long as the international community represents and defends and protects only one side. That one side is the side of Muslims."

USA - The Russian President attacked Ukraine on February 24 hoping to regain control of the country's territory. NATO and EU nations have since ramped up their efforts to stop Russia's invasion but a new geopolitical landscape could soon prove disastrous for the entire world. According to Dr Yuri Felshtinsky, author of forthcoming book 'Blowing up Ukraine: The Return of Russian Terror and the Threat of World War III', the world's political landscape could soon change if Donald Trump was re-elected President of the United States in 2024. Dr Felshtinsky warned the former US leader would withdraw the US from NATO, leaving Europe completely alone against Russia. "And this will be a completely new political game for everybody."

USA - Rev Al Sharpton argued this week that the Bible endorses abortion because the Bible is about choice. Rev Al: “The Bible, if you’re using this as a religious argument, the Bible is about choice”. Murder is about choice too, but that doesn’t mean the Bible condones it. It’s not clear which Bible Rev Al Sharpton is referring to but it’s not the Christian Bible. Life News reported: “President of National Action Network and MSNBC Politics Nation host Al Sharpton joined Chris Jansing Reports on Thursday to discuss abortion and religion. Sharpton didn’t understand how one could be a good Christian and be pro-life because, according to him, “the Bible is about choice.” Jansing led Sharpton with some polling data, “there was a Gallup poll back, I think it was the fall of 2020 showing the black community has slowly become more accepting of abortion over the past couple of decades, but there are deeply held religious beliefs playing into this, especially with older black voters who are incredibly reliable and incredibly important to Democrats. So, how should Democrats be thinking about this? Because obviously they want and need to hold onto those voters.”

USA - Nigel Farage has told a packed US Conservative rally that America is the "battleground" in a political struggle to save "Western civilization." In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, the former Brexit Party leader declared that "If America falls, we all fall." Nigel Farage was at the event to speak with conservative US voters and received a standing ovation with a rousing address on the special role the USA holds in "standing up for the free world."

USA - President Joe Biden is proposing to spend roughly $37 billion for fighting and preventing crime, including $13 billion to help communities hire and train 100,000 police officers over five years. Biden will outline his anti-crime program, dubbed the Safer America Plan, on Thursday during a visit to Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. As part of Biden's plans, $3 billion would be geared toward clearing court backlogs, resolving cases involving murders and guns and setting up task forces to share intelligence, with an eye toward reducing gun violence. His plan would also impose tougher penalties for fentanyl trafficking amid an epidemic of drug overdoses. Los Angeles, meanwhile, has arguably been hurt the most by woke politicians, with its District Attorney George Gascon now almost certain to face a recall election for soft policies. The City of Angels has seen more people killed by guns during the first six months of 2022 than during the same period in any of the past 15 years, police say - while robberies are also rife, due to lax punishments on repeat offenders.

USA - The Establishment’s determination to close down narrative-challenger Alex Jones has put Sandy Hook back in the news. As First Amendment protection is fading, I checked to see what I had written about Sandy Hook. I was relieved to see that I had only reported on the skepticism and asked questions. My search of the IPE archives brought up my articles on other controversial shootings – Las Vegas and Orlando – and the Oklahoma City Bombing. The common thread in all of these incidents is that the narrative is established the minute the news is reported, and officials and media never vary from the narrative.

USA - Things have never been harder for America’s farmers and ranchers than they are right now. Their relentless hard work keeps us fed, but now many of them are being financially ruined by forces beyond their control. Back in 1900, there were approximately 5.7 million family farms in the United States, but at that time the total population of the country was just 76 million. Today, there are only about 2.2 million family farms in the United States, but the total population of the country has grown to 329 million. Agriculture is slowly but surely being consolidated, and the big fish have far more power than the little fish do. It has gotten to a point where it has become nearly impossible for many small farmers and ranchers to survive. Small farmers and small ranchers are the backbone of this country, and without them we don’t eat. Unfortunately, hardly anyone seems to notice that more of them are going under with each passing day.

MEXICO - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged the international community on Thursday to agree to a five-year truce amid the Ukraine conflict and stand-off over Taiwan. Speaking at a press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, the president said that geopolitical tensions between China, Taiwan, and the US are hurting the world, which is reeling under record inflation and supply chain issues. “Nations can agree on a truce of at least five years to be able to face the crisis affecting the peoples. A truce that ends war, confrontation, and provocations,” he said. “Once the fighting stops, let things stay as they are, especially the war between Russia and Ukraine.”

NORTH KOREA - North Korea laid the groundwork for a nuclear test in the first half of this year, Reuters reported on Friday, citing a confidential report submitted to a UN watchdog committee. “Work at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site paves the way for additional nuclear tests for the development of nuclear weapons,” independent monitors reportedly told the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea. According to Reuters, the experts also believe that North Korea “continued to develop its capability for the production of fissile material” at the Yongbyon site. The monitors were referring to the nuclear research center that was established with Soviet assistance in the 1960s and operates the nation’s first nuclear reactors. The monitors are also said to have accused the North of stealing crypto assets to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in an apparent effort to fund its missile and nuclear programs. The US has vowed to push for steeper sanctions against Pyongyang if it proceeds with its seventh nuclear test.

USA - Electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid has had to deal with battery fires twice in a three-month span. Both fires broke out at Lucid’s Casa Grande production facility in Arizona, Business Insider reported July 13. The two fires were connected to batteries. This week, however, the EV maker slashed its production outlook by 50 percent, citing supply-chain disruptions and “logistical challenges.” Fires related to electric vehicles are nothing new. On July 29 in Massachusetts, there was a malfunction that resulted in a battery fire, The Patriot Ledger reported. In June, an I-Pace, which is Jaguar’s first and only entirely electric vehicle, caught fire while charging, Electrek reported. Last year, General Motors had to recall its totally electric Chevrolet Bolt due to battery malfunctions that caused fires, Autoweek reported.

ISRAEL - If you are a politician looking to bolster your man-of-the-people bona fides ahead of an election, you head to Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market to gladhand the shoppers and hawkers bustling about its stalls and alleyways. Last month, the market was host to pre-eminent far-right, ultra-nationalist MK Itamar Ben Gvir, a man convicted in the past of incitement to racial hatred and who, until recently, had a picture of a mass-murderer hanging in his living room. He was greeted with gusto. The crowd chanted his name and sang a lively ditty about Ben Gvir being the next prime minister. Numerous market patrons hugged, shook hands, and requested selfies with the far-right leader.

UKRAINE - The UN nuclear chief warned that Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine “is completely out of control” and issued an urgent plea to Russia and Ukraine to quickly allow experts to visit the sprawling complex to stabilize the situation and avoid a nuclear accident. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press that the situation is getting more perilous every day at the Zaporizhzhia plant in the southeastern city of Enerhodar, which Russian troops seized in early March, soon after their February 24 invasion of Ukraine. “Every principle of nuclear safety has been violated” at the plant, he said. “What is at stake is extremely serious and extremely grave and dangerous.” The Russian capture of Zaporizhzhia renewed fears that the largest of Ukraine’s 15 nuclear reactors could be damaged, setting off another emergency like the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the world’s worst nuclear disaster, which happened about 110 kilometers (65 miles) north of the capital Kyiv.