USA - “Production of the B61-12 nuclear bomb begins,” Sandia National Laboratories announced from the United States. The B61-12, which replaces the previous B61 deployed by the US at Aviano and Ghedi and other European bases, is a new type of weapon. It has a nuclear warhead with four power options, selectable depending on the target to be destroyed. It is not dropped vertically, but at a distance from the target on which it is directed guided by a satellite system. It can penetrate underground, exploding deep to destroy command center bunkers in a nuclear first strike. The B61-12s, classified as “non-strategic nuclear weapons,” are deployed in Europe — in Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Britain and probably other countries — at distances far enough to strike Russia. They thus have offensive capabilities similar to those of strategic weapons. Europe is thus being turned by the US into the front line of a nuclear confrontation with Russia, even more dangerous than that of the Cold War.

USA - A friend contacted me today and informed me that the luxury carmaker BMW has announced plans to charge car owners $18 a month for heated seats. By itself, this sounds like no big deal. Most folks can’t afford a BMW anyway. But it fits into a broader trend that I think captures the true meaning of the World Economic Forum’s slogan related to the Great Reset, that “You will own nothing, you will have no privacy, and you will be happy.” When Klaus Schwab or some other globalist tells you that you will own nothing, they don’t necessarily mean that you will literally not own a thing and just rent everything from the billionaires. If that happened, Amazon and Walmart would go out of business. And we all know that cannot be allowed to happen.

USA - The US House of Representatives has authorized $840 billion in defense spending in 2023, boosting President Joe Biden’s proposed record military budget by $37 billion. The annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets military expenditure, was passed on Thursday by a vote of 329-101. The bill offers $1 billion in aid to Ukraine, including a program to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-15, F-16 and other US aircraft. The Ukrainians should familiarize themselves with US-made planes “while the administration continues to consider sending such equipment,” said a statement on Congressman Adam Kinzinger’s website last month.

USA - Boris Johnson was recently removed from office in the UK, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has just fled the country in disgrace, and in the US the corporate media has turned against US President Joe Biden, and Biden’s days in office seem to be coming to an end, possibly sooner rather than later. But anyone who still believes that these high-ranking politicians have any real power over national or international affairs, and that by replacing them with other politicians will solve economic or social problems, is not living in reality in terms of who controls the affairs of this world.

EUROPE - The European Union is spending €8 million ($8.1 million) to build a secure bunker in Brussels where leaders can meet in secrecy, EUobserver reported on Friday. The chamber will be insulated against electronic interference, and all gadgets will be banned from entering, with the news site claiming that such measures are necessary against “Russian or other eavesdroppers.” Claiming to have seen an EU memo describing the project, EUobserver reported that the chamber will be designed to host around 100 people comprising up to 34 leaders and associated staff. Due to be built by 2024, the bunker will be located somewhere within the European Council’s complex in the Belgian capital. The meeting room will be offline, but will contain microphones wired to secure booths for interpreters. Both the room and these booths will be shrouded in a “NATO-certified insulation cage” to stop electromagnetic and radio waves from within being picked up outside, and anyone seeking to enter, even cleaners, will need a “SECRET EU” security clearance – the bloc’s second-highest level of classification.

SAUDI ARABIA - The news agency Reuters, citing anonymous sources, reported on Tuesday leftist President Joe Biden is considering resuming offensive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in anticipation of his visit to the country, scheduled for Friday. The weapons would likely be used in some capacity related to the nearly eight-year-old civil war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has intervened on behalf of the legitimate government against the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist organization that continues to control the capital, Sanaa. As a presidential candidate, Biden was a loud critic of the Saudi government, promising to turn one of America’s most critical allies in the region into a “pariah” and condemning both Riyadh’s actions in Yemen and the brutal killing at the hands of Saudi officials of Jamal Khashoggi, an Islamist former Washington Post contributor.

USA - Americans’ incomes have risen in recent years, though disparities in wealth remain, according to the latest American Community Survey estimates from the US Census Bureau. Adjusted for inflation, the nation’s median household income rose by approximately 10% to $64,994 when comparing five-year estimates covering 2011-2015 and 2016-2020, according to the data.

RUSSIA - In mid-June, Gazprom announced technical problems with the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The Russian energy giant said that gas compressor units, made by Germany’s Siemens, were being repaired in Canada and couldn’t be returned to Russia due to Western sanctions.

ISRAEL - President Joe Biden said he will discuss the dormant two-state solution for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during his trip to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Saudi Arabia, calling it the “best way” for peace. He made his remarks shortly after arriving at the Ben Gurion international airport in Tel Aviv on Wednesday afternoon, where he was greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. “Greater peace, greater stability, greater connection. It’s critical for all the people in the region which is why we will be discussing my continued support, even though I know it’s not a near term, for a two-state solution,” Biden said. The two-state solution, which has been trumpeted by successive American administrations — with the notable exception of the last one — has long proved to be an abject failure.

USA - Here are some household-related expenses that are surging.

• Furniture: up 1.1 percent in June and 13.1 percent for the year.
• Appliances: up 0.2 percent in June and 6.5 percent for the year.
• Bedroom furniture: up 1.1 percent in June and 10.3 percent for the year.
• Living room and kitchen furniture: up 2.1 in June and 15.4 percent for the year.
• Pots and pans: up 1.2 percent in June and 9.6 percent for the year.
• Groceries: up one percent in June and 10.4 percent for the year.
• Electricity: up 1.7 percent in June and 13.7 percent for the year.
• Household cleaning products: up 0.5 percent in June and 11.3 percent for the year.
• Paper towels and toilet paper: up 2.2 percent in June and 9.3 percent for the year.
• Even garbage collection costs more. According to the June inflation figures, prices to haul away consumer garbage rose 0.6 percent in June and are up 5.9 percent from a year ago.

USA - A state of emergency has been declared in Virginia by the governor after floods devastated the state and left over 40 people unaccounted for. Officials have said that search and rescue efforts are still ongoing following heavy rainfall and power outages throughout the area. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed across 10 miles in Buchanan County, with 44 people still thought to be missing. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said in a statement: “We are deeply saddened to learn that another flood has impacted a community still recovering from last year’s flood."

USA - The Bureau of Labor Statistics minutes ago released the June inflation numbers. They are not good. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 1.3 percent in June on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 1.0 percent in May, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 9.1 percent before seasonal adjustment. The increase was broad-based, with the indexes for gasoline, shelter, and food being the largest contributors. The energy index rose 7.5 percent over the month and contributed nearly half of the all items increase, with the gasoline index rising 11.2 percent and the other major component indexes also rising. The food index rose 1.0 percent in June, as did the food at home index. The energy index rose 41.6 percent over the last year, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending April 1980. The food index increased 10.4 percent for the 12-months ending June, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending February 1981.

EUROPE - The reckoning will come in the winter, which will be the harshest in decades, the Romanian deputy PM has said. The EU will have to pay a heavy price for its sanctions on Russia, as this year the continent could experience the harshest winter in decades, Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Hunor Kelemen told B1 TV on Wednesday. “First of all, we, the European Union, will have to pay for the sanctions against Russia... Truth be told, we will all pay the price this winter while, unfortunately, there are no signs that the end of war is near… It will be a harsh winter, perhaps the harshest one in the last 40-50-60 years,” he told the outlet.

USA - For decades American presidents have arrived in the Holy Land like earnest pilgrims searching for the holy grail of a two-state solution. George Bush hoped to find it in 2003 with his “road map for peace”. Barack Obama came in 2013, while John Kerry, his secretary of state, was trying to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks. Even Donald Trump promised to “give it an absolute go”.

GERMANY - The NATO Response Force is the alliance’s “firewall”. Its multinational combat units are kept constantly on standby. In the event of an emergency, the first units of what is commonly called the NRF are supposed to be capable of moving into crisis areas within 48 hours, taking on missions on the ground, in the air, or at sea. The NRF is hoping it will have an even more deterrent effect soon. At the NATO summit in Madrid last month the alliance decided to strengthen its eastern borders by massively boosting the response force from currently 40,000 to 300,000 combat-ready soldiers. Germany will contribute 15,000 soldiers, the country’s Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht announced, 3,000 to 5,000 of whom are to be stationed in Lithuania. Until now only about 1,000 had been stationed there. In addition, Germany is providing 65 aircraft and 20 ships, as well as special forces, or commando, units. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg wants to see a large part of the new rapid reaction forces operational as early as next year…