USA - From within and from without. Before our very eyes, we are seeing actions taking place both within the US domestically and outside of it. The scripted plans were set into motion decades ago, and are seeing fruition now, with increases in activities leading toward the planned downfall of the US. The architects follow a very “Orwellian” pattern: it isn’t important who takes the reins of power, if that power is used to promulgate the continually leftward-moving paradigm shift and the continuance of power.

USA - The images were stark. In one part of town, marching in columns through the leafy streets, some 250 African-American men and women — dressed head-to-toe in black combat clothes and clutching assault rifles and pump-action shotguns — were making their presence felt. A couple of miles away, so too was a white militia of Trump-supporting 'patriots' wearing khaki camouflage gear and equally armed to the teeth.

USA - In the wake of the Fed’s promise of 23 March to print money without limit in order to rescue the covid-stricken US economy, China changed its policy of importing industrial materials to a more aggressive stance. In examining the rationale behind this move, this article concludes that while there are sound geopolitical reasons behind it the monetary effect will be to drive down the dollar’s purchasing power, and that this is already happening.

HORN OF AFRICA - Relations in the Horn of Africa are complex and complicated. They are characterised by deeply ingrained rivalries between Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia in a conflict-ridden region. For decades, it has been known for civil war, conflict, and poor economic development. Somalia is a textbook example for state collapse and the most fragile state in the world. During the 1990s, the state had disintegrated to a degree that the basic conditions and responsibilities of its government no longer functioned properly. Eritrea and Ethiopia were at war for years. Ethiopia and Somalia also share a history of violent confrontation.

MIDDLE EAST - Islamist extremists were not enthusiastic about the Abraham Accords peace deal between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain, this week. The world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, issued an implicitly violent rejection of the accord, while Iran-backed terrorist organizations were even less subtle. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani claimed at a meeting of his cabinet on Wednesday that Israel is “committing more crimes in Palestine every day,” so nations that make peace with Israel fail to understand the Muslim religion or their “debt to the nation of Palestine.” “How could you reach out your hands to Israel? And then you want to give them bases in the region? All the severe consequences that would arise from this are on you,” Rouhani threatened.

USA - Tropical Storm Beta formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday night right after Tropical Storm Wilfred and Subtropical Storm Alpha in the Atlantic, marking the first time since certainly 1953 — when storms were first named — and possibly 1893 that three new storms were named in one day. There have been 23 named storms during the 2020 hurricane season. Because the World Meteorological Organization skips the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z, forecasters officially ran out of planned names for the season with Wilfred, forcing them to turn to the Greek alphabet. It's only the second time that the Atlantic hurricane season has made it through the alphabet and the earliest that has happened as well, underscoring this year's hyperactivity. Wilfred is expected to fizzle out before hitting land, Alpha is headed toward Europe, and Beta could become a Hurricane that poses a serious threat to the Texas coast.

ISRAEL - Palestinian protests against the normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain could lead to an intifada, Palestinian activists warned on Tuesday. The warning came as Palestinians held protests against the “treacherous” agreements in some parts of the West Bank. The protests, organized by several Palestinian factions that are part of a new group called the Unified Leadership of the Popular Resistance, were held under the banner: “Normalization is a crime.” “We are on the brink of a third intifada,” a Fatah activist told The Jerusalem Post. “The Palestinian people feels betrayed by the Arabs and will show the world that the Palestinian issue remains the central issue of all Arabs and Muslims.”

USA - Attorney General William Barr told the nation’s federal prosecutors to be aggressive when charging violent demonstrators with crimes, including potentially prosecuting them for plotting to overthrow the US government, people familiar with the conversation said. In a conference call with US attorneys across the country last week, Mr. Barr warned that sometimes violent demonstrations across the US could worsen as the November presidential election approaches. To bring a sedition case, prosecutors would have to prove there was a conspiracy to attack government agents or officials that posed an imminent danger.

MIDDLE EAST - The deals to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain are significant for several reasons. First, they represent a common regional front against the Iranian threat. They also signal that Arab-Muslim regimes are less concerned with domestic, Islamist opposition to their outreach to Israel. Equally important, they show that the Palestinian Authority no longer holds a veto over fellow Muslims' relations with Israel. This was seen last week when the Arab League refused to condemn the UAE for its accord with Israel.

USA - University of North Texas College Democrats Vice President Brett Davis took to Twitter to tell incoming freshmen which student organizations they should join and which to avoid. “Hey incoming politically left UNT students, here is a thread of clubs on campus and around Denton that you can meet like-minded people and have a safe space to express your views,” the tweet read. Included on the list is Antifa DFW. Davis tweeted that the group, “rallies the Dallas/Fort Worth area together against fascism either in office or in uniform. It’s important to strongly reject authoritarianism from both sides of the political spectrum.”

USA - San Francisco accountant Scott Hoppe had a client who was planning to stretch the sale of founder shares in a tech-sector company over a three-year period. Instead, the client compressed the installment sale into a one-shot transaction this month. What accelerated the deal? The 2020 presidential race. “Assuming all else was equal, that was the driver of the choice,” said Hoppe, principal of the accounting firm Why Blu. Right now, Hoppe’s client, worth between $10 million and $20 million, will be taxed on capital gains at a rate of 23.8%. If Democratic candidate Joe Biden beats President Donald Trump — and Democrats retain the House of Representatives and flip the Senate — that client could have potentially been staring at a 39.6% tax rate in two out of the installment sale’s three years. The compressed transaction, then, could have saved the client approximately $320,000 in taxes on the $6 million sale. “The seller, for sure, was motivated, and the buyer had the wherewithal” to pay the full price upfront, said Hoppe.

USA - Hurricane Sally has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but it is battering the Gulf Coast with high winds and torrential rain, making it still a “catastrophic and life-threatening” flood event, according to the National Hurricane Center. The Associated Press reported on the storm: The storm’s eye crossed over land near Gulf Shores, Alabama, early Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 105 mph. As of Wednesday afternoon, the eye was about 30 miles west-northwest of Pensacola, Florida, with winds of 70 mph. The storm is now creeping north-northeast at 5 mph, maintaining an excruciatingly slow pace, which means it could produce nearly three feet of rain in some areas and storm surges as high as seven feet. Rainfall is already being measured in feet – not inches – and tornadoes remain a possibility in Florida, Alabama and Georgia.

USA - Hurricane Sally lumbered ashore near the Florida-Alabama line Wednesday with 105 mph (165 kph) winds and rain measured in feet, not inches, swamping homes and trapping people in high water as it crept inland for what could be a long, slow and disastrous drenching across the Deep South. Moving at an agonizing 3 mph, or about as fast as a person can walk, the storm made landfall at 4:45 am close to Gulf Shores, Alabama, about 30 miles from Pensacola. It accelerated to a light jog as it battered the Pensacola and Mobile, Alabama, metropolitan areas encompassing nearly 1 million people.

GERMANY - In her first speech on the state of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc should significantly increase its emissions-cutting targets. She also unveiled a plan to reboot Europe's economy amid the coronavirus crisis. She suggested that 30% of the bloc's €750 billion coronavirus recovery package should be raised through green bonds, which are financial instruments aimed at supporting climate-friendly projects. The EU agreed the stimulus plan in July that will allow the European Commission to raise billions of euros on the global financial markets. MEPs and EU governments would still need to agree to the plan.

GERMANY - A practical “alliance” between the two simply no longer exists. Washington and Berlin disagree on far too much in policy terms for us to whistle past the graveyard any longer. The sooner American statesmen wake up to the harsh new geopolitical reality of German neutralism, the better. Germany is the most glaring case in point of when an ally is no longer an ally. Over vast patches of primary foreign policy terrain, Washington and Berlin simply do not agree.