USA - The United States strongly objects to Turkish President Erdogan hosting two Hamas leaders in Istanbul on August 22. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the US and EU and both officials hosted by President Erdogan are Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The US Rewards for Justice Program is seeking information about one of the individuals for his involvement in multiple terrorist attacks, hijackings, and kidnappings. President Erdogan’s continued outreach to this terrorist organization only serves to isolate Turkey from the international community, harms the interests of the Palestinian people, and undercuts global efforts to prevent terrorist attacks launched from Gaza. We continue to raise our concerns about the Turkish government’s relationship with Hamas at the highest levels. This is the second time President Erdogan has welcomed Hamas leadership to Turkey this year with the first meeting occurring February 1.

USA - A group of multimillionaire investors in the US are hoarding cash at unprecedented levels. Tiger 21, a club of more than 800 investors, reported Thursday that its members have raised their cash holdings to 19% of their total assets on concerns over the economic consequences of the covid pandemic in the US. That’s up from about 12% since the start of the outbreak. About a quarter now expect the crisis to continue until the end of next June, the group said. “This rise in cash is an extraordinary change - statistically, this is the largest, fastest change in asset allocation Tiger 21 has seen,” said Michael Sonnenfeldt, chairman of the club, whose participants typically have more than $100 million in assets. “In trying to build resources prudently, members have gained liquidity and will not immediately reinvest in those areas in order to keep and build cash to weather this storm.”

CHINA - China’s food supplies remain stable and consumers should not be “overly anxious” or even resort to “panic buying”, a senior agriculture ministry official said on Wednesday, following recent uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Still, farmers and traders should prevent food waste caused by improper storage, while farmers who stockpile in the hope of later gains should be wary that prices could turn against them, ministry official Tang Ke told a briefing. President Xi Jinping raised the issue of food security earlier this month when he spoke about “shameful” food wastage, while a government think tank has warned about a looming food supply gap by 2025. Tang said the coronavirus pandemic has increased uncertainty in both domestic and foreign markets for agricultural products.

TURKEY - Turkey says its largest-ever natural gas discovery in the Black Sea could lead to new cooperation with Iran even as Ankara aims not to be just a buyer, but also a producer. Turkey is dependent on imports for almost all of its energy needs and Iran is a key supplier of Ankara’s natural gas purchases which generate nearly 40 percent of the country’s electricity production. “The countries we have been cooperating with for years are Iran and Russia. This new period for Turkey may lead to new cooperation with these countries,” Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said in a televised interview on NTV Tuesday.

UK - This Saturday in London, protesters gathered outside of Buckingham Palace as part of a demonstration against child exploitation. Protesters shouted accusations of “pedophile” outside the gates of the palace, in reference to Prince Andrew’s involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s child trafficking ring. Meanwhile, Prince Andrew has been dodging investigators that want to question him about the accusations made by some of Epstein’s victims. New York prosecutors have said that the prince has “completely shut the door” on cooperating with authorities. They are now considering what further legal action can be taken. Andrew continues to deny any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s many crimes, despite a growing body of evidence indicating that he was involved. Andrew has previously promised to help investigators with the case, but has since removed himself from public life. He has also refused requests for interviews that investigators have sent him. He has stepped down from his official royal position and is now more than ever the black sheep of the royal family.

USA - Hurricane Laura's ferocious winds produced more damage than its storm surge as it pummeled portions of Louisiana. The storm left six people dead in Louisiana, including at least four from falling trees. Laura came ashore as a Category 4 storm early Thursday near the Texas border, tearing off roofs while knocking out power to hundreds of thousands. Laura, later downgraded to a tropical storm, was about 35 miles south of Little Rock, Arkansas, with sustained winds of 40 mph as of 7 pm CT Thursday. But it made landfall around 1 am with sustained winds of 150 mph, devastating southern Louisiana communities for miles. While there were widespread reports of wind damage, some communities were also beset by storm surge. US Coast Guard aerial video showed flooding in Cameron along the coast. "There's a lot of damage. People are going to need a lot of help around here," Paul Heard, who survived the ordeal in Lake Charles, told CNN.

USA - Wall Street and business groups are bracing for the possibility of a blue sweep in Washington that would leave Democrats in charge of the White House and both chambers of Congress. Such a scenario could lead to sweeping policy changes affecting taxes, regulations, coronavirus relief and other economic policies. “I would say that’s definitely a concern on a lot of investors’ minds,” said Judy Lu, CEO and founder of Blue Zone Wealth Advisors.

USA - Armies of lawyers have already been recruited, reasons to question the legitimacy of the 2020 election results are already being floated, and top politicians on both sides are already urging a fight to the bitter end. Initially, it appeared that we might avoid this sort of a scenario. For several months Joe Biden had a large lead in all of the major national polls, and some people were even discussing the possibility of a “landslide”.

USA - An EXTREME WIND WARNING has been issued for southwestern Louisiana, including Lake Charles and Cameron. Violent winds are coming inland in Laura's eyewall. Shelter in place in the most interior room of the lowest dry floor of your home. Treat this warning like a tornado warning. Laura is near the extreme southwest Louisiana coast and tracking to the north-northwest at about 15 mph. The hurricane is a Category 4 and steady weakening, it is now expected through the morning hours. Laura's maximum sustained winds jumped from 75 mph to 140 mph in the 24 hours ending 1 pm CDT Wednesday. That increase in maximum sustained winds easily meets the definition of rapid intensification in a hurricane. Hurricane conditions are ongoing in southwestern Louisiana. Destructive winds will spread well inland, more than 100 miles, along Laura's path.

UK - Brexit negotiations have been fraught, with both sides failing to find a compromise on trade agreements. Both sides have now conceded it is unlikely we will be able to strike a deal that suits both sides, leading to increased anxiety that a no-deal Brexit is almost certainly on the cards. The UK ceased to be a member of the EU from February 1, 2020, and is no longer part of the bloc's institutions. Despite this, the usual arrangements of our former membership are still in place, meaning we are still beholden to rules like freedom of movement and trade rules.

USA - In these heady times, it seems, incidents are quickly magnified and wildly distorted, leading to mass public outrage when really none should be warranted: Case in point, the state of Minnesota was forced to declare a "state of peacetime emergency" in Minneapolis last night after violent protests erupted following the death of a local black man.

USA - Lightning-sparked wildfires in Northern California exploded in size Friday to become some of the largest in state history, forcing thousands to flee and destroying hundreds of homes and other structures as reinforcements began arriving to help weary firefighters. More than 12,000 firefighters aided by helicopters and air tankers are battling wildfires throughout California. Three groups of fires, called complexes, burning north, east and south of San Francisco have together scorched 991 square miles (2,566 square kilometers), destroyed more than 500 structures and killed five people. At least 100,000 people are under evacuation orders.

USA - Investment advisor and former Assistant Secretary of Housing Catherine Austin Fitts says big change is ahead of the world, and “nothing will ever be the same.” Fitts lays out the so-called “reset” you’ve been hearing about for the past few years and says, “We are in the process that I would recall is a global reset. The entire financial system is being reset. There are two aspects of this: One is extending the old system, and the other is bringing in the new system. It’s very much being done on the fly by trial and error, but the new system is 100% digital.”

USA - So please keep in mind that there are real people and real dreams behind each of the numbers that I am about to share with you. The following are 17 facts that prove the US economy is a complete and total disaster zone at this point… In all the years that I have been writing about the economy, I have never seen anything that even comes close to what we are experiencing now. More than 100,000 businesses have permanently failed, and tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs.

USA - A small gaming lounge in the Democrat-run city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, announced on Monday that it will be forced to close permanently after being wiped out by looters. Gravity Gaming Lounge pinned the notice on its Facebook page.