EUROPE - The European Union has been warned to brace for yet another round of internal clashes after eight days of intense protests on the streets of Bulgaria. The European Union could be left facing more internal clashes over its fundamental values after thousands of Bulgarians took to the streets to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. Brussels over the past decade has been juggling with several parallel crises, including an ongoing split with Poland and Hungary over rule of law. Bulgarian MEP Radan Kanev warned the EU should fear the prospect of Bulgaria becoming "another Poland or Hungary" because of the corruption claims moved against Mr Borissov. Fellow MEP Elena Yoncheva accused the whole political system in her country of being corrupt, claiming Sofia loses up to €11 billion a year because of corruption.

ISRAEL - There are dozens of Muslim states and Christian states around the globe and nobody seems to mind; why can't there be a single, tiny Jewish state? Why has the two-state solution failed? Because the Palestinian leadership has refused offer after offer, because it pays terrorists to kill Israelis, because it incites hatred against Jews, and because it is deeply unpopular, corrupt and cruel to its own people. The two-state solution is not dead. President Trump's Vision for Peace proposes an achievable means for the Palestinians to self-govern within the bulk of Judea and Samaria without jeopardizing Israel's security. The Palestinian people have the opportunity today for real independence. The world stands by with an offer of massive financial assistance in the form of investment, not handouts, so that legitimate Palestinian aspirations may be realized. Sadly, the Palestinian leadership appears poised to miss this opportunity just as it has missed every other opportunity since 1947.

VATICAN - Vatican officials are anxious to get their hands on an advance copy of The Next Pope, a survey of 19 leading contenders to succeed Pope Francis scheduled for publication next month. The full list is still under wraps, but inevitably we talk about Cardinal Robert Sarah, the African-born apocalyptic visionary whom liberals most fear. Equally inevitably, we talk about the charismatic and ambitious Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, formerly Archbishop of Manila and now one of Francis's main allies in the Vatican. But the candidate I was most anxious to ask Edward about is Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who as Secretary of State negotiated the secret and sinister pact with China, staged a coup d'état against the Order of Malta and now faces urgent questions about corrupt property deals. How could such a man possibly be acceptable to the college of cardinals? He's even spoken of as the front-runner. Has the Catholic Church – now on the brink of financial catastrophe – simply thrown away its moral compass?

USA - Millions of Americans who have missed rent payments due to the coronavirus pandemic could be at risk of being evicted in the coming months unless government measures to protect them are extended, economists and housing experts say. Nearly 12 million adults live in households that missed their last rent payment, and 23 million have little or no confidence in their ability to make the next one, according to weekly Census Bureau data.

USA - Coronavirus cases and deaths in the US have begun to rise dramatically again, with experts saying a deadly second wave of the virus has now started. The US leads the world in total coronavirus deaths, with 136,938 dead according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. President Donald Trump previously ordered the country to begin easing lockdown measures. Recently, Mr Trump has also pushed ahead with plans to reopen schools this autumn.

The Atlantic’s Alexis Madrigal suggests that US data shows a second wave of the virus has already started. He references data showing that since July 6, the seven-day average for daily deaths has jumped by over 200. He also points to data showing that cases began to rise on June 16, and two weeks later deaths rose along with cases. Mr Madrigal added: “With the national death numbers rising once again, there’s simply no argument that America can sustain coronavirus outbreaks while somehow escaping fatalities. America’s deadly summer coronavirus surge is undeniable.”

USA - If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unilaterally annexes parts of the West Bank, he will do so knowing that virtually the entire United States Democratic Party opposes the move. The entire leadership has spoken out against it, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and at least 210 of the 233 Democrats in Congress have sent or signed on to letters urging Jerusalem to drop the proposal. But now, some Democrats are no longer just stating their disapproval of annexation; they are now calling for a policy response should Netanyahu go through with it. At the same time, all sides know that with a Republican majority in the Senate and US President Donald Trump in the White House, the amendment has no chance of being passed and signed into law.

JORDAN - Jordan’s King Abdullah warned on Monday that any unilateral Israeli moves to annex territory in the occupied West Bank would fuel instability and dim hopes of a final settlement of the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict. The monarch told British lawmakers the only path to a comprehensive and lasting Middle East peace was the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on land captured by Israel in the 1967 war, and with East Jerusalem as its capital. “Any unilateral Israeli measure to annex lands in the West Bank is unacceptable, as it would undermine the prospects of achieving peace and stability in the Middle East,” the monarch was quoted in a palace statement as telling British foreign and defence parliamentary committee members in a virtual meeting.

USA - Bubonic Plague has been confirmed in the US amid growing fears of an outbreak of the disease known as the Black Death. The bubonic plague, which became known as the “Black Death'' after killing more than 100 million people in the Middle Ages, has been confirmed in a squirrel in Colorado. Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) said the animal tested positive for the disease in the town of Morrison, near Denver, on July 11. It is the first known case of the disease in the US this year. Symptoms usually last for up to seven days and is effectively treated with antibiotics, however if left untreated it can turn into a more severe form and trigger pneumonia. The JCPH said: “Symptoms of plague may include sudden onset of high fever, chills, headache, nausea and extreme pain and swelling of lymph nodes, occurring within two to seven days after exposure. Plague can be effectively treated with antibiotics when diagnosed early. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should consult a physician.”

UK - The world is ill-prepared for the global crash in children being born which is set to have a "jaw-dropping" impact on societies, say researchers. Falling fertility rates mean nearly every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century. And 23 nations - including Spain and Japan - are expected to see their populations halve by 2100. Countries will also age dramatically, with as many people turning 80 as there are being born. Professor Christopher Murray told the BBC, "I think it's incredibly hard to think this through and recognise how big a thing this is; it's extraordinary, we'll have to reorganise societies." Japan's population is projected to fall from a peak of 128 million in 2017 to less than 53 million by the end of the century. Italy is expected to see an equally dramatic population crash from 61 million to 28 million over the same timeframe. They are two of 23 countries - which also include Spain, Portugal, Thailand and South Korea - expected to see their population more than halve.

YEMEN - Just a day after striking sensitive oil installations and military sites inside Saudi Arabia in a retaliatory operation, Yemeni armed forces say they will soon unveil a new type of domestic ballistic missile. Brigadier Abdullah bin Amer, deputy director of the Department of Moral Guidance for Media Affairs, hailed Yemen's major military operation that targeted a number of sites deep within the Saudi territory, including King Khalid airbase in the city of Khamis Mushait, an oil facility in Jizan industrial zone as well as military sites at Abha, Jizan and Najran airports and a military camp in Ma’rib Province. Unlike previous operations that involved launching only one ballistic missile, the recent strike was conducted using a combination of missiles and drones, al-Masirah TV channel quoted bin Amer as saying. Saudi Arabia waged a devastating military aggression against its southern neighbor in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allied states, and with arms support from certain Western countries. The war has claimed an estimated 100,000 lives over the past five years.

USA - The city council in Asheville, North Carolina approved paying reparations to black residents, while a mayor in Rhode Island signed an order promising to look into the act, leading many to argue this is the start of a major trend. "Hundreds of years of Black blood spilled that basically fills the cup we drink from today," Keith Young, one of the black members of the Asheville City Council, said. "It is simply not enough to remove statutes. Black people in this country are dealing with issues that are systemic in nature." The vote was 7-0 in favor of the measure.

USA - Two months ago, we said that it was just a matter of time before a "biblical" wave of bankruptcies was about to be unleashed on the US as a result of the coronavirus pandemic… and sure enough, the first wave of corporate defaults is starting to wash across US shores, with companies in every industry - from retailers, to airlines, and restaurants - but also sports leagues, a cannabis company and an archdiocese plagued by sex-abuse allegations. These are some of the more than 110 companies tracked by Bloomberg that have declared bankruptcy in the US this year and blamed Covid-19 in part for their demise. Among the filers are some of the most iconic names of US business: Hertz, JC Penney and as of last week, Brooks Brothers, too. The biggest - so far - is rental giant Hertz, which survived two world wars, a great depression, a cold war, but ultimately folded, beaten by a tiny Chinese virus.

USA - The new coronavirus pandemic, civil unrest after the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing movement to defund police are bringing in new buyers worried about their personal safety, according to buyers, store owners and gun experts. Gun sales began rising to unusual highs in March, as coronavirus cases began surging in the US and government-ordered lockdowns led to the highest unemployment levels since the Great Depression. The Federal Bureau of Investigation processed 7.8 million background checks for gun purchases from March to June, according to National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade group. In June, background checks for firearms were up 136%, compared to a year earlier, according to the trade group, which gives the best proxy for gun sales. Background checks in June for civilians seeking a license to carry were the highest since the FBI began conducting checks 20 years ago.

USA - More than two dozen shootings across New York City over the weekend left a one-year-old dead and at least 34 others injured, some potentially fatally, dwarfing the number of people killed there by the coronavirus during the same period. It appears that over the weekend, particularly that fateful Sunday that left the one-year-old dead, NYC residents had a higher chance of getting shot than dying from coronavirus. While NYC has largely tamed the lethal and highly contagious coronavirus, another epidemic is starting to rear its ugly head in the city once again — violent crimes. “A one-year-old child is dead. The baby was with his family enjoying a Sunday night in the Summer when someone started shooting,” NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey wrote on Twitter. “This. Must. STOP! We as a community, we as a police department denounce this disgusting violence.”

UK - The UK faces the biggest peacetime deficit in history with the risk of four million people out of work by next year - and the economy might not recover until 2025. In a bleak new assessment, the government's OBR watchdog warned tax rises and spending cuts - potentially as much as 7p on the basic rate of income tax - are inevitable as it poured cold water on hopes of a 'V-shaped' bounceback from coronavirus. It said GDP will fall by up to 14 per cent this year, the worst recession in 300 years, with national debt bigger than the whole economy. Underlining the scale of the hit, government liabilities will be £710 billion more than previously expected by 2023-4. That is equivalent to nearly £11,000 for every man, woman and child in the UK. Meanwhile, unemployment could peak at 13 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 - which would mean more than four million people on the dole queue.