GERMANY - The September 1 regional elections German Chancellor Olaf Scholz didn't want to see coming hit him and his ruling coalition like a ton of bricks anyway. "Crushed" was a commonly used adjective from Bloomberg to other major news organs routinely covering Europe. The gloom about the populist party's rise is tangible through all the reports. The margin of the gains has to be an especially bitter pill with all the concerted demonization, vitriol, and hyperbole - not to mention flat-out politically based persecution - thrown against the AfD's party members for the better part of the past year. But in the world of parliamentary legislating, "winning" isn't all it's cracked up to be. The clear victors with over 30%, AfD still needs a partner for a ruling coalition in order to move legislation through, and no one wants to play with them.

SWITZERLAND - It is time for Switzerland, which has been neutral since 1515, to redefine its non-alignment status, a group of Swiss experts have said, in a report ordered by the defense ministry in Bern. Critics, in response, have accused the panel behind the paper of bias and insist that neutrality is forever enshrined in the country’s constitution. The study committee, which was set up a year ago, presented a paper on Thursday with 100 recommendations on how to boost the Alpine nation’s security.

MIDDLE EAST - Military action in Palestine unites Arab countries of the Middle East in righteous anger towards their common enemy. During Arbaeen, Iraqis traditionally dress in black. This Shiite religious ritual marks the end of 40 days of mourning for Imam Hussain, the grandson of Islamic Prophet Muhammad, who died in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD.

TURKEY - Türkiye has formally asked to join the BRICS economic bloc, as it seeks to forge new ties beyond its traditional Western allies, Bloomberg has reported, citing people familiar with the matter. According to the outlet, Ankara submitted an application to join the group “some months ago.” “Rifts” between NATO member Türkiye and the military bloc’s other member states over the Ukraine conflict were reportedly among the reasons for Ankara’s BRICS application. Since the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in 2022, Ankara has called for a diplomatic solution. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously criticized his allies' strategy of providing military aid to Ukraine and stated that Türkiye “will not be a party to this war.” Ankara has maintained close ties with Moscow despite the Ukraine conflict, noted Bloomberg.

USA - With our industrial capacity only a fraction of what it was 85 years ago, and our allies’ industrial capacity in even worse shape, how would we find the capabilities we know we will need to push the fight? I've often argued that the conversion of the American economy to a service/info system rather than manufacturing is a national-security risk. We need to rethink everything, especially education. We don't produce well-trained men and women for a manufacturing economy, and we don't allow for the extraction and use of natural resources needed to make it work. It's not just building a 350-ship Navy, which we can't do at the moment anyway, but replacing losses in real time. We are no longer the Arsenal of Democracy, and that makes us weaker than we have been in a century or more.

ISRAEL - A nationwide strike has started in Israel as pressure mounts on Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas. The country’s biggest unions said they would disrupt the “entire economy” on Monday, following the deaths of six hostages found in a tunnel under Gaza. Grieving families have blamed Mr Netanyahu, the prime minister, for putting politics ahead of the safety of civilians abducted by the terror group on October 7 last year. Sunday night’s protests were the largest since the war was declared 11 months ago, with organisers estimating that 300,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv and that another 200,000 took part in protests elsewhere across the country.

MIDDLE EAST - Hamas has rejected a renewed US proposal to help finalize a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sabotaging negotiations and Washington of indulging him, Middle Eastern news outlets reported on Sunday, citing an official statement from the militant group. The statement was issued following the latest round of talks in the Qatari capital, Doha last week involving officials from Israel, Qatar, the US, and Egypt. Hamas skipped the negotiations, citing the absence of a clear plan. A senior Hamas official told the BBC on Thursday that the group would “not engage in negotiations for the sake of negotiations.” In its latest statement, Hamas held Netanyahu completely responsible for thwarting the mediation efforts and derailing the agreement. The group said the new demands do not meet its conditions regarding the release of prisoners.

GERMANY - Exit polls show the party has triumphed in the state and is vying for first place in neighbouring Saxony. German hard-right nationalists are set to win a regional state election for the first time since the end of the Second World War, with voters breaking a political taboo in place since the fall of the Nazis. According to exit polls the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party widely regarded as right-wing extremists, has won in Thuringia in the country’s east, taking 32.8 per cent of the vote ahead of the mainstream conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) on 23.6 per cent. The AfD is also vying for first place in neighbouring Saxony, with predictions that it has taken 30.6 per cent with the main opposition CDU on 31.9 per cent — a margin considered too close to call as polling stations closed.

USA - As Statista's Anna Fleck reports, currently, there are estimated to be 9,585 nuclear warheads in military stockpiles for potential use across nine countries, with Russia and the US accounting for 8,088 of these. China has added 90 nuclear warheads to its arsenal since January 2023, increasing from 410 warheads to 500. This is according to data from the peace research institute SIPRI. India and North Korea have also expanded their arsenals, bringing their total figures to an estimated 170 warheads and 50 warheads, respectively. The two European nuclear powers, France and the UK, together have 515 operational nuclear warheads.

USA - A leading oncologist is raising the alarm about the staggering surge in cancer cases among young people. North Carolina‘s Duke University oncologist Dr Nicholas DeVito is warning that “every new patient” who now comes to his clinic is under 45 years old. Dr DeVito says he and his colleagues have experienced a complete demographic switch in recent years. Based on what he’s seeing every day, talking to patients on the ground and analyzing the data, DeVito is now issuing a red alert to warn the public about the phenomenon. However, the doctor is raising concerns that US government officials are refusing to address or even acknowledge the dramatic surge in cancer cases. The physician wrote for STAT News: “The desire to protect Americans from substances that cause cancer and other diseases should transcend party affiliation and political motivation to overcome industrial lobbying efforts.”

USA - The US Secret Service will be provided with additional military support capabilities for presidential and vice presidential candidates ahead of the upcoming election in November, representatives of the agency and the Pentagon announced on Thursday. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has directed US Northern Command to plan and provide additional support and resources for the Secret Service at various locations during the election, according to Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh. The representative noted that this support had been granted following the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. Following the incident, the Secret Service said it was “ashamed” of the security lapse that allowed the incident to occur.

GERMANY - In the run-up to tomorrow’s state elections in the Eastern part of Germany, the mainstream globalist parties and the media are aligned in a panic over the population’s preference for the right wing AfD party, endlessly plotting ways to keep them out of power. It’s been 35 years since the Berlin Wall fell, and on the east side of the old ‘iron curtain’, the AfD is surging. Politico reported: “Ahead of three state elections across eastern Germany this September — including in Saxony and Thuringia this Sunday — the once-fringe party is polling first or close to first in all contests. That success is due to the party’s increasingly deep roots in small towns across the east like Großschirma, where in municipal and European Parliament elections in June, the AfD won around half the local vote, illustrating the extent to which it has become the dominant political power in the area."

NETHERLANDS - Ukraine was given approval by the Netherlands on Thursday to use its F-16 fighter jets to strike deep inside Russian territory. The American-made F-16 is an iconic fighter jet that’s been the front-line combat plane of choice for the NATO alliance and numerous air forces around the world for 50 years. Newsweek reports permission to use Western weapons on Russian soil is a key sticking point among some of Ukraine’s supporters, with Kyiv claiming this could turn the tide in the conflict. The statements from the Netherlands indicate Ukraine’s other allies may soon follow suit, loosening restrictions on its activities deeper within Russia.

USA - President Joe Biden responded to the news that Hersh Goldberg-Polin was one of the bodies that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had discovered in Gaza, and stated “Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes.” Biden issued a statement that it was “now confirmed that one of the hostages” killed by Hamas terrorists was Goldberg-Polin. Biden described Goldberg-Polin’s death as “tragic” and “reprehensible.” “Earlier today, in a tunnel under the city of Rafah, Israeli forces recovered six bodies of hostages held by Hamas,” Biden said in a statement. “We have now confirmed that one of the hostages killed by these vicious Hamas terrorists was an American citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin.” Biden added that he was “devastated and outraged. Make no mistake. Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes."

ISRAEL - The Israeli military has concentrated its attention on terrorist cells in the West Bank in the last several days, taking on Hamas in the town of Jenin and in the Jordan Valley. There has long been a Hamas presence in the Palestinian towns of the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority, which is run by the rival Fatah movement, has at times acted against Hamas, but often turns a blind eye or lacks the capacity to take effective action against increasingly well-armed cells. The West Bank has been relatively quiet, compared to Gaza and the northern border, but Israel is concerned that it could become the next major front in the ongoing war.