USA - Major global banks including Barclays, JP Morgan, RBS, UBS, and Citigroup are being sued by investors over allegations they rigged the global foreign exchange (Forex) market. According to US law firm Scott + Scott, the claim which is estimated to be worth more than £1 billion (US$1.24 billion), was filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) on Monday. The “massive” action is a “perfect” case to be brought as a so-called opt-out collective class action for breaches of UK or European Union competition law, the Scott + Scott lawyer David Scott told Reuters. “Even on a relatively conservative assumption it’s certainly a billion pounds and possibly several,” he said, adding that “Markets should be fair as well as free and in this case the markets weren’t fair.”

USA - Now the save the planet crew is demanding that 50% of all landmass be void of humans. The real fact is that 95% of the world’s population lives on less than 10% of the land. Obviously, these people really do not understand math. Most of the planet’s surface is covered in water in the form of oceans. The remaining landmass on Earth amounts to approximately 29% of the surface. Of this remaining 29%, deserts of all types constitute an estimated 33% or one-third of Earth’s total landmass. That means humans occupy less than 3% of the surface of the planet. It is just curious how these people think we even possess the capability to change the climate. Now they want laws that say we cannot occupy 50% of the landmass when we only occupy less than 3%. I’m not sure if they flunked math class.

USA - Amid the war of words between President Donald Trump and Congressman Elijah Cummings over tweets about Baltimore, an uncomfortable truth is emerging: many American cities have a problem with rats, lots of them. Describing the district represented by Cummings (Democrat for Maryland), including Baltimore, as a “rat and rodent infested mess” in a tweet over the weekend, the president drew a wave of condemnation from critics, some of whom interpreted the remark as a racist dog whistle about the city’s residents.

USA - It is a telling illustration of the precarious state of United States dams that the near-collapse in February 2017 of Oroville Dam, the nation’s tallest, occurred in California, considered one of the nation’s leading states in dam safety management. The Oroville incident forced the evacuation of nearly 190,000 people and cost the state $1.1 billion in repairs. It took its place as a seminal event in the history of US dam safety, ranking just below the failures in the 1970s of two dams — Teton Dam in Idaho and Kelly Barnes in Georgia — that killed 14 and 39 people, respectively, and ushered in the modern dam safety era. Scientists say the likelihood of dam failures — which not only threaten lives but also release toxic sediments trapped in reservoirs behind many dams — will increase as extreme precipitation events become more frequent in a warming world.

USA - Americans are over-exposed to products that are high in calories, saturated fat, sugar and salt, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study that reports the United States packaged food supply and beverage supply in 2018 was ultra-processed and generally unhealthy. Since about 80% of Americans’ total calorie consumption comes from store-bought foods and beverages (packaged and unpackaged), the food and beverage supply plays a central role in the development of chronic disease including obesity and cardiovascular disease. “To say that our food supply is highly processed won’t shock anyone, but it’s important that we hold food and beverage manufacturers accountable by continually documenting how they’re doing in terms of providing healthy foods for consumers,” said lead author Abigail Baldridge, a biostatistician in the department of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “And the verdict is they can and should be doing a whole lot better.”

EUROPE - An unprecedented number of wildfires have been ravaging the Arctic for weeks following the hottest June ever recorded on Earth. Now, the fires are so huge and intense, the smoke can literally be seen from space. Satellite images show more than 100 long-lived wildfires with huge plumes of swirling black smoke covering most of the Arctic Circle including parts of Russia, Siberia, Greenland and Alaska. The wildfires have now reached “unprecedented levels,” according to Mark Parrington of the EU’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service, who said the smoke vortex is covering a “mind boggling” two million square kilometers.

AUSTRALIA - An Australian school program is teaching young children about the boundaries for sexual consent by explaining they have the right to reject kisses and physical contact with their grandmother. It is part of a move to teach children about “body autonomy” and highlights concepts around sexuality and consent as they move through the school system. The Respectful Relationships program being taught in the state of Victoria’s schools is meant to help kids learn to say no to unwanted physical contact. But in one “child-friendly” example, educator Margie Buttriss ignited a storm of controversy when she told kids they have the right to turn down kisses from their grandmas.

USA - Contrary to President Donald Trump’s assertion that “our nation is stronger today than it ever was before,” the “Salute to America” looked more like a military antiques road show than a display of a 21st-century military power. The age of the current force was most apparent in the Army hardware on display on the National Mall. The M-1A2 Abrams tanks and M-2 Bradley infantry combat vehicles parked near the Lincoln Memorial represent a generation of armored vehicles that were designed in the 1970s and procured in large numbers during the 1980s. More than three decades later, they remain, albeit with modification, the mainstay of the US Army and have been used in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

USA - Two of America’s closest treaty allies have announced military efforts explicitly designed to exclude the United States. Australia is “seeking to cement its status as the security partner of choice for Pacific nations” by establishing an expeditionary training force. And the United Kingdom wants to create a multinational force to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. It’s not a coincidence that allies are striking out on their own. Countries in the Pacific worry that the US is forcing them to choose between their economic connections to China and their security relationships with the US. European allies blame Trump-administration tactics for Iran’s decision to lash out at shipping in the Gulf. The Australian and British initiatives may not succeed. But the very fact of these proposals is proof that relations with close allies have frayed in systemically significant ways. This is what it looks like when the American-led international order comes to an end.

UK - Sajid Javid, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, says there “should be no doubt” that Britain is leaving the European Union on October 31st, and that Her Majesty’s Treasury is now “turbocharging” its preparations for a No Deal Brexit in case the bloc refuses to improve on the deal it offered Theresa May.

USA - The US Corn Ethanol Industry, the largest in the world, is now losing a serious amount of money producing unprofitable biofuel. While higher corn prices and falling revenues have negatively impacted the US Ethanol Industry recently, that is only a small part of a much bigger problem. You see, the EROI (Energy Returned On Investment) for corn-based ethanol, is so low, there’s virtually little if any, net energy produced from the 16 billion gallons of the biofuel supplied by the US industry last year… or any year prior. Now, how much corn does the US Ethanol Industry consume to produce nearly 16 billion gallons of its biofuel per year? Well, according to the information from the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) and WorldofCorn.com, the Ethanol Industry consumed nearly 40% of the entire US corn crop last year. So, all you folks who thought the miles and miles of corn in the midwest were mostly grown for food, think again.

USA - President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he is considering labeling the far-left activist group Antifa a terrorist organization. “Consideration is being given to declaring ANTIFA, the gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with baseball bats, a major Organization of Terror (along with MS-13 & others),” Trump wrote in a tweet. Last week, Senators Ted Cruz (Republican for Texas) and Bill Cassidy, MD (Republican for Louisiana) introduced a resolution that would label Antifa a “domestic terrorist organization.” In a tweet, Cruz characterized Antifa as “a terrorist organization composed of hateful, intolerant radicals who pursue their extreme agenda through aggressive violence.”

USA - Thick smoke has filled the air across much of southern Oregon as the raging Canyonville fire continued to burn out of control. More than 650 firefighters are expected to combat the blaze over the weekend after the fire more than tripled in size on Friday. Three homes near the edge of the raging fire have now been evacuated as fears mount. A level one evacuation notice has also been issued between mileposts 88 to 83, meaning residents should get ready to leave their homes if the alert is raised.

EUROPE - Nordic countries are experiencing searing temperatures as Europe's record-breaking heatwave moves north, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) said Saturday, with some areas recording "tropical nights". In Sweden, the most extreme heat has headed straight for the country's far north. On Friday the small town of Markusvinsa in the far north recorded a temperature of 34.8 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest mark reached in all of Sweden so far this year. "That's the hottest temperature in the far north since 1945 and the third highest temperature on record," Jon Jorpeland, meteorologist at SMHI, told AFP. Heat warnings have been issued in Sweden, Norway and Finland and earlier this week Finnish police even warned motorists to be mindful of moose, who were increasingly crossing roads in search of water to quench their thirst.

PHILIPPINES - The Philippines has been hit by a magnitude 5.4 earthquake shortly followed by an aftershock of 5.9, according to Philippine government data. The earthquake struck off the north of the Philippines on Saturday killing six people and injuring eight, the national disaster agency said. The first quake killed five people and injured eight with one more person killed in the aftershock, according Ricardo Jalad, executive director of the disaster agency. Some buildings partially collapsed in the tourist islands in Itbayat, Batanes. There are no threats of a tsunami in the area following the powerful tremor. Images in Philippine media showed collapsed homes, cracked roads and a damaged church.