GERMANY - Germany urgently needs to lift the ban on Russian oil and gas imports to prop up its struggling economy, Alice Weidel, the co-chair of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has said. She also vowed to restore economic ties between the two countries if her party comes to power. The German economy was dealt a major blow when the country took part in the Western sanctions on Russia in 2022. Before the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, Germany relied on Russia for 55% of its natural gas. Russian oil giant Rosneft’s operations also accounted for around 12% of Germany’s total oil-processing capacity. “Cheap energy from Russia was the secret of the success of ‘Made in Germany’. We need it back,” Weidel said in an interview with Reuters published on Tuesday. “The loss of this energy has set us back years. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost. It has made us dependent on the United States, which sells us energy at far higher prices.”

CHINA - When China moved in to seize control of Hong Kong, it started with a new National Security Law. Once the law was in place, China moved quickly. By July it was arresting pro-democracy students. And a month after that, China raided Apple Daily, the last surviving pro-democracy publication in Hong Kong. Hong Kong went from being a relatively free place with a strong pro-democracy movement to just another region controlled by Beijing. In other words, a place where talking about independence from the Chinese government is illegal. Six years later, it's starting to look like China is eager to repeat that process with Taiwan. China just passed a new "ethnic unity law" which it says will allow it to target people overseas for separatism. Naturally, people in Taiwan can see the implied threat. China has repeatedly warned Taiwan's current president that they considered him a separatist. Once China gets a legal foothold in Taiwan, it will use it to squeeze out any groups or parties that advocate for an independent Taiwan. This is how China achieved complete control over Hong Kong and it seems to be replaying the same steps now toward Taiwan.

EUROPE - For 17 of the 34 materials classified as critical by the EU, China accounts for at least 70% of global mining or refining, a report published by Teer in May shows. Eight of those 34 materials are subject to Chinese export controls. "China is in the process of pulling the rug out from under Europe's rearmament efforts," said Joris Teer, a policy analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the bloc's agency for foreign, security and defense policy analysis. "By just deploying this weapon, China has already increased its leverage, signaling both its capacity and willingness to squeeze supply at any moment of its choosing," Teer wrote. Rheinmetall told Nikkei Asia it had "no dependencies" and was "well prepared with regard to critical minerals." "Rheinmetall has stored key raw materials, enough to last for several years," a spokesperson said.

USA - We have witnessed crazy summer weather in the United States before, but this year has been just bonkers. There was snow at the end of June, high winds just shredded a wind farm in South Dakota, there have never been more tornadoes in Illinois, the western half of the country is being plagued by severe drought, wildfires are erupting at a blistering pace, and now the eastern half of the country is going to experience a “4th of July furnace” caused by an absolutely colossal heat dome… In the western half of the nation, drought is the biggest issue. Right now, the entire state of Colorado is experiencing at least some level of drought… The “Super El Niño” is likely to make things even hotter and even drier in many of the areas that are already dealing with drought. This is truly going to be an epic heat wave. According to the Washington Post, a whopping 73 million Americans are expected to experience high temperatures in the triple digits…

BRAZIL - Thousands of Brazilians were jolted awake in the middle of the night after receiving bizarre emergency alerts warning of an imminent “alien attack” and other alarming threats, triggering confusion, panic, and fresh concerns about the security of government warning systems. The mysterious alerts were sent through Brazil’s official Civil Defense Alert platform, a system typically reserved for life-threatening emergencies such as floods, landslides, severe storms, and other natural disasters. Instead, residents across multiple regions received strange messages containing cryptic language, references to “misanthropy,” and even warnings that extraterrestrials had arrived. The notifications were classified as “extreme alerts,” the highest category used by Brazil’s emergency warning system. As confused residents attempted to verify whether the warnings were genuine, authorities quickly moved to reassure the public that there was no alien invasion and no imminent disaster. Authorities have not yet disclosed how the system was breached or who may have been responsible.

USA - President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders to fast track development of “commercially relevant” quantum computers and to accelerate the timeline to defend the US government against quantum-driven cyberattacks. Quantum computers are expected to accelerate drug discovery and materials science and raise the stakes for both cyberattacks and defense. The first of the orders, issued Monday, calls for the development of “the first-ever quantum computer powerful enough for scientific research” to be situated at the national laboratory by 2028. The second order, called “Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks,” is to accelerate the government’s move to quantum-resistant encryption by 2031, which is a faster timeline than the 2035 deadline set under the Biden administration.

VATICAN - The Vatican on Tuesday reaffirmed a long-standing rule that only an ‌ordained priest or deacon can give a sermon at a ‌Catholic mass, rejecting a request from German bishops to broaden the practice and ​allow sermons by women or other laypeople. "The current discipline cannot be dispensed from," said a release from the Vatican's Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which oversees worship ‌by the world's 1.4 ⁠billion Catholics. Many Catholic masses include a sermon, where a priest or a deacon offers a reflection on ⁠the day's Bible readings. The German bishops' conference had asked earlier this year for permission for laypeople to also offer sermons. The German ​request echoed ​sentiments from many bishops in ​the US and other European countries, who say many laypeople are as capable of preaching as priests. They often cite a desire to hear sermons from women, who cannot be ordained in the Catholic Church.

MIDDLE EAST - The first talks were between Iran and Oman, then between Oman and Qatar, followed by Iran and Saudi Arabia, and finally, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – all aimed at hammering out what regional co-existence would look like once the war dust settled. Such dizzying diplomatic activity is just getting started, with more meetings expected, as Gulf nations calibrate a new normal with Iran. Discussions have covered how traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will be managed and what financial incentives the Gulf might provide Iran in exchange for possible security concessions. It is happening alongside – albeit separately from – ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran to hammer out a longer-term peace deal by a late August deadline. “US credibility has declined considerably, and that’s been going on now for many years,” said Gonul Tol, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. The thinking is that “we just have to reach our own understanding with Iran – it wouldn’t be surprising if Gulf countries actually cut their own deal”.

GERMANY - In the face of China’s onslaught, Volkswagen has announced it is taking the axe to a staggering 100,000 jobs – double a previously outlined target, which was itself higher than previous plans for 35,000 cuts. The impact of such a sharp escalation on the company, the wider Germany economy and indeed the German psyche is hard to overstate. The cull is equivalent to nearly one in six of the 625,000 people it employs in its homeland, the largest mass jobs lay-off Europe has ever seen by a significant margin. For this to be happening at VW, an unmatched source of German prestige, and a true backbone of the Germany economy is seismic. Yet most shocking of all, and something surely neither VW or the German establishment is willing to consider yet, is the possibility that there is nothing the country’s carmakers can do to ensure a full recovery from China’s assault. It’s not just VW that’s in crisis. BMW is planning to spend up to €1 billion (£860 million) on restructuring, which analysts think could lead to 10,000 job losses and a 15 percent reduction in production. Mercedes-Benz has cancelled summer bonuses and 5,500 staff have already taken voluntary redundancy under a big restructuring programme.

MIDDLE EAST - Israel-Lebanon deal may entrench stalemate rather than end war. A security deal between Israel and Lebanon risks entrenching a stalemate rather than resolving Israel's underlying conflict with Hezbollah by tying Israel's pullout from southern Lebanon to the Iran-aligned group's disarmament, a condition regional analysts and politicians say is unattainable. At its core is a bargain few see as workable: Hezbollah has flatly rejected disarmament, and no Lebanese government has the power to enforce it. With Hezbollah unlikely to disarm, analysts say Israel has political cover to keep an open-ended military presence in southern Lebanon, which it invaded after Hezbollah fired at Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Tehran over the war in Iran. The deal leaves the Lebanese state trapped between obligations it cannot meet and sovereignty it cannot fully reclaim, the analysts say.