Notations On Our World (Weekly Edition): An #OutsiderWall On the Week That Was

 

Our team was in the community this week as we had the pleasure to be witness to the vibrancy of the community as a major landmark in South Orange County was bustling.   We decided to headline our weekly "Outsider Wall" with images we captured during our week.

It has been quite a week in our World as we were witness to devastating floods in Europe and as COVID continues to rear its' ugly head.    We also continue to assess the ongoing challenges with China, the US Politics scene and the on-going aftermath of the January 6 insurrection.  

We present our weekly "Outsider Wall" on the week that was courtesy the team at the Washington Examiner, The Economist of London, The Financial Times of London, The Visual Capitalist, Haaretz and Defense One.

We look forward to the continued privilege to serve: 

Under water Devastating floods in Germany warn Europe of the dangers of warming Whether or not climate change caused these floods, it made them more likely

Related   → Climate hub: A selection of our best stories and analysis on climate change

The eagle and the rabbit America, China and the race to the Moon Half a century on, the race back to the Moon looks markedly different from the first

America and China Biden’s new China doctrine Its protectionism and its us-or-them rhetoric will hurt America and put off allies

Unlikely bedfellows A general, a warlord and an economist vie to run Sudan Interviews with the three most powerful men in a would-be democracy

Lexington The Republican anti-vax delusion America’s vaccination programme is stalling. Populist conservatives are to blame

Week in charts How America plans to cope with China The cost of cleanliness • Covid’s Asian hotspots • Wall Street boom • Drugs and sport

The longest war America’s war in Afghanistan is ending in crushing defeat The consequences of the conflict for Afghans, already catastrophic, are likely to get worse

Leaving Trump behind A 2024 field that includes the Donald would be a disaster for the party and for Trump. Read the full story here.

Chinese money launderers team up with Mexican cartels to profit billions from US fentanyl crisis Chinese money launderers and fentanyl-makers have gone into business with Mexican drug cartels, teaming up to make billions of dollars a year trafficking the powerful opioid that is killing thousands of people in the United States. Read the full story here.

World CDC chief warns of ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’ in the US New cases up 70% in the past week with outbreaks primarily in parts of the country where jab uptake has lagged JULY 16, 2021 by Peter Wells in New York

Politics Jacob Zuma and the global battle against strongman rule The most important safeguard against authoritarianism is an  independent judiciary JULY 12, 2021 by Gideon Rachman James Lankford's election-truther challenger gets 'unheard of' boost from GOP officials Frustration with Republican Sen. James Lankford over declining to vote to object to Electoral College results on Jan. 6 is manifesting in “unheard of” support for his election-truther Republican primary opponent from state party officials. Read the full story here. World Biden to sign sweeping order aimed at curbing power of big companies Efforts to limit non-compete clauses are among the measures to stimulate growth JULY 9, 2021 by James Politi in Washington July 2, 2021 The House Appropriations defense subcommittee advanced a nearly $706 billion fiscal 2022 defense spending bill to the full committee this week. Add a roughly $10 billion military construction bill and you have the Biden administration's full $715 billion request. The Democrat-led panel advancing the full amount increases the chance of an even higher defense budget, according to Cowen and Company analyst Roman Schweizer.  "Democrat appropriators shunned calls from Progressives to cut defense and supported Biden's request, a positive," Schweizer wrote in a June 29 note to investors. "We believe a bipartisan deal will be necessary, and it will add more money to the $715B request ($20B-$30B)." Switzerland said it would buy the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to replace its aging F/A-18 Hornets and F-5 Tiger fighters. The decision by the neutral nation to buy a stealth jet was immediately questioned by opponents who called the F-35 the "Ferrari option" and pledged to overturn the deal by referendum. The Dassault Rafale, built in neighboring France, was considered the favorite in the contest, which also included the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and Eurofighter Typhoon.  Back stateside, the Pentagon has been pushing F-35-maker Lockheed Martin to lower the long-term costs of maintaining and operating the jet. Noteworthy is that the Swiss Federal Council said its evaluation determined "procurement and operation costs are the lowest for this aircraft."  New From CBO An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2021 to 2031 If current laws generally remain unchanged, the federal budget deficit will total $3.0 trillion and federal debt will reach 103 percent of GDP in fiscal year 2021, CBO estimates, and real GDP will grow by 7.4 percent in calendar year 2021. Delta variant What do we know about the Delta variant of COVID-19? How can we assess our risk? How can we protect ourselves? WHO’s Dr Maria Van Kerkhove explains in Science in 5.   Find out more