Notations From the Grid (Special Friday Edition): On @POTUS Watch

It has been quite a 24 hours again as President Trump continues his travels with his stop in the UK.   The Economist captured it earlier today as we present this "Snapshot" on our World courtesy of the Economist for this edition of "Notations From the Grid":

Donald Trump in BritainA brief but eventful visit   Protesters were out across Britain today to express their displeasure at Donald Trump’s first official visit. But the demonstrations, while large, were at least expected. Rather more shocking was the behaviour of Mr Trump himself, who gave an explosive interview to the Sun newspaper in which he criticised Theresa May’s handling of Brexit and heaped praise on Boris Johnson. That will have damaged the special relationship more than any demonstration

The World Cup Croatia’s long road to Moscow   In few other countries are politics and football as closely entwined as in Croatia. Its footballers and fans have long chanted a slogan linked with the genocidal regime that ruled the country during the second world war. The chant has brought Croatia myriad problems with international football bodies. A victory in the World Cup final on Sunday could be worth more in terms of positive publicity for Croatia than years of global PR campaigns

Middle East economiesSticky situation   Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates enjoy many advantages, such as wealth and good infrastructure, that generally lead to innovation. But they perform badly in a new ranking of innovation in 126 countries. Arab petro-states may enjoy Western levels of consumption but they lack Western levels of productivity. Their poor showing in the index is one indication of the mountain they have to climb to find non-oil sources of growth

Automating cookeryRobotatouille   Until recently, catering robots have been gimmicks. But new robot chefs can prepare entire meals. They are working, or soon will be, in kitchens in America (making burgers and pizza) and China (making Hunan cuisine). One British firm aspires to emulate a real chef—not only in the quality of the meals, but also by being able to learn to cook almost any recipe. This is a complicated proposition. For now,sous-chefs everywhere can breathe easy

Open FutureTrans rights and feminist rights have been falsely cast in opposition   What is a woman? Who can be a feminist? These questions have been central to feminist theory since the 1970s, but in recent years have returned to haunt feminism. “While anti-transgender viewpoints are a minority position, many [high-profile writers] reinforce the extremely offensive trope of the trans woman as a man in drag who is a danger to women,” writes Sally Hines, a professor at the University of Leeds, for our transgender identities essay series As President Trump gears up for his summit with President Putin of Russia, The Special Counsel indicted 12 Russian Nationals and the White House said that it is "Consistent with what it has been saying all along as the Republicans in the House continued their attempts to somehow discredit the investigation.  This from the Washington Examiner was just reported out : The White House on Friday said the latest round of indictments against 12 Russian nationals as part of the special counsel investigation is "consistent" with President Trump's claim that his campaign did not collude with the Kremlin during the 2016 election. "Today's charges include no allegations of knowing involvement by anyone on the campaign and no allegations that the alleged hacking affected the election result," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a statement. "This is consistent with what we have been saying all along." Read the full story here. In our view, the full story is yet to be told no doubt as the Public Relations Campaign by the President continues.

Notations From the Grid (Special Mid-Week Edition): A Daily Snapshot Of the Middle East ((Courtesy Al-Monitor)

 

Turkey 1 Manbij holds the key to improved Turkish-US ties Ankara is worried the United States and Russia may be working on a deal in Syria that will be to Turkey's disadvantage.

Washington 2 Top Democrats urge Gulf to drop demand for Houthi surrender in Yemen Some of the House’s most hawkish Democratic leaders rebuked Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates over their offensive on the key port of Hodeidah.

Iraq 3 Billion dollar debt, heat wave push Iran to cut electricity to Iraq Iran has cut off electricity supplies to Iraq amid increased consumption during a hot spell and reports of massive accrued debt by Baghdad, sparking a wave of protests in central and southern Iraqi regions.

Iran 4 Why Putin won’t throw Iran under the bus in Syria Despite speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin may sacrifice Iran's interests in his upcoming summit with US President Donald Trump, Russian policy appears geared toward gaining concessions from the Americans without going beyond Iran’s red lines in Syria.

Israel 5 US administration silent on Israel's occupation policy Contrary to former US administrations, President Donald Trump accepts Israel's ongoing occupation and settlement policies without requiring concessions for the Palestinians.

Egypt 6 Egyptian banks to forgive interest on certain loans The Central Bank of Egypt is willing to overlook the interest on some customers' loans to recover principal that otherwise might not be repaid.

Jordan 7 Syrian truce relieves pressure on Jordan's border Jordan pressured Syrian rebels to cede control of the southern province of Daraa and the strategic Nassib border crossing to Syria.

8 Pompeo looks to career diplomat for State's No. 3 post Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was expected to recommend the nomination of career diplomat David Hale, currently the US ambassador to Pakistan, to be undersecretary of state for political affairs.

Israel 9 Israeli right dreams of third temple in Jerusalem Israeli right-wing politicians resumed visits to the Temple Mount after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled the ban on Knesset members visiting the site.

Egypt 10 Egypt rejects EU plan to force refugees into camps The debate over the European Union’s plan to set up centers for migrants in North Africa and the Middle East has been rekindled in Egypt, where officials reiterated their rejection of such centers.

Iraq 11 Why many Iraqi Kurds keep the tradition of cockfighting alive Cockfighting in Iraq still provides many men with a nightly escape despite the efforts of animal welfare activists to ban blood sports.

12 Can dry hotels boost Tunisia's ailing tourism sector? In 2014, Tunisia had only one alcohol-free hotel. Now, as their number rises, the government is less than pleased.

13 Iran moves closer to reinstating Zoroastrian city councilor Iran’s Expediency Council is inching closer to reinstating an elected Zoroastrian member of a city council after a controversial suspension over his faith.

Notations On Our World (Weekly Edition): Out & About in Our World....

It  has been quite an interesting few weeks in our World as the United States has embarked upon a trade war with the World.   It began with President Trump imposing 34 Billion Dollars in Tariffs which was then matched by China.   Canada and the European Union have also been in President Trump's Cross Hairs.   As we went to press, President Trump was on the air for the NATO Summit, a State Visit to the UK along with a meeting with Russian President Putin.  

As we went to press, we wanted to share the first of two perspective on what China Daily--one of the many official publications of China--touted about China's Commitment to World Trade as we also wanted to note recent chaos in the UK in the aftermath of resignations in the UK Cabinet with profound potential issues with World-Wide Trade: