There’s no end to the Brexit stupidity. Some British newspapers now blame Ireland’s prime minister for the likelihood of Britain crashing out of the EU, Roy Greenslade of the Guardian reports.

Ursula von der Leyen seems to be on the right track for a better EU. Eszter Zalan of the EU Observer repost that she wants to bring balance to the small and large member states.

Trudy, the eldest member of the Western Lowland gorilla group, has died at the age of 63, Little Rock Zoo announces.

I expect a state funeral.

A 15-year-old boy convicted of attempted murder talks to his psychiatrist, Conor Gallagher of Irish Times reports. A sad story, indeed, but fascinating, too.

Two ultra-nationalist parties have joined forces to combat acceptance of gay people in Israel, Jacob Magid of the Times of Israel reports.

Idiots!

The organisation Tennis Sweden has decided to move a Davis Cup-match between Sweden and Israel from Båstad to a secure venue in Stockholm to prevent anti-Semitic attacks.

It’s been Shabbat for some hours already, but, well, better late than never.

שבת שלום

“A recent study estimates that more than a quarter of all that waste could be pouring in from just 10 rivers, eight of them in Asia,” Prachi Patel of Scientific American writes.

Lauren Villagran of the El Paso Times reports that the shooter, Patrick Crusius, wrote the following:

“This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas. They are the instigators, not me. I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion.”

“The European Commission has indirectly confirmed the UK made illegal copies of classified personal information from a database reserved for members of the passport-free Schengen travel zone,” Nikolaj Nielsen of the EU Observer reports.

A new poll has found that a majority of Scottish voters would back leaving the UK in a second independence referendum, Ross McCafferty of the Scotsman reports.

This is a dark chapter in Swedish history. The craniums were dug up from their burial place in the 1950s and taken to Stockholm for racist research. They were then in storage for decades.

The local has the story.

“Her writing was a beautiful, meaningful challenge to our conscience and our moral imagination,” Barack Obama tweets. “What a gift to breathe the same air as her, if only for a while.”

“Researchers found that certain attempts to be more environmentally conscious are often perceived as either masculine or feminine,” Reiss Smith of Pink News writes.

“What is the Conservative Party for, after all, what is Conservatism, if it’s not to smash everything to bits and rebuild it in accordance with the 25,000 word blog posts of some wide-eyed zealot?”

Read it in full at the Independent.

At a press conference earlier today, Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven presented current Labor Minister Ylva Johansson as the country’s candidate for the European Commission.

More useful knowledge from The Local.

The Washington Examiner runs York’s article, but here’s an interesting excerpt from the terrorist’s writing:

My ideology has not changed for several years. My opinions on automation, immigration, and the rest predate Trump and his campaign for president. I [am] putting this here because some people will blame the President or certain presidential candidates for the attack. This is not the case. I know that the media will probably call me a white supremacist anyway and blame Trump’s rhetoric. The media is infamous for fake news. Their reaction to this attack will likely just confirm that.

Seems as if many of us fell into his trap by blaming Trump. But still, Trump does incite hatred towards Hispanic people.

In a statement posted today, Italy’s ruling League Party says it’s set to present a no-confidence motion against its own government, Euronews reports.

You can’t make stuff like this up.

“Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has promised to let Americans in on state secrets surrounding UFOs if elected to the White House,” the Times of Israel writes.

The Abu Nidal organisation is responsible for 300 deaths in 20 countries, but France didn’t care unless the attacks were carried out on French soil, Kim Willsher of the Guardian reports. It’s another example of how nationalism makes Europe weak.

Brazilian far-right president suggests that people “poop every other day” as a way to save the environment, AFP reports.

Easy to say when you’re full of shit.

In a Bloomberg article, Kati Pohjanpalo and Frances Schwartzkopff write about the prospect of banks charging savers for holding their money.

Matt McGrath of BBC writes about a growing consensus among scientists that the next eighteen months will be critical in dealing with the global warming.

Earlier in the week, Pete Buttigieg shared his ideas about personal hygiene at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, Reiss Smith of Pink News reports.

Pete’s right—soap is soap.

Salvini must be stopped, Mr Renzi tells the Guardian.

I hope he succeeds.

“European Parliament employees are furious over a secretive hike in canteen prices that they say has left the most democratic EU institution with the least democratic lunch menu,” Zoya Sheftalovich of Politico reports.

In a new edition of the book The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, edited by Yale psychiatrist Bandy Lee, 37 mental-health professionals warn that Trump suffers from a dangerous mental instability.

“If the result of xenotransplantation is satisfactory with porcine kidneys to humans then it is likely that hearts would be used with good effects in humans within a few years,” Sir Terence English tells Henry Bodkin of the Daily Telegraph. “If it works with a kidney, it will work with a heart.”

Apparently, it’s not the first time America bought land from Denmark.

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian has the story.

From The Canary News:

“At least 8,000 people have already been evacuated from the summits and the north of Gran Canaria as a result of the latest forest fire that started on Saturday at a ravine in the municipality of Valleseco and this Monday more than 700 fire fighters will be battling throughout the day to try to bring under control a blaze on several fronts, with the support of 16 aircraft.”

My la isla bonita is on fire. But the blaze is still far from my flat in Playa del Inglés, so I’m not too worried for my own sake.

“The blaze continues to burn out of control, and the emergency services are currently focussing on the right flank of the fire, which is affecting the Tamadaba Natural Park,” Macame Mesa and Pedro Murillo of El País report.

It’s so nice to read something positive about gay men in professional sports.

Steve Holden of BBC has the story.

The narcissism is unbelievable.

Tom McCarthy of the Guardian has the latest story.

“President Donald Trump claimed to laughter on Wednesday that he sought to give himself a Medal of Honor, but decided not to after being counseled against the move by aides,” Quint Forgey of Politico writes.

A man was taken to hospital in Stockholm last night after he was bitten by a crocodile that once belonged to the Cuban dictator, Emma Löfgren of The Local reports.

In 1992, the then Duchess of York was caught in a toe-sucking scandal. Now the Duke of York has been seen getting foot massage from young woman at a suspected paedophile.

Once upon a time, the centre-right Moderate Party wanted to limit the government’s control over its citizens. Now it seems determined on making government dictate what cloths people wear.

“If Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen’ will be remembered as Theresa May’s theme tune, Boris Johnson’s theme must be ‘Money, Money, Money’,” Sue Wilson writes. “Give it a few weeks, until his government fails, and parliament removes the no-deal threat, and ‘Waterloo’ might be more fitting.”

Apparently, some conspiracies are real: “An enigmatic Christian group known as The Family wields enormous influence in Washington, DC, in pursuit of its global ambitions.”

“The Amazon produces a lot of oxygen but it uses the same amount of oxygen through respiration so it’s a wash,” Daniel Nepstad of Earth Innovation Institute tells Michael Shellenberger of Forbes.

Why are people doing things like this?

“An endurance athlete has conquered the Pacific Ocean,” ABC7 reports. “Now he’s become the first person to cross the Pacific Ocean as a standup paddleboarder.”

A man has been arrested in connection with the death of a woman in her 30s who was shot in Malmö yesterday, The local reports.

If you can’t win the argument, you can try to silence your opponents.

“Boris Johnson has confirmed he has asked the Queen for permission to suspend parliament for five weeks from early September,” Jessica Elgot and Heather Stewart of the Guardian report.

This is a loss not only for Scotland but for sensible Tories everywhere.

“Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson is set to resign her position as soon as tomorrow,” Ross McCafferty of the Scotsman reports.

Italy’s Five Star Movement and the centre-left Democratic party have agreed to try to form a new government in a move that could push the far-right League into opposition, Angela Giuffrida of the Guardian reports.

“A vast new study has quashed the idea that a single ‘gay gene’ exists, scientists say, instead finding homosexual behaviour is influenced by a multitude of genetic variants which each have a tiny effect,” Nicola Davis of the Guardian writes.

“Research published this week confirmed that there is no single gene that causes people to be gay, although genetic factors do hold a significant sway over people’s sexuality,” Nick Duffy of Pink News writes. “The notion of a singular gay gene was first suggested by a study in 1993, and at the time, there was a bonanza of coverage in the British media.”