Look, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the man's got a point doesn't he?! After Donald Trump made slurs about his wife, basically trying to insinuate his father had something to do with JFK's assassination, Ted Cruz can't bring himself to endorse his former rival for the nomination. [SMH live blog]

Okay okay, I get it, I'm alone on this seemingly reasonable point of view. I mean, this is American politics after all!

Trump's supporters booed Cruz at the Republican convention underway in Cleveland Ohio when Cruz said he couldn't bring himself to endorse Trump for the White House. Sarah Palin told Cruz "delete your career" which is a play on the internet meme to "delete your account" ie. because you've tweeted or said so many stupid things that are now on record. (Clinton tweeted this to Trump to social media applause)

Palin said Cruz had a "career ending 'read-my-lips' moment" in refusing to endorse Trump. [Breitbart]

But Cruz ain't backing down. He backed up and said he's no-one's "servile puppy dog". 

In other news, my Facebook followers inform me there is now a popcorn emoji.  Just in time!

Trump is set to formally be nominated as the Republican's nominee on Thursday night, local-time. Don't miss his latest foreign policy musings.  A Trump America would soften its support for NATO and would not "lecture" authoritarian regimes like Turkey about cracking down on civil liberties. These are really significant soundings and would dramatically alter the way the US has seen itself in the world and the role it plays. Who would fill the power vacuum that would inevitably follow American isolationism? [New York Times]

Former Ambassador to the US and Labor leader Kim Beazley says a Trump presidency will be a diaster for Australia and set back foreign policy for decades. [Financial Review]

2. Nice attacker had accomplices

A forensic officer stands near the truck used in the Bastille Day attack. Photo: Claude Paris

The Nice attacker had accomplices and support and the attack was planned since last year, the French prosecutor says.  This is a dramatically different story to the initial report of a possibly mentally unstable lone wolf.  [Reuters]

3. Brazil arrests ahead of Rio

10 people have been arrested and 2 more about being hunted after they joined a group called "the defenders of Sharia" and made "pro forma" declarations of allegiance to Islamic State. The group are all Brazilians, did not know each other and used messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram to communicate. Reuters reported the "absolutely amateur cell" were planning to use weapons and "guerilla tactics".  The Olympic Games begin in just over two weeks. [Reuters]

4. Attack in Merrylands

Police personnel inspect a vehicle that crashed through the roller door of the Merrylands Police Station. Photo: SAM MOOY

In Sydney, terrorism was the immediate fear when a man rammed his car into the Merrylands Police station.  The driver turned out to be a man in his sixties, known to police and with a history of mental illness. [Sydney Morning Herald] The same police station has a history of threats being made against it. [Sydney Morning Herald]

It comes amid heightened tensions in other countries too. In Norfolk, Britain, a serviceman has escaped an attempted-abduction at knifepoint. Police are looking for two men of "Middle Eastern" appearance. Police said terrorism is one possibility but there are a range of other hypotheses. [BBC]

That scare in Belgium yesterday involving a man wearing a thick coat with wires hanging out of it turned out to be a student at Brussels university. He was studying radiation and conducting an experiment with his coat and wires. Belgium, already hit by terrorist attacks earlier this year, is on even higher alert because it is celebrating its national day. [The Telegraph]

5. Aus politics

George Christensen speaks at a Reclaim Australia rally in Mackay in 2015. Photo: ABC News

It wasn't just the media speculating the Merrylands incident might be terrorism. Controversial conservative George Christensen leapt on the report and declared the incident a "failed terror attack."  His retraction was only partial. Christensen expressed surprised that it wasn't terrorism after all, given it took place in the western Sydney suburb of Merrylands and relaunched his attack on Islam. [My report/Fairfax]

Meanwhile, Queensland MPs, Christensen among them, are going rogue. The Liberal-National party wants to form its own partyroom and split from the general governing Coalition partyroom to leverage its stronger performance in the election. Barnaby Joyce and George Brandis had to fly to Queensland to kill off the motion, which died 12-8. [Michael McKenna, Sarah Martin/The Australian]

Former Labor Senator Graham Richardson's weekly column is one of his best in yonks. He explains the split in the Labor left which could birth a new "industrial left" faction because of an ego battle between Kim Carr and Anthony Albanese. Carr voted for Shorten in the 2013 Labor leadership contest between Albanese and Shorten. [The Australian]

A same-sex marriage plebiscite may not be the preferable option, writes Michelle Grattan, but if supporters (ie. Greens and Labor) want it to be passed they may need to make it work and asap. [Michelle Grattan]

6. I've got my hands up, they won't shoot

Charles Kinsey and the autistic boy moments before the police fired. Photo: Courtesy Hilton Napoleon/Washington Post

You'd think. Not in America. Miami police have shot a black man, Charles Kinsey, who was lying on the ground with his hands up in the air. He was a caretaker who had been trying to calm an autistic man who had left the care home.

"I was thinking as long as I have my hands up ... they're not going to shoot me," he told local television station WSVN from his hospital bed.

"Wow, was I wrong."

[Washington Post]

That's it for this week, you can follow me on Facebook for more. 

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