GERMANY - After Madrid passed a crushing new round of austerity measures on Thursday, the country erupted in widespread protests. Germany did its part to approve the Spanish banking bailout on the same day, but German editorialists question on Friday whether the aid will have the desired effect at home or abroad.

UK - British consumers will soon feel the squeeze from rising food prices as US crops are hit by America's worst drought in more than half a century, economists warn. Scorching temperatures and extreme dryness are devastating harvests across farmland in the Midwest.

UK - The British Broadcasting Corporation is using its 2012 Olympics website to poke its finger into Israel's eye, refusing to describe Jerusalem as Israel's capital in Israel's country profile.

UK - Britain will be forced to hand over an extra £350 million to the coffers of the EU, whether we like it or not. The UK is expected to vote against a proposal to raise the budget by 2.8% for 2013, but the EU’s system of qualified majority voting makes it unlikely the increase will be thrown out. The Netherlands and Sweden are expected to join Britain’s call for more fiscal prudence, but this will not be enough to overturn the countries who will vote in favour of a more loaded gravy train.

SYRIA - With the Annan peace plan shredded as the two sides fight to the bitter end, Syria’s descent into civil war is causing outside powers increasing concern. Their involvement is already considerable, with Iran and Russia backing the regime, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey giving military and logistical support to the rebels, and a wide range of governments squeezing the crumbling economy through sanctions. The latest worry is that, as Syria falls apart, ITS LARGE STOCKS OF CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS COULD FALL INTO TERRORIST HANDS.

USA - James Holmes, the alleged "Joker" gunman, described his fascination with altered states of mind in a lecture to other students, and dosed up on prescription medication before the atrocity, it emerged on Sunday. The first video footage of the suspect showed him as an awkward, nervous 18-year-old giving a talk at a science summer camp in San Diego on "temporal illusions".

RUSSIA - Customs officials have stopped 300 radioactive cars from getting into Russia from Japan since the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year, as part of an ongoing monitoring operation. "We have inspected 150,000 vehicles as part of this monitoring mission. Three hundred units that have been seized indicated a level of radioactivity,” said Gennady Onishchenko, the head of Russia’s consumer rights watchdog.

USA - The recent slowdown in US economic growth is forcing the Federal Reserve to consider something for which it has always set the bar very high: a third round of quantitative easing. A decision on whether to launch another round of asset purchases remains in the balance as the central bank wrestles with a complicated economic outlook and uncertainty about the costs and benefits of its easing tools.

SPAIN - Forest fires raging in Spain's north-eastern Catalonia region have left three people dead, officials say. Two French nationals drowned in the sea close to the border with France while trying to escape the flames, Catalonia's interior minister said. Strong winds gusting up to 90km/h (55mph) have rendered one fire "out of control", he said. All residents of the county of Alt Emporda - about 135,000 people - have been ordered to stay indoors.

FAR EAST - Global insurance companies are struggling to get a grip on their flood exposure in Asia nearly a year after one of the world's costliest disasters hit Thailand, with executives fearing an even worse event looms in the region. Some firms learnt from the Thai floods, with new defenses built to protect multi-billion dollar industrial estates in the country. Insurance premiums have also gone up, but factory construction in flood-prone areas remains rampant across Asia. Insurance executives say the industry is vulnerable to another major flood, with scientists identifying the coastal plains of southern China as one area at greatest risk.

USA - US prosecutors and European regulators are close to arresting individual traders and charging them with colluding to manipulate global benchmark interest rates, according to people familiar with a sweeping investigation into the rate-rigging scandal. Federal prosecutors in Washington, DC, have recently contacted lawyers representing some of the individuals under suspicion to notify them that criminal charges and arrests could be imminent, said two of those sources who asked not to be identified because the investigation is ongoing.

VATICAN - The Pope's butler has been released from custody and moved to house arrest. The Vatican said that Paolo Gabriele will remain under house arrest pending a decision on whether he should stand trial for leaking confidential papers to the media. He was charged in May after a series of leaks exposed alleged corruption and internal conflicts at the Holy See. Mr Gabriele's lawyer Carlo Fusco said his client had operated on his own in an "act of love" toward the Pope.

SPAIN - Spain's financial woes have deepened despite eurozone finance ministers approving a deal to lend up to €100 billion (£78 billion) to bolster its banks. The heavily-indebted Valencia region requested an undisclosed loan from a new rescue fund set up last Friday. And the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds shot up a quarter percentage point to 7.28%, a rate regarded by analysts as unsustainable in the long run.

BRUSSELS, EUROPE - Excerpts from a speech by President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso to the meeting of ‘Faith Leaders’ in Brussels.

LONDON, UK - Israel reportedly fears Iran or a proxy organization may seek to attack Israelis during the Olympic Games, set to begin later this week, The Sunday Times reported.