UNITED NATIONS - The order that has structured international politics since the end of World War II is fracturing. Many of the culprits are obvious. Revisionist powers, such as China and Russia, want to reshape global rules to their own advantage. Emerging powers, such as Brazil and India, embrace the perks of great-power status but shun the responsibilities that come with it. Rejectionist powers, such as Iran and North Korea, defy rules set by others. Meanwhile, international institutions, such as the UN, struggle to address problems that multiply faster than they can be resolved.

UK - The world economy is at risk of another financial meltdown, following the failure of governments and regulators to push through all the reforms needed to protect the system from reckless behaviour, the International Monetary Fund has warned. With global debt levels well above those at the time of the last crash in 2008, the risk remains that unregulated parts of the financial system could trigger a global panic, the Washington-based lender of last resort said. The former UK prime minister Gordon Brown said last month that the world economy was “sleepwalking into a future crisis,” and risks were not being tackled now “we are in a leaderless world”.

USA - Should men wear stilettos?  At one time that would have been unthinkable, but in recent years the trend toward “gender-fluidity” has broken down many of the old barriers that once ruled the fashion world. So now many men are wearing whatever they feel like wearing, and they are doing so very publicly. Businessmen are wearing stilettos to important business meetings, and kids are even wearing them to prom. Will we soon reach the point where all of the old fashion rules have been completely wiped out? Our society is changing at a pace that is hard to keep up with, and the pace of change is likely to accelerate even more in the months and years ahead.

USA - Over 20 major retailers have filed for bankruptcy since the beginning of last year, and in 2018 we may break the all-time record for annual store closings that was established just last year. We are in the midst of the worst retail apocalypse in American history, and it appears to be picking up speed as retail giants such as Sears, JCPenney, Brookstone and Mattress Firm spiral toward bankruptcy. We live at a time when the middle class is being systematically destroyed, and so the truth is that US consumers simply do not have as much discretionary income as they once did. Many large retailers believed that things would eventually turn around, and they have been fighting very hard to survive, but now time has run out for quite a few of them.

UK - A video published by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) showing 6-year-old school children being instructed to write gay love letters has been causing a stir on social media. The video, originally uploaded to BBC Radio Manchester’s Facebook page, shows young children at Bewsey Lodge Primary School being instructed to write love letters from “Prince Henry” to his manservant, “Thomas”, with the teacher instructing her pupils: “You’re going to tell Thomas why it’s a brilliant idea for him to marry you.” “This school teaches children about LGBT relationships from an early age,” enthuses the BBC’s subtitled commentary.

UK - Clapping has been banned at a leading university student union "to avoid triggering anxiety". The University of Manchester Students' Union passed the resolution to ban clapping at student union events at the first Senate session of the academic year on September 27, according to student newspaper the Mancunion. "It was argued that the loud noise of traditional clapping and whooping pose an issue to students with anxiety or sensory issues. BSL clapping – or, jazz hands – would be a more inclusive form of expression," the paper said. Jazz hands is the British Sign Language for clapping.

GERMANY - After rioting in the eastern-German city of Chemnitz on August 26 and 27 by neo-Nazis and other forces of the extreme right, many observers are questioning whether far-right sympathies among the security forces allowed things to get out of hand.

HUNGARY - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivered a fiery speech to European lawmakers in Strasbourg, before they began deliberations on suspending the country’s key EU rights due to his government’s policies. Orban accused the “pro-migrant majority” of having “already made up their minds” to invoke the European Union Treaty’s Article 7 against Hungary, for its treatment of migrants and minorities, and the ruling party's purported abuse of the law and suppression of media freedoms.

USA - A new study from the American Academy of Pediatrics shows an alarmingly high rate of suicide attempts among transgender teens, particularly trans boys. Nearly 14 percent of all adolescents in the study, “Transgender Adolescent Suicide Behavior,” based on data from “Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors” survey from the Search Institute, reported they had attempted suicide. But 51 percent of transgender males reported at least one attempt, the highest percentage of any gender identity group. The second highest was among nonbinary teens, nearly 42 percent.

VATICAN - Satan, the “Great Accuser,” has been unleashed against the bishops of the Church, Pope Francis said Tuesday, in a thinly veiled reference to the former Vatican nuncio to the United States. The former nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, recently accused a number of prelates of dereliction of duty in dealing with clerical sex abuse and claimed that the pope had rehabilitated serial abuser Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, elevating him to a position of influence despite knowledge of his misdeeds.

GERMANY - One year after a dismal election win that marked the stuttering start to her fourth and presumably final term, a majority of the public say they are displeased with Merkel’s government. Yet the political winds shifting behind the nationalist camp make Germany’s internationalist leader even more of a pivotal figure as she stands up for free trade and a more coherent Europe. It’s a clash of beliefs that’s shaping up to be a legacy-defining moment for Merkel, whether she wants it or not. “Merkel is by default the only leader with the experience, influence and stature - and with the resources - to make a difference,” said Daniel S Hamilton, senior fellow at John Hopkins University’s Foreign Policy Institute in Washington. “The Germans realize they have the most to lose from a fractured European order as anybody.”

USA - The Trump administration is expected to announce Monday that it will close the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington, administration officials said Sunday night, widening a US campaign of pressure amid stalled Middle East peace efforts. “The United States will always stand with our friend and ally, Israel,” national security adviser John Bolton planned to say in a speech he is scheduled to deliver Monday, according a draft of his prepared remarks reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

IRAQ - The current protests in Iraq are the most serious seen in the country for years, and are taking place at the heart of some of the world’s largest oilfields. The Iraqi government headquarters in Basra was set ablaze, as were the offices of those parties and militias blamed by local people for their wretched living conditions. Protesters have blockaded and closed down Iraq’s main sea port at Umm Qasr, through which it imports most of its grain and other supplies. Mortar shells have been fired into the Green Zone in Baghdad for the first time in years. At least 10 people have been shot dead by security forces over the last four days in a failed effort to quell the unrest. Iraq has once again fallen off the media map at the very moment when it is being engulfed by a crisis that could destabilise the whole country.

USA - I know who wrote the anonymous “senior Trump official” op-ed in the New York Times. The New York Times wrote it. The op-ed is an obvious forgery. As a former senior official in a presidential administration, I can state with certainty that no senior official would express disagreement anonymously. Anonymous dissent has no credibility. Moreover, the dishonor of it undermines the character of the writer.

UK - Britain's first gender-fluid family are preparing for total transformation as both parents are set to have gender reassignment operations. Louise and Nikki Draven, who are parents to five-year-old Star Cloud, are planning to undergo the surgery and be in their 'ideal bodies' by the time their son is ten. Biological father Louise, 32 – who Star already calls mummy – is to become a woman and said the change has been 'a long time coming.' The parents are raising Star as gender neutral - focusing on raising a 'person' not a 'boy'.