USA - Thirteen percent of US adults tell Gallup they currently smoke marijuana, nearly double the percentage who reported smoking marijuana only three years ago. Although use of the drug is still prohibited by federal law, the number of states that have legalized recreational marijuana use has grown from two in 2013, Colorado and Washington, to four today - with the addition of Alaska and Oregon - plus the District of Columbia. Five states will vote on whether to legalize marijuana this November.

USA - Millions of Americans may be drinking water with unsafe levels of industrial chemicals, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters. These chemicals, known as polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances or PFASs, have been linked to high cholesterol, obesity, hormone suppression - and even cancer. Introduced more than 60 years ago, PFASs are a category of man-made chemicals that degrade very slowly, if at all, in the environment.

TURKEY - The Constitutional Court has ruled to annul a provision that punishes all sexual acts against children under the age of 15 as “sexual abuse,” stirring outrage from academics and women’s rights activists who warn that the decision will lead to cases of child abuse going unpunished. The Constitutional Court discussed the issue upon an application from a district court, which complained that the current law does not discriminate between age groups in cases of child sexual abuse and treats a 14-year-old as equal to a four-year-old. With seven votes against six, the Constitutional Court agreed with the local court and decided to annul the provision. The decision will come into effect on January 13, 2017.

ITALY - Polygamy must become a civil right in Italy similar to same-sex civil unions, which the country allowed earlier this year, a prominent Muslim representative has said. “There’s no reason for Italy not to accept polygamous marriages of consenting persons,” Hamza Piccardo, founder of the Union of Islamic Communities and Organizations (UCOII), wrote in a controversial Facebook post last week. “When it comes to civil rights here, then polygamy is a civil right. Muslims don’t agree with homosexual partnerships and still they have to accept a system that allows it,” he stressed. Piccardo’s statements caused uproar in Italy, a mainly Catholic country which still remains divided on the issue of civil unions.

ITALY - A furious Italian MEP has branded the European Union (EU) a failed "oligarchy" and blamed its undemocratic nature for driving Britain out of the exit door. In a scathing outburst Barbara Spinelli said Europe is facing the terrifying prospect of a rerun of the 1930s and the rise of fascism because of the intransigence of Jean-Claude Juncker's EU Commission.

UK - Nigel Farage has warned there will be a major break up of the EU – predicting Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden are all heading for their own referendums following Brexit. The Ukip leader, who announced his resignation as party leader earlier this month, claimed other countries' attitudes are "very, very similar" to the UK’s about being ruled by Brussels. Speaking at the Republican National Convention in Ohio, Mr Farage said a "European Democrat" movement was forming because people are sick of "surrendering" their democratic rights to the EU. But right across the European continent there are countries whose attitudes towards being governed by Brussels are very, very similar to the British.

"I do think that we are going to see more referendums.”

GERMANY - A string of tragedies in Germany and France has raised identity questions in Europe. An axe attack on a German train, a massacre in Munich, a suicide bombing in a pretty German market town and the murder of an elderly priest at mass in a village in Normandy – all coming after a series of mass-casualty atrocities in Nice, Paris, and Brussels.

JAPAN - Japan ordered its military on Monday to be ready at any time to shoot down any North Korean missiles that threaten to strike Japan, putting its forces on a state of alert for at least three months, a defense ministry official and media said. Up to now, Japan has issued temporary orders when it had indications of an imminent North Korean missile launch that it has canceled after a projectile had been launched. However, because some test firings are hard to detect, it has decided to put its military on standby for a longer period. The order will be reviewed after three months, state broadcaster NHK said.

MACEDONIA - The Macedonian capital of Skopje has been hit by torrential rain and floods that left at least 17 people dead, six missing and sent 60 others to the hospital, authorities said Sunday as police and army helicopters searched for the missing and evacuated hundreds from the flood zone. Heavy rain, strong winds and thunderstorms hit the city and its northern suburbs late Saturday. Special police, army units and firefighters were sent to the worst-hit areas as well as the nearby villages of Stajkovci, Aracinovo and Smiljkovci. Hundreds of homes and vehicles were destroyed by the floods, roads are still impassable and several areas are without electricity. Authorities said more than 1,000 people had been evacuated so far. Skopje mayor Koce Trajanovski described the damage as "the worst Skopje has ever seen."

AFRICA - In a move some believe has prophetic significance, hundreds of African kings, many of them with Jewish roots, are heading to Israel this October to observe the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot. The effort is led by King Ayi of Togo, with an eye toward rediscovering the Jewish roots of many tribal people who believe they are part of the diaspora. They will observe the feast at the Western Wall, believed to be the only remaining retaining wall of the Second Temple Mount. The kings plan to sing out their love for Israel and strengthen their faith that the Messiah is coming soon.

PAKISTAN - Casualties from a terrorist attack in Baluchistan, Pakistan, have risen to at least 70, with some media reporting as many as 93 casualties and over 120 wounded, citing health officials. It comes after an explosion rang out at the entrance of a hospital's emergency ward, apparently targeting lawyers. The Khorasan province branch of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the attack. The group and other militants have been known to routinely target government and security forces in the province.

EUROPE - Angela Merkel cut an increasingly isolated figure in Europe tonight as the rest of the continent ganged up on Germany over its imposition of crippling austerity. Major EU nations including France, Italy and Spain are clubbing together to form a new alliance with the aim of wrestling back economic power from the German leader.

GERMANY - At the end of July, Germany was hit by a series of violent attacks, three of which were carried out by asylum seekers. So are Germans turning against Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy? Damien McGuinness in Berlin is not convinced.

RUSSIA - President Putin is no enemy to Europe and can work successfully with the US on solving the Syrian crisis, the former Israeli PM Shimon Peres told RT. He also shared his vision concerning the Middle East peace process and fighting extremism in Europe. Peres, a 93-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and Israeli political heavyweight, spoke to RT’s Paula Slier, who mentioned the fact that he met Russian president Putin on multiple occasions. “I understood that actually, that Putin has in his heart, a wish not to fight Europe, but to be part of Europe,” Peres, a former Israeli President and Prime Minister said, apparently referring to the recent heightened tensions between Russia and the EU.

GERMANY - The leader of Germany's liberal Free Democrats (FDP) likened Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's purge of state institutions to the actions of the Nazi party in the 1930s in comments published on Sunday. FDP leader Christian Lindner said he saw parallels between Erdogan's behavior and the aftermath of the Reichstag fire in 1933 portrayed by the Nazis as a Communist plot against the government and used by Adolf Hitler to justify massively curtailing civil liberties. "We are experiencing a coup d'etat from above like in 1933 after the Reichstag fire. He is building an authoritarian regime tailored solely to himself," Lindner told the Bild am Sonntag. "Because the rights and freedoms of the individual no longer play a role, he cannot be a partner for Europe," he added.