But regardless of who wins, after a presidential campaign marred by scandal, political violence, allegations of corruption and fears of voter fraud, America’s image stands tarnished in the eyes of its own people and the world.

The United States has always attracted its share of international criticism on foreign policy, especially during the Iraq war. But rarely has its political system been subjected to such widespread scorn and ridicule. Eight short years after the nation was lauded for overcoming its deepest prejudice by electing a black president, this campaign has laid bare an ugly underbelly of American politics. And it has exposed the capacity of a nation defined by its democratic ideals to fall victim to the same antidemocratic forces that have stymied third world countries.

Across the planet, people are contemplating the possibility that the United States might not be so exceptional after all. “Much of the world is no longer in awe of you,” said Lyall Mercer, managing director of a public relations company in Australia.

And the British scientist at the forefront of the eerie theory claims that humans have souls which don't die along with the body. We many not know exactly what consciousness is, but physicist Sir Roger Penrose believes that it's just a packet of information stored at a quantum - or sub-atomic - level.

Sensationally, he claims to have found evidence that this information, which is stored in microtubules within human cells, leaves the body after a person dies. Sir Roger has argued that when a person dies temporarily, this quantum information is released into the universe, only to return to the body's cells if the host is brought back to life.

He argues that this explains why people can have near-death experiences, and believes that this quantum information amounts to a soul leaving the body. The physics expert said: "If the patient dies, it's possible that this quantum information can exist outside the body, perhaps indefinitely, as a soul."

So with research suggesting an increasing proportion of US adults are getting their news from social media, it's likely that more and more of us are seeing - and believing - information that is not just inaccurate, but totally made up. There are hundreds of fake news websites out there, from those which deliberately imitate real life newspapers, to government propaganda sites, and even those which tread the line between satire and plain misinformation.

One of them is The National Report which advertises itself as "America's Number 1 Independent News Source", and which was set up by Allen Montgomery (not his real name). "There are times when it feels like a drug," Montgomery told BBC Trending. "There are highs that you get from watching traffic spikes and kind of baiting people into the story. I just find it to be a lot of fun."

"We've had stories that have made $10,000 (about £8,100). When we really tap in to something and get it to go big then we're talking about in the thousands of dollars that are made per story," Montgomery says. Montgomery says he now has nine fake news sites around which he moves content to try to beat Facebook censoring.

So if fake news sites aren't going away, Buzzfeed's Craig Silverman says that more needs to be done to ensure that people aren't duped by them. "Journalists need to get training so that they can quickly spot fakes, and people in school should learn how to read things critically online - they should learn how to research and check multiple sources online."

[The email reads:] “We have been told, and we are preparing to report, that the FBI has taken possession of the thumb drive that was once in your possession. This is what we have been informed, and we wanted to see whether there was any sort of comment that could be provided. If you wanted to steer us away and say that we are misinformed, then I would gladly accept that as well. But we have solid reason to believe this. We'd welcome any comment you can offer. Thanks very much. Eric”

What's truly astonishing in this email is how AP reporter Eric Tucker says he will gladly LIE to cover for the Clintons. In plain English, he explains that he has "solid reason" to believe the report about the thumb drive, but he will gladly publish a false narrative via the Associated Press, and he even suggests what that false narrative should be: "If you wanted to steer us away and say that we are misinformed, then I would gladly accept that as well."

In other words, he's not just corrupt, dishonest and fraudulent as a journalist, he's also suggesting the false narrative the Clintons should use! It all brings to mind the obvious question: How many other Associated Presstitutes deliberately lied to cover up Clinton crimes? Just what percentage of AP stories about the Clinton scandals are actually FAKE NEWS pretending to be credible journalism?

Baron Thomas, who is the country's most senior judge, sparked a constitutional crisis this morning when he, alongside Sir Terence Etherton and Lord Justice Sales, ruled in the High Court the Government cannot trigger Article 50. However, it has since emerged Baron Thomas set up the European Law Institute, which carries out research about EU law, alongside Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis who is now its president.

Eurosceptics reacted with dismay to the ruling at the High Court this morning, brought before the judges by a former South American model and her financier husband. Now Brexiteers fear the decision could prove an “appalling” subversion of the will of the British people, following the historic vote on June 23 to quit the EU.

Nigel Farage took to Twitter to express his concerns, saying: “I worry that a betrayal may be near at hand.”

It is noteworthy that Pope Francis reappointed Father Raniero Cantalamessa as preacher to the papal household. Father Cantalamessa, a renowned bible scholar and teacher, in his book The Mystery of Christmas affirmed the everlasting covenant, writing, “We share with the Jews the biblical certainty that God gave them the country of Canaan forever (Genesis 17:8, Isaiah 43:5, Jeremiah 32:22, Ezekiel 36:24, Amos 9:14). We know that the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.”

It is not just when he is meeting Israeli dignitaries like President Shimon Peres last week, when he said, “There is need for a firm rejection of anti-Semitism in all its possible expressions,” but he has been involved in educating ordinary Catholics around the world on this issue.

Israel is the only country in the Middle East in which the number of Christians is growing – up from 34,000 in 1949 to 161,000 in the 2013 census. So I was encouraged that Pope Francis stated to President Peres that, “A variety of Christian communities live and work in the State of Israel. They are an integral part of society. Christians wish to contribute to the common good and the growth of peace... as fullfledged citizens who reject extremism in all its forms and are committed to fostering reconciliation.”

In his meeting with the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople Pope Francis also expressed profound concern for persecuted Christians in Egypt, Syria and Iraq – we need to keep them in prayer. Pope Francis has repeatedly said, “a Christian cannot be an anti-Semite.” I would like to assure your readers that Pope Francis is leading the Church to rediscover the Jewish roots of our faith, to honor our elder brothers and see true reconciliation between Israel and the Church in the days ahead.

I end with Pope Francis’s parting words to President Peres: “Mr President, I assure you of my continued prayers for the institutions and the citizens of the State of Israel… Peace be upon Israel and the entire Middle East! Shalom!” Here he was echoing Psalm 122 that he had earlier placed in a crack in the Western Wall.

(The author is a Catholic lay leader in Ireland.)

He also told his guest that the conflict with the Palestinians was never about their desire for their own state, but rather about their wish to destroy the Jewish state, and he insisted that it was wrong to see West Bank settlements as the root of the problem. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, he asserted, won’t recognize a Jewish state “in any borders.”

“This conflict is not and never was about a Palestinian state, which successive Israeli governments, including this prime minister, have been willing to arrange — a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state,” Netanyahu said, speaking at the start of a meeting with Mattarella at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. “It was and is about the Jewish state, and unless and until our Palestinian neighbors face this, confront these demons, give up the ghost of trying to destroy the Jewish state by this or that means, peace will be harder to achieve.”

Noting that his guest had just met with the Abbas, Netanyahu charged that the PA leader “continues to refuse to accept a Jewish state in any boundaries, and this remains the core of the conflict — this persistent Palestinian refusal to accept a Jewish state in any configuration.”

“UNESCO’s attempt to erase Jewish history is an attempt to say that Jews really don’t have any connection to our land. It’s not only false, blatantly false, it also makes the achievement of peace harder,” he said. “Denying our history is one of the means of denying the Jewish state. This is the bad news.”

“Now, the good news. The good news, the incredible news, one that fills me with great hope, is that there is a dramatic change taking place in the Arab world, and that change is that many of the Arab countries see Israel no longer as their enemy, but as their ally, even their vital ally, in fighting against Islamist terrorism, militant Islam, either led by Iran or led by Da’esh,” Netanyahu said, using the Hebrew acronym for the Islamic State group.

No one would be surprised if UNESCO, to institutionalize the Islamic presence in the international community, claims that Greeks have nothing to do with the Acropolis and the Parthenon, and that Italy has no historical ties to the Colosseum in Rome. With the rate of admission of Muslims into Greece, by 2050 the Greeks will be a minority in their own country.

The Greek media chose not to inform the Greek people on the attitude of their politicians towards the Jewish nation because it would expose their preference for Islam over Israel, and the Greek people might not see this choice in a positive light.

How can Greece credibly ask for help from the global community on the issue of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, when the politicians themselves maintain a neutral attitude on the virtually identical issue of the Jerusalem's Temple Mount?

When the news arrived that UNESCO does not recognize the connection of the Jewish people to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, it brought to mind that the UN is the mothership of injustice and radical global Islamization.

Its members, which include the large bloc of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) -- 56 Islamic nations plus "Palestine" -- evidently believe that if they want to transform the Western world into an Islamic colony, first they must bring down the State of Israel.