Greek stocks had climbed by more than 8 percent before the IMF statement was released. Gerry Rice, a spokesman for the IMF, said: "The ball is very much in Greece's court." The relief rally enjoyed by holders of Greek equities is now expected to dissolve on Friday morning. "There are major differences between us in most key areas," Mr Rice said, adding: "There has been no progress in narrowing these differences recently."

He said that he understood Greek authorities were preparing further proposals. Mr Tsipras said on Thursday: "We are working in order to bridge the main differences, especially the differences on fiscal and financial issues." The IMF said that the Greek pension system is "unsustainable", with state spending on pensions accounting for 10 percent of GDP, compared with 2.5 percent across the EU as a whole.

"The risk of insolvency is increasing by the day," said the head of the German Bundesbank Jens Weidmann. "The main losers in that scenario would be Greece and the Greek people." Add in the decision by the International Monetary Fund to withdraw its team from technical talks with Greek officials in Brussels, and fly them back to Washington, and the prospects look alarmingly gloomy. Sometimes the toughest talking happens just before a deal is done. But occasionally it means things are about to fall apart.

So the public pressure on Alexis Tsipras is growing - reflecting concern within the EU and the IMF that he has miscalculated the extent to which he can orchestrate a change in policy. But a brief visit to Athens this week was a reminder of the countervailing pressures the prime minister is under at home.

He was elected in January when his party, Syriza - the Coalition of the Radical Left - swept to power. Now his supporters expect him to deliver, and some are taking a hard line. Twenty-two Syriza MPs wrote a joint letter to Mr Tsipras on Tuesday urging him to implement election pledges as soon as possible to bring back collective bargaining and raise the minimum wage - reversing reforms pushed through over the last few years.

The chief executive, chairman, Luxembourg CEO and second largest shareholder of Kaupthing, an Icelandic bank that collapsed, were sentenced in February to between four and five years in prison for market manipulation. "Why should we have a part of our society that is not being policed or without responsibility?" said special prosecutor Olafur Hauksson at the time. "It is dangerous that someone is too big to investigate - it gives a sense there is a safe haven."

While the UK government nationalised Lloyds and RBS with tax-payers’ money and the US government bought stakes in its key banks, Iceland adopted a different approach. It said it would shore up domestic bank accounts. Everyone else was left to fight over the remaining cash. This year the International Monetary Fund declared that Iceland had achieved economic recovery 'without compromising its welfare model' of universal healthcare and education.

Other measures of progress like the country’s unemployment rate, compare just as well with countries like the US. Rather than maintaining the value of the krona artificially, Iceland chose to accept inflation.

The encyclical, a letter sent to bishops, due next Thursday would add a moral dimension to work on climate change for many believers, who would view it as a way to protect creation, she predicted. "I do think the encyclical is going to have a major impact," Figueres, the head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said at the end of June 1-11 talks in Bonn, Germany, about a UN deal due to be agreed in Paris in December.

She said there was also a growing view among many governments, companies and investors that many actions to slow climate change would be economically profitable, rather than loss-making. Combining moral and economic arguments could help a shift from fossil fuels toward renewable energies. "I believe that the transformation is on its way, it is irreversible and it is only going to pick up speed," she said.

It is estimated to cost about four billion Euros, with another four billion having been already invested. With MEADS, Germany would achieve more "autonomy in security policy," according to a CSU party military policy specialist. The German Navy will also receive four MKS 180 multi-role warships worth around four billion Euros, better suited for waging distant wars more effectively and over more extended periods.

Other armament projects, such as a German-French battle tank, serve the consolidation of the EU's arms industries or - as with the "Euro-drone" - are aimed at achieving more independence from the US arms industry. The A400M Airbus airlifter crash in early May is seen by observers in the context of these efforts to achieve autonomy.

With its decision in favor of MEADS, Berlin is pursuing its efforts to strengthen the German-European arms industry in relationship to its US counterpart. A US company, Lockheed Martin, is involved in the project. Experts considered years ago that MEADS, the only large-scale transatlantic project, "offers German companies a rare opportunity … to benefit from the technology transfer with the USA in that domain."

In comparison to purchasing modernized US "Patriot" batteries, MEADS offers Berlin the chance to produce and further develop modern sensor technology in Germany. Last year, Defense Minister von der Leyen declared this to be the "key technology."

Addressing a Franco-British Council conference at Lancaster House in central London, Grieve told the audience of judges, diplomats and academics that: “Our [Conservative party] intent, if pursued, threatens to make the [European Convention on human rights] inoperable.” The Conservative MP says the government’s plan to leave Strasbourg court threatens to make the European convention on human rights inoperable

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. The UK has a proud tradition of respect for human rights which long predates the Human Rights Act 1998. But the Human Rights Act opened the system to abuse, damaging the credibility of human rights.

“That’s why we will bring forward proposals for a British bill of rights. Our bill will protect fundamental human rights, but also prevent their abuse and restore some common sense to the system. We will widely consult on our proposals before introducing legislation.”

If hypocrisy needed a poster child, the despotic and brutal regime of Saudi Arabia, which is currently bombing Yemenite civilians into oblivion and is advertising job openings for additional executioners (growth industry in Saudi Arabia), more than set the standard. Worse, a majority of the so called “civilized” nations of the world supported the resolution, showing that subservience to the power of oil trumps any semblance of integrity in the international community.

The Saudis can be dismissed. It is unnecessary to delineate their acts of brutality. These have long appeared before the world. The Saudis’ hypocrisy is a mainstay of their propaganda. If not for their oil, their anti-Israel vitriol would be disregarded, as one day the changing nature of the energy market will cause it to be. With the exception of naive, leftist college students who are taught that the UN is a citadel of virtue, no one will take a Saudi-sponsored resolution seriously.

The harm is not in the resolution. It is in its acceptance by the global community, and the message that the action sends to the Israelis. Further isolating the Israelis with resolutions forged in the cauldron of the absurd, and mixed with hypocrisy, will not pave the way for peace. The consequences will ultimately be indistinguishable from those of the second Palestinian intifada, which had disastrous results for the Israeli peace movement.

With that being said, each and every announcement by the military of their different training activities is being scrutinized like never before with the latest news raising eyebrows due to its connection to possible internment camps for American citizens. At least sixty soldiers from the 102nd Military Police Battalion’s Headquarters Detachment recently conducted their annual training at Fort Drum in a simulated detention center.

A press release detailed what the soldiers spent their time doing during the training which included practicing pat downs, biometric checks, and running detainees through hygiene stations. The troops also practiced conducting psychological evaluations. “What we are conducting here are full-scale operations in order to bring everyone into the fold for what is necessary to run a detention facility properly,” said Captain Nicholas Monuteaux in the release. “It is very necessary to ensure all our military policemen and small engineer contingent develop, build or refine their duties and responsibilities.”

While the training in New York may very well be for use overseas (members of the same battalion have served at Guantanamo Bay) the fact remains that any announcement about training in detention centers instantly sparks fears due to the documented fact that plans for internment camps in America exist and could become a reality after some sort of massive unrest within the country.

Although no one knows definitively if or when American citizens will be forced into detention centers during a time of extreme crisis, the fact remains that the plans are in place. Officials within the Pentagon itself are worried and individual soldiers throughout the country are sounding the alarm over what could be the end of America as we know it.

To be honest, NASA should perhaps hold off on making such bold statements concerning what will happen in the future considering the fact that the Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013 took them totally by surprise. In any event, what we do know is that our region of space is absolutely packed with meteors and asteroids. At this point, approximately 10,000 major near earth objects have been discovered by scientists, and about 10 percent of them are one kilometer or larger in size. If any of those big ones were to hit us, we would be looking at another Tunguska event or worse.

And it is a fallacy to think that NASA knows about everything that is happening in our region of space and sees anything that is coming toward us well in advance. NASA is not all-powerful. In fact, a large asteroid buzzed our planet just a few months ago and NASA did not even know that it was approaching. So don’t put all of your trust in what NASA has to say.

And of course if a large object was heading toward the earth, NASA probably would not tell us anyway. This is how the US government works. There is far more emphasis on “keeping everyone calm” than there is on being honest with the American people. What we do know for certain is that giant meteors have hit our planet in the past, and it is just a matter of time before it happens again in our future.

Earlier in the day Putin met Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Milan and arrived an hour late to the meeting at the Vatican - his second with Pope Francis since he became Pope in 2013. Lombardi said Francis stressed the need 'to commit oneself in a sincere and great effort to bring' peace to Ukraine, through dialogue and implementation of the Minsk accords. The Pope also urged access for humanitarian aid.

The US, using diplomatic channels, had encouraged the Vatican to use the private papal audience as an occasion to join the West in condemning Moscow's actions in Ukraine. US ambassador to the Holy See, Kenneth Hackett, said the US wanted to see the Vatican increase its concern about what is happening in Ukraine. It was a rare visit to Europe for the isolated Russian leader amid the ongoing political stand-off.

His private audience with the Pope comes just days after the G7 meeting in Germany, which excluded former-member Russia, and two weeks ahead of EU talks on extending sanctions against Russia. Putin spent 50 minutes chatting to the Pope, who presented him with an 'Angel of peace' medallion. 'It is the angel who wins all wars and speaks of solidarity between all peoples,' the pontiff told the Russian leader. A Vatican statement said the Pope had urged the Russian president, and other parties to the Ukraine conflict, to make a 'sincere effort' for peace.

Italy has long had an important economic relationship with Russia and political ties were sufficiently close prior to the eruption of the Ukraine crisis for Russia's Baltic neighbours to object to an Italian, Federica Mogherini, being named the EU's foreign policy chief last year amid claims she would be too soft on Moscow. Italy is Russia's third-biggest trading partner after China and Germany with deals between the two countries worth just over 30 billion euros ($33.9 billion) last year.

Just hours before the meeting between visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis, the US ambassador to the Holy See Kenneth Hackett encouraged the pontiff to take a tougher stance against Vladimir Putin. In particular, Hackett said the Vatican “could say more about concerns on territorial integrity”.

“Maybe this is an opportunity for the [pope] to privately raise those concerns,” Hackett said. Pope Francis had “certainly” been made aware of the violence in Ukraine and was not unaware of the crisis, he added. However, at the hour-long private audience with the Russian President, the Pope took a neutral stance. He urged for more humanitarian assistance, which Russia already provides, and for a peaceful solution to the crisis via the Minsk II roadmap.

The apparent move by Washington to interfere with talks and exert influence on the foreign policy of another state has been condemned by the Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. “This is surely a blatant attempt in suppressing sovereignty of other nations,” Peskov told Russian media. “This is what the Russian President never agreed with, and now categorically opposes.” Lecturing, or even “pretending to have the right to lecture the Pope of Rome” is surely a “new move” in international diplomacy, and a “big responsibility,” Dmitry Peskov noted.

Speaking before Congress, the former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said the deal being worked out between Iran and Western powers “leaves a lot to be desired,” and that there was no doubt Tehran would eventually develop nuclear weapons. And, he added, there was no doubt that those weapons would be directed against Israel.

Flynn was joining critics from Israel, France, and elsewhere, who have been warning that the deal being built on a set of understandings announced earlier this year by US Secretary of State John Kerry would not enforce supervision of the agreement – in essence, relying on nothing more than Iran's promise that it will not develop nuclear weapons.

With the deadline for the agreement set for the end of June, diplomatic activity surrounding the deal has increased considerably in recent weeks – but just Thursday, France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius reiterated that the deal, as it stands, did not have enough teeth. Israel, too, is very concerned about the brewing deal. Speaking to the Politico web site last week, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, Israel's point man on the Iran deal, said that “The Iranians are using delay tactics. It seems they want to come close to the deadline without an agreement. There will be no time to close all the loopholes and clarify all the details.”

Iran also means what it says about destroying Israel, Flynn added – and it is not only Israel Iran is after. To defend itself, Saudi Arabia is likely to develop a nuclear program of its own “touching off a dangerous domino effect in the region” which could lead to tragic consequences.

“I’ve been there three times and I can tell you it is far more than a trade agreement,” he said. “It is a creating of an economic union. The congressional resource said it is a wide-ranging political and economic partnership that is created where the Sultan of Brunei gets one vote. The president of the United States gets one vote. Twelve countries – they have the ability to add other treaties and pass them. They have the ability to deal with climate issues, wage issues and environmental issues. There’s just no doubt about that.”

The junior Alabama senator went on to explain that he felt it was being kept secret because if the public were aware of this union, which he likened to the European Union, it would be stopped dead in its tracks. “I think it’s because if the trade commission – if the international commission, the Pacific union that is being created here – were made public, it wouldn’t go anywhere.”

"It's panic in parliament," Yannick Jadot, a Green MEP from France, told AFP. Ministers have disagreed over a controversial dispute mechanism that some fear would allow big companies to bypass national courts to resolve disputes with investors. Socialist groups in the European Parliament reportedly blocked the dispute mechanism on Tuesday, which resulted in the vote being postponed.

TTIP negotiations were initiated by Europe to speed economic recovery. Commentators have said the US is growing tired of constant delays to an agreement. "It’s now very much up to EU to decide if they want this agreement. The patience of the US is running out," Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of European Centre for International Political Economy, told The Independent.