SCOTLAND - The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has voted to allow congregations to ordain gay ministers who are in same sex civil partnerships. Delegates voted 309 in favour and 183 against. The vote followed a church-wide debate and consultations with all 45 presbyteries, which voted 31 to 14 in favour of change. A further vote will be held this week on whether or not to extend ordination to ministers in same sex marriages. Supporters said it was time for the church to be inclusive and recognise the "mixed economy" of modern Scotland. Opponents warned that the move was contrary to God's law, would prove divisive and lead to resignations.

ISRAEL - This speech was given on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem two weeks ago.

“They must convert to Islam, or pay the jizya poll tax, or else, you should seek the help of Allah and fight them.”

“You should fight them even if they do not fight you.”

Meanwhile, it’s Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who the police want to prevent from going up!

GERMANY - Economic uncertainty in Europe and fear of a Greek default are turning people to buy gold bars and coins. German investors have piled into gold bars and coins in the first quarter of the year as a hedge against European Central Bank policy and the threat of a Greek default bringing down the eurozone. "This was the strongest start in Europe for gold coins and bars that we have seen since 2011," Alistair Hewitt, head of market intelligence at the World Gold Council told The Telegraph. "German investors are fretting over the ECB, Greece and Ukraine."

UK - There are now 32 openly gay, lesbian and bisexual MPs - up on last year and far more than in Holland or Sweden, countries known for having a liberal attitude to gay rights.. The House of Commons has more gay MPs than any other parliament in the world, it has been found. A total of 155 gay candidates stood at this year’s election, according to analysis by the political magazine New Statesman. The Tories stood more gay candidates than any other party. It also was found that the SNP parliamentary party is now 12.5 per cent gay, lesbian and bisexual – the highest proportion of any party in the world.

DENMARK - A proposed new law in Denmark could be the first step towards an economic revolution that sees physical currencies and normal bank accounts abolished and gives government’s futuristic new tools to fight the cycle of “boom and bust”. The Danish proposal sounds innocuous enough on the surface – it would simply allow shops to refuse payments in cash and insist that customers use contactless debit cards or some other means of electronic payment.

GERMANY - German foreign policy experts are calling for a "renaissance" of the transatlantic alliance to defend Western global hegemony. According to the strategy paper written by two German authors, published recently by the think tank of the European People's Party (EPP), the EU must strengthen its cooperation with the United States in spite of certain controversies.

UK – Has the world of fashion changed when it comes to dressing by gender? Are we beginning to see a more progressive approach to clothing, where whether you are a man or a woman becomes less relevant? Or are we destined to be defined by gender no matter where we shop?

UK - In a note to clients Wednesday, he warns: "The world economy is like an ocean liner without lifeboats. If another recession hits, it could be a truly titanic struggle for policymakers."

ISRAEL - "Lasting security for a Jewish and democratic Israel will not be possible without a viable and democratic Palestinian state," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a speech to Israel's citizens in honor of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Israel and Germany.

ISRAEL - While Netanyahu fantasizes about a détente with the Arab world, the US and EU are ready to turn up the heat on his new government. Forget the United States of America. Move over, Canada, Australia and Germany. The days when those countries were considered Israel’s closest friends are over. The Jewish state’s new best buddies are Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. “Our best allies actually these days are some of our Arab neighbors, because they know we face a common threat,” Netanyahu said Tuesday at a conference in Jerusalem. The idea he referred to is not new: Israel and the so-called moderate Sunni Arab states have a common foe in Iran, and the enemy of my worst enemy must be my best friend.

USA - The drought devastation has gotten worse in Tulare County in the weeks since we examined the lack of water as part of our five-part drought series. Conditions are desperate enough that neighbors are stealing water from each other.

With so many people desperately in need, so many hundreds without water, Pastor Ramon Hernandez’s donated drinking water is almost always in short supply. “It’s all over the county, all over the valley, but this is the worst of the worst, the east side of Porterville,” he said. The Tule River once supplied the wells that have long since run dry. Now, the riverbed has turned into a dumping ground with not a drop of water to be found.

USA - The Agriculture Department has developed the first government certification and labelling for foods that are free of genetically modified ingredients. USDA's move comes as some consumer groups push for mandatory labelling of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Certification would be voluntary — and companies would have to pay for it. The bill, introduced earlier this year by Representative Mike Pompeo, Republican for Kansas, provides for USDA certification but would not make it mandatory. The bill also would override any state laws that require the labelling.

IRAN - The deputy chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces warned on Tuesday that Iran would retaliate in force against any country which attacks an Iranian ship heading to Yemen with humanitarian aid cargo on board. “Attacking the Iranian Red Crescent aid ship will spark war in the region”, Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri told the Arabic-language TV Alalam. “The US and Saudi Arabia should know that Iran’s self-restraint has a limit,” he cautioned. An Iranian ship carrying 2,500 tons of medical supplies, relief workers and peace activists from several countries left the Southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas for Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hudaydah, Iran’s Fars news agency reported.

USA - It would appear someone at NBC News got a rather large tap on the shoulder. In what is a stunning reversal of their confirmation that President Obama lied and was lying about the killing of bin Laden, NBC News has updated their original story - that "two intelligence sources tell NBC News that the year before the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden, a 'walk in' asset from Pakistani intelligence told the CIA where the most wanted man in the world was hiding" - to this - "Sources say that while the asset provided information vital to the hunt for bin Laden, he was not the source of his whereabouts." The White House says the Hersh’s investigation is riddled with inaccuracies. As Slate concludes, while NBC’s story doesn’t use the word correction or retraction, that’s what this appears to be. Did the most transparent administration in history just transparently strong-arm the press?

UK - David Cameron is actually going to tell his National Security Council this as he announces plans to crack down on radicalisation. According to a briefing, Cameron is expected to say: “For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens: as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone. It’s often meant we have stood neutral between different values. And that’s helped foster a narrative of extremism and grievance. This Government will conclusively turn the page on this failed approach." He will say Britons believe in “certain values”, adding: “To belong here is to believe in these things, and it means confronting head-on the poisonous Islamist extremist ideology. Whether they are violent in their means or not, we must make it impossible for the extremists to succeed.”