RUSSIA - On Thursday Russia responded to sanctions by imposing a total ban on certain food products from the United States. “Fulfilling the presidential order, I’ve signed a government decree. Russia imposes a total ban on deliveries of beef, pork, fruit, vegetables, poultry, fish, cheese, milk and dairy products,” said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during the opening of a weekly government session.

EGYPT - A court in Egypt has dissolved the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing. The ruling will effectively prevent the banned Islamist movement from formally participating in parliamentary elections expected later this year. The government declared the Brotherhood a terrorist group in December. It was accused of orchestrating a wave of violence to destabilise the country after the military overthrew President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013. At the same time, more than 1,400 people have been killed and 16,000 detained in a crackdown by the authorities on Mr Morsi's supporters. President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, a former military chief who was elected head of state in May, has vowed to wipe out the group.

RUSSIA - The last 3 months have seen Russia's "de-dollarization" plans accelerate. First Gazprom clients shift to Euros and Renminbi, then the UK signs currency swap agreements with China, then NATO ally Turkey cuts ties and mulls de-dollarization, Switzerland jumps in the currency swap agreements, and BRICS create their own non-US-based funding vehicle, and then finally this week, Russia's oligarchs have shifted cash holdings to Hong Kong. But this week, as RT reports, Russian and Chinese central banks have agreed a draft currency swap agreement, which will allow them to increase trade in domestic currencies and cut the dependence on the US dollar in bilateral payments. "The agreement will stimulate further development of direct trade in yuan and rubles on the domestic foreign exchange markets of Russia and China," the Russian regulator said.

UK - An academic who is seen as a major authority on the recent financial crisis has claimed that Winston Churchill may have voted UKIP were he still alive today. Professor Johan Lybeck, who is author of 'A Global History of the Financial Crash of 2007-10' said in a letter to the Financial Times that "the Hypothesis most certainly cannot be excluded" that Churchill would have "ratted" on his party - the Conservatives - and voted UKIP.

RUSSIA - Russia’s ban on agricultural food imports could cost the European Union about $16 billion (12 billion euro) and drag the continent into the crisis, officials warn. The Russian government signed a decree on Thursday which bans the import of beef, pork, poultry, meat, fish, fruits and vegetables, cheese, milk, and dairy products from the EU, US, Australia, Canada, and Norway. EU trade is heavily dependent on Russian food imports, last year Russia bought $16 billion worth of food from the 28-nation bloc, or about 10 percent of total exports, according to Eurostat. Russia’s response to Western sanctions could push Europe into a market crisis, according to the National Federation of Unions of Agricultural Operators (FNSEA), France’s largest farming association.

MIDDLE EAST - Israel said it launched air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday in response to Palestinian rockets fired after Egyptian-mediated talks failed to extend a 72-hour truce in the month-long war. As rocket-warning sirens sounded in southern Israel, the military said Hamas had fired at least 18 rockets from Gaza and Israel's "Iron Dome" interceptor system brought down two. No injuries or damage were reported. Gaza militants said they had fired 10 rockets on Friday. After a huge explosion in Gaza City, apparently from an air raid, a military spokesman said Israel had responded to Hamas rocket fire by launching air strikes at "terror sites" across the Gaza Strip. "We will continue to strike Hamas, its infrastructure, its operatives, and restore security for the State of Israel," Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said in a statement.

USA - US President Barack Obama says he has authorised air strikes against Islamic militants in northern Iraq but will not send US troops back to the country. He said Islamic State (IS) fighters would be targeted to prevent the slaughter of religious minorities, or if they threaten US interests. Strikes have not yet begun, but the US has made humanitarian air drops to Iraqis under threat from the militants. IS has seized Qaraqosh, Iraq's biggest Christian town, forcing locals to flee. The Sunni Muslim group, formerly known as Isis, has been gaining ground in northern Iraq and Syria for several months. Mr Obama said the Iraqi government had requested assistance and the US would act "carefully and responsibly, to prevent a potential act of genocide".

UK - In the largest study of its kind, an international team of experts led by Newcastle University, UK, has shown that organic crops and crop-based foods are up to 69% higher in a number of key antioxidants than conventionally-grown crops. Analysing 343 studies into the compositional differences between organic and conventional crops, the team found that a switch to eating organic fruit, vegetable and cereals – and food made from them – would provide additional antioxidants equivalent to eating between 1-2 extra portions of fruit and vegetables a day. The study, published today in the prestigious British Journal of Nutrition, also shows significantly lower levels of toxic heavy metals in organic crops. Cadmium, which is one of only three metal contaminants along with lead and mercury for which the European Commission has set maximum permitted contamination levels in food, was found to be almost 50% lower in organic crops than conventionally-grown ones.

USA - The current Ebola crisis in West Africa is on pace to sicken more people than all other previous outbreaks of the disease combined, the health official leading the US response said Thursday. The next few weeks will be critical, said Dr Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is sending more workers into the affected countries to help. "It will be a long and hard fight," Frieden told a congressional committee Thursday. In his prepared testimony, he estimated it would take at least three to six months to end the outbreak, under what he called a best-case scenario. Frieden said the outbreak, which began in March, is unprecedented in part because it's in a region of Africa that never has dealt with Ebola before and has particularly weak health systems.

UK - The current Ebola outbreak in Africa is dominating headlines globally. But Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance questions why this - rather than any of the other deadly diseases which exist. He suggests it's because people in the west have forgotten what it is like to deal with an untreatable disease.

USA - On Fox Business Wednesday, former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton declared that under the president’s ineffective leadership, “the world’s descending into chaos” and if America continues to pull back internationally, "you're going to have anarchy increasing." Speaking with host Stuart Varney, Bolton first discussed Vladimir Putin’s hostile strategy in Ukraine and Europe, including increasing the number of Russian troops at the border and conducting cyber-warfare against several European countries — “aggressive” tactics to which Bolton saw no end in sight. Varney argued that the American public has become used to the 24-hour news cycle, and expects stories like Ukraine to be resolved, but they are “just not going away.” Bolton responded, “It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” pointing out that Putin broadcasted his intentions eight years ago, but was being met by "no effective American or European resistance".

HAWAII - Hurricane Iselle battered Hawaii with driving winds and towering surf on Thursday, knocking down trees and causing power outages, the first of two major storms due to hit the archipelago as the more powerful Hurricane Julio gathered steam behind it. More than 1,200 people flocked to evacuation shelters across the Big Island, according to County of Hawaii Civil Defense, as heavy rains and strong winds pummeled areas of East Hawaii from the Puna area to the town of Hilo. Hawaii Electric Light Company had about 5,000 customers without power, mostly in East Hawaii, a Hawaii County official said. Further east, Hurricane Julio was gaining momentum and was expected to pass just north of Hawaii by Sunday or early Monday, Lau said. That hurricane was upgraded late on Thursday to a Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds increasing to near 115 mph (185 kph), with higher gusts, the National Hurricane Center said.

VATICAN - Pope Francis appealed to world leaders on Thursday to help end the crisis in northern Iraq after a sweeping advance by radical Islamic state militants forced thousands of residents of Iraq's biggest Christian town to flee their homes.

"The Pope addresses an urgent appeal to the international community to take action to end the humanitarian tragedy now underway, to act to protect those affected or threatened by violence and to provide aid, especially for the most urgent needs of the many who have been forced to flee and who depend on the solidarity of others," the Vatican said in a statement.

EUROPE - Italy is in an utterly terrible state. It has just entered its third recession in six years, with GDP tumbling by 0.2 percent in the second quarter. It is a triple-dip recession, and a catastrophic state of affairs. By contrast, the UK economy grew 0.8 percent in the second quarter. Even though Britain’s recovery was extremely slow, we have now bounced back and our economy is slightly larger than it was prior to the crisis.

USA - There are many takeaways from the Gaza war, including the diversion of cement and other supplies to the Hamas tunnel and rocket effort, and the use of civilian populations as a military shield. The civilian casualties, though almost certainly overstated to include Hamas fighters in civilian clothes, are tragic. The death of so many children is heartbreaking. But there is another important phenomenon on which we should reflect now, even before the conflict is over: The widespread global eruption of openly anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence in the name of anti-Zionism. Anti-Semitism has reared its head almost everywhere there are pro-Palestinian street protests.