UK - The Government has been accused of misleading the public over the introduction of a new in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique that some experts believe will result in the birth of “genetically modified babies”. Leading scientists, including Lord Winston, an early pioneer of fertility treatment, have criticised the Department of Health for trying to play down a process that will for the first time allow the alteration of the DNA of future generations. They argue that the Government has redefined the term “genetic modification” (GM) to exclude specifically a controversial technique that will result in babies inheriting genetic material from three individuals.

IRAQ - The vicar of the only Anglican church in Iraq has warned the end for Christians in the country appears “very near” as he appealed for help after a deadline set by Islamic militants to convert or be killed expired. Canon Andrew White, dubbed "the bishop of Baghdad" for his work at St George's church in the capital, spoke after the ultimatum handed to Christians in the northern city of Mosul by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (Isis) to convert, pay a tax or be put to death passed last week. For those Christians who did not comply with the decree by 19 July, Isis warned that "there is nothing to give them but the sword.”

USA - The much-admired Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black may be rolling in his grave at the prospect of a merger between 21st Century Fox and Time Warner Inc, which would reduce control of the major Hollywood studios to five owners, from six, and major television producers to four, from five. “The widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public,” he wrote in the majority opinion that decided a 1945 antitrust case involving major newspaper publishers and The Associated Press. “The First Amendment affords not the slightest support for the contention that a combination to restrain trade in news and views has any constitutional immunity.” “I don’t see a bright distinction between news and entertainment,” said Christopher L Sagers, an antitrust professor at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. “One person shouldn’t own all the cultural creativity resources. If one person can limit content, that’s a huge loss to society.”

ISRAEL - 1000s of rioting Arabs broke through police barriers last night, making their way to the Temple Mount, where they proceeded to set the Temple Mount police station on fire. Violent Arab rioting is not confined to the Temple Mount alone. The entire Old City of Jerusalem is under attack by rock throwing Muslims. Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem are also under attack. Many Jewish residents are reporting that there is no police presence and they have been left on their own to fend for themselves. We call on the Prime Minister of Israel to send in the troops to restore order in Jerusalem and retake the Temple Mount at once.

GERMANY - German businesses are demanding that the government intensify its support for tapping the "continent of opportunity, Africa" in competition with China and other BRICS countries. Parallel to the West's waning global influence, German businesses are losing ground on the African continent. This is why German enterprises are pushing for increasing Hermes trade credit insurances, double taxation treaties, and generally "stronger political support for the German industry in Africa." A building industry federation is explicitly demanding that future allocations of development funds be tied to orders for German/European firms. The German government has indicated its readiness to implement these policies. The KfW Development Bank and other public-sector banks are already seeking ways to support the German industry's expansion efforts by expanding credit transactions.

ISRAEL - Thousands of Hamas-linked terrorists planned to invade Israel on the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), which begins on September 24, according to an Israel security source. First reported by Ma'ariv, then in English by i24news, “thousands of terrorists were meant to cross over to Israel from Gaza through the tunnels and kill and kidnap as many Israelis as they could. The source added that the army learned about the huge planned attack during the interrogations of Hamas prisoners, captured during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.”

UK - A Conservative member of the Commons health select committee has said he is “absolutely convinced” of the benefits of astrology and called for it to be incorporated into medicine. David Tredinnick said he had spent 20 years studying astrology and healthcare and said it had a “proven track record” guiding people through their lives. The MP, a member of both the Commons health select committee and the science and technology committee, is a keen advocate of complementary therapies, and chairman of a Government working group on herbal medicine. On Friday he said more should be done to raise awareness among patients and healthcare professionals of the benefits of astrology.

GERMANY - Germany is to reject a multi-billion free trade deal between the European Union and Canada which is widely seen as a template for a bigger agreement with the United States, a leading German paper reported on Saturday. Citing diplomats in Brussels, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that Berlin objects to clauses outlining the legal protection offered to firms investing in the 28-member bloc. Critics say they could allow investors to stop or reverse laws.

INDIA - India threatened on Friday to block a worldwide reform of custom rules, which some estimates say could add $1 trillion to the global economy and create 21 million jobs, prompting a US warning that its demands could kill global trade reform efforts. Diplomats from the 160 World Trade Organization member countries meeting in Geneva had been meant to rubber stamp a deal on "trade facilitation" that was agreed at talks in Bali last December in the WTO's first ever global trade agreement. But India, in an 11th-hour intervention, demanded a halt to the trade facilitation timetable until the end of the year and said a permanent WTO deal on food stockpiling must be in place at the same time, well ahead of an agreed 2017 target date. The ultimatum revived doubts about the future of the WTO as a negotiating body, and many diplomats said Delhi's stance could derail the whole process of world trade liberalisation.

NIGERIA - Nigeria says it has put all entries into the country on red alert after confirming the death of a Liberian man who was carrying the Ebola virus. The man died after arriving at Lagos airport on Tuesday, in the first Ebola case in Africa's most populous country. Surveillance has been stepped up at all "airports, seaports and land borders", says Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu. Since February, more than 660 people have died of Ebola in West Africa - the world's deadliest outbreak to date. It began in southern Guinea and spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

UK - Wake-up calls must be urgently sounded to help people plan how to cope with increased borrowing costs amid the prospect of the end of rock-bottom interest rates, a think-tank has argued. The Resolution Foundation warned that even a "relatively benign" move away from the current rate could double the number of households facing repayment problems in the coming four years.

UK - Written by Richard Littlejohn (author, broadcaster and journalist): Explain the difference. Paramilitaries fire a missile which brings down a civilian airliner over Ukraine. They are widely condemned as murderous gangsters and war criminals who must be hunted down and brought to justice. Another ruthless gang of paramilitaries fire missiles at a civilian airport in Israel. They are hailed as heroic ‘resistance fighters’ and receive widespread support in the West. Let’s just imagine, for a moment, that a rocket fired from Gaza had hit a plane coming in to land at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. What if a British Airways jet had been brought down over Israel, with a similar loss of life to the 298 people who perished on Malaysian flight MH17? Would it still be considered appropriate to hold yet another march through London this weekend, waving banners proclaiming ‘We are all Hamas now’?

USA - Al Qaeda, nation states, and criminals are preparing for major cyber attacks against US infrastructure that could be comparable to the devastating September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, a senior Justice Department official said on Thursday. “We’re in a pre-9/11 moment, in some respects, with cyber,” said John Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security in the Justice Department.

IRAN - Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated on Wednesday that the only solution for the region is the destruction of Israel, and that the armed confrontation must expand beyond Gaza. Meanwhile, revolutionary guards announced new missiles which could destroy Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Fars News Agency, a media outlet run by the Iranian state, reported today that Khamenei addressed the conflict in Gaza in a meeting with Iranian college students. “These crimes which are beyond imagination and show the true nature of the wolfish and child killer regime, which the only solution is its destruction,” the ayatollah declared to his audience. “However, until that time, the expansion of the armed resistance of the Palestinians of the West Bank is the only way to confront this wild regime.”

ISRAEL - Violence broke out Thursday night near the Kalandia checkpoint, located in the West Bank between Jerusalem and Ramallah, as residents of the West Bank village clashed with police in protests against the IDF's operation in the Gaza Strip. Some 10,000 Palestinians protested near the checkpoint, throwing rocks, firebombs and fireworks at Israeli security forces, and setting tires ablaze. The IDF forces and Border Police were using crowd dispersal means on the masses.