The lecturer at Nottingham Trent University told Express.co.uk: "It's really a power play for Islamic State. The mines are one of the last things Syria could make money from. It will push the state closer towards failure which is now almost inevitable. Syria is at crisis point. It's already seen as a crisis state. We are just one or two more key events away from failure as we know it. With the situation as it is we could wake up tomorrow and the whole state would have changed."

While ISIS has shown it is willing to focus on a core area rather than seek to expand at a vast rate, neighbouring Jordan should still be aware of the likelihood of an invasion. It comes after the Queen of Jordan urged the world to confront the "menace" of ISIS. Dr Underhill said: "Borders are weak and it's so easy for groups to move. Jordan is already seen as threatened. The Middle East expert added allied nations would now be seriously considering "boots on the ground" in the region."

But the man dressed like the mystical Merlin of Arthurian legend was in fact a former builder called Ian Wilson, who died of cancer aged 63. On Thursday scores of witches, fairies, goths and druids turned out to pay tribute to the high priest who became one of Britain's foremost pagans. In a spectacular ceremony, believed to be the first full-scale pagan funeral of its kind to take place in Britain for centuries, he was given a magical send-off.

Eron the Wizard, from Tintagel, Cornwall, had been convinced he had magical powers and dedicated his life to spreading his form of wizardry. His dying wish was for a celebration of his life in the way of Wicca, the modern pagan, witchcraft religion. A high priestess had travelled from Austria to lead the service, which began with the entrance of four torch-bearers standing at each quarter, representing the elements. The group then cast a circle and blessed it with the elements before calling the watchtowers.

Jack Lew said policymakers should stop their brinkmanship over Greece and act quickly or risk an accidental and messy Greek exit from the eurozone. "I don't think anyone wishes [Greece] to blow up. What I worry most about is an accident. You have moments that come up with all too much frequency, where a miscalculation could lead to a crisis that would be potentially very damaging."

Mr Lew said compromises had to be made by Greece and its creditors, amid pleas from the Greek government for leniency as it faces €1.6 billion of repayments to the International Monetary Fund this month. He told an audience at the London School of Economics: "I think brinkmanship is a dangerous thing when it only takes one accident. Everyone has to double down and treat the next deadline as last deadline and get this resolved. The risk from going from deadline to deadline increases the risk of an accident."

"We have made many steps. We are on the final stretch towards a positive deal," said Mr Tsipras. "This agreement will be positive for the Greek economy, this agreement will redistribute the [financial] burdens and I believe that, very soon, we will be in a position to present more information," said the Leftist premier.

His comments came as officials met for talks in Brussels over the country's bail-out conditions. But European officials moved to immediately dampen hopes that an agreement was imminent. Vice president of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis said both sides were "still not there yet". “We are working very intensively to ensure a staff-level agreement," he said.

In a list of highly ambitious proposals, Spain also called for the single currency to adopt a common budget for use in emergency rescues, and issue debt in the form of eurobonds, according to a list of proposals reported in El Pais.

Both measures are likely to meet resistance in Germany, Europe's largest creditor, as a further pooling of funds that would effectively subsidise southern debtor states. They would also likely require a reworking of Europe's treaties - a shakeup that has been ruled out by Berlin as Britain also seeks to renegotiate its relationship with Europe.

Highlighting the euro's exposure to "asymmetric shocks", the blueprint urges for a revolution in the ECB's mandate, requesting the central bank adopt tools to prevent soaring debt levels and crippling unemployment.

In a warning shot ahead of David Cameron’s trip to European capitals, the Foreign Secretary told EU leaders to stop “obsessing” about the principle of “ever closer union”. He also became the most senior figure in the government to say the vote on Britain’s EU membership could take place next year.

It comes with the Prime Minister meeting the leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands for talks in a 48-hour diplomatic blitz. The Foreign Secretary said Britain needed “proper protection” as a non-eurozone country and voters would demand they are “not ridden over roughshod” by Europe.

During World War II and prior to that, these emergency powers were largely uncodified and were primarily used during times of war. But since World War II things have completely changed, and this has particularly been true since 9/11. Over the past decade or so, a whole host of extraordinary powers have specifically been given to the office of the president, and all that it takes to exercise them is a major “national emergency”.

So if we do have a full-blown economic collapse, a historic natural disaster, a significant war or a massive pandemic, Barack Obama could use the emergency powers that he has been given to essentially take authority over everything.

The game, which has gained significant traction online in recent days, involves a pair of pencils or pens, a sheet of paper, and the invocation of a spirit named “Charlie.” Scores of short video clips, posted mostly by teens, show players shrieking and running out of view when the pencil apparently moves on its own and points to a “yes” or a “no” after they say a phrase inviting the demon.

Spanish exorcist Jose Antonio Fortea told ACI Prensa that the so-called CharlieCharlieChallenge involves the very real, occult practice of “calling on spirits.” In an interview May 27, he warned that “some spirits who are at the root of that practice will harass some of those who play the game.” Even though the priest thinks that players “won't be possessed” necessarily, the spirit that has been invoked “will stay around for a while.”

Two programmes commissioned by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are seeking to create drones which can track and kill targets even when out of contact with their handlers. Writing in the journal Nature, Stuart Russell, Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkley, said the research could breach the Geneva Convention and leave humanity in the hands of amoral machines.

“Autonomous weapons systems select and engage targets without human intervention; they become lethal when those targets include humans,” he said. “Despite the limits imposed by physics, one can expect platforms deployed in the millions, the agility and lethality of which will leave humans utterly defenceless. This is not a desirable future.”

However Dr Sabine Hauert, a lecturer in robotics at the University of Bristol said that the public did not need to fear the developments in aritifical intelligence. “My colleagues and I spend dinner parties explaining that we are not evil but instead have been working for years to develop systems that could help the elderly, improve health care, make jobs safer and more efficient, and allow us to explore space or beneath the ocean,” she said.

Well, if we were all at a healthy weight they would lose a tremendous amount of money. Right now, if the US health care system was a separate country, it would be the 6th largest economy on the entire planet. The sicker that all of us are, the more money the medical establishment makes.

And then of course there is the massively bloated weight loss industry. As I mentioned above, 60 billion dollars a year is spent on weight loss programs and products in the United States. If we were all at a healthy weight, we wouldn’t need to spend all of that money.

In the end, it isn’t that complicated. Thanks to the Internet, there is lots and lots of great health information out there that you can access for free. But you have got to be willing to make the right choices and to do the right things consistently.

Half a world away, the “W” word was mentioned again yesterday. This time in an editorial by a Chinese state controlled paper. Said the Global Times: “If the United States’ bottom line is that China has to halt its activities, then a US-China war is inevitable in the South China Sea.” It came as China’s government effectively declared a “no fly zone” over the disputed waterway after warning the US over its “provocative” aerial reconnaissance of several islands.

Yesterday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman issued a formal protest at the United States’ actions in challenging its territorial claims.

“We urge the US to correct its error, remain rational and stop all irresponsible words and deeds,” Hua Chunying said. “Freedom of navigation and overflight by no means mean that foreign countries’ warships and military aircraft can ignore the legitimate rights of other countries as well as the safety of aviation and navigation.” It represents a distinct hardening of China’s attitude towards the rising clamour of international protest.