USA - Voters continue to believe Democrats have more of a plan for the future than Republicans do, but most again say neither party represents the public. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 53% of Likely US Voters think it is fair to say that neither party in Congress is the party of the American people. That’s up six points from 47% last October and matches the previous high found in June 2012 during the last national election cycle. Just 28% disagree, while 19% are not sure. Republicans control the House of Representatives, while Democrats hold the majority in the Senate. The GOP is expected to hold onto the House in this November’s elections but needs to pick up six new seats to win control of the Senate.

USA - More than 63,000 bridges across the United States are in urgent need of repair, with most of the aging, structurally compromised structures part of the interstate highway system, an analysis of recent federal data has found. The report, released on Thursday by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, warned that the dangerous bridges are used some 250 million times a day by trucks, school buses, passenger cars and other vehicles. The group, which represents the US transportation construction market, analyzed recent US Department of Transportation data for its study.

ISRAEL - Bennett says unity deal has turned PA into "largest terrorist organization in the world, 20 minutes from Tel Aviv.” Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday of tricking Israel and the United States by negotiating an agreement with Hamas. Both Lapid and Hatnua leader Tzipi Livni had said in recent days that they would only keep their parties in the coalition to advance peace talks. But both blamed the Palestinians for the cancellation of talks that were set for Wednesday, and said the entire diplomatic process would have to be reevaluated.

USA - The United States would have to reconsider its assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if Fatah and Hamas form a government together, a senior US administration official said on Thursday, according to Reuters. Hamas and PA-Fatah head Mahmoud Abbas announced a unity pact on Wednesday, complicating his US-brokered peace talks with Israel that were already floundering.

ISRAEL - MK Yoni Chetboun (Jewish Home) hailed the unity agreement between the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) – which is led by Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) – and Gaza-based Hamas, as a development that “takes the mask” off the Palestinian Arab leaders and shows them for what they really are – terrorists. MK Chetboun said Thursday that the Hamas-Fatah agreement was “final proof that the Israeli right wing has no choice but to come up with a sane alternative national policy.”

USA - President Barack Obama — for the first time as an incumbent US president — clearly stated the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture are subject to Article 5 of the Japan-US Security Treaty, in a written reply to questions submitted by The Yomiuri Shimbun. “The policy of the United States is clear — the Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan and therefore fall within the scope of Article 5 of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security. And we oppose any unilateral attempts to undermine Japan’s administration of these islands,” the US leader stated ahead of his visit to Japan starting Wednesday. Article 5 stipulates US defense obligations to Japan, which apply to territories under the administration of Japan. Obama’s comment therefore means the United States will defend Japan in the event of a Chinese incursion on the islets, over which China also claims sovereignty.

USA - A citrus disease spread by a tiny insect has devastated Florida's orange crop, which is expected to be the worst in nearly 30 years, and sent juice prices soaring on New York markets. The culprit? The gnat-sized Asian citrus psyllid, which is infecting citrus trees across the Sunshine State with huanglongbing, or citrus greening disease, which causes fruit to taste bitter and fall from trees too soon. Citrus greening disease has become such a problem this year that the US government has lowered its forecast for the upcoming harvest four times. The latest figures, published earlier this month by the US Department of Agriculture, predict production of 110 million boxes of fruit, or roughly 4.95 million tons. That is 18 percent less than last year…

UK - A Christian nursery worker is taking her former employers to court claiming she was sacked for her beliefs after refusing to read stories about gay couples to children. Sarah Mbuyi says she was dismissed due to religious discrimination, having also been accused of “harassing” a lesbian colleague to whom she gave a Bible when she was recovering from an accident. The case, lodged at an employment tribunal, comes amid growing concerns among some Christians that religious beliefs are being “outlawed” in the workplace. A Christian group backing the case says it is an example of believers being “robbed” of the freedom to express views. Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, has warned that “militant atheists” are attempting to impose “politically correct intolerance” on others. “We’re a Christian nation,” he insisted.

EUROPE - Though the European Central Bank continues to play down deflation concerns, it is preparing measures to combat falling prices in the event of an emergency. Are the growing fears warranted? One of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's most important duties is watching his mouth. One ill-considered utterance is enough to sow panic on the financial markets.

USA - We're finally on the brink of the cashless society that futurists and other have been forecasting for years. The average consumer owns at least two credit cards and early adopters have begun ditching plastic for virtual wallets. Even businesses that used to rely heavily on cash — think taxis, food trucks or even craft fairs — can now go cashless, thanks to new technology like Square. Yet, the more we abandon paper bills for plastic, smartphone payments and even cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the perils of the new, cashless economy are becoming more apparent. Recent security breaches at Target, Neiman Marcus and other retailers illustrate the vulnerability of electronic payments to hacking attacks. There were 2,164 reported security incidents exposing 822 million records last year, nearly doubling the previous highest year, 2011, according to Risk Based Security, a data security firm.

ISRAEL - Yoram Ettinger, the former Israeli consul in Washington, DC, is unfazed by Mahmoud Abbas's threats to dismantle the Palestinian Authority (PA) if negotiations with Israel are discontinued. Ambassador Ettinger told Arutz Sheva that Abbas is well aware of Israel's fear of taking control of Judea and Samaria. “He knows that the Israeli leadership gets weak-kneed when faced with such declarations, and he estimates that Israel will lose its cool and announce that it cannot rule the territory, and then carry out concessions that it is not willing to carry out at present.”

USA - The US Supreme Court Monday decided to hear the case of an American born in Jerusalem, once again taking up the sensitive issue of the status of the contested city, according to AFP. The justices will hear arguments in the case in the fall before deciding on the constitutionality of a 2002 law that directs the State Department to give Israel as the country of birth in passports of Americans born in Jerusalem. At the center of the struggle between the Congress and the presidency is Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem in 2002 to two American parents. His passport says "born in Jerusalem" but his parents want Israel added to the place of birth, putting them at odds with the State Department. Jerusalem is Israel's capital, but the international community repeatedly refuses to recognize it as such.

ISRAEL - Deputy Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) criticized Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's demands on Tuesday, by which Israel would have to freeze building in Judea and Samaria for three months to continue peace talks. "Abbas is (former PA Chairman Yasser) Arafat in disguise," declared Akunis. "The Palestinian leadership under Abbas just changed its tone and not its essence," he argued. "Under the honey-coated words and diplomacy is hiding an extremist leadership which is not interested in peace or an agreement, but rather in endless extortion of terrorist releases, concessions and withdrawals by Israel - just as a condition to have peace talks."

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - The Palestinian Authority (PA) government met on Tuesday and blamed Israel for paving the road to a "religious war," while calling on the "Palestinian public" to block Jews from the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The statement summarizing the meeting in Ramallah called on Arab residents under the PA to defend their holy sites by coming to Al-Aqsa Mosque and opposing Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. In particular, the statement called on Arab visitors to Al-Aqsa to block "the attacks of the radicals and to prevent (MK Moshe) Feiglin and his aides from continuing to defile the Al-Aqsa Mosque."

UK - Christians are increasingly reluctant to express their religious views because they are being “turned off” by the “disturbing” and “very damaging” rise of religious fundamentalism, the Attorney General has said. Dominic Grieve said that atheists who claim that Britain is no longer a Christian nation are “deluding themselves” and must accept that faith has shaped this country’s laws and ethics. He said that 1,500 years of Christian values are “not going to disappear overnight” and said that many people remain believers even if they choose not to go to Church. However, he warned people are being discouraged from openly declaring their beliefs because of the “deep intolerance” of religious extremists of all faiths, including Islam and Christianity.