IRAN - Iraq’s army has shot down two British planes carrying weapons for ISIL terrorists in Iraq’s Al Anbar province. Hakem al-Zameli, head of the Iraqi Parliament’s National Security and Defence Committee revealed that the committee “has access to the photos of both planes that are British and have crashed while they were carrying weapons for the ISIL,” FARS News reported (Iranian News Agency).
GERMANY - German police issued a warning on Saturday that there was an imminent threat of a violent Islamist attack on the northern port city of Bremen. A federal authority has been receiving tip-offs since Friday evening about the activities of potential Islamist threats, the police said. Police said they were adopting "security measures in the public arena" without going into detail. Recently, police cancelled the pre-Lenten carnival in the city of Braunschweig, or Brunswick, 175 kilometers south-east of Bremen over a terrorist threat.
USA - Today the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a non-elected federal government agency, voted three-to-two to reclassify broadband Internet as a common carrier service under Title II of the Communications Act. This means that – without the vote of Congress, the peoples’ branch of government – a federal agency now claims the power to regulate the Internet. I am surprised that even among civil liberties groups, some claim the federal government increasing regulation of the Internet somehow increases our freedom and liberty.
GERMANY - The German parliament has voted to extend financial aid to Greece by another four months. The extension - approved by creditors last week in exchange for a series of Greek government reforms - needs to be ratified by eurozone members. Some MPs had expressed doubts about the deal and there is substantial public scepticism but the vote passed easily. It comes after police and protesters clashed during anti-government demonstrations in Athens on Thursday.
GERMANY - Germany has been reducing its number of Leopard 2 battle tanks from its Cold War height of 3,500, projected to fall to 225 under current plans. But the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Thursday that that number may be revised upwards, along with numbers of other weapons systems. A spokesman for Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen confirmed to the paper that “modernization and supplementary steps are being considered”.
TURKEY - Islamic State militants have entered Turkey and are plotting to attack diplomatic missions in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkish media on Thursday quoted the national intelligence agency (MIT) as saying. Around 3,000 militants from the ultra-radical group in Syria and Iraq are looking to enter Turkey through its southern border after failing to take the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, the Hurriyet newspaper reported the internal MIT note as saying.
USA - A row between the US and Benjamin Netanyahu has deepened, with the Israeli leader accusing America and others of "giving up" on trying to stop Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. The US secretary of state questioned Mr Netanyahu's judgement on the issue. Republican leaders have invited Mr Netanyahu to address the US Congress next week, angering Democrats. A White House spokesman warned against reducing US-Israeli ties to a party political issue.
RUSSIA - Russia has signed an agreement with Cyprus to give Russian navy ships access to Cypriot ports. Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed the deal after talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. The deal comes as tensions between Russia and Western countries over the Ukrainian conflict continue.
UK - Posters are being printed and slogans are being polished as Britain's politicians battle it out in the most unpredictable national election in decades. One top election analyst has dubbed it "the lottery election."
Voters, though, don't seem very excited about who gets the prize. "There's nobody who can run a country. They all lie to us," said Victor Loach, a fishmonger selling his wares in the cobbled central square of Atherstone, 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of London. "And why do they shout at each other like children?"
USA - The United States will not develop into the "next Saudi Arabia" of the energy market despite its position as one of the biggest new producers in the world, warned the head of the International Energy Agency. Speaking at the Telegraph's Middle East Congress, Fatih Birol, the newly appointed executive director of the IEA, said traditional energy exporters in the Gulf would continue to dominate global production in years to come. The shale gas revolution in the United States was "excellent news" for America's economy, but would not see the country meet the world's global energy needs, said Mr Birol.
VATICAN - A coalition of royals, prelates, and Catholic activists have sent a “filial appeal” to Pope Francis asking him to hold the line on Church teaching regarding the family. The letter focuses on the Synod of Bishops to take place this October in the Vatican and expresses the signers’ “fears and hopes regarding the future of the family.”
USA - A new study carried out by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) has found that millions Americans who consume soda every day are putting themselves at risk of developing cancer as a result of an ingredient contained in many soft drinks.
SAUDI ARABIA - "The Saudi authorities are completely coordinated with Israel on all matters related to Iran," Channel 2 reported the unnamed European official as saying on Tuesday, reported The Jerusalem Post. "The Saudis have declared their readiness for the Israeli Air Force to overfly Saudi airspace en route to attack Iran if an attack is necessary," the report said. Saudi Arabia's eastern Persian Gulf border is only about 100 miles from Iran's Bushehr nuclear site.
GREECE - Greece's Left-wing Syriza government has vowed to block plans to privatise strategic assets and called for sweeping changes to past deals, risking a fresh clash with the eurozone's creditor powers just days after a tense deal in Brussels. "We will cancel the privatisation of the Piraeus Port," said George Stathakis, the economy minister. "It will remain permanently under state majority holding. There is no good reason to turn it into a private monopoly, as we made clear from the first day."
VATICAN - German Chancellor Merkel visited the Vatican over the weekend. Consistent with the diplomatic practice, they exchanged gifts. The Chancellor gave the Pope a Johann Sebastian Bach CD set and a donation for refugee children. Pope Francis gave Merkel a medal with an image on it. It is a picture of Saint Martin cutting his coat to give it to the poor.