USA - In one of the towns hardest hit by California's drought, the only way some residents can get water to flush the toilet is to drive to the fire station, hand-pump water into barrels and take it back home. The trip has become a regular ritual for East Porterville residents Macario Beltran, 41, and his daughters, who on a recent evening pumped the water into containers in the bed of his old pickup truck to be used for bathing, dish washing and flushing. As if to emphasize the arid conditions that led them there, an emergency broadcast warned of a brewing dust storm. The state's three-year drought comes into sharp focus in Tulare County, the dairy and citrus heart of the state’s vast agricultural belt, where more than 500 wells have dried up. Larger farms have spent up to $1 million to drill 2,000 feet into the Central Valley’s ancient aquifer, Lockman said.

USA - Now US Bankers Fear Financial, Social, or Political ‘Instability’. Something is changing about the perception of the Fed’s free-money policies. While we’ve lambasted them for their nefarious effects on the real economy and the inequality they produce, Wall Street, the prime beneficiary, has been bombastically gung-ho about them. And the mainstream media have praised the Fed’s “bold action,” as it’s called, at every twist and turn.

RUSSIA - The ruble and other currencies do not compete against the dollar. They are dollar derivatives. The dollar is headed to ruin, but that doesn’t mean that any other paper currency can replace it. The others will fail first. The dollar will fail last. There hasn’t been a real recovery from the crisis of 2008, and there won’t be until we return to the use of gold as money.

IRAQ - The Islamic State has become the world's wealthiest terror group, generating tens of millions of dollars a month from black market oil sales, ransoms and extortion, officials said Thursday. It earns $1 million a day alone by selling crude oil from fields captured when the group swept across Iraq and Syria earlier this year, said David Cohen, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. Because the group, also known as ISIL, has "amassed wealth at an unprecedented pace" from different sources than most terror groups, it presents a particular challenge to the US and its allies working to choke off money flows.

USA - When homeowners visit The Easy Loan Site™ official website, they may be surprised to find out they qualify for a plan that offers them shockingly low interest rates. Unknown to many, this brilliant government program called the Home Affordable Refinance Plan (HARP) could benefit millions of Americans. By refinancing their homes at lower interest rates, homeowners could easily reduce their payments by as much as $4,264 each year.

USA - An Alabama man who sued over being hit and kicked by police after leading them on a high-speed chase will get $1,000 in a settlement with the city of Birmingham, while his attorneys will take in $459,000, officials said Wednesday. Warren is serving a 20-year sentence for attempted murder stemming from his running over a police officer during the chase, in which he also hit a school bus and a patrol car before crashing and being ejected from his vehicle. Under the terms of the settlement of Warren's 2009 federal suit, in which he accused five Birmingham police officers of excessive force, his attorneys will receive $100,000 for expenses and $359,000 in fees, said Michael Choy, an attorney representing the officers on behalf of the city.

CANADA - Canadian prime minister delivers defiant message, saying shootings are a reminder that the country is not immune to terror attacks. Canada's prime minister said his nation would not be intimidated by Wednesday's gun attack in its capital but would redouble its efforts against terrorism.

UK - Much has gone right for George Osborne. The economy is still growing strongly, despite the ambient turbulence, and is easily outperforming many other similar economies. Unemployment is sliding at an astonishing speed and job creation remains buoyant. Corporate investment has risen more quickly than many sceptics had feared and the consumer debt burden has fallen.

EUROPE - A German stimulus package may now be too late, and too small, to revive the euro area economy, according to a report by ratings agency Standard & Poor's. The eurozone is yet again in a nasty state. As it suffers from low growth and low inflation, the two combine to make a nasty cocktail. Without much of either, unemployment remains stuck at an eye wateringly high 11.5 percent, and government debt burdens are likely to feel increasingly heavy.

ISRAEL - Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman made a connection Thursday morning between the attacks that occurred in Jerusalem and Ottawa - both state capitals - on Wednesday. The comments were posted on his official Facebook page. "The terror attacks that took place yesterday, at almost the same time in both ends of the world, show that terrorism is a global epidemic that must be fought against with force and without compromises," Lieberman wrote.

ISRAEL - Rioters target a kindergarten in Ma'ale ha-Zeitim and the light rail station in Shuafat Thursday morning, after last night's deadly attack. A day after the tragic attack in Jerusalem, resulting in the death of an infant girl, assaults against Jewish targets by Arab extremists continue.

USA - Don't think that Republicans are going to save the country, because they support "Free Trade" much more than Democrats do. The President is seeking Fast Track authority to allow passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, or TPP, in the first quarter of 2015. The TPP has been negotiated in secret by global corporations, and even Congress has been denied access to the proceedings! With Fast Track, the TPP will face an up or down vote with minimal debate, and require only 50.01% to pass. If passed, TPP will signal the complete end to American national sovereignty, turning over trade and economic policy-making to global bodies. TPP is a clear and present danger, and yet there is very attention being given to it.

USA - While vaccine makers and drug companies are rushing to bring medical interventions to the market that might address the Ebola pandemic, there's already a technology available right now that can kill Ebola in just two minutes in hospitals, quarantine centers, commercial offices and even public schools.

UK - Campaigners say chicken meat needs better labelling. How much do people really know about the life of a chicken before it reaches their plate? A long, low, metal shed, fed by large plastic drums, pipes and chimneys - to the layman it looks like a small chemical plant. Hidden in the folds of the Peak District, it's an incongruous sight. The only hint that living things are housed inside is the pungent smell from the extractor fan - like a mixture of a pet shop and manure.

USA - Around the world, student debt is a financial burden for millions - and in the US, a growing number of senior citizens are still repaying the cost of their education into retirement age. In 2005, older adults owed $2.8 billion (£1.61 billion) in federal student debt. By 2013, that figure that had ballooned to $18.2 billion, according to a report released last month by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Students in the US often take out loans, both privately funded and financed by the US Department of Education, to pay their school fees. While other loans, such as a home mortgage, can be forgiven if a borrower files for bankruptcy, student loans cannot.