UK - “The age of purely representative democracy,” Peter Mandelson once told us, “is slowly coming to an end.” And he was right. Throughout the Western world, public policy choices which were once in the hands of representatives we elected have been farmed out to technocrats.

USA - In a new study published in the peer reviewed Public Library of Science (PLOS), researchers emphasize that there is sufficient evidence that meal-derived DNA fragments carry complete genes that can enter into the human circulation system through an unknown mechanism.

ISRAEL - Israel faces a severe crisis if urgent measures are not taken to address the country's growing water scarcity, according to experts. January passed with barely a drop of rain, and February hasn't been much better, despite last weekend's rainstorm, said Avshalom Vilan, chairman of the Israeli Agricultural Federation, a group representing farmers and agricultural families. Unless there is a “climatic miracle,” he said, Israel would soon be in a very serious water shortage situation. The situation is so bad, he said, that stored water that is usually released only in April to farmers in northern Israel is already being used, due to a lack of natural rainfall.

UK - Actually, according to the first detailed estimate of international purchase activity in London by Knight Frank, the percentage of all central London homes that sold for more than 1 million pounds to foreigners in the 12 months through June 2013, was 49% to be exact. And as we showed yesterday when we put China's loan creation in the context of US and Japanese QE, keeping in mind the use of proceeds of all this newly created inside money has to ultimately go somewhere - that somewhere in this case being London and other global luxury real estate, said percentage is only going to get higher. Especially when one adds Russia, the middle east and other various regions whose oligarchs are desperate to park their money in "safe" havens.

GERMANY - The German government is fiercely promoting an aggressive imperialist foreign policy. At the beginning of the year, it declared an end to the previous policy of military restraint. Shortly thereafter, it announced plans to develop a new strategy for Africa. At the same time, Berlin is toughening its foreign policy offensive in the Ukraine. In his first official visit to Moscow last week, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Social Democratic Party, SPD) warned the Russian government against escalating the Ukrainian power struggle. “Nobody should seek to ignite the fuse to that powder keg”, said Steinmeier. In fact, Berlin itself is fanning the flames of conflict in Ukraine.

UK - Britain’s flood misery is set to drag on for MONTHS as forecasters warn of more torrential rain on the way. Although fierce storms which triggered months of misery have come to an end relentless downpours will continue until MAY. Experts warned it could be SUMMER before thousands who have endured weeks of flood misery get any respite. Underground water stores are dangerously full while rivers are at bursting point, threatening to swamp homes and communities living nearby. Aquifers will continue to feed into rivers until mid spring at least with any more rain running off saturated land in torrents.

USA - Did you know that the US state that produces the most vegetables is going through the worst drought it has ever experienced and that the size of the total US cattle herd is now the smallest that it has been since 1951? Just the other day, a CBS News article boldly declared that “food prices soar as incomes stand still”, but the truth is that this is only just the beginning. If the drought that has been devastating farmers and ranchers out west continues, we are going to see prices for meat, fruits and vegetables soar into the stratosphere. Already, the federal government has declared portions of 11 states to be “disaster areas”, and California farmers are going to leave half a million acres sitting idle this year because of the extremely dry conditions. Sadly, experts are telling us that things are probably going to get worse before they get better (if they ever do).

EUROPE - The European Commission announced having "freed up" Syria’s frozen assets, in order to fund the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons. This unilateral decision runs counter to the OPCW resolution, adopted 15 November 2013, which highlights Syria’s financial inability to pay for their destruction and creates a special international fund as a substitute. Reacting to this measure, the Syrian government has condemned the theft of assets belonging to the Syrian people. It furthermore recalled that member governments of the European Union have and continue to fund terrorism in Syria, in violation of relevant UN resolutions. In addition, EU Member States are illegally buying Syrian oil siphoned off by the Contras at the expense of the Syrian people.

SYRIA - Russia may call an urgent UN Security Council meeting to "stop the slide towards escalation in Syria", Russian sources told Al-Mayadeen channel. The source revealed that Russia had information that Washington and Paris are currently putting a plan [together] for military intervention in Syria to stop the advance of the Syrian army. However, sources confirmed that there was no agreement on the next round of negotiations in Geneva. In a swift response, a US official accused the Syrian government's delegation of "shuffling out of every step in Geneva negotiations," adding that "Washington expects from Russia to exercise pressure on Damascus to engage seriously in the peace talks."

UK - The government agency responsible for dealing with floods was last night under pressure to explain why it had spent thousands of pounds on what appeared to be ‘pet projects’ of its chairman Lord Smith. A Mail on Sunday investigation has established that the Environment Agency, headed by Lord Chris Smith – Britain’s first openly gay Cabinet Minister – spent £639 on mugs promoting gay rights. The mugs, emblazoned with the slogan ‘Some people are gay. Get over it!’ are thought to have been handed out to staff at the organisation’s headquarters in London and Bristol. Tory MP Ian Liddell-Grainger, whose Bridgewater and West Somerset constituency has been devastated by the floods, reacted with fury. ‘It was crass stupidity to tell people who are living on flood plains that they’ve got it wrong. Now this shows that he’s actually made silly choices himself to spend hundreds of pounds on mugs and thousands sponsoring a Gay Pride event.”

UK - The UK government's futile and ham-fisted attempts to purge the Internet of all of its rough edges and naughty bits are about to see international escalation. The country is only really just kicking off their campaign to impose porn filters that not only often don't work, but also have so far managed to accidentally block numerous entirely legal and useful websites including technology news sites like Slashdot, digital rights groups like the EFF, rape counseling websites, and more. David Cameron's government has long-stated they want this filtering to eventually extend to websites deemed "extremist" by the government, and it appears that new proposals being drafted hope to make that a reality sooner rather than later.

USA - Washington is finally waking up to California's worst drought since the 16th century, but is it too little too late? Nick Allen reports. On the road into the small California farming community of Mendota the signs read “Stop – dust bowl!” and “Save Water” as farmers in orchards are busy bulldozing withered almond trees.

USA - For the state that produces one-third of the nation's fruits and vegetables, the driest spell in 500 years has prompted President Obama to make $100 million in livestock-disaster aid available within 60 days to help the state rebound from what he describes is "going to be a very challenging situation this year... and potentially some time to come." As NBC reports, Governor Jerry Brown believes the "unprecedented emergency" could cost $2.8 billion in job income and $11 billion in state revenues - and as one farmer noted "we can't recapture that." Dismal recollections of the 1930's Dust Bowl are often discussed as workers (and employers) are "packing their bags and leaving town..." leaving regions to "run the risk of becoming desolate ghost towns as local governments and businesses collapse."

USA - Becoming more like Europe is not a good thing. But that is the path that we are currently on. For the most part, Europeans live in a socialist “Big Brother” system in which the government completely dominates your life from the cradle to the grave.

USA - In recent years, the prevalence of developmental disorders such as autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and dyslexia have soared. While greater awareness and more sophisticated diagnoses are partly responsible for the rise, researchers say that the changing environment in which youngsters grow up may also be playing a role.