JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - The Temple Institute’s crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the modern architectural plans for the Third Holy Temple in Jerusalem came to a close on Rosh Hashanah after surpassing its $100,000 goal in 60 days. The initiative began on the first day of the month of Av, when Jews commemorate the destruction of the ancient Holy Temples. Almost 900 pledges have come in from more than 30 countries worldwide. Jews have prayed to rebuild the Temple, three times daily since its destruction by Roman Legions in 70 CE. The Temple Institute's project to draw up architectural plans began three years ago with the Chamber of Hewn Stone.

USA - It’s harvest time in much of California, and the signs of drought are almost as abundant as the fruits and nuts and vegetables. One commodity after another is feeling the impact of the state’s epic water shortage. The great Sacramento Valley rice crop, served in sushi restaurants nationwide and exported to Asia, will be smaller than usual. Fewer grapes will be available to produce California’s world-class wines, and the citrus groves of the San Joaquin Valley are producing fewer oranges. There is less hay and corn for the state’s dairy cows, and the pistachio harvest is expected to shrink.

USA - You probably know your Social Security number, your driver’s license number and perhaps the latest wrinkle in mattress marketing, your sleep number. But do you know your drought number? The latter represents the amount of water you are allowed to use per day. If you don’t know it, you probably should. Not knowing could cost you money. As California’s severe drought moves into a fourth year, state and local water agencies are working on something called “allocation-based rate structures,” a kind of precursor to water rationing that’s all the rage in Sacramento and in some areas such as Santa Cruz, Irvine and Santa Monica. Making water hogs pay a top-tier rate is another trend gaining popularity among water agencies.

RUSSIA - Russia used its annual appearance at the UN General Assembly on Saturday to accuse the United States and its Western allies of bossing the world around, complaining they were attempting to dictate to everyone "what is good and evil." The speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the 193-nation assembly was the latest example of the deteriorating relations between Moscow and Western powers, which have imposed sanctions on Russia over the conflict in neighboring Ukraine.

SWITZERLAND - A “poisonous combination” of record debt and slowing growth suggest the global economy could be heading for another crisis, a hard-hitting report will warn on Monday. The 16th annual Geneva Report, commissioned by the International Centre for Monetary and Banking Studies and written by a panel of senior economists including three former senior central bankers, predicts interest rates across the world will have to stay low for a “very, very long” time to enable households, companies and governments to service their debts and avoid another crash.

CHINA - More than 130 companies are involved in producing or trading the equipment, typically marketed to law enforcement agencies, up from about 28 companies a decade ago, Amnesty said. The equipment fuels human rights abuses by law enforcement authorities in African and Southeast Asian states, the group said in a report. One company, China Xining Import/Export Corporation, which advertises thumb cuffs, restraint chairs and electric stun guns, said in 2012 it had ties to more than 40 African countries, according to Amnesty. The firm could not be reached for comment. The rights group worked with the British-based Omega Research Foundation, which researches the trade and the use of military, security and police equipment. China's Foreign Ministry could not be immediately reached for comment.

JORDAN - Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches is showing no signs of progress. The latest plenary session of the mixed Commission [was] created to deal with the theological obstacles that stand in the way of full communion between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

USA - When is the US banking system going to crash? I can sum it up in three words. Watch the derivatives. It used to be only four, but now there are five "too big to fail" banks in the United States that each have more than 40 trillion dollars in exposure to derivatives. Today, the US national debt is sitting at a grand total of about 17.7 trillion dollars, so when we are talking about 40 trillion dollars we are talking about an amount of money that is almost unimaginable.

UK - Six major banks including Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays face huge fines for rigging the ‘Wild West’ foreign currency market. The lenders held secret talks with the City watchdog this week to try to thrash out a deal. Those also involved in the negotiations are understood to include HSBC, US banks Citigroup and JPMorgan and Swiss lender UBS. The fines are expected to be confirmed simultaneously, with the total bill set to be as high as £2 billion and one bank facing a fine of between £300 million and £400 million.

EUROPE - The next 10 days could make or break a plan to reshape the European Union under new management in an attempt to revive the economy and regain trust among its half-billion people. From Monday, members of a European Parliament elected on a wave of anti-Brussels protest will subject nominees for posts on executive European Commission to hearings that could wreck the line-up and a complex new structure proposed by its incoming president, Jean-Claude Juncker.

UK - The European Court of Human Rights will no longer be able to overrule British courts, under Conservative plans to be unveiled within days. Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, told The Telegraph that the Tories are ready to change the law to ensure that Britain is no longer “powerless” before the European court. After extensive deliberations, the Conservatives are ready to unveil their plans to scrap the Human Rights Act and ensure that the final decision on controversial legal cases is taken by Britain’s Supreme Court and not judges in Strasbourg, he said. The Tories have a long-standing commitment to check the power of the Strasbourg court, which they have accused of forcing unacceptable decisions on Britain.

VATICAN - Scandal has rocked the Vatican for the second time in a week. On Thursday (September 25), officials confirmed Pope Francis had sacked Bishop Livieres, head of the Paraguayan diocese of Ciudad del Este. Livieres is suspected of protecting a priest believed to have sexually abused young people. His dismissal followed the arrest two days earlier of former archbishop Josef Wesolowski, who is accused of paying for sex with children during his time as papal ambassador in the Dominican Republic. Pope Francis, has vowed to take a zero-tolerance policy on clerics who abuse minors. The pontiff approved Wesolowski’s arrest and earlier this year compared child abuse to a “satanic mass”.

USA - More than 600 small earthquakes have rattled the Mammoth Lakes region in less than 36 hours as ripple effects continued across one of the most seismically active volcanic regions in California, according to the US Geological Survey. The swarm of quakes — ranging from magnitude 1.0 to 3.8 — began just before 5am Thursday, according to the USGS. “This is one of the largest earthquake swarms we’ve seen in the past decade or so,” said David Shelly, a USGS research seismologist who has been studying the volcanic system near Mammoth Lakes. “We’ll be tracking it closely.” Residents reported periodic rattles through the day but said they were used to the shaking given that Mammoth is a seismically active area.

AFGHANISTAN - Taliban fighters have beheaded 15 civilians in battles for control of a key district near Kabul in a chilling echo of the brutality meted out by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The Ghazni provincial government said it has lost contact with police in the province's western district of Ajrestan after hundreds of insurgents stormed several villages in the area. The attack by an estimated 700 Taliban fighters began about five days ago and early reports were that more than 100 people had been killed, provincial deputy governor Ahmadullah Ahmadi said. At least 15 of those were decapitated, he added.

UK - A couple were thrown off a bus and branded racists after singing the Peppa Pig theme tune to their autistic daughter, it has been claimed. Nick Barnfield and Sarah Cleaves were travelling with their daughter Heidi on a bus from Sheffield to Doncaster when the 15-month-old started crying. The couple, who live in Rotherham, started singing the song in an effort to cheer their daughter up, but say they were branded racists by another passenger and told to get off the bus by its driver. The couple claimed the woman, who they say was wearing a hijab, took offence to the snorting sounds in the song and believed they were a reference to how pork is forbidden in Islam though this has not been confirmed. She complained to the bus's driver, who, it is claimed, then told the couple it would be 'easier' for them to get off two miles from their home.