RUSSIA - The world has come ominously close to a nuclear war in the past and it could happen again as Russia and the West have slipped back into what seems like another Cold War, world-renowned scholar Noam Chomsky tells RT’s Sophie&Co. Now NATO has expanded its borders all the way to reach Russia, its mission has very much changed since it was initially established, Chomsky said. Now, its aim is to take control of global energy systems rather than maintaining intergovernmental military balance. The world has never been closer to a nuclear war that could wipe out all of its initiators, and the threat is no longer a thing of history, according to Chomsky.

UK - Former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks has told the House of Lords that Islamists know they cannot win support for their violent ways so they attack Israel instead. In a lively Lords debate on the Middle East, during which a range of views were heard, Sacks said the Middle East was “de-secularising”. “They are uninspired by the secular culture of the West,” he said, and “have come to believe that salvation lies in a return to the Islam that bestrode the narrow world like a colossus for the better part of 1,000 years”. He added: “When power is secularised, peace is possible” but “when ancient theologies are used for modern political ends, they speak a very dangerous language indeed”.

ISRAEL - Surrounded by a coterie of police officers, dozens of rightwing Israelis outraged by the assassination attempt against Temple Mount activist Yehudah Glick marched Thursday night from the site he was shot to the gate of the contested holy site. Glick, who has partially regained consciousness following multiple surgeries, has become a potent symbol for Jewish prayer rights at the Temple Mount since he was shot four times at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center by an Islamic Jihad member last week.

RUSSIA - A Russian submarine thought to be lurking in Swedish waters; Nato fighter jets scrambling to intercept Russian bombers; Russian spies, according to Czech intelligence, fanning out across Europe; an Estonian official allegedly snatched and spirited back to Moscow to be accused of spying. All activity in the shadows or below the radar, accompanied by a barrage of anti-Western messages in the pro-Russian media - what has become known as "hybrid warfare", where propaganda and provocation take centre stage.

SIBERIA - Remember how evidence was mounting last month that early snowfall was accumulating across Siberia? And remember how there’s a theory that says this snowfall signals a cold winter? So in the two and a half weeks since, the news for the winter-haters has, unfortunately, only gotten worse.

RUSSIA - Russia may ban the circulation of the United States dollar. The State Duma has already been submitted a relevant bill banning and terminating the circulation of USD in Russia, APA’s Moscow correspondent reports. If the bill is approved, Russian citizens will have to close their dollar accounts in Russian banks within a year and exchange their dollars in cash to Russian ruble or other countries’ currencies. Otherwise their accounts will be frozen and cash dollars levied by police, customs, tax, border, and migration services confiscated. After the law enters into force, it will be impossible to obtain cash dollars in Russia.

UK - One in 10 British people believe elderly people should be offered a “reward” if they opt for assisted suicide, new polling suggests. Anti-euthanasia campaigners said the finding was “chilling” evidence of deep-seated prejudice towards older people from a small but significant minority of the population. They claim that it is proof of the possible dangers of any change in the suicide laws such as the former Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill which is due to return to Parliament for detailed scrutiny on Friday. The bill would allow terminally ill patients judged to have no more than six months to live and a “settled intention” to end their lives to be prescribed a lethal dose of drugs if two doctors agree.

ISRAEL - Following yesterday's series of terrorist attacks in Jerusalem and Gush Etzion, and despite pressure from some members of his coalition to grant Jews freedom of worship on the Temple Mount, the Prime Minister's Office has reiterated that no such moves are in the works. "In last night's security consultation, the Prime Minister made it clear that there will be no change in the status quo on the Temple Mount and that whoever expresses a different opinion is presenting a personal view and not the policy of the Government," said the PM's spokesperson Mark Regev.

EUROPE - Jean-Claude Juncker has taunted David Cameron, boasting that the British leader does not scare him and mocked the Prime Minister for failing to win his battles with the European Union.

GERMANY - Days before Germany is set to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the way has been cleared for the former communists who ruled East Germany to return to power. The Left Party, widely seen as the successor to the SED, East Germany's communist party, is expected to head the government of a German state for the first time since reunification, after the Social Democrats voted to enter a coalition with them in the state of Thuringia.

USA - You know something is going on when the cautious Boston Globe publishes not one, but two, pieces dealing with the “double government.” This cryptic phrase encapsulates a serious claim about the American body politic: That a permanent and largely unaccountable bureaucracy keeps on doing what it wants to do, no matter who the voters elect to the White House.

UK – Lord Tebbit: “I was pleased to see the Republicans doing so well in the mid-term elections in America, particularly as it gives greater hope that we will not face the horror of Hillary Clinton cast in the role of leader of the free world during what may well be very difficult times ahead. However, in the short term, until after the presidential elections in 2016, there is now an even greater risk of a paralysis of government in both Washington and Westminster. That will no doubt be exploited both by Vladimir Putin and the various strains of Islamism led by Isil.”

ISRAEL - Whether the third intifada or a new spin-off, Jerusalem is in the throes of the worst spate of Arab violence against Jewish residents in over a decade. There’s a sense of free fall in Jerusalem, of events spinning out of control – they are no longer isolated incidents. And they’re not subsiding – riots on the Temple Mount, ongoing rock attacks on the light rail, rioting in Arab neighborhoods, the attempted assassination of Yehudah Glick, and on Wednesday another fatal sidewalk terrorist attack on the seam line between western and eastern Jerusalem.

UK - The BBC has caused anger after it posted a picture of the Temple Mount mosque with what appeared to be an Israeli flag flying from it. The picture was published on the BBC’s Middle East section of its news website and formed part of its coverage of the terror attack in East Jerusalem today. The story, headlined “Driver hits pedestrians in East Jerusalem” was live for some time but the link is no longer active. BBC viewer Ian Taylor said: “This is a blatant attempt to try and provoke anti-Israeli feelings. I’ve done a Google image search to see if the picture’s been lifted off of the internet but can’t find anything, which suggests that some idiot in the BBC has done this himself.”

USA - President Barack Obama came out swinging on Wednesday just 14 hours after a Republican wave swept over the US Congress in an election that largely repudiated his policies. 'Congress will pass some bills I cannot sign,' he said, threatening to dust off a veto pen that he has used only twice in nearly six years. And he hinted at executive orders that will enrage conservatives. 'I'm pretty sure I'll take some actions that some in Congress will not like,' he said. 'That's natural. That's how Democracy works.' He acknowledged that the GOP won Tuesday's elections, but framed the results as a mandate for Republicans to work with him, instead of the other way around. 'Obviously the Republicans had a good night,' he said.