VATICAN - Pope Francis replaces the board and executives at the Vatican Bank after a year of reorganisation after more than 2,000 accounts were blocked and profit dropped 97%. The Vatican on Wednesday named a French businessman to head up its scandal-plagued bank as part of a radical overhaul of the Holy See's economic framework ordered by Pope Francis. Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, former chief executive of Investco Europe, will lead a newly streamlined bank following a year of internal investigations which resulted in the closure or suspension of thousands of suspicious, ineligible or inactive accounts.

UKRAINE - Ukraine’s defence minister has said there will be no talks with pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country unless they give up their weapons. Despite diplomatic pressure from European states to seek a truce, Valeriy Heletey told reporters: “Now, any negotiations are possible only after the rebels completely lay down their arms.” Mr Heletey, who was appointed last week, has taken a hardline stance, promising also that Ukraine will take back Crimea, annexed by Russia in March. A large contingent of rebels led by commander Igor Strelkov fled to Donetsk at the weekend after the fall of Slovyansk, a town of 100,000 which they had controlled for three months.

USA - A top United States general in charge of protecting the southern border says he’s been unable to combat the steady flow of illegal drugs, weapons and people from Central America, and is looking to Congress for urgent help. Marine Corps General John Kelly, commander of US Southern Command, has asked Congress this year for more money, drones and ships for his mission – a request unlikely to be met. Since October, an influx of nearly 100,000 migrants has made the dangerous journey north from Latin America to the United States border. Most are children, and three-quarters of the unaccompanied minors have traveled thousands of miles from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

UK - British tax authorities have been accused of attempting to ride roughshod over the Magna Carta in pursuit of new powers that will allow them to raid the bank accounts of those who fail to pay their dues. MPs on the Treasury Select Committee said they were “horrified” by the proposals which HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says it needs to recover tax from 17,000 “recalcitrant debtors”. Lin Homer, chief executive of HMRC, insisted that the powers would only be used in extreme circumstances and would never leave taxpayers short of “enough money to live.” However, she caused alarm by explaining that HMRC would be able to judge whether a debtor could afford to pay up because they would have access to 12 months of the target’s personal spending habits. The proposals are currently out for consultation until the end of July.

USA - The world’s authority on Yellowstone’s Super Volcano says it’s more than twice as big as scientists once thought. Does that mean it’s more likely to blow up soon? Penny Preston found Dr Robert Smith at his home near Grand Teton, and found the answer. The scientist who knows more about the Super Volcano than anyone, Dr Robert Smith of the University of Utah, said, “Anytime you come to Yellowstone you have to drive uphill. And the reason is this giant plume of magma, is very hot, therefore it’s ebullient, low density and it just lifts the surface up.”

VATICAN - Former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten will head a committee to advise Pope Francis on how to revamp and modernise the Holy See's media strategy, the Vatican said Wednesday. Patten, 70, one of Britain's most experienced politicians, will be president of an 11-member committee made up of six experts from around the world and five Vatican officials. It will make proposals within the next year to bring the Vatican more up to date with communications trends, improve co-ordination among departments and cut costs, a statement said. The Vatican, which already has a number of Internet sites and Twitter accounts, including that of Pope Francis, will use more digital media to reach a wider, younger audience, it said.

ISRAEL - You see, as most people in the UK were waking up this morning, and those in Europe, United States and elsewhere around the world were going about their daily routines, here in Israel over one million people were running for cover from a hail of rockets being rained down by Palestinian Hamas terrorists in Gaza. In the last 24 hours alone, over 120 rockets have been fired on southern Israel. That’s approximately five rockets per hour. By the time I finish this article, odds are that count will have risen to 125 rockets. To put things in context: one million Israelis are roughly 13 per cent of the population. Thirteen per cent of the UK population equates to about 8.4 million people, or the entire population of London.

EUROPE - Britain will be able to claw back powers from Brussels ahead of an in-out referendum on the country’s membership of the EU, Jean-Claude Juncker has said. David Cameron last month failed in his bid to prevent Mr Juncker becoming president of the European Commission. However, despite Mr Cameron’s attempt to block his appointment, Mr Juncker has said that he will not oppose attempts to repatriate powers from Brussels to Westminster.

EUROPE - Italy has taken over the EU presidency from Greece as of 1 July 2014. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is not hiding the fact that he intends to push for a United States of Europe. Further tension among member states can be expected, and London certainly will not like this objective. Italy also wants to focus on economic growth during the six months of its "reign". It will obviously attempt to push for greater flexibility regarding EU fiscal rules. Rome, which has been affected by high unemployment, wants to push through the option of greater investments, mainly into energy and telecommunications infrastructure. As far as relaxation of fiscal rules are concerned, Italy can rely on support from France. However, it will have to convince northern states of the EU that this will not lead to needless spending.

EUROPE - Jean-Claude Juncker denied on Tuesday that he favoured a federal European superstate as he sought the support of British Conservatives and other eurosceptics for his presidency of the European Commission, but his assurances drew a cool response. The designated head of the EU executive delivered his message to the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament 10 days after British Prime Minister David Cameron failed to block his path to Brussels’ top job. “Despite what you may read in the British press, I do not want a United States of Europe,” the former Luxembourg prime minister told the lawmakers, according to one person present. “I do not believe that Europe can be constructed against the nation state.”

ISRAEL - A video has emerged showing hundreds of Arabs flooding the plaza of the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount to celebrate the sounding of air raid sirens in Jerusalem. The crowds can be heard whistling and chanting in celebration of the fact that Hamas rockets reached as far as the capital city Tuesday evening. No casualties were reported, but some damage was caused. In response to the escalated threat the Jerusalem Municipality has opened all of its public bomb shelters and urged residents to take the necessary precautions. The video was initially shared by the pro-Hamas Quds News Network, which lauded the attack on "occupied Jerusalem". Hamas and other Islamist groups are known to have a strong presence on the Temple Mount.

ISRAEL - Israel on Tuesday launched its largest offensive in the Gaza Strip in nearly two years, carrying out a blistering aerial assault on scores of targets and killing 25 people in what officials called an open-ended operation aimed at ending weeks of heavy rocket fire. As Gaza militants unleashed salvos on cities including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel mobilized forces along the border for a possible ground invasion. The offensive set off the heaviest fighting between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas since an eight-day battle in November 2012. The militants fired about 160 rockets at Israel, including two intercepted over Tel Aviv, while Israel said it attacked more than 150 sites across Gaza.

EUROPE - The more the US antagonizes the world with spying or huge fines on foreign banks, the quicker the process of abandoning the dollar as a reserve currency will be unraveled, Peter Schiff, the president of investment house Euro Pacific Capital, told RT.

UK - Scottish independence would cause more damage to the UK than the banking crash in 2008, Alistair Darling has warned. The former Chancellor said the risks of Scotland going it alone ‘are colossal’ and there will be no going back. And he warned allegations that Alex Salmond’s pro-independence campaign is intimidating business from speaking out brings ‘shame on our country’. Voters in Scotland will decide whether Scotland should become an independent country in an historic referendum on September 18.

IRAN - Israel is known for its advanced intelligence capabilities but, according to an Iranian cleric, that is because it uses sorcery. The comments by Valiollah Naghipourfar, a cleric and professor at Tehran University, were made in a recent interview he gave to Iran’s state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and were republished by the IranWire website.