GERMANY - The Gaza conflict arrived in West Berlin's leafy main boulevard of Kurfuerstendamm on Friday. About 1,200 pro-Palestinian protestors processed past the designer shops, watched by elegant ladies sipping coffee in nearby cafes. The vast majority of the demonstrators were from Germany's large Muslim community: women in headscarves; a protest leader reciting words from the Koran into a loudspeaker. Many of the protesters held up signs condemning Israel's actions, chanting "freedom for Gaza". Confusingly the chants from the 700 pro-Israel demonstrators sounded very similar: "Free Gaza from Hamas," they shouted.

VATICAN - Pope Francis made an unscripted plea for peace during his weekly Vatican address today – a comment interpreted as a reference to the ongoing Gaza crisis. As the Argentinian-born pontiff wrapped up his regular address to the faithful in Saint Peter’s Square, he spoke of the upcoming centenary of the outbreak of World War One and said his thoughts were on the Middle East, Iraq and Ukraine in particular. With his voice appearing to crack with emotion, the pope broke off from his scripted remarks to make a direct appeal for fighting to end. "Please stop! I ask you with all my heart, it's time to stop. Stop, please!"

USA - Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and Bank of Nova Scotia were accused in a lawsuit of rigging the price of billions of dollars in silver, an allegation similar to earlier suits involving the London gold fix. The banks unlawfully manipulated the price of the metal and its derivatives, an investor claims in a complaint filed yesterday in a federal court in Manhattan. The banks abused their position of controlling the daily silver fix to reap illegitimate profit from trading, hurting other investors in the silver market who use the benchmark in billions of dollars of transactions, according to the suit. “The extreme level of secrecy creates an environment that is ripe for manipulation,” according to the complaint. “Defendants have a strong financial incentive to establish positions in both physical silver and silver derivatives prior to the public release of silver fixing results, allowing them to reap large illegitimate profits.”

UK - The Archbishop of Canterbury has written to Pope Francis in a plea to prevent the ordination of women bishops from derailing plans for the eventual reunification between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. The Most Rev Justin Welby acknowledged that the vote at the General Synod earlier this month would be a “further difficulty” on the tortuous road towards eventual unity between the two churches which formally separated in the 16th Century. But in a letter to the Pope and other global church leaders including leading orthodox patriarchs, he asked for prayers for the Church of England, telling them: “We need each other.”

UK - The Government has been accused of misleading the public over the introduction of a new in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique that some experts believe will result in the birth of “genetically modified babies”. Leading scientists, including Lord Winston, an early pioneer of fertility treatment, have criticised the Department of Health for trying to play down a process that will for the first time allow the alteration of the DNA of future generations. They argue that the Government has redefined the term “genetic modification” (GM) to exclude specifically a controversial technique that will result in babies inheriting genetic material from three individuals.

IRAQ - The vicar of the only Anglican church in Iraq has warned the end for Christians in the country appears “very near” as he appealed for help after a deadline set by Islamic militants to convert or be killed expired. Canon Andrew White, dubbed "the bishop of Baghdad" for his work at St George's church in the capital, spoke after the ultimatum handed to Christians in the northern city of Mosul by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (Isis) to convert, pay a tax or be put to death passed last week. For those Christians who did not comply with the decree by 19 July, Isis warned that "there is nothing to give them but the sword.”

USA - The much-admired Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black may be rolling in his grave at the prospect of a merger between 21st Century Fox and Time Warner Inc, which would reduce control of the major Hollywood studios to five owners, from six, and major television producers to four, from five. “The widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public,” he wrote in the majority opinion that decided a 1945 antitrust case involving major newspaper publishers and The Associated Press. “The First Amendment affords not the slightest support for the contention that a combination to restrain trade in news and views has any constitutional immunity.” “I don’t see a bright distinction between news and entertainment,” said Christopher L Sagers, an antitrust professor at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. “One person shouldn’t own all the cultural creativity resources. If one person can limit content, that’s a huge loss to society.”

ISRAEL - 1000s of rioting Arabs broke through police barriers last night, making their way to the Temple Mount, where they proceeded to set the Temple Mount police station on fire. Violent Arab rioting is not confined to the Temple Mount alone. The entire Old City of Jerusalem is under attack by rock throwing Muslims. Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem are also under attack. Many Jewish residents are reporting that there is no police presence and they have been left on their own to fend for themselves. We call on the Prime Minister of Israel to send in the troops to restore order in Jerusalem and retake the Temple Mount at once.

GERMANY - German businesses are demanding that the government intensify its support for tapping the "continent of opportunity, Africa" in competition with China and other BRICS countries. Parallel to the West's waning global influence, German businesses are losing ground on the African continent. This is why German enterprises are pushing for increasing Hermes trade credit insurances, double taxation treaties, and generally "stronger political support for the German industry in Africa." A building industry federation is explicitly demanding that future allocations of development funds be tied to orders for German/European firms. The German government has indicated its readiness to implement these policies. The KfW Development Bank and other public-sector banks are already seeking ways to support the German industry's expansion efforts by expanding credit transactions.

ISRAEL - Thousands of Hamas-linked terrorists planned to invade Israel on the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), which begins on September 24, according to an Israel security source. First reported by Ma'ariv, then in English by i24news, “thousands of terrorists were meant to cross over to Israel from Gaza through the tunnels and kill and kidnap as many Israelis as they could. The source added that the army learned about the huge planned attack during the interrogations of Hamas prisoners, captured during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.”

UK - A Conservative member of the Commons health select committee has said he is “absolutely convinced” of the benefits of astrology and called for it to be incorporated into medicine. David Tredinnick said he had spent 20 years studying astrology and healthcare and said it had a “proven track record” guiding people through their lives. The MP, a member of both the Commons health select committee and the science and technology committee, is a keen advocate of complementary therapies, and chairman of a Government working group on herbal medicine. On Friday he said more should be done to raise awareness among patients and healthcare professionals of the benefits of astrology.

GERMANY - Germany is to reject a multi-billion free trade deal between the European Union and Canada which is widely seen as a template for a bigger agreement with the United States, a leading German paper reported on Saturday. Citing diplomats in Brussels, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that Berlin objects to clauses outlining the legal protection offered to firms investing in the 28-member bloc. Critics say they could allow investors to stop or reverse laws.

INDIA - India threatened on Friday to block a worldwide reform of custom rules, which some estimates say could add $1 trillion to the global economy and create 21 million jobs, prompting a US warning that its demands could kill global trade reform efforts. Diplomats from the 160 World Trade Organization member countries meeting in Geneva had been meant to rubber stamp a deal on "trade facilitation" that was agreed at talks in Bali last December in the WTO's first ever global trade agreement. But India, in an 11th-hour intervention, demanded a halt to the trade facilitation timetable until the end of the year and said a permanent WTO deal on food stockpiling must be in place at the same time, well ahead of an agreed 2017 target date. The ultimatum revived doubts about the future of the WTO as a negotiating body, and many diplomats said Delhi's stance could derail the whole process of world trade liberalisation.

NIGERIA - Nigeria says it has put all entries into the country on red alert after confirming the death of a Liberian man who was carrying the Ebola virus. The man died after arriving at Lagos airport on Tuesday, in the first Ebola case in Africa's most populous country. Surveillance has been stepped up at all "airports, seaports and land borders", says Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu. Since February, more than 660 people have died of Ebola in West Africa - the world's deadliest outbreak to date. It began in southern Guinea and spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

UK - Wake-up calls must be urgently sounded to help people plan how to cope with increased borrowing costs amid the prospect of the end of rock-bottom interest rates, a think-tank has argued. The Resolution Foundation warned that even a "relatively benign" move away from the current rate could double the number of households facing repayment problems in the coming four years.