USA - In an interview with YourBlackWorld.net, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan interpreted the movie ‘Django Unchained’ as “preparation for a race war.” “To me, the movie had a purpose,” he said. “If a black man came out of that movie thinking like Django and white people came out of that movie seeing the slaughter of white people and they are armed to the teeth, it’s preparation for a race war.”

RUSSIA - Russian scientists said there were no signs that the Plosky Tolbachik volcano will stop erupting soon, Russian broadcaster RU-RTR reported earlier on Friday. They said the volcano regularly emits jets of burning hot lava up to 200 metres (656 feet) high. A group of scientists flew to the foot of the volcano on Thursday to monitor its activity 24-hours a day. Despite being situated on Russia's far eastern Kamchatka peninsula, the volcano has attracted tourists to the region.

NEW YORK, USA - The flu is currently at epidemic levels across the five boroughs, New York City Health Commissioner Dr Thomas Farley announced Thursday. Officials said a full 5 percent of emergency room visits are flu-related. “It’s a bad year. We’ve got lots of flu, it’s mainly type AH3N2, which tends to be a little more severe.” Mayor Michael Bloomberg got a flu shot in October but still got the disease last month. Still, Bloomberg said that won’t stop him from getting vaccinated every year, CBS 2's Marcia Kramer reported.

GERMANY/UK - A new, strongly worded warning against Britain leaving the EU has come from a delegation of visiting German MPs. It follows Wednesday's expression of concern from a senior US official. The cross-party delegation from the Bundestag's EU Affairs committee was in London to highlight Germany's growing alarm at the danger of a possible UK exit. The chairman of the committee said if Britain left the EU, it would be disastrous for its economy. "In the broader sense of negotiation of a new treaty, it is neither wise nor useful to open a Pandora's box."

GERMANY - Deutsche Bank AG made at least €500 million ($654 million) in profit in 2008 from trades pegged to the interest rates under investigation by regulators world-wide, internal bank documents show. The German bank's trading profits resulted from billions of euros in bets related to the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, and other global benchmark rates. The former employee has told regulators that some employees expressed concerns about the risks of the interest-rate bets, according to documents. He also said that Deutsche Bank officials dismissed those concerns because the bank could influence the rates they were betting on. A Deutsche Bank spokesman said those allegations were "categorically false."

JAPAN - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made his biggest push yet to make jobs growth part of the Bank of Japan's mandate as his government approved $117 billion of spending to revive the economy in the biggest stimulus since the financial crisis. Under intense pressure from [Mr] Abe, the BOJ will likely adopt a 2 percent inflation target at its January 21-22 rate review, double its current goal, and consider easing monetary policy again, most likely by increasing government debt and asset purchases, sources told Reuters this week.

UK - The backlash over US intervention into the debate over Britain's EU membership has intensified as Conservative Euro-sceptics said Americans "haven't got a clue". As Westminster eagerly awaits a landmark speech on the EU by David Cameron, the US assistant secretary for European affairs Philip Gordon made clear Washington favoured a "strong British voice" in Brussels. Tory MP Bernard Jenkin said today that the US had not "got a clue". "The Americans don't understand Europe. They have a default position that sometime the United States of Europe is going to be the same as the United States of America. They haven't got a clue," he told BBC Radio Five Live.

UK - White Britons could also become a minority in Birmingham by the end of the decade. Large numbers of Eastern European immigrants could be behind the transformation of Leicester, Luton and Slough, the University of Manchester study said. In Luton, white Britons comprise 45 per cent of the population, Pakistanis make up 14 per cent and Bangladeshis seven per cent. The 2011 census revealed that white Britons were outnumbered in London, accounting for 44.9 per cent of the population.

USA - Europeans, take note: The US government has granted itself authority to secretly snoop on you. That’s according to a new report produced for the European Parliament, which has warned that a US spy law renewed late last year authorizes “purely political surveillance on foreigners' data” if it is stored using US cloud services like those provided by Google, Microsoft and Facebook. The latest report uses words like “heavy-calibre mass surveillance fire-power aimed at the cloud” — the kind of language that can’t be brushed under the carpet for long.

INDIA - Paving the way for other nations to introduce similar legislation and inform consumers what they’re really putting into their mouths, the labelling of products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) within the nation of India is now mandated by law. The country’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs declared in a June 5, 2012 notice that all GMO-containing packaged foods must be labeled by January 1, 2013 or face legal repercussions. The move also comes after other countries like Poland already took moves to ban Monsanto’s genetically modified maize. Even states like New Mexico and Washington are now pushing forward with legislation that would make labelling mandatory.

UK - The world's climate could be hijacked by a rogue country or wealthy individual firing small particles into the stratosphere, claims a warning that comes not from a new Hollywood movie trailer but a sober report from the World Economic Forum (WEF).

BRUSSELS, EUROPE - In total the European Parliament, which sits in Brussels and Strasbourg, costs £1.3 billion a year to run, compared with £494 million for the Westminster Parliament. Treasury minister Lord Sassoon released the figures in a written answer in the House of Lords. Lord Stoddart said: “These are eye watering figures that make Westminster look like very good value for money.” The £1.79 million cost for each Euro MP includes their £80,000 salaries, pensions and travel expenses - plus the costs of running the EU Parliament. Shuttling MEPs and staff between two centres costs £200 million alone.

USA - President Obama’s affinity for Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood is apparent with six particular appointees in his administration who are associated with the Brotherhood.

UK - Dr Whitehouse notes that this is a sad betrayal of the Met Office’s traditional role: ‘When it comes to four or five-day weather forecasting, the Met Office is the best in the world,’ he says. ‘The tragedy is that, for the most part, the Met Office thinks weather forecasting is beneath it. Climate change is more glamorous — and brings in more money.’

USA/UK - The Obama administration has publicly expressed concern about the impact of a UK referendum on its future relationship with the EU. Philip Gordon, a senior official in the US State Department, said it was in America's interests to see a "strong British voice within the EU". "Referendums have often turned countries inwards," he added. "The more the EU reflects on its internal debate, the less it is able to be unified." The comments come as David Cameron prepares to make a major speech later this month on future European policy.