USA - Senate Democrats could introduce legislation as soon as today that gives President Barack Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling unless two-thirds of Congress disapproves, according to a Senate Democratic aide.
JAPAN - Japan's prime minister has appealed to the international community to help fix the on-going crisis at its damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, confirmed that Japan was open to receiving assistance from overseas in a bid to help resolve the world's worst nuclear crisis in decades.
USA - Doubts over resolution fade as the stalemate becomes more entrenched as Democrats and Republicans play chicken over US debt. Markets fell sharply on opening on Monday, as America’s government shutdown entered its second week and the political stand-off at its heart engulfed negotiations over the US debt ceiling.
UK - A great organization has grown too Leftie and too big. It has been an interesting week. Syria, the Tory conference, Islamic terrorism in Kenya, Yemen and Nigeria, budget-lock in Washington: the world overflowed with news – but not on the BBC.
EGYPT - Terror attacks have been unleashed across Egypt on Monday following clashes on Sunday that killed more than 50 protesters.
UK - The risk of blackouts this winter will be higher than it has been for almost a decade, National Grid warned on Monday.
USA - This is just flat out bullying. The Feds are good at that. The people without connections and clout feel the brunt while the privileged political class sees little impact.
USA - Hot, dry Santa Ana winds caused southern California wildfires in San Diego County and Orange County this weekend, in what the National Weather Service is calling the “most significant fire weather threat in the past five years.”
ISRAEL - The Supreme Court in Jerusalem has rejected a request by 21 people to be registered as Israeli nationals rather than Jews or Arabs. Israel's population register does not allow Israeli nationality; petitioners say this is undemocratic and exposes minorities to discrimination.
USA - It's time to break out the bratwurst as the United States celebrates German-American Day on October 6. Commemorating the founding of Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1683, the holiday celebrates America's largest ancestry group, with 49 million people claiming part or full German heritage.
GAZA, PALESTINE/BERLIN, GERMANY - Berlin's foreign policy politicians do not rule out a German military mission to the Gaza Strip. The Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee of the German Parliament (Bundestag) demands that under certain circumstances, Germany should furnish soldiers to a multi-national Gaza Force.
ISRAEL - There will be no peace with the Palestinians until they recognize the Jewish right to a homeland in Israel, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday night at Bar-Ilan University.
WASHINGTON, USA - The United States will run out of borrowed money "no later than October 17" unless Congress raises the $16.7 trillion debt limit, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a letter to Congress Wednesday.
NEW YORK, USA - Five years after US investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, triggering a global financial crisis and shattering confidence worldwide, families in major countries around the world are still hunkered down, too spooked and distrustful to take chances with their money.
SAN FRANCISCO, USA - MasterCard is joining the FIDO Alliance, signaling that the payment network is getting interested in using fingerprints and other biometric data to identify people for online payments.