From Italian MEPs who enjoy free haircuts to Maltese ones who get 52 free gallons of petrol a month, the perks - and expenses - continue unabated for the representatives of European Union nations. MEPS from the 27 EU nations are paid salaries of £137 million a year, according to research by German pricing watchdog Preisvergleich.de and some earn 740 per cent more than the average citizen.

The data mined by the Preisvergleich investigators will only serve to fuel rising resentment in the UK with the entire European project. An average monthly salary and other allowances of £15,239 is received by an MEP, totalling £182,826 a year. A MEP’s salary adds a base fee and additional extras such as allowances, attendance fees and travel expenses.

In addition, the costs for offices and staff for the plenary members of the European Parliament make up an amount of up to £18,125 per month or up to £217,507 annually.

Yields on 10-year Japanese bonds (JGBs) have doubled in a month and spiked dramatically to 1 percent on Thursday, triggering a 7.3 percent crash in the Nikkei stock index. It was the biggest one-day fall since the tsunami two years ago, comparable with wild moves seen at the height of the Asian crisis in 1998. Richard Koo from Nomura, an expert on Japan’s Lost Decade, said the sell-off in recent days has shown that the BoJ may not be able to hold down yields “no matter how many bonds it buys”. This could lead to a “loss of faith in the Japanese government” and the “beginning of the end” for its economy, if handled badly.

The drama in Tokyo came amid fresh signs that China is struggling to manage the hangover from its four-year lending boom, which has pushed credit to 200 percent of GDP and spawned a shadow banking system. The HSBC manufacturing index tipped below the contraction line to 49.6 in May. “There is simply no recovery,” said Yao Wei from Societe Generale.

Japan has taken a huge gamble, but Mr Abe says the status quo is not an option either. With public debt to reach 245 percent of GDP this year, the country must restore growth in nominal GDP to head off a debt compound spiral. That Holy Grail is at last in sight.

The network has seized control of the media to cover up its crimes, too, she explained. In an interview with The New American, Hudes said that when she tried to blow the whistle on multiple problems at the World Bank, she was fired for her efforts. Now, along with a network of fellow whistleblowers, Hudes is determined to expose and end the corruption. And she is confident of success.

Hudes, an attorney who spent some two decades working in the World Bank’s legal department, has observed the machinations of the network up close. “I realized we were now dealing with something known as state capture, which is where the institutions of government are co-opted by the group that’s corrupt,” she told The New American in a phone interview. “The pillars of the US government — some of them — are dysfunctional because of state capture; this is a big story, this is a big cover up.”

At the heart of the network, Hudes said, are 147 financial institutions and central banks — especially the Federal Reserve, which was created by Congress but is owned by essentially a cartel of private banks. “This is a story about how the international financial system was secretly gamed, mostly by central banks — they’re the ones we are talking about,” she explained. “The central bankers have been gaming the system. I would say that this is a power grab.”

While Hudes sounded upbeat, she recognizes that the world is facing serious danger right now — there are even plans in place to impose martial law in the United States, she said. The next steps will be critical for humanity. As such, Hudes argues, it is crucial that the people of the world find out about the lawlessness, corruption, and thievery that are going on at the highest levels — and put a stop to it once and for all. The consequences of inaction would be disastrous.

As she appeared in court, there were calls for her to stand down from her high-profile £305,000-a-year job if she is charged. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, the Minister for Women’s Rights, said: ‘Knowing the IMF and the way this type of institution works, I tend to think that if she was placed under investigation, she would without doubt be asked to quit her post.’

Last night the court adjourned after 13 hours sitting but it was widely predicted Mrs Lagarde, 57, would be placed under investigation by the Court of Justice of the Republic, equivalent to a suspect being charged in the UK. They have suggested that Mrs Lagarde – who was France’s Finance Minister at the time and the first woman ever to hold the post – was partly responsible for ‘numerous anomalies and irregularities’ which could amount to complicity in fraud and misappropriation of public funds.

There is no suggestion Mrs Lagarde profited personally in any way from the final settlement. The affair has become a huge embarrassment to France and the IMF.

The major highway bridge linking Seattle with Canada and the rest of the Pacific Northwest region collapsed on Thursday evening - dumping a handful of vehicles and people into a river, according to the Washington State Patrol. Authorities said there were no deaths, and that three people were taken to hospital. The collapse came before sundown on a clear day.

The four-lane Interstate 5 Bridge - more than half a century old - collapsed about halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, according to a state trooper. The collapse will raise questions about the nation's infrastructure, which has been a popular issue with US President Barack Obama, who earlier this year warned against "raggedy" roads and wants to focus more money on rebuilding to improve the economy.

The proposal approved yesterday was seen as a compromise, since it allows gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders. The move was an attempt to prevent a fracture of the organisation which could lead to defections by members and donors. The Scouts stressed that they would not condone sexual conduct by any Scout – gay or straight.

"The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) will not sacrifice its mission, or the youth served by the movement, by allowing the organisation to be consumed by a single, divisive and unresolved societal issue," the BSA said in a statement. Of the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council who cast ballots, 61 per cent supported the proposal drafted by the governing executive committee.

However, the outcome will not end the bitter debate over the Scouts' membership policy. Liberal Scout leaders, while supporting the proposal to accept gay youth, have made clear they want the ban on gay adults lifted as well. In contrast, conservatives with the Scouts, including some churches that sponsor Scout units, wanted to continue excluding gay youths, in some cases threatening to defect if the ban were lifted.

In the first terrorist murder on the British mainland since the 7/7 suicide bombings of 2005, the men attempted to behead the soldier, hacking at him like a “piece of meat” in front of dozens of witnesses, before both were shot by police who took around 20 minutes to arrive. After the killing, one of the men, believed to be a British-born Muslim convert, spoke calmly into a witness’s video phone.

Speaking with a London accent, holding a knife and a meat cleaver and with his hands dripping with blood, he said: “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone. Your people will never be safe. The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying by British soldiers every day.

“We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I apologise that women had to witness this today but in our lands our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don’t care about you. Do you think David Cameron is going to get caught in the street when we start busting our guns? Do you think your politicians are going to die? No, it’s going to be the average guy like you, and your children. So get rid of them. Tell them to bring your troops back so we, so you can all live in peace.”

When police did arrive, both gunmen tried to rush at the police and were shot, reportedly by a female officer.

On Sunday night, more than 100 cars were set alight, Swedish media report. Police in the deprived, largely immigrant suburb of Husby shot a man dead last week after he reportedly threatened to kill them with a machete. The founder of a local youth group told Swedish media the riots were a reaction to “police brutality.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Reinfeldt said: “We’ve had two nights with great unrest, damage, and an intimidating atmosphere in Husby and there is a risk it will continue. We have groups of young men who think that that they can and should change society with violence. Let’s be clear: this is not okay. We cannot be ruled by violence.” More than 80% of Husby’s 12,000 or so inhabitants are from an immigrant background, and most are from Turkey, the Middle East and Somalia.

Syria has already been dissected into three parts, according to foreign policy experts in Washington: Whereas the Assad government is seeking to consolidate its control over Syria's center and the coastal strip, Sunni and often Islamist-oriented insurgents are in control of large areas in the East and the North of the country. The Kurdish dominated areas to the northeast comprise the third region.

The German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) is proposing that Syria's division be approved. Referring to an "expert" on Turkish foreign policy, the SWP estimates that, in the long run, the Kurdish speaking regions of Syria and Iraq could be integrated into a "federalized" Turkey. The 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement's political configuration of the Middle East is, therefore, facing dissolution.

A new political configuration would allow the establishment of a "secular Sunni counterweight in opposition to a Shiite arc" (Iran and its allies) in the Middle East. The SWP recommends "making every effort" to support negotiations between Turkey and Kurdish organizations toward this objective.

Israel is one of the key players in the region that has attempted to remain quiet and let NATO handle much of the Syrian Civil War from Turkey without getting the publicity itself. Because of this, it has primarily been concerned with a defensive posture so far and the prevention in terms of restricting arms shipments to Hezbollah. But this is changing as Russia steams its way over with greater force and the US fails to play a counter-Syrian role.

Has Russia beaten the US with a decisive direct military engagement? Not yet. But all parties, whether foreign or of Syrian national origin, appear to be increasing their involvement and intensity with Syria’s dirty war.

Beginning 2014, the second Sunday in September will annually be dedicated to the commemoration of the German victims of "flight, expulsion and deportation" as a result of the Second World War. The designation of this memorial day is one of the German political establishment's measures, to seek to embed the notion that the resettlement was "an injustice" in the mindset of future generations.

Based on this - historically erroneous - opinion, Germany can raise advantageous political claims vis ą vis Eastern and Southeastern European countries. Besides the creation of a memorial day, Bavaria is also supporting, with 20 million Euros, the establishment of a "Sudeten German Museum" in Munich.

The German Bundestag has earmarked another 10 million Euros to the project. An exposition, which could serve as the center piece of the museum, put the legitimacy of the founding of Czechoslovakia into question, using controversial quotes from Nazi sources. The Bavarian prime minister will be honored, with a Sudeten German Homeland Association award at Sunday's events for his support of the "expellees."

“Jews can pray at the Temple Mount,” said Regev, who in her new role could play a pivotal part in changing longstanding legislation barring Jewish visitors from praying there. In a statement to the press Wednesday, she added that she will not hesitate to address the highly controversial issue.

“I don’t understand why a Jew is not allowed to pray in the most sacred place for him – the Temple Mount,” she said. “I intend to soon tour there, with an emphasis on freedom of Jewish prayer.” MK Michal Roisin (Meretz) swiftly condemned Regev’s comments in a statement Wednesday, warning that her words could sabotage the peace process and ignite a “third intifada.”

Half of all children born this year will not be living with both natural parents when they reach their mid-teens, and almost all those who suffer family breakdown will be the children of unmarried parents, added the report. The study, based on figures from the national census and large-scale academic surveys, extrapolates from current trends and calculates that just 9 per cent of babies born to cohabiting couples today will still have their parents living together by the time they are 16.

Some insist that the wild money printing that the Federal Reserve is doing combined with out of control government spending will eventually result in hyperinflation. Others point to all of the deflationary factors in our economy and argue that we will experience tremendous deflation when the bubble economy that we are currently living in bursts. So what is the truth? Well, I believe that we will see both.

The next major financial panic will cause a substantial deflationary wave first, and after that we will see unprecedented inflation as the central bankers and our politicians respond to the financial crisis. This will happen so quickly that many will get “financial whiplash” as they try to figure out what to do with their money. We are moving toward a time of extreme financial instability, and different strategies will be called for at different times.

So cash will not be king for long. In fact, eventually cash will be trash. The actions of the US government and the Federal Reserve in response to the coming financial crisis will greatly upset much of the rest of the world and cause the death of the US dollar. That is why gold, silver and other hard assets are going to be so good to have in the long-term. In the short-term they will experience wild swings in price, but if you can handle the ride you will be smiling in the end.

In the coming years, we are going to experience both inflation and deflation, and neither one will be pleasant at all. Get prepared while you still can, because time is running out.