JAPAN - Japan's government is planning to suspend some state spending as it could run out of cash by October, with a deficit financing bill blocked by opposition parties trying to force Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda into an early election. The impasse in Japan's parliament has raised fears among investors that the world's third largest economy is being driven towards a "fiscal cliff", Reuters reported. "The government running out of money is not a story made up. It's a real threat," Finance Minister Jun Azumi told a news conference, making a last-ditch appeal for cooperation by opposition parties to pass the bill.

USA - Global food prices have leapt by 10% in the month of July, raising fears of soaring prices for the planet's poorest, the World Bank has warned. The bank said that a US heatwave and drought in parts of Eastern Europe were partly to blame for the rising costs. The price of key grains such as corn, wheat and soybean saw the most dramatic increases, described by the World Bank president as "historic". From June to July this year, corn and wheat prices each rose by 25% while soybean prices increased by 17%, the World Bank said.

EUROPE - Centuries-old theological disputes have broken out in cyberspace as religions aim to influence the future presentation of faith on the Internet. The forum for the rivalry is not the pulpit or church bulletin, but the website of ICANN, the corporation that oversees the Internet address system and now wants to expand it beyond the usual .com, .org or .net domains. When ICANN began accepting applications for new names early this year, bids came for extensions such as .catholic, .islam and .bible. Not far behind were critics who challenged many applicants' right to monopolize those and other religious terms.

UK - The UK must shed any lingering feelings of "post-colonial guilt" and be confident about its status on the world stage, William Hague has said. The foreign secretary said the UK was seen in a "different light" to 50 years ago - when ex-British colonies across Africa and Asia declared independence. The UK is seeking to expand its diplomatic presence across Asia, Africa and Latin America in an effort to boost bilateral relations and enhance economic and trade opportunities. Mr Hague said the UK should be "more ambitious" about its role in the world and should not be held back by worries over any residual resentment overseas about its colonial past.

USA - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday left the door wide open to a further easing of monetary policy, saying the stagnation in the US labor market was a "grave concern," but he stopped short of providing a clear signal of imminent action. His stark language gave a temporary lift to US stocks, but economists walked away from the Fed chairman's remarks still divided over whether the central bank would launch a fresh round of bond purchases at its upcoming meeting in September.

USA - The worst drought to hit US cropland in more than half a century could soon leave Americans reaching deeper into their pockets to fund a luxury that people in few other countries enjoy: affordable meat. Drought-decimated fields have pushed grain prices sky high, and the rising feed costs have prompted some livestock producers to liquidate their herds. This is expected to shrink the long-term US supply of meat and force up prices at the meat counter.

PHILIPPINES - An earthquake of 7.9 magnitude struck off the Philippines on Friday and a tsunami warning had been issued for the region, the US Geological Survey and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. The quake was centered off the east coast, 91 miles off the town of Guiuan in Samar province, the US survey said.

UK - There was fresh anger over taxpayer aid to India last night as it emerged the country is spending £1 billion on three warships. Britain is still handing over £280 million a year despite India admitting it doesn’t need the help and regards the amount as “peanuts”.

ISRAEL - A new emergency pamphlet in Israel instructs residents to prepare for the worst if Tel Aviv conducts a military strike on Iran. But the face on the brochure isn’t the country’s President or Prime Minister – it’s a Muppet. The cover of the 15-page leaflet pictures a smiling Moishe Oofnik, the Israeli Muppet version of Oscar the Grouch.

USA - The way that the US government treats military veterans is absolutely disgraceful. Men and women that have given everything for this nation are literally being treated like human garbage by their own government. After watching how vets are treated, it is absolutely amazing that anyone is still volunteering to be a part of the military.

UK - Bumblebees, beetles and butterflies are at greater risk of extinction than lions and tigers, according to a global study by the Zoological Society of London. The biggest study of invertebrates ever conducted found that one in five is at risk of dying out. This can affect humans by threatening crops and food supplies.

ISRAEL - Former US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said in an interview published Friday that he does not believe President Barack Obama will order an attack on Iran, now or in the future, and urged Israel to attack Iran's nuclear program on its own. Speaking to Maariv's Tzach Yoked, [Mr] Bolton said that "there is no way at this stage to prevent Iran from going nuclear without use of force. It is very unfortunate in my opinion, but I see no possibility that [Mr] Obama will use military force, and therefore it falls upon Israel."

USA - Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney accepted the Republican party nomination for President on Thursday night in Florida. In his acceptance speech, [Mr] Romney heavily criticized US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. He accused [Mr] Obama of throwing allies like Israel and Poland “under the bus.” [Mr] Romney also warned, “Every American is less secure today because he has failed to slow Iran’s nuclear threat.” [Mr] Obama said years ago that America should talk to Iran, he recalled. “We’re still talking,” he said, “and Iran’s centrifuges are still spinning.”

MIDDLE EAST - Qatar’s RasGas, one of the world’s largest producers of natural gas, has become the second major state-owned Middle East energy company to be hit by a severe computer virus in weeks. The disruption came after Saudi Aramco, the government-backed company that is the world’s largest crude oil producer, was also attacked by a computer virus.

Saudi Aramco said in a statement on Sunday that it has restored its “main internal network services” after the attack on August 15. But oil traders in Houston, Geneva and London on Thursday said they were communicating with Aramco’s counterpart by fax and telex, as the company’s external email services were still down.“It’s like going back 20 years in time,” a trader said about the use of the telex.

USA - Over the years I've mentioned signs that the mainstream press is adjusting to the realities of "post-truth politics." Reporters are happiest, safest-feeling, and most comfortable when in the mode of he-said, she-said. "The president's critics claim that he was born in Kenya; administration spokesmen deny the charge." But when significant political players are willing to say things that flat-out are not true - and when they're not slowed down by demonstrations of their claims' falseness - then reporters who stick to he-said, she-said become accessories to deception.