USA - In what may be the first full digital storm panic, federal, state and business officials worried about the snow headed for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have taken to Twitter to warn that a potential disaster is coming. Bank of America led the frenzy. "Winter Storm Nemo may bring 2 feet of snow to New England late Fri & Sat. Prepare now - make sure you have plenty of cash on hand." FEMA's Region One, which includes New England, raised the possibility of a blackout. "Winter storms & blizzards can knock out power. Make sure you have a plan for staying warm if power goes out http://www.ready.gov/blackouts," they wrote. They also recommended that citizens get food, blankets and salt to melt ice and snow.

SOUTH KOREA - As North Korea prepares a third nuclear test, South Korean soldiers on the world's most heavily armed border now have orders to shoot back immediately if they come under attack, a move that risks escalating any small-scale conflict.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Moshe Feiglin, newly elected as an MK with the Likud party, ascended the Temple Mount on Wednesday. Feiglin visits the holy site on the nineteenth of every Hebrew month. For the first time, he did so without fear of arrest. Feiglin has formerly been detained at the site for allegedly praying or bowing, but he now enjoys parliamentary immunity. Jews are forbidden to pray or show outward signs of worship at the holy site due to fears that doing so would anger Muslims praying at the Al-Aqsa mosque on the mount. Ultimately the police will be forced to recognize the new trend of Jews putting the Temple Mount first – as MK Feiglin did.

UK - Findus has tonight admitted that it has been selling packs of its popular frozen lasagne that were 99 per cent horsemeat. The news is the first time that it has been confirmed that horsemeat contamination of products sold in the UK has spread beyond beef burgers. There are concerns that the horse meat used in the lasagne contained the drug bute, which is a known human health risk. Findus was today unable to say how long horsemeat has been used in its products.

USA - The Department of Homeland Security is set to purchase a further 21.6 million rounds of ammunition to add to the 1.6 billion bullets it has already obtained over the course of the last 10 months alone, figures which have stoked concerns that the federal agency is preparing for civil unrest. A solicitation posted yesterday on the Fed Bid website details how the bullets are required for the DHS Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, New Mexico. An approximation of how many rounds of ammunition the DHS has now secured over the last 10 months stands at around 1.625 billion. To put that in perspective, during the height of active battle operations in Iraq, US soldiers used 5.5 million rounds of ammunition a month. Extrapolating the figures, the DHS has purchased enough bullets over the last 10 months to wage a full scale war for almost 30 years.

BRUSSELS, EUROPE - What further evidence does the European Union need to declare Hezbollah an international terrorist group? The latest proof comes from Bulgaria.

BRUSSELS, EUROPE - European Union leaders are gathering for a two-day summit in Brussels to try to strike a deal on the next seven years of EU spending. The formal meeting has been delayed, apparently to allow more time for discussions on a compromise. High EU expenditure at a time of cutbacks and austerity across the continent is the main issue dividing the 27 member states. They failed to reach a compromise at a similar summit in November

UK - As European leaders get ready to negotiate the EU budget at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, Britain is debating whether membership in the bloc makes any economic sense. Perhaps surprisingly, it's virtually impossible to find hard proof of any net benefit. The billions of euros in payments to Brussels are one of the reasons why the EU is so unpopular in Britain. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher negotiated a rebate for her country in the 1980s, but Britain remains the fourth-largest net contributor.

EUROPE - Storms in the Mediterranean, calmed in the latter half of last year, now whip up again. Greece’s woes hardly surface in the rest of the world now, but they’re deep and the people remain restive. Seamen struck last week over unpaid wages and extended the strike this past Sunday. The strike cuts off the many islands around the country, and limits exports and imports. For a country so defined by the sea and shipping, it takes on an iconic quality. A 24-hour general strike has been called for February 20: Golden Dawn, the far-right party that targets immigrants and that stands third in the polls, held a thousands-strong rally in Athens on Saturday. No one can say whether the lid will stay on until matters improve – or, indeed, if matters will improve. The Mediterranean is a rough place to be.

GIBRALTAR - A Spanish warship has been confronted by the Royal Navy near Gibraltar amid growing tensions around the UK outpost. The armed patrol vessel, which typically carries special forces and marines, was spotted cruising irregularly and warned repeatedly to leave British waters. Last night, the Foreign Office lodged a diplomatic protest with Madrid over the most serious episode of sabre-rattling off the Rock in half a century. There are fears that the Spanish government is seeking to ramp up tensions to deflect attention away from domestic problems threatening to engulf Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Prominent Gibraltar barrister Charles Gomez said: 'There has not been an incursion such as this since the mid-1960s when General Franco ruled Spain.'

TUNISIA - Tunisia's Islamists rejected on Thursday a plan by their party chief and prime minister to change the government after unrest erupted over the killing of an opposition leader, deepening the worst crisis since a 2011 revolution. Protests resumed in the North African state that gave birth to the Arab Spring uprisings, with police firing teargas to disperse demonstrators near the interior ministry in Tunis and stone-throwing youths in the southern town of Gafsa. Labor union leaders agreed to stage a general strike on Friday and the family of assassinated secular politician Chokri Belaid said his funeral could be held then too, raising the specter of further destabilizing turmoil.

USA - The medical marijuana shop next to a tattoo parlor on a busy street in Los Angeles looks much like hundreds of other pot dispensaries that dot the city. Except for one thing: On the glass door - under a green cross signaling that cannabis can be bought there for medical purposes - is a sticker for the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), the nation's largest retail union. During the last few years, unions, led by the UFCW, have played an increasingly significant role in campaigns to allow medical marijuana, now legal in California, 17 other states and Washington DC. Union officials acknowledge that their support stems partly from the idea that the marijuana industry could create hundreds of thousands of members at a time when overall union membership is shrinking.

USA/EUROPE - US diplomat warns of "trade war" if "right to be forgotten" proposals in Europe are followed through. The introduction of planned changes to EU data protection laws could herald a trans-Atlantic "trade war", a US diplomat has warned. John Rodgers, economic Officer in the US Foreign Service, said that "things could really explode" if proposals that would provide individuals with a qualified 'right to be forgotten' are backed within the EU. Under the draft Regulation individuals would enjoy a qualified 'right to be forgotten'. That right would enable them to force organisations to delete personal data stored about them "without delay".

USA - Giving Turkey the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is bad enough. While Turkey was part of the consortium that built the fuselage, what Turkey now demands is the software codes and keys to the technology which make that fighter jet the platform upon which the next generation of American air power will rest.

UK - Swapping butter for margarine and vegetable oils could trigger a heart attack, scientists have warned. Decades of dietary advice has been turned on its head after experts uncovered startling new evidence about the dangers of eating “healthy” spreads. A study revealed an ingredient in vegetable fats triggers inflammation – which plays a major role in chronic illnesses from heart disease and cancer to arthritis and Alzheimer’s. The findings will have major implications for millions of Britons who have stopped using butter in favour of trendy, and less fatty, spreads and oils following healthy-living guidance.