GERMANY - Germany says it won't back a Palestinian drive for statehood in a UN vote this week - putting it at odds with France and other European countries. Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Wednesday Berlin is still evaluating the situation and consulting with its European partners. But he said: "It is also very certain that Germany will not vote for such a resolution."

HOLLAND - Dutch authorities have decided to approve a motion abandoning a law under which it is a crime to insult God. A majority of parties in parliament said the blasphemy law was no longer relevant in the 21st Century. The legislation, introduced in the 1930s, has not been invoked in the last half century. However, it still remains illegal under Dutch law to be disrespectful to police officers or to insult Queen Beatrix, the country's monarch.

GERMANY - Germany's ruling coalition is calling for a ban on bestiality - or the practice of having sex with animals. The German parliament's agriculture committee is considering making it an offence not only to hurt an animal but also to force it into unnatural sex.

UK - Wonder heart pills and regular exercise are the magic combination to help millions live longer, say scientists. Keeping fit and active in old age or taking cholesterol-busting statins are both vital for preventing early death. Experts are already calling for everyone over the age of 50 to be prescribed statins to ward off chronic and potentially fatal conditions, even if the patients are at low risk. They say administering statins to an extra five million people would cut heart attacks and strokes by 10,000 a year and save at least 2,000 lives.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Al Aqsa officials warn that the “new Likud” is planning to build a “false” Third Holy Temple and divide the Muslim compound. Muslim paranoia of Jews on the Temple Mount had reached panic stages even before this week’s Likud primaries that placed Jewish Leadership faction leader Moshe Feiglin in a ranking that assures his election to the Knesset in January.

UK - The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and Bank chief raise fears of triple-dip recession. Sir Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, added to fears that Britain is in danger of re-entering recession, saying that the economy was at a ‘tipping point’. The OECD prediction made grim reading for David Cameron and George Osborne and sets the scene for a torrid Autumn Statement next week. Facing the Commons Treasury Committee, Sir Mervyn admitted that the Bank’s forecasts had been too optimistic for far too long.

USA - The Fitch ratings agency has downgraded Argentina five notches, saying the country could default on its obligations to US creditors. That’s after a US judge ordered Argentina to set aside $1.3 billion for debt repayment by December 15. The rating agency cut its long-term rating for Argentina to “CC” from “B,” with the short-term rating being cut to the level one step above default – to “C” from “B.” US Judge Thomas Griesa of Manhattan Federal Court ordered Argentina to set aside $1.3 billion in bond payments to certain investors, which includes Elliott Capital Management and Aurelius Capital Management. Next month the country will need to pay back coupon obligations of another $3 billion.

HUNGARY - A call by a far-right Hungarian MP for a list to be drawn up of Jewish politicians and government members who pose a “threat to national security” has caused outrage among both Hungary’s estimated 80,000-strong Jewish community and liberal politicians. Marton Gyongyosi, a leading MP of Jobbik, Hungary’s radical rightwing party, called for the list in the Budapest parliament on Monday, saying that it was justified by the increased tensions following the latest conflict between Gaza and Israel. Jobbik denies any anti-Semitic or anti-Roma sentiment, saying that it only wants to protect Hungary from the dangers of international capital and citizens from petty theft and lawlessness.

CANADA - Doctors have warned of a "lack of knowledge" about the dangers of mixing some medications with grapefruit. The fruit can cause overdoses of some drugs by stopping the medicines being broken down in the intestines and the liver.

USA - An actor in one of the biggest comedies on US television, Two and a Half Men, has described the show as "filth", while urging viewers not to watch it. In a video posted online by a Christian group, Angus T Jones said he no longer wanted to take part. The 19-year-old explained that the show's raunchy humour conflicted with his recent bible studies. Jones, who has been in the show since he was 10, said viewers should question the impact such programmes had on them. "I'm on Two and a Half Men and I don't want to be on it. Please stop watching it," he says in the online video. "Please stop filling your head with filth. Please. It's, you know, people say it's just entertainment."

CHICAGO, USA - When you live or work around Wrigley Field, you probably think you've seen it all, but chances are you haven't seen this: a pair of rather large coyotes hanging outside the ballpark looking for a snack. "I've lived here all my life and that's crazy," one lady said of the wandering coyotes. "I guess it's just part of the urban experience," says another man. "You never know what you're gonna get." Coyote sightings in more densely populated areas have increased this past year, but most have occurred in the suburbs.

USA - Our Constitutional Republic died a peaceful death on November 6, 2012. Having reached the point of no return in a comatose state after years of progressive and illegal immigration assaults, the fabric of conservative society is now completely unraveled and Uncle Sam’s America is no more.

UNITED NATIONS - Who runs the Internet? For now, the answer remains no one, or at least no government, which explains the Web's success as a new technology. But as of next week, unless the US gets serious, the answer could be the United Nations.

EUROPE - Now it is time to decide on the right way forward. To solve problems successfully, we also need to properly analyse their causes. When the European monetary union was born in Maastricht in 1991, an independent European Central Bank was created - but no European economic government. If we want a budget policy that is sound in the long term and also a force for solidarity, we need a European finance minister who is answerable to the European Parliament and has clear powers of intervention in relation to the Member States. What we need is to radically deepen the political and democratic foundations of the European Union.

UK - Ministers yesterday ordered an independent inquiry into why hospitals have been paid to hit targets for numbers of patients dying on the Liverpool Care Pathway. The new investigation will examine how hospitals have received tens of millions of pounds to implement the controversial system for care of the dying. Care and support minister Norman Lamb said there had been too many cases of patients dying on the pathway while their families were told nothing about the withdrawal of life-saving treatment.