MIDDLE EAST - Hezbollah MP Walid Sakariya told Lebanese television this week that the nuclear weapon Iran is allegedly developing is intended to annihilate Israel.

EUROPE - As the euro zone debt crisis deepens and austerity measures take their toll across Europe, the number of young children and babies abandoned across the region has increased, according to local charities.

USA - Global alarm over a potential repeat of the 2008 food crisis escalated after data showed food prices had jumped 6 percent last month and importers were snapping up a shriveled US grain crop, helping drive corn prices to a new record.

UK - The deepening crisis in the eurozone could see Britain quit the European Union for good, according to one of the world’s leading investment banks. Japanese giant Nomura said the UK government could be forced to set a date for an in-out referendum as soon as the autumn as the single currency bloc lurches closer to disaster. In a report for clients around the world, the bank said the European issue ‘could split the ruling coalition’ and cause alarm on the financial markets.

USA - President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have both called for homosexuals to be allowed to join the Boy Scouts of America as members and leaders. The organisation last month affirmed its ban on openly homosexual scouts and leaders, following a two-year review of the long-standing policy. Its decision prompted equality activists to urge Mr Obama to "reconsider" his position as honorary president of the organisation – a post held by every US president since 1910. Mr Obama "opposes this policy that discriminates on basis of sexual orientation", a White House spokesman said.

NEW YORK, USA - The NYPD [New York Police Department] is starting to look like a flashy, forensic crime TV show thanks to a new super computer system unveiled Wednesday near Wall Street. The Domain Awareness System designed by the NYPD and Microsoft Corp uses data from a network of cameras, radiation detectors, license plate readers and crime reports, officials said. “We’re not your ‘mom and pop’ police department anymore,” Mayor Bloomberg crowed. “We are in the next century. We are leading the pack.” The joint venture began when the NYPD approached Microsoft about the effort, officials said.

ATHENS, GREECE - Greece’s jobless rate climbed to a new record in May, underlining how austerity prescribed to slash deficits and keep bailout funds flowing is hitting the economy on which recovery depends. Latest data on Thursday showed the jobless rate climbed to 23.1 per cent, with nearly 55 per cent of those aged 15-24 out of work, a desperate situation that fed into the popularity of anti-bailout parties in Greek elections this year.

USA - US weather officials have slightly increased their predictions for the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season to as many as 17 storms. Forecasters estimate 12 to 17 tropical storms, with five to eight reaching hurricane strength. The Atlantic basin has seen six named storms so far this year. Thursday's revised forecast is in part because of "storm-conducive wind patterns" and "warmer-than-normal" water temperatures, a Noaa spokesman said.

JAPAN - Stock markets from New York to Tokyo have seen some stellar gains this week amid hopes of further monetary easing globally, but analysts say there’s one thing that investors appear to be forgetting: economic growth remains weak and is likely to remain so for some time. “I think we will have a reality check in the next couple of weeks,” said Sean Darby, Chief Global Equity Strategist at Jefferies in Hong Kong, referring to the rally in equity markets. “The investment community may be underestimating the extent of the slowdown in the global economy.”

SAN FRANCISCO, USA - California's electricity grid operator issued a rare statewide alert on Thursday warning residents to curb power usage in coming days as a heat wave threatens to strain its already taxed network. The California Independent System Operation, or CAISO, a not-for-profit corporation charged with operating the majority of the state's high-voltage grid, issued a "flex" alert urging consumers to reduce power usage especially in the afternoon, when air-conditioning dramatically ramps up demand.

USA - US regulators directed five of the country's biggest banks, including Bank of America Corp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, to develop plans for staving off collapse if they faced serious problems, emphasizing that the banks could not count on government help. The two-year-old program, which has been largely secret until now, is in addition to the "living wills" the banks crafted to help regulators dismantle them if they actually do fail. It shows how hard regulators are working to ensure that banks have plans for worst-case scenarios and can act rationally in times of distress.

USA - After years of high joblessness, America's unemployed legions are unmotivated and increasingly unequipped to fill the jobs that do come open, analysts say. And they may have to contend with a permanent low-employment economy. America has traditionally been quick to shed jobs when economic times get tough, but just as swift to make new positions as things pick up. It's been different this time around. The recession has been over since June 2009. Yet unemployment is still above 8%.

FRANCE - France's socialist government has begun smashing up Roma gipsy camps across the country and deporting the illegal immigrants living in them. It comes days after Greek police rounded up 6,000 migrants in Athens at the weekend - detaining 1,600 for deportation. Destruction of Roma gipsy camps and deportations began in Paris yesterday and will move to other major French cities, where camps have mushroomed in recent years.

USA - In the throes of a historic drought in the United States, a government agency said on Wednesday that it broke a heat record in July that had stood since the devastating Dust Bowl summer of 1936.

TEMPLE MOUNT, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - A news story on Palestinian Authority television recently accused Israel of using chemicals to erode the foundations of Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to cause it to collapse, according to Palestinian Media Watch.