SYRIA - We read in the New York Times and elsewhere about one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s most important supporters and allies having defected. The impression one gets is that Assad’s government is in a state of collapse — and this gives credibility to those pushing for Assad to turn over power. But what the media are not mentioning is that Brigadier General Manaf Tlass did not defect directly from the Assad inner circle. He had already fallen into disfavor early in the uprising and lost his command in May 2011 — 14 months ago. If you had that additional piece of information, you would interpret the news reports in a totally different way. When a piece of evidence that contradicts the overall impression is absent from the reportage, the reportage itself is almost worthless.

SPAIN - Hundreds of protesters have clashed with riot police in Madrid over the new set of austerity measures. One person suffered a broken nose and three people were arrested. The protesters demonstrated on Friday evening outside the People's Party offices of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy before clashing with riot police, AP reports. Police used batons to prevent the crowds from getting too close to the Socialist Workers’ Party headquarters. The austerity measures of the conservative government of Spain have raised fierce criticism from the working middle class that has been hit the most by the financial cuts.

USA - The world’s most elite men will meet in secrecy for the annual Bohemian Grove gathering this week. Demonstrators from around the world will descend on a plot of land around 70 miles north of San Francisco, California this week, but they won’t be granted access to see what actually happens between the members of one of Earth’s most unknown secret societies: Bohemian Grove. Although the roster of attendees that are on the guest list is kept largely classified, Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, Henry Kissinger and both Presidents Bush have been tied to the gathering in the past.

USA - US federal investigators are looking at whether JPMorgan Chase & Co traders hid trading losses that have since grown to $5.8 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, after the bank said its own probe found reason for suspicion. JPMorgan, the largest US bank, said it believes it will lose at most another $1.7 billion from the bad credit trades. Problems at the group that made the bets, the Chief Investment Office, have been fixed, said Chief Executive Jamie Dimon. CIO traders had used derivatives to bet on corporate debt.

SPAIN - Spanish banks are increasing their reliance on the European Central Bank, as they borrowed a record €365 billion, compared to €324.6 billion in May, according to the Bank of Spain. The Spanish loan accounts for 30% of the €1.2 trillion, which European banks borrowed last month from the ECB. Meanwhile Spain’s fellow in misfortune, Portugal, borrowed a record €60.5 billion from the ECB in June. Portugal received a €78 billion EU and IMF bailout last year.

GERMANY - The German Federal Constitutional Court said on Monday it will decide on September 12 whether to issue a temporary injunction against laws on the ESM permanent euro rescue fund and the fiscal pact. That time span is slightly shorter than the three months that some had expected.

SYRIA - As part of its ongoing war maneuver, Syria Thursday, July 12, this week drilled the firing of advanced Scud D ballistic missiles capable of carrying chemical weapons and nerve gas – a clear message from Bashar Assad that weapons of mass destruction are now in play to save his regime.

USA - Credit card companies Visa and Mastercard and major US banks have agreed to a $7.25 billion (£4.65 billion) settlement to retailers over card fees. The case, which has been GOING ON FOR SEVEN YEARS, is over firms colluding to fix the fees that stores pay to process credit and debt card payments.

GERMANY - A controversial German court ruling on circumcision has outraged Muslim and Jewish groups in Germany and abroad. German commentators say the decision was misguided and could have devastating consequences. German religious leaders claim that Jewish life will not be possible in the country if a court ruling on circumcision sets a legal precedent. At a meeting of the orthodox Conference of European Rabbis in Berlin on Thursday, the group's head warned that a June 26 court decision making a case of circumcision a crime had been the "worst attack on Jewish life since the Holocaust". Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt also threatened that Jews might leave Germany.

GREECE - Earlier this week, Greek leaders suggested they would ask for more time to hit austerity targets demanded by their creditors. The idea doesn't seem to have gone down well. Germany is opposed, according to Friday media reports. IMF head Christine Lagarde also said it is "premature to discuss extension." Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras also said this week that he would request that the deadline be pushed back. But on Friday, the response from Germany and elsewhere would seem to be a resounding ‘no’.

USA - Bob Bowman runs his hand over a slender green corn leaf here on his Iowa farm, and sighs. "This corn should be as high as my head right now, and it is only waist high," he says, as a cool morning breeze belies the 90-degree Fahrenheit temperatures forecast to descend by afternoon in Welton, Iowa. "If we get rain real quick here, we might be down 25 percent," said Bowman of prospective losses from the persistent dryness. "If we don't get rain in the next two weeks, it will be a lot more serious."

USA - Is the world on the brink of another food crisis? It has become a distressingly familiar question. With the price of agricultural staples such as corn, soyabeans and wheat soaring for the third summer in five years, the prospect of another price shock is once again becoming a prominent concern for investors and politicians alike. Scorching heat and a paucity of rain across the US has withered the country’s corn and soyabean crops, with the US Department of Agriculture this week making the largest downward revision to its estimate for a corn crop in a quarter of a century.

USA - Executives of HSBC Holdings Plc and its US subsidiary are scheduled to testify Tuesday before a Senate panel about how the London-based banking behemoth, after years of run-ins with US authorities over alleged anti-money laundering lapses, has cleaned up its act. HSBC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver implied that the bank's problems ended in 2010. But a Reuters investigation has found persistent and troubling lapses in the bank's anti-money laundering compliance since then.

MIDDLE EAST - With sanctions against Iran gradually showing their ineffectiveness, Washington is escalating the situation in the Persian Gulf, as if encouraging Tehran to attack first, a US politics professor told RT. Amid pressure mounting on Tehran, a major Indian company, United India Insurance Co, has agreed to provide insurance for tankers carrying oil from Iran. Insurances are vital for sea transportation. Without insurance, tankers are unable to deliver oil from one destination to another. “The more warships the US moves [to the region], the more threatened Iran is going to feel,” explains Patricia DeGennaro, professor of politics at New York University.

POLAND - One person died and 10 were wounded as heavy storms swept through the north-western part of Poland on Saturday evening. Two tornadoes hit counties in Kujawy-Pomorze and Wielkopolska provinces. More than 100 houses were destroyed and about 400 hectares of trees were felled in Bory Tucholskie national park. Power lines were also brought down leaving homes cut off and train services disrupted.