ISRAEL - Israel is prepared to intervene militarily if Hizbullah gets hold of Assad’s chemical weapons, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned in Brussels on Tuesday.

UK - Banks rip off customers and give the impression that they serve only their own interests, Britain’s top regulator warned yesterday. Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, said millions have lost trust in the financial services industry. He said people were ‘angry with banks and bankers’ and added: ‘They doubt banks’ values, and they doubt whether banks have their interests at heart.’ In a speech in London yesterday, he criticised the culture in the City, singling out the example of bankers drinking champagne to celebrate fiddling the Libor interest rate. He said the incident had exposed ‘a dealing room culture of cynical greed’.

UK - All children are to be given the flu vaccination after experts said it could save up to 2,000 lives a year. The scheme, which is expected to be rolled out in 2014, will see all children aged two to 17 given the vaccination through a nasal spray. Younger children will be given the spray at their GP practice and schoolchildren will receive it at school. The UK will become the first country to offer the flu vaccine to healthy children free of charge. The measure is expected to cost £100 million a year.

UK - The UK economy has shrunk by a shock 0.7% in the second quarter, far more than expected as record rainfall and the Jubilee holiday added to pressure from austerity cuts and the eurozone debt crisis. The figures from the Office for National Statistics are much worse than forecasts for a 0.2% contraction. The news will increase pressure on Finance Minister George Osborne to ease up on his austerity measures and push for growth.

INDIA - As the death toll in the ongoing ethnic clash in Assam [India], climbed to 36, the Army was called in on Wednesday to help the state administration contain the violence in the four affected districts of Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Chirang and Bongaigaon. Defence spokesman Lieutenant Colonel S S Phogat said that 13,000 troops have been deployed in all areas in the four districts from 8.30 am.

USA - The theater shooting in Colorado last week continues to generate discussions about firearms in America, but it is doing more than just getting people to talk. Gun sales in Colorado have skyrocketed in the days since the Aurora massacre. "A lot of it is people saying, 'I didn't think I needed a gun, but now I do'," Meyers adds. "When it happens in your backyard, people start reassessing — 'Hey, I go to the movies'."

USA - The summer of 2012 may be remembered as the time when regulation, scandals and a protracted slow-growth economy finally caught up with big American banks. Ever since the financial crisis, US banks and their investors have held out hopes of a return to the good times, when lending profits steadily rose and commercial and investment banking flourished together. But analysts and investors are now questioning whether things have changed for good.

USA - At least 3 men accused of making threats during or after watching the new Batman movie have been arrested in separate incidents, underscoring moviegoers' anxieties and heightened security in the wake of a deadly mass shooting at a Colorado theater showing the film. Despite some jitters over the horrific shooting, moviegoers around the country still flocked to theaters to see the film, which was the final installment of the phenomenally successful Batman trilogy.

EUROPE - Jose Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, will visit Greece for the first time since the start of the crisis on Thursday as the country's prime minister said the economy could shrink by more than 7% this year. "With lingering concerns over whether Spain will have to seek a full blown sovereign bailout buyers are unlikely to return to the market any time soon and with the eurozone economy remaining mired in a spiral of austerity driven recession the outlook remains rather bleak," said Angus Campbell, head of market analysis at Capital Spreads.

USA - There is much more to the collapse of America than just our economic problems. The truth is that the United States is like a beautiful house that may still look great on the outside but that has rotted and decayed very badly on the inside.

SPAIN - Spain is battling to avert a fully-fledged sovereign rescue after borrowing costs spiralled out of control, with dangerous knock-on effects in Italy and Eastern Europe. “We can’t keep going like this for another 15 days,” said Professor Miguel Angel Bernal from Madrid’s Institute of Market Studies.

SPAIN - Spain has banned short-selling of shares to try to limit price moves after markets fell sharply on fears the country may need a full bailout. Spain's market regulator blocked the practice for three months to try to restore order after sharp falls in bonds and shares.

GREECE - Greece has fallen behind with its budget cuts and is asking lenders for more time to meet the conditions of the €130 billion aid package. But that would require fresh help of up to €50 billion, Spiegel has learned. Neither Berlin nor the IMF are prepared to make that money available.

USA - Are your Skype calls safe from the eyes and ears of snooping feds? Microsoft has filed a patent to allow eavesdropping over Skype and other VOIP platforms, but the Silicon Valley giants won’t say whether or not they are already implementing it. Now with their latest patent, the 663 million registered users of Skype might have their VOIP calls monitored. At least now they’ll at least be aware of it. Kind of.

SYRIA - Syria says it will only use its chemical and biological arsenal against “external aggression,” and never against its own population. The US has warned the Arab country against using the arsenal under any circumstances. Torn by a 16-month civil conflict, Syria will not use the weapons against its own people, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi assured on Monday.