There are some who believe that the next great financial crash will not begin in the United States. Instead, they are convinced that a financial crisis that begins in Europe or in Japan (or both) will end up spreading across the globe and take down the U.S. too. Time will tell if they are ultimately correct, but even now there are signs that financial trouble is already starting to erupt in both Germany and Japan. German stocks have declined 10 percent since July, and that puts them in "correction" territory. In Japan, the economy is a total mess right now. According to figures that were just released, Japanese GDP contracted at a 7.1 percent annualized rate during the second quarter and private consumption contracted at a 19 percent annualized rate. Could a financial collapse in either of those nations be the catalyst that sets off financial dominoes all over the planet?

This week, the worst German industrial production figure since 2009 rattled global financial markets. Germany is supposed to be the economic "rock" of Europe, but at this point that "rock" is starting to show cracks.

And certainly the civil war in Ukraine and the growing Ebola crisis are not helping things either. German investors are becoming increasingly jittery, and as I mentioned above the German stock market has already declined 10 percent since July...

German stocks, weighed down by the economic fallout spawned by the Ukraine-Russia crisis and the eurzone's weak economy, are now down more than 10% from their July peak and officially in correction territory.

The DAX, Germany's benchmark stock index, has succumbed to recent data points that show the German economy has ground to a halt, hurt in large part by the economic sanctions levied at its major trading partner, Russia, by the U.S. and European Union as a way to get Moscow to butt out of Ukraine's affairs. The economic slowdown in the rest of the debt-hobbled eurozone has also hurt the German economy, considered the economic locomotive of Europe.

In trading today, the DAX fell as low as 8960.43, which put it down 10.7% from its July 3 closing high of 10,029.43 and off nearly 11% from its June 20 intraday peak of 10,050.98.

And when you look at some of the biggest corporate names in Germany, things look even more dramatic.

Despite the still confident exclamations from officials that the Ebola pandemic is 'contained', more and more nations are admitting to Ebola-symptomatic cases or bringing infected patients back from Africa for treatment. Australia has its first potential case of the deadly disease, as Bloomberg reports a nurse who returned from volunteering in Africa has developed Ebola-like symptoms. Despite claims that Nigeria's outbreak is over, a Turkish worker there has been hospitalized in Istanbul after signs of high fever and diarrhea. Health officials from Germany confirm a 3rd Ebola patient has arrived in the country - having contracted the disease in Liberia. And finally, just as in the sad case of Thomas Duncan in Dallas, The Guardian reports the infected Spanish nurse went untreated and unquarantined for a week despite reporting symptoms at least three times to hospital officials. It seems the world is ill-prepared for this...

Bloomberg reports, a nurse who treated Ebola patients with the Red Cross in Sierra Leone was hospitalized in Australia after developing a low-grade fever, health officials said. She is being tested for the deadly virus.

The 57-year-old volunteer recently returned to Cairns, in the northeastern state of Queensland, where she has been isolating herself and checking her temperature twice daily, Jeannette Young, the state's chief health officer, said in an e-mailed statement. Today, she reported a temperature of 37.6 degrees Celsius (99.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Results of tests for Ebola and other possible infections are expected early tomorrow.

The nurse hospitalized in Cairns was identified as Sue-Ellen Kovack by the Australian newspaper. Kovack returned home two days ago, the newspaper reported.

A German farmer has been putting nappies on his cows in protest at EU legislation that forbids the use of fertilizers on steep slopes. With no bovine-sized diapers available from the local store, white bed sheets with pink ribbons had to suffice.

The idea was the brainchild of Bavarian cattle farmer Johann Huber, who became fed up with an EU directive that did not allow farmers to fertilize slopes steeper than 15 percent. With cow droppings in theory counting as fertilizer, he sarcastically decided to try and abide by EU regulations by making sure that no cow droppings managed to land on the pristine Bavarian slopes.

Here are two cows preparing to sumo wrestle. #eumadnessItellyoupic.twitter.com/MXFtrmrdHP
- Ed Balls (@eddbaIlsmp) October 9, 2014

Huber, whose family farms land near Lake Tegernsee, an hour south of Munich, made sure all 18 of his dairy cows were fitted with the new attire, while he said that Doris the cow "behaved well," speaking to the Telegraph newspaper. However, Mr. Huber had to do a little improvisation, as regular diapers for children were not going to fit an adult cow.

"We have no standard nappies," he said. "They haven't been developed commercially yet."

Vermont mother and her boyfriend were arrested and face murder charges for filling her disabled, 13-year-old son's IV bag with alcohol, police said.

Melissa Robitille and Walter Richter III, both aged 38, were arrested on Tuesday after officials found that Robitille's son Isaac died with a blood alcohol concentration of .146, almost double the legal limit for driving, Vermont State Police said.

An autopsy showed that alcohol was a contributory factor in his death.

The couple reported Isaac Robitille's death to police on Aug. 22, police said. The teen suffered from serious medical conditions and physical disabilities, requiring the help of caretakers, feeding tubes, and IVs to stay alive.

Police determined that the couple put alcohol in the teen's IV bag, and administered it to him.

Robitille and Richter, who are from Hardwick, face second degree murder charges, police said. Bail amounts, arraignment dates and other information was not immediately available.

A school in New York City's suburbs was evacuated on Wednesday after an unknown gas caused students and teachers to vomit in the dining room, according to the local mayor's office.

A total of 152 people with nausea, vomiting and other symptoms were taken to five local hospitals from Yonkers Middle High School, said Christina Gilmartin, a spokeswoman for the Yonkers mayor's office.

Most of the affected were students, although some were teachers and firefighters who responded to emergency calls late on Wednesday morning from the school, which is attended by about 1,700 students.

Officials believe the symptoms were caused by an odorless gas that permeated the dining room's air, Gilmartin said, although further details were not immediately available.

No one appeared to be seriously harmed, Gilmartin said.

"They're being treated for respiratory issues," she said. "Nothing major."

A recent videotaped incident in Washington, D.C., highlights the way race and class matter in police interactions with residents.

The video, which was posted online by the Washington Post, shows white attorney Jody Westby coming to the aid of black handyman Dennis Stucky, who has been stopped by two officers and is sitting on a curb in the upscale Foxhall Crescent neighborhood.

Westby asks the officers - one standing near the curb and another sitting in a patrol car - why Stucky has been stopped, and they tell her he's suspected in a burglary.

The attorney, who had asked her housekeeper to record the incident on a cell phone, demands to know which address the call came from, and she approaches the cruiser to verify the information.

The officer in the car tells her the address, and Westby determines the call was for a nearby subdivision.

An off-duty police officer in St. Louis, Missouri, shot and killed a man after chasing him through a local neighborhood. Citizens are marching near the site close to the Missouri Botanical Garden, chanting slogans as more officers stand by.

The dead man, an 18-year-old young African American, fired at least three rounds at the officer, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Sam Dotson said at a news conference.

Police reported recovering a 9mm Ruger from the scene.

The 32-year-old officer was heading to his second job as a private security guard and was reportedly wearing a uniform. The police officer has served with the St. Louis force for six years.

Loukanikos, the valiant dog who faced down Greek riot police during the height of the eurozone crisis, has died

Sad news from Greece - Loukanikos, the valiant dog who faced down Greek riot police during the height of the eurozone crisis, has died.

Greek media report that Loukanikos (Greek for sausage) passed away peacefully, having retired from protests in 2012.

Loukanikos began hitting the headlines in 2010, when the stray hound began appearing in the front line of anti-austerity protests.

Athens journalist Damian Mac Con Uladh reports that Loukanikos suffered from his years on the front line.

According to Avgi journalist Petros Katsakos, the dog's health was adversely affected by tear gas and from being kicked from police, forcing him to "retire" from active protest about two years ago.

"He was on the couch sleeping, when suddenly his heart stopped beating," Loukanikos' carer told Avgi.

At the height of his fame, Loukanikos even feature in Time Magazine's review of 2011 (full details).

Loukanikos 'retired' in autumn 2012, around the time that the eurozone crisis was easing. He swapped tear gas and riot shields for a gentler life with an Athens family, who offered "all the care, love, food and vaccinations" a dog could could need.

A woman brutally murdered and cooked by her husband in their Brisbane apartment has been identified as a transsexual "high-class" prostitute whose sex work paid for her family's education in Indonesia.

Parts of Mayang Prasetyo's body were found strewn around the inner-city apartment she shared with husband Marcus Peter Volke, 28, who was found boiling her body parts in chemicals on a stove and slit his own throat after fleeing from police on Sunday.

Ms Prasetyo, a 27-year-old sex worker, was charging up to $500 an hour for her services as a "top high-class Asian shemale" the Courier-Mail reported, but dreamt of one day transitioning to "complete womanhood" and becoming a mother.

She had married chef Peter Volke in 2013 after the pair met on a cruise ship, according to friends, and had moved with her husband to Brisbane. The pair appeared to live comfortably in the modern Teneriffe apartment they had shared for three months. Friends and family back in Indonesia are mourning the loss of "Febri", as Ms Prasetyo is also known.

Her mother, Nining Sukarni, told the Courier-Mail her eldest child paid to "put the sisters through school". Ads reveal Ms Prasetyo charged from $200 to $500 for her services as an "international escort". "Better in real life. Pictures are always real. Real deal pre-op functional hot TS. With a great fit and hot body to enjoy," one advertisement read. Another advertisement posted by the transsexual while she was in London last year described her as 'busty' and 'extra hot in bed' with a 'big banana', the Daily Mail reports. Friends of Ms Prasetyo have taken to Facebook to pay tribute to the "larger than life" woman, and have remembered her as a "beautiful angel".

Ukraine's economy needs at least between $100 billion to $120 billion to recover, the Russian president's economic advisor Sergey Glazyev says

With shrinking economy and a deteriorating balance of payments, Ukraine's default is becoming inevitable, the Russian president's economic advisor Sergey Glazyev told the Eurasian Economic Integration conference on Thursday.

"The balance of payments and its dynamics indicate that Ukraine in the near future will be unable to independently fulfill its state commitments. The question arises who will pay for this. The aid that the EU and the US have promised is not enough to cover the holes in the balance of payments, that's why, in my opinion, the default is inevitable. Will it become selective? Not likely. It will be overwhelming," Glazyev said.

Glazyev also said that Ukraine has already entered the phase of an economic catastrophe. According to the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), Ukraine needed $55 billion to stabilize the situation some six months ago.

However, international institutions have offered the Kiev regime the sum some 1.5-fold less than needed and have not practically given anything, Glazyev said. Now Ukraine's economy needs at least between $100 billion to $120 billion to recover. "Ukraine has missed the trajectory, according to our estimates, when stabilization was possible, and is now on the territory of a sharp slowdown where any stabilization will demand $100 billion or $120 billion," Glazyev said.