Police in Madalla, Jos and Damaturu - the three cities targeted in Sunday's bombings - ramped up their investigations on Monday. Marilyn Ogar, a spokesman for the State Security Services would not confirm the number of arrests made in connection with the incidents, citing the sensitivity of the ongoing investigations. But she told the Daily Telegraph that police are "arresting as many people as possible" for questioning.

The Islamist group Boko Haram, which has ties to al-Qaeda and aims to impose sharia law across Africa's most populous country, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Nigeria's population is 167 million, with just over 50 per cent Muslim, and 48 per cent Christian. It is the second Christmas in a row that it has targeted churches with deadly results, leading to fears that it could set off a new round of sectarian clashes.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency, or NEMA, focused on ensuring that the victims in Madalla, were receiving attention. "Some of the dead bodies were just lying on the ground yesterday, because agencies were overstretched and there weren't enough vehicles," Yushau Shuaib, a NEMA spokesman said.

Mr Shuaib declined to comment on the emergency response to the bombings in Yobe state, of which Damaturu is the capital, where several police officers were reportedly killed, saying the situation in Boko Haram's home base was "too political." Meanwhile the government faced accusations that it was too slow to respond to the bombings and had shown indifference.

Every UK adult will have been given up to two presents they did not want this Christmas, each worth 48.41 pounds on average, research for online classifieds website Gumtree.com found. A third of unwanted gifts end up gathering dust in the loft or the back of a cupboard, 15% are given away to someone else, and 2% are binned. But half of Britons are too polite to express their true feelings about undesired presents and will thank the giver enthusiastically, according to the survey. Just 10% of people will admit they do not want the gift and ask for a receipt, and only 4% will be completely honest about what they think of the offering.

Hamish Stone, from Gumtree.com, said: "From our research it's clear that despite many people's best efforts, homes across the UK are going to be cluttered with lots of unwanted Christmas presents this year. Rather than letting them take up valuable space in cupboards and garages, we'd encourage people to sell the unwanted presents online and convert the bloopers to cash."

Homosexuality is illegal in many African countries, with some nations enforcing stiff penalties, including imprisonment, for people who engage in homosexual relationships and practices. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced in early December that the United States would use the supply of aid as well as diplomacy as tools to improve gay and lesbian rights around the world.

Clinton said that a country's cultural or religious traditions were no excuse for discrimination and directed US government agencies to use foreign assistance to protect human rights and advance non-discrimination while working with international organizations to promote gay and lesbian rights.

Her statement came barely a month after British Prime Minister David Cameron also threatened to reduce aid to nations that did not respect the rights of homosexuals. Father Paul Samasumo, Zambian bishops' conference spokesman, said it would be wrong for Zambia to accept gays and lesbians simply because of donor aid. "Donor aid should not be tied to promoting immorality," Father Samasumo said in Lusaka December 20. But the government's information minister, Given Lubinda, assured that the country's leaders would not bow to outside pressure to respect and tolerate homosexuality in the nation.

The Palestine News Network (PNN) reported that head of the Islamic Waqf Department, Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, told its reporter that approximately 120 settlers entered the mosque under the guise of an Israeli "foreign tourism program". The settlers and the soldiers entered the mosque through the Al Mughrabi Gate and exited the mosque through the Al Silsila (Chain) Gate.

Al-Khatib stated that no clashes were reported between the Muslim worshipers at the mosque and the settlers. PNN stated that Al-Khatib said that he is "sorry that the settlers chose to mark their feast in such a manner". He added that the Waqf department rejects such programs conducted by the Israeli Tourism Ministry as they lead to provocation.

A Sunni-Shiite rift seems to be taking hold in Iraq, given the current political turmoil that broke out after the final departure of the US military from Iraq on Monday, when Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi was charged with organizing assassinations and bombings. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, called for Hashemi's arrest. The sectarian rift appeared to deepen on Thursday when a series of bombings hit Baghdad, killing at least 69 people in the Shiite districts of Iraq's capital.

Political experts speaking with Sunday's Zaman say a changing balance of power in favor of Shiites in the country would mean an inevitable rise in Iranian power across the Middle East, limiting Turkish regional influence politically and economically. Turkey sees Iraq as a doorway to the rest of the Middle East and has so far enjoyed warm ties with the Iraqi government that came to power following the US invasion in 2003. The Turkish government also announced plans recently that it could bypass Syria and use Iraqi routes for trade in the Middle East, after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ignored Turkish calls for political reform in response to anti-regime protests, prompting Ankara to impose political and economic sanctions on Damascus.

Losing Iraq as a main trading partner as well as a passage to the rest of the Middle East would deal a major blow to Turkey's economic aspirations in the Middle East. Politically, experts say that despite expanding cooperation between Turkey and Iran over the past several years, the two countries pursue conflicting interests in the Middle East.

Britain has formed an alliance with Switzerland to push changes to the court, which is based in Strasbourg and is not related to the European Union. The court's rulings are increasingly controversial, and ministers accuse it of over-reaching its role as an overseer of basic human rights. As well as ordering the UK to allow all prisoners to vote, the European judges have overturned some British immigration rulings. The Foreign Office and its Swiss counterpart have written a joint submission seeking reform of the court. "Urgent action is needed in order to avoid further damage to the reputation and effectiveness of the convention system," the document says.

The court "must address growing public and political concern", the two governments say. Instead of intervening in individual cases, the court should focus on major issues of principle, the text says. "The circumstances in which the European Court of Human Rights should need to reconsider the case and substitute its own view for that of the national court should be relatively limited." The court has a backlog of more than 150,000 cases to hear. Appealing a British immigration case to Strasbourg can delay final judgement on deportation by more than two years.

"The most pressing question we now face, we might well say, is who and where we are as a society. Bonds have been broken, trust abused and lost. Whether it is an urban rioter mindlessly burning down a small shop that serves his community, or a speculator turning his back on the question of who bears the ultimate cost for his acquisitive adventures in the virtual reality of today's financial world, the picture is of atoms spinning apart in the dark," he said.

It is not the first time the Archbishop has referred to last August's disturbances, which spread from Tottenham, north London, to cities across the country. Writing in The Guardian this month, Dr Williams spoke about the "enormous sadness" he felt during the riots. But he also said the Government should do more to rescue young people "who think they have nothing to lose".

The Church of England has also been caught up in the struggle between anti-capitalist protesters camped in front of St Paul's Cathedral since October and the Corporation of London, which is fighting a legal battle to disband the campsite. After the Church initially gave support to the protesters, the canon chancellor of St Paul's, Dr Giles Fraser, resigned from his position on October 27 following reports suggesting a rift between clergy over what action to take concerning the activists.

NFU Mutual estimates more than 60,000 sheep could have been stolen in the UK in the first 10 months of the year. The insurance company says 9,000 sheep had been stolen in north-west of England alone in the same period. NFU Mutual says livestock theft is costing UK farmers at least 6 million pounds a year based on insurance claims, but the true total is much higher. Last month, Carmarthenshire farmer Hugh Davies and his wife Mary noticed 150 sheep were missing from their 1,000-head flock on the Black Mountain at Brynamman.

"We are now keen to highlight this problem that is causing havoc among sheep farmers," said Mr Davies. NFU Mutual's livestock rustling figures for the first 10 months of 2011 showed claims up two-and-a-half times over the previous year. They also report rises in stolen cattle, pigs and game birds.

High meat prices may explain a resurgence in livestock rustling and NFU Mutual draws comparisons with the trade in stolen copper and diesel. Lamb chops have gone up in price from 1039p per kilogram in July 2008 to 1424p per kilo in July 2011. Farmers and butchers are being advised to check livestock records and ear tags to make sure they are not buying stolen animals.

They say Stratfor's clients include the US defence department, law enforcement agencies and media organisations. The Austin-based company says it has now suspended the operation on its servers and email. An alleged member of Anonymous posted an online message, claiming that the group had used Stratfor clients' credit card details to make "over a million dollars" in donations to different charities.

Stratfor later announced that it would keep its email and servers suspended for some time. It also said the disclosure was "merely a list of some of the members that have purchased our publications and does not comprise a list of individuals or entities that have a relationship with Stratfor". Anonymous has previously claimed responsibility for cyber attacks on financial institutions seen as enemies of the whistleblowing website Wikileaks.

Amid a fresh raft of poor eurozone economic data, Scott Bugie, head of S&P's financial institutions division doused the key cause for pre-Christmas optimism. Although he agreed Wednesday's long-term refinancing operation was a "big deal", Mr Bugie told Reuters: "It is not solving the fundamental issues though... It's kicking the can a long way down the road rather than just a little bit, but in the end it is still kicking the big old can down the road."

He said the action did not "change the fundamental picture but it does buy valuable time". He added: "The move in itself will not lead to any improvement in (banks') credit ratings." Earlier this month S&P put 15 of the 17 eurozone countries and some of their biggest banks on credit downgrade watch. The agency is expected to deliver a verdict on the credit watch in January.

The mainstream media, particularly in the US and the UK, are silent on the fact that the man who was once nominated as a key figure in a power sharing coalition, has gone into hiding. There is a warrant out for his arrest on the specious grounds that he was the mastermind controlling a death squad picking on senior military officers and government officers belonging to the majority Shiite sect. It is also claimed that his hands are stained with the latest round of ethnic bombing attacks.

Frankly, this seems more the line of work of the country's Prime Minister - and de facto dictator - Nouri Hasan al-Maliki. Al-Hashemi is now in Arbil, seat of the Iraq's quasi-independent northern Kurdish enclave. His departure seals the fate of further attempts to involve the Sunni minority faction in the central government in any meaningful fashion. Al-Maliki's power is now absolute. He is stepping directly into the vacant shoes of Saddam Hussein. Interestingly, the warrant for Al-Hashemi's arrest warrant was issued barely hours after the "last" American troops left the country.

It remains to be seen whether Al-Hashemi gets his exit papers to Turkey. If he does, then the presumption is that the Sunnis will be powerless to challenge Al-Maliki.

The government in Baghdad also knows that Iraq cannot afford to trifle with the Turks for another important reason: Turkey controls much of the Tigris-Euphrates river system. The rivers are filtered through a series of immense dams in south eastern Anatolia. So, in a sense it is Turkey (and to some extent, Iran) that exercises an important direct power over whatever government is in power in Baghdad.

Michael Snyder writes: So if things are going well for you right now, enjoy this little bubble of peace and tranquility while you can. Because while things may look calm on the surface right now, the truth is that this is a very scary Christmas for financial professionals and world leaders. Most of them know how fragile the global financial system is at the moment. Most of them know that we are living in the greatest bubble of debt, leverage and financial risk that the world has ever seen. As I wrote about the other day, world leaders would not be throwing huge bailouts around like crazy if everything was going to be just fine.

The truth is that we are rapidly approaching another financial crisis that may end up being even worse than the horrific crash of 2008. Despite unprecedented efforts by the European Central Bank, the yield on 10 year Italian bonds is nearly up to 7 percent again. Keep an eye on the yield on 10 year Italian bonds. That is going to be one of the most important financial numbers in the world in the coming months.

But Italy is not the only problem. The reality is that several European governments are teetering on the verge of default right now. Meanwhile, confidence in the European financial system has been absolutely shattered and a devastating credit crunch has set in. Nobody (other than the ECB) wants to loan money to the banks and the banks are massively cutting back on loans to businesses and consumers. This is causing the money supply to fall. The ECB is trying to hold things together with chicken wire and duct tape, but it isn't going to work.

In major financial centers such as the City of London, this is a very scary Christmas and the outlook for the new year looks very frightening. Because financial activity has dried up so dramatically, a number of firms are already shutting down. As the Telegraph recently reported, the British government is now making plans based on the assumption that a collapse of the euro is only "just a matter of time".

Yes, we are heading for a huge financial collapse and massive economic trouble. So enjoy the good times while we still have them. They are not going to last too much longer.

The rally on Moscow's Sakharov Avenue on Saturday was the fourth and by far the biggest of the mass demonstrations provoked by the parliamentary vote held on 4 December. The ruling United Russia party, led by the Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, held on to a slim majority in parliament in those elections, but the results have been tainted by claims of wholesale fraud.

The demonstrators stood for hours in sub-zero weather on Saturday listening to a line-up of speakers as diverse as the crowd itself, including TV celebrities, writers, musicians, politicians, scientists and a jailed dissident whose video message was broadcast on a giant screen beside the stage. "The people are waking up," said Sergei Udaltsov, the leader of the Left Front opposition group who was arrested on the day of the elections as he heading to a rally. "The people have stopped putting up with this humiliating regime."

The name given to the demonstration - "For Fair Elections" - was also its main demand, suggesting a growing desire for the return of true democracy, not the "managed democracy" crafted under Mr Putin's 12-year rule.

A source in the United Russia party, who spoke to The Independent after the rally on Saturday, said the government planned to engineer opposition parties to fill in the political spectrum and soak up opposition votes. "We have to take drastic action," he said. "We've missed our chance to learn how to work with the people and calm them down. We urgently have to open up the system."

The statements were made in messages Firouzabadi sent to his Iraqi counterpart, Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari, and to Iraq's acting defence minister, Saadun al-Dulaimi, IRNA said. "I hope the humiliating failure of the United States after nine years of occupying Iraq will serve as a lesson for them to never think of attacking another country," he said.

Firouzabadi added that Iran was now "ready to expand its military and security ties with Iraq." Zebari led a delegation of Iraqi military chiefs to Iran last month to explore greater cooperation between the two defence forces. US analysts have expressed concern that Iran could exploit the vacuum left by the US withdrawal to bolster links with Iraq's Shiite-led government. The United States frequently accused Iran of arming Iraqi militias that attacked US forces when they were deployed there.

The party list led by the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won 36.3 percent of the list vote, while the ultra-conservative Salafi al-Nour Party took 28.8 percent, pushing the liberal Wafd party into third place. The vote, staged over six weeks, is the first free election Egypt has held after the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak, who routinely rigged polls before he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February.

The West long looked to Mubarak and other strongmen in the region to help combat Islamist militants, and has watched warily as Islamist parties have topped votes in Tunisia, Morocco and now Egypt. Parliament's prime job will be appointing a 100-strong assembly to write a new constitution which will define the president's powers and parliament's clout in the new Egypt.

Analysts say poor coordination among non-Islamist groups has divided the liberal vote, sometimes handing the majority to an Islamist by default.