Comet Ison could draw millions out into the dark to witness what could be the brightest comet seen in many generations – brighter even than the full moon. By late November it will be visible to the unaided eye just after dark in the same direction as the setting sun.

Remarkably Ison might not be the only spectacular comet visible next year. Another comet, called 2014 L4 (PanSTARRS), was discovered last year and in March and April it could also be a magnificent object in the evening sky. 2013 could be the year of the great comets.

In her neighborhood in Southeast Washington, 1 in 10 children live with both parents, and 84 percent live with only their mother. America is awash in poverty, crime, drugs and other problems, but more than perhaps anything else, it all comes down to this, said Vincent DiCaro, vice president of the National Fatherhood Initiative: Deal with absent fathers, and the rest follows.

People “look at a child in need, in poverty or failing in school, and ask, ‘What can we do to help?’ But what we do is ask, ‘Why does that child need help in the first place?’ And the answer is often it’s because [the child lacks] a responsible and involved father,” he said. Though income is the primary predictor, the lack of live-in fathers also is overwhelmingly a black problem, regardless of poverty status, census data show. Among blacks, nearly 5 million children, or 54 percent, live with only their mother.

And not only fighting men. They also delivered a fearsome weapon for Assad’s army and a game changer in the Syrian conflict: 24 Iskander 9K720 (NATO codenamed SS-26 Stone) cruise missile systems, designed for theatre level conflicts. While NATO unpacked the Patriots in Turkey, a dozen mobile batteries, each carrying a pair of Iskander missiles, were fixed into position opposite Turkey, and another dozen, opposite Jordan and Israel.

At all their stations, the Russian missiles pointed at US military targets. So while the West was gripped with alarm over Assad’s poison Sarin gas shells and bombs and gearing up for missile attacks on Turkey, the Russians were injecting into the Syrian war field the most sophisticated weapon of death thus far. The West and Israel have no answer for the Iskander’s hypersonic speed of more than 1.3 miles per second with a 280 mile-range and a 1,500-pound warhead which destroys targets with pinpoint accuracy. It is also nuclear-capable.

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised two US presidents, George W Bush and Barack Obama, not to let the Iskander reach the hands of Syria or Iran. Moscow has no illusions that once in Syria, the lethal cruise missile will pretty soon reach Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Saturday, December 15, Iran’s chief of staff General Hassan Firouzabadi warned that the Patriot missiles in Turkey portended world war.

He also decried the slaughter of the "defenceless" in Syria and spoke of his hopes for countries which experienced the Arab Spring, especially what he described as the “beloved land Egypt”. In comments given added significance on Christmas Day, he spoke of “the Land where the Redeemer was born” urging Israelis and Palestinians to find the “courage” to take negotiations seriously.

It comes just days after the Pope met the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Throughout the year debt-ridden Greece has been the epicenter of Europe’s most violent protests. Facing severe economic conditions and harsh austerity measures the Greeks were forced to take to the streets and stage massive general strikes. As tensions grow within Greek society, far-right movements have been on the rise, with neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party gaining popularity in the country.

Spain, the eurozone’s fourth largest economy, has regularly seen thousands of people protesting, with many being arrested and injured. The country faces the highest unemployment rate in the entire eurozone and it’s estimated that more than 400,000 families have lost their homes due to unpaid rent, since the start of Spain's financial crisis in 2007.

Italy hasn’t escaped austerity-related uproar and has seen some of the most violent protests, with clashes between the demonstrators and riot police rocking major cities.

Thousands have also been regularly protesting in Portugal, voicing their anger over dire economic prospects. Portugal's austerity program, introduced last year, involves severe tax hikes and spending cuts and has resulted in joblessness for a record 15 percent of the population and forced the country into its worst recession since the 1970s.

The anti-austerity protests came to a climax on November 14 when millions of people took to the streets in 23 countries across Europe to mark the European Day of Action and Solidarity. Many rallies ended with violent clashes with police.

It could soon be a similar story with yet another gem from [Mr] Schäuble's repertoire of quotations. "Germany is clearly a gainer from the euro," as the minister likes to say. But if what his team has been writing over the past few weeks is true, Germans will soon find that their presumed winnings have transformed into losses.

The government in Berlin is living in a dual reality. Strategists in the center-right coalition parties are planning to enhance benefits for families, pensioners and the long-term unemployed in a bid to woo voters in the upcoming elections. By contrast, due to the economic slowdown, experts in [Mr] Schäuble's ministry are anticipating an entirely different scenario: The next government - no matter who will be chancellor and which parties will be in power - won't be able to boost spending. Instead, it will have to impose rigorous spending restraint.

According to the recommendations made by [Mr] Schäuble's team, in order to brace itself for the consequences of the euro crisis, Germany will have to drastically increase taxes and make painful cuts in social services over the coming years. These ideas don't fit with the current political climate in Germany!

Many Americans may be dreaming of a white Christmas, but it could turn into a travel nightmare for those looking to get out of town for the holidays. Meteorologists predict snowfall could blanket nearly half the nation on Tuesday - from Dallas to Maine - as a massive snowstorm moves from the Great Plains and up into the Northeast.

While children everywhere, both young and young-at-heart, are likely to welcome the snow, the nation's 87 million holiday travelers will likely be less enthusiastic. Between yesterday and today, the winter storm dubbed 'Draco' had delayed 7,367 flights in the US and canceled 317, leaving desperate holiday travelers scrambling to find alternative routes.

The high winds could threaten to delay even more flights at airports in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, meteorologists said. On the southern edge of the storm system, tornadoes destroyed several homes in Arkansas and peeled the roofs from buildings, toppled trucks and blew down oak trees and limbs in Alabama. More tornadoes may sweep in on Christmas Day, as well, from Texas to the Florida panhandle, according to Accuweather.