UK - So that's it. The swine flu pandemic of 2009 is over. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has acknowledged that the pandemic "may have peaked in parts of the northern hemisphere". In the UK, cases have been declining for four weeks and are now only just above baseline levels. Swine flu is not going to return this side of Christmas.
USA - For two years, our space agency has refused Freedom of Information requests on why it has repeatedly corrected its climate figures. A leading researcher threatens to sue to find more inconvenient truths.
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe plan to address negotiators at international climate talks in Copenhagen next week.
WASHINGTON, USA - Democrats plan to allow the government's debt to swell by nearly $2 trillion as part of a bill next week to pay for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The amount pretty much equals the total of a year-end spending spree by lawmakers and is big enough to ensure that Congress doesn't have to vote again on going further into debt until after the 2010 elections.
SWITZERLAND - Switzerland's recent vote to ban the construction of new minarets has shocked and angered Muslims around the world. But the controversial move also reflects A GROWING SENSE OF UNEASE AMONG OTHER EUROPEANS who have trouble coming to terms with Islam's increased visibility.
EUROPE/GREECE - Amid continuing concern over the economic situation in Greece, following this week's cut in its credit rating, FT Deutschland reports: "EUROPE REFUSES TO ASSIST GREECE IN CASE IT GOES BANKRUPT. Instead, governments, central bank chiefs and the European Commission now demand hard spending cuts".
UK/EUROPE - The Telegraph reports that the Treasury's Pre-Budget Report shows that Britain's net contributions to the EU are set to rise from £4.8billion in 2009/10 to £6billion in 2010/11, an increase of £1.2 billion. This means that Britain's contributions have doubled in just three years from £3billion in 2008/09.
UK - The Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, CONTINUES TO DENY THAT ISLAMIST EXTREMISM IS BEING TAUGHT IN STATE-FUNDED SCHOOLS. Mr Balls has spent much of the past seven days defending two primary schools run by supporters of this deeply nasty, racist and segregationist group after the Tories attacked his department's decision to give them £113,000 of public money.
OSLO, NORWAY - President Barack Obama entered the pantheon of Nobel Peace Prize winners Thursday with humble words, acknowledging his own few accomplishments while delivering a robust defense of war and promising to use the prestigious award to "reach for the world that ought to be."
AUSTRALIA - ITV has apologised over the killing of a rat on I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! and will change the show's guidelines to ensure it does not happen again.
SPAIN - The Spanish will have as a priority to convert the EU into "a genuine global player." In particular, Spain wants to finalise the European External Action Service - which according to Garrido "could be the brightest, strongest diplomatic service in the world" - before April. He also said that for the first time, the EU now has "a real Foreign Minister".
UK - The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said Britain - currently the seventh-largest economy in the world - WILL BE OVERTAKEN BY BRAZIL, RUSSIA, INDIA AND CANADA by the middle of the next decade. It said even Australia could pass Britain by 2020.
EUROPE - The FT reports on yesterday's meeting of EU agriculture ministers organised by France to seek a consensus on support for a well-funded EU Common Agriculture Policy. The UK, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Malta, who all favour reform and scaling back of the CAP, WERE NOT INVITED TO THE MEETING.
UK - The EU Referendum blog argues that the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme may have played a role in the closure of the Corus Redcar steel plant, part of the Tata Group Europe.
UK - The Mail reports that newly appointed EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier has warned THE CITY THAT IT FACES FURTHER REGULATION. In an interview on French television, Barnier said: "Faced with the exit from the crisis that we're trying to shape, faced with a new sustainable green growth model, Europe has a role to play."