His remarks, at the close of a two-day EU summit in Brussels, suggest that the prime minister knows he is not going to achieve all his negotiating demands and has decided to press ahead with the vote as soon as a final deal is struck at another summit in February.

The referendum is most likely to be staged in July as there are fears in No 10 that the migration crisis may have worsened by next autumn.

Cameron knows he has a party management problem now, with the possibility of high-profile cabinet resignations by those who are convinced the package does not change the fundamental contours of the UK relationship with Europe.

But he was buoyed by the reception he received at a dinner in Brussels on Thursday when, uniquely for a British prime minister, he was given 45 minutes to persuade the other 27 heads of government of the merits of his case for a new deal for Britain in Europe.

Senior EU policymakers taking part in the closed dinner described the outcome as a breakthrough, the first in six months of negotiations, and added that Cameron had gone a long way to winning his argument, paving the way for a detailed compromise deal by February.

But Cameron also faced strong resistance from his EU counterparts, particularly to his plans for changes to welfare rules for migrants.

Speaking as David Cameron heads to Brussels for two days of talks on Britain’s future in the EU, the businessman said that the campaigns arguing that Britain should leave the EU are proposing a specific deal: ending all budget contributions, ending free movement and repatriating economic regulations while retaining full access to the single market.

The Libyan Air Force said the 20 soldiers arrived at the airbase on Monday, but left soon after local commanders asked them to go because they had no right to be at the base “without prior coordination with protection force base.”

British voters’ appetite for leaving the European Union is gathering momentum, putting the prospect of Brexit on a knife edge, a new poll has found. As David Cameron prepares to travel to Brussels for a crucial European summit to discuss his renegotiation plans, a poll has found that the British public is now evenly split about the prospect of a British exit from the EU.

It came as the EU referendum bill last night passed through the House of Lords, meaning that Mr Cameron could potentially hold his vote in June next year. According to the ICM poll for the Vote Leave campaign, when undecided voters are excluded, 50 per cent of voters would choose “Brexit”.

Meanwhile, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, on Monday said that “multiculturalism is a lie” as she pledged to reduce the number of migrants entering Germany. “Whoever seeks refuge with us, must respect our laws and traditions and must learn German,” she said. “Multiculturalism creates parallel societies, Multiculturalism is a lie.”

European countries are facing record numbers of refugees and other migrants entering Greece illegally from Turkey. Dutch State Secretary for Security and Justice Klaas Dijkhoff said the protesters had crossed a line.

"Finding shelter for asylum seekers poses difficult questions but there is a limit when it comes to expressing your opinion," he said on Dutch TV.

"The line is crossed when you barge in yelling and rioting. That's not appropriate in a discussion and, thankfully, we have seen that it went much quieter in other places and a solution was found. This is not ok." The migration crisis is expected to dominate a meeting of EU leaders on Thursday.

That’s been the question on everyone’s lips since the closure last week – or “shuttering”, to use the technical term – of the Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund, one of a number of funds set up to chase yield in a world of poor to non-existent rates of return. Two other smaller US funds have also since taken action to prevent investors removing their money. It’s all eerily reminiscent of the events leading up to the credit crunch of seven years ago.

By promoting “search for yield”, the low interest rate environment has sucked investors into all manner of high-risk assets, including a plethora of funds specialising in high yield corporate debt. These funds have been hoovering up the stuff as fast as the investment bankers could manufacture it.

A major beneficiary was the American shale boom, whose estimated $350 billion-plus of investment over the past six years was substantially financed in these markets. With the collapse in oil prices has come a reckoning. At least 18 of the newcomers have filed for bankruptcy so far this year, and many others are now struggling with debt servicing costs.

Barclays predicts that the default rate for speculative-grade companies – increasingly made up of oil and gas firms – will double over the next year. Standard & Poor’s recently warned that an astonishing 50 percent of US energy junk bonds are at risk of default, or $180 billion in total. If we extrapolate this out to the $2 trillion of debt sold globally by energy and mining companies since 2010, the numbers begin to look strikingly similar to the sub-prime mortgage lending that front-ran the financial crisis. Of the $2 trillion of mortgage lending that became distressed, $800 billion was sub-prime and $1.2 trillion Alt-A.

High yield debt markets have also helped fund the explosive growth of mergers and acquisitions in recent years, particularly in pharmaceuticals and telecoms. Some of this also shows signs of distress. So, is Third Avenue the long dreaded popper that will finally puncture the post-crisis asset bubble, all puffed up by years of ultra-low interest rates and relentless central bank money printing?

Where this index stands not only gives you a glimpse into how healthy the global economy is, it also tells you how strong economic growth will be in the future. Unfortunately, it’s looking worse than ever before.

This week the Baltic Dry Index fell by 4.7%, down to 484 points, which is the lowest level we’ve seen in 30 years. Or put another way, demand for the raw materials that are the building blocks of the modern world, hasn’t been this low since Reagan was president. For the most part, this recent decline can be attributed to China’s floundering economy, which was once the largest driver of global economic growth.

Contrary to what you hear on the news, the global economy is not recovering. Our politicians and talking heads are like dogs chasing cars. They chase the highs and lows of the boom-bust cycle and inform us accordingly, but they ignore the fact that the economy is getting worse with each cycle. They’re missing the bigger picture. The Baltic Dry Index tells us the truth however. We’ve entered a period of long-term decline that could last for years.

Members of the church call themselves Pastafarians and believe that the world was created by an airborne spaghetti and meatballs-based being; although its own website notes that some followers consider it to be a satirical organisation.

The official notice was published online in New Zealand's government gazette. Registrar-general Jeff Montgomery says his decision was based purely on whether the organisation upholds or promotes religious beliefs, or philosophical or humanitarian convictions. "No judgement is made on the validity of those beliefs or convictions," he tells Stuff.co.nz website.

The church's lead official, or Top Ramen, prefers to remain anonymous, but tells Radio New Zealand that the next step is to nominate a marriage celebrant for approval. "We are a bona fide church, and our people do like to get married, some of them several times," she says, adding that Pastafarian wedding attire can range from pirate outfits to the traditional colander headgear. "We can wear the pirate gear, we can wear the pasta gear, we're quite flexible."