The former Prime Minister railed against those who view the ongoing eurozone crisis and current refugee crisis across Europe as the beginning of the end for the continent’s political union. Writing in Newsweek, the ex-Labour premier insisted “European unity has never been more important” with the EU “never more needed and never more in the interests of the countries that make up” the 28-member bloc.

Ahead of the upcoming in/out referendum on Britain’s EU membership, Mr Blair claimed now is a “moment for the countries of the EU to bind tighter together” as he hit out at those calling for Brexit and who are “forever looking backward to break the union asunder”.

Mr Blair warned the rise of new superpowers such as China and India means the “global order” is shifting away from the West and that if Britain wants “to play a role in global decision-making” it must remain tied to Europe.

The Red Flag Alert from restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor showed that almost 270,000 companies have reported severe financial challenges in the past three months, either because they have expensive County Court Judgements (CCJs) filed against them, or because of a marked deterioration in sales, working capital, profit or spiralling costs.

The news follows a warning last week by the Chancellor that Britain faces a "dangerous cocktail" of global headwinds that could put the UK's economic recovery at risk. The 70 percent collapse in oil prices has hit many British companies either within or supplying the oil and gas industry.

The economic slowdown in China, renewed stock market turbulence, and conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East, are also resulting in heightened uncertainty.

At least three bombs exploded near a Starbucks cafe in downtown Jakarta, and gunmen attacked a police post and other locations, authorities said. Analysts said the attack was the work of a sophisticated terrorist cell operating in the country.

Five attackers in the assault, which police said sought to mimic the Paris attacks on November 13 that killed 130 people. Indonesia's coordinating minister for politics, legal and security affairs, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, told journalists after reviewing the blast scene at Starbucks that fast-acting police prevented further carnage.

"This is suicide bombing, one was entering Starbucks and then three others tried to attack with thrown bombs. Those (attackers) were shot" by police, Panjaitan said. “They imitated the terror actions in Paris," said national police spokesman Anton Charliyan.

The bishops added that the Israeli 'confiscation of land' in Gaza is "in violation of international law" and assured the Palestinian people that "you are not forgotten - throughout 2016 we shall raise your plight nationally and internationally."

They continued "The 2014 war led to the destruction of thousands of homes and the physical and social infrastructure of Gaza... To those Israelis and Palestinians who seek peace, you are not forgotten... Political leaders across the world must put greater energy into a diplomatic solution to end nearly 50 years of occupation and resolve the ongoing conflict so the two peoples and three faiths can live together in justice and peace."

They fourteen bishops began their letter by stating "We take away our experiences and the stories that we have heard, and we are determined to give a voice to the voiceless."

Analysts have also said that Japan may want to play up East China Sea tensions to suppress the domestic opposition before its controversial security bill comes into effect in March. Responding to Japan’s warning, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said Tuesday that China’s resolve in upholding territorial sovereignty is unswerving when it comes to the Diaoyu Islands but urged Japan to exercise restraint.

“An escalation of tensions in the East China Sea is the last thing we want to see. We are willing to properly manage and settle the relevant issue through dialogue and consultations,” Hong said. The status-quo in the East China Sea has been controlled so far as both China and Japan have dispatched only coast guard vessels to patrol the area, a situation that will change once Japan dispatches military vessels, analysts said.

There was the miracle of the nineteen hijackers who defeated a multi-billion dollar air defense system with two-dollar box cutters — five of whom would later return from the grave. And then there was the miracle of a flight school dropout who, after accomplishing a 270-degree turn that pilots with 30 years of experience could not execute, maneuvered a commercial jetliner toward his target as though he were backing the family car into the garage.

There were miracles of passenger cell phones functioning at altitudes of 30,000 feet, well above their operational range; of a hijacker's intact passport found unscathed amidst pulverized debris at Ground Zero; of oxygen-starved, carbon-based office fires reaching temperatures hot enough to melt steel; and of the straight-down explosive collapse of two 110-story towers in less than a combined 20 seconds.

But these are only a fraction of the 9/11 miracles that, fully sanctioned by what purports to be a free and truth-seeking mainstream media, make up the essential fabric of an official narrative that has been used to eviscerate our Bill of Rights, steamroll Newton's laws of motion, and foment hatred, racism, and intolerance.

It's a tragic narrative that has allowed the soulless to wrest control of public policy from the sane and has commandeered hearts and minds of disillusioned youths in both America and abroad, luring them to fight and die in endless wars that feed the power-hungry aims and fill the bottomless pockets of tycoons, tyrants, and terrorists alike.

Here is the MPC on the remarkable gyrations of the markets since the start of the New Year: "Recent volatility in financial markets has underlined the downside risks to global growth, primarily emanating from emerging markets."

And on confidence in the economy: "Business surveys imply that the near-term outlook for aggregate [economic] activity is slightly weaker." And on the remarkable collapse of the oil price: "The 40% decline in oil prices means that the increase in inflation is now expected to be slightly more gradual in the near term." It all makes for a rather gloomy soup. Some would argue this pushes any interest rate rise into the relatively far future. And in this New Year of volatile markets, there is still plenty to add to the sense of global difficulty.

The credit rating agency, Standard and Poor's, brought out a new analysis this morning which makes for uncomfortable reading. It says that the debt levels of businesses - as well as governments - operating in emerging markets is rising rapidly up the risk register. In flashing red, the report says that businesses in Hong Kong and wider China have been borrowing heavily in the era of cheap global money.

"In terms of corporate debt, the very high borrowing of Chinese and Hong Kong corporates amid China's economic slowdown poses a prominent risk," Standard and Poor's says. And for a sober credit rating agency, that's pretty stark language. There's a frying pan - the global growth slowdown - and a fire - high levels of indebtedness - out there. The problem is, neither are very comfortable to stick around in.

The researchers drew data from over 1,800 different policy initiatives dating from 1981 to 2002. They concluded that wealthy, well-connected families are the ones who steer the direction of nearly everything politically in the United States.

“The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy,” they explain, “while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.”

The pair found that regardless of whether one is Republican or Democratic was of no significant difference. The results showed that more often than not, policy followed the interests of corporations and the 1%. The research notes recent Supreme Court decisions that allow more money in politics – pointing to this as a likely factor in this transformation into an oligarchy – stretching back to the 1980s.