UK - The Archbishop of Canterbury has come to the defence of Stephen Fry who infuriated Christians by denouncing God as “utterly evil”, “capricious, mean-minded, stupid” and “monstrous”. The Most Rev Justin Welby insisted that the atheist comedian and writer had a God-given right to express his beliefs and should not be abused by Christians for doing so.

GERMANY - German politicians are reacting to the Greek government's call for a partial remission of its debts and its throwing the EU-Troika out of the country, with ultimatums. "Tsipras had better cease his attacks on Angela Merkel," threatened the European Parliament's President Martin Schulz (SPD). "Beating up on the Germans" is "shortsighted." State-financed German media organs are castigating Greece's newly elected head of state as "obstinate" and complaining that he "is jeering," "Germany is only one country among others."

EUROPE - A European Commissioner has revealed EU foreign ministers have discussed the role of the political bloc as peacekeepers in the Middle East. In an interview with An Nahar, Christos Stylianides said the role of European peacekeepers in the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon would be on the agenda at the key Brussels meeting this week. There are concerns amongst eurosceptics that Brussels is looking to use Lebanon as a trial run for its EU army of ‘peace keepers’, stationing a group of soldiers in the south of the country.

MIDDLE EAST - Since the sudden appearance of the extremist Sunni Islamic State (IS), the group has seized headlines with a shocking level of blood-letting and cruelty - but can its savagery be explained, asks Fawaz A Gerges. Islamic State has become synonymous with viciousness - beheadings, crucifixions, stonings, massacres, burying victims alive and religious and ethnic cleansing. While such savagery might seem senseless to the vast majority of civilised human beings, for IS it is a rational choice. It is a conscious decision to terrorise enemies and impress and co-opt new recruits.

EUROPE - The radical new government in Greece is racing against the clock to accomplish in days or weeks what no other opponent of austerity has managed to do in years: make Angela Merkel blink. In a high-risk diplomatic offensive, the new Greek government is seeking to roll back the tough austerity measures imposed by its massive bailout during the European debt crisis, presenting a direct challenge to the leader considered its chief architect — Merkel, the German chancellor. New Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, 40, and his social-media-savvy finance minister are instead selling a deal that includes more spending and is winning early support from the Elysee Palace to the White House. Yet the Germans are now facing a challenge of their own. The new Greek crusade appears to be strengthening a long-simmering revolt in the region over what, in recent years, has become Berlin’s de facto role as the economic leader of Europe.

UK - It can seem like Germany's "anti-Islamisation" movement, Pegida, has a growing following in the UK and other European countries since the Paris attacks - especially if you believe what you see on Facebook. But does it really? It's a movement with its origins in social media. Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West - known by the German acronym Pegida - began on Facebook before a series of demonstrations in the east German city of Dresden got international attention. The group wants tougher immigration laws and restrictions on asylum-seekers. Critics say it's anti-Muslim and counts fascists among its supporters. The first Pegida UK march is planned for later this month in Newcastle.

USA - A former Al-Qaeda member has revealed a strong connection between the terrorist group and the Saudi Royal family in the 1990s. More notably, he alleges that Saudi princes and terrorists discussed a plan to shoot Air Force One out of the sky. The revelations came in the form of a testimony, delivered from a maximum-security prison, where Zacarias Moussaoui is incarcerated. According to the New York Times, Moussaoui submitted the claim on his own initiative. He sent a letter to the judge presiding over the lawsuit filed by family members of 9/11 victims against the government of Saudi Arabia. This is not the most convenient time for Moussaoui’s allegations to surface. It has only been two weeks since the death of King Abdullah, succeeded by King Salman – his brother – who Moussaoui had also allegedly been involved with.

JORDAN - Jordan has executed two convicts, including a female jihadist, following the killing of one of its air force pilots by Islamic State (IS) militants. The woman, failed suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi, and al-Qaeda operative Ziyad Karboli - both Iraqi nationals - were hanged at dawn, officials said. The executions came hours after IS posted a video appearing to show pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burned alive. He was seized after crashing during an anti-IS mission over Syria in December. Jordan had attempted to secure Lieutenant Kasasbeh's release in a swap involving Rishawi. She had been on death row for her role in attacks in Jordan's capital, Amman, which killed 60 people in 2005.

USA - Why did nearly half of Iraq open itself to Islamic State, a militant group seen as one of the most psychotic on record? Why have Boko Haram militants gained a solid foothold in northern Nigeria? Why aren’t the ranks of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula thinning, despite regular drone strikes in Yemen? Do these disparate countries have some trait in common? They do: the rampant corruption of their ruling elites.

GERMANY - Germany is rightly praised in the European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2015 for assuming more leadership in the diplomacy of the European Union. However, Berlin’s new foreign policy role (just like its engagement in solving the euro crisis) is still fragile and is based upon vulnerable domestic foundations. The reason is that Germany’s new responsibility means taking the lead in overturning a status quo that it would prefer to preserve. Berlin currently enjoys an unequalled position of power in Europe, and for many, the euro crisis has reignited the “German question”: Germany again faces an old dilemma, as a country that is too large for Europe but too small to succeed without the help of its partners.

GERMANY - According to a report in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, German security officials and military experts are urging the rapid purchase of armed drones. The defence policy spokesman for the Christian Democratic Union-Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) fraction in parliament, Henning Otte, told the newspaper, “Last year, we initiated a debate about the necessity of combat-ready drones and clearly spoke out in favour of this capability.” He went on to say that it was now time “to take the next step and secure drones with this capacity for the German army.” The defence spokesman for the CSU, Florian Hahn, expressed a similar view. He said that Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) had to “urgently take the decision this year.” The drones were “a key question for our sovereignty in defence policy and a key capability for a modern, efficient army,” he continued.

RUSSIA - A lawmaker representing the populist LDPR nationalist party wants to calculate all damages inflicted by Nazi Germany on Russia during World War II, in order to slap Berlin with a lawsuit that could amount to €4 trillion. “Germany didn’t pay any reparations to the USSR to compensate for destruction and brutalities committed during the Second World War. The Yalta agreement allowed the USSR to seize some German assets from the Soviet occupation sector, but these were mostly industrial machinery, furniture and clothing, that could be considered spoils of war and that could not compensate for the damage inflicted to the Soviet economy by the war,” MP Mikhail Degtyaryov said in an interview with the Izvestia daily.

MIDDLE EAST - The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group released a video on Tuesday purportedly showing the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot it had captured in December. The video released online showed images of a man purported to be Maaz al-Kassasbeh engulfed in flames inside a metal cage. After al-Kassasbeh addresses the camera, terrorists ignite a line of flammable liquid leading into the cage, burning him alive. Last week ISIS demanded the release of a Jordanian-held female failed suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi in exchange for Kassasbeh and captive Japanese journalist Kenji Goto.

JAPAN - Experts agree Japan caught off-guard by ISIS beheadings, will now boost foreign intel, push debate on constitutional change for war powers. Japan's failure to rescue two hostages beheaded by Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists has raised doubts about the ability of the country that renounced war after World War II to handle an international crisis, as the country reels from news of journalist Kenji Goto's murder. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been pushing to alter the pacifist constitution to broaden the capability of its military, which since World War II has been restricted to a self-defense role. But the idea has been met with a lukewarm public response following decades of an emphasis on pacifism, and the hostage crisis has amplified misgivings over Abe's push to boost Japan's diplomatic role on the world stage.

UK - When he was installed as Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby met with all of his 37 fellow primates and committed himself to visit each of them in their own provinces within his first 18 months. Given his high profile interventions in the political and social life of his own country, and his various ecumenical visits, this was a demanding commitment which was brought to completion, on schedule, when Archbishop Justin visited his neighbouring primate, the Most Rev. David Chillingworth, of the Scottish Episcopal Church, in November of this year. This extraordinary personal effort puts flesh on the idea that the Archbishop of Canterbury is the first of four Instruments of Unity that bind the Anglican Communion together, the others being the Lambeth Conference, the Primates’ Meeting, and the Anglican Consultative Council. Archbishop Welby’s worldwide tour can be seen as a ministry in service of the Communion, a ministry of unity.