LONDON, UK - The speech [by British Prime Minister David Cameron on Britain's future in Europe] received broad backing by Conservative MPs, while it was criticised by Labour and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for creating “uncertainty”. Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors, described Cameron's approach as "realistic and pragmatic”. The British Chamber of Commerce said “many British businesses will support the principle of re-negotiation.”

UK - Broadcaster David Bellamy told yesterday how his television career was cut short by the BBC after he dismissed climate change. The botanist and environmental campaigner said his scepticism over manmade global warming signalled an end to his screen presence. Furthermore, all other work dried up, he was shunned by colleagues and vilified by green zealots.

WASHINGTON, USA - President Barack Obama's inaugural address on Monday marked the first time a president used the occasion to praise progress on gay rights, an indication of shifting public attitudes on the issue. In the speech marking the start of his second term, Obama placed the struggle for gay rights squarely in the pantheon of two other defining civil rights movements in American history: those for blacks and women. "The most evident of truths - that all of us are created equal - is the star that guides us still," he said. "Just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall."

UK - Voters were warned yesterday to brace themselves for more austerity cuts in election year as George Osborne ordered talks on future spending limits. Only overseas aid, health and schools remain protected. But those departments are expected to share in the Whitehall efficiency drive for the Government to do “more with less”. The Chancellor’s grim reminder came as figures revealed another leap in state borrowing, sparking new fears for Britain’s coveted AAA credit rating, which helps keep UK interest rates low.

USA - It's what we expect as shoppers — what's in the food will be displayed on the label. But a new scientific examination by the non-profit food fraud detectives the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), discovered rising numbers of fake ingredients in products from olive oil to spices to fruit juice. "Food products are not always what they purport to be," Markus Lipp, senior director for Food Standards for the independent lab in Maryland, told ABC News. In a new database to be released Wednesday, and obtained exclusively by ABC News today, USP warns consumers, the FDA and manufacturers that the amount of food fraud they found is up by 60 percent this year.

UK - New laws passed last year paved the way for many of the intrusive powers of entry to be repealed as part of a Government drive to limit the occasions an official can enter a home. But so far only 15 have been scrapped including several historic ones such as the power to search for and seize German enemy property and prevent illegal hypnotism displays. Other powers such as a right to enter to ensure pot plants do not have pests or to check the height of a hedge remain in force. Public bodies face having many more powers taken off them as part of an ongoing review but it could be several years before they are repealed.

USA - The man in charge of America’s drone wars will face Senate questioning about perhaps their most controversial aspect: when the president can target American citizens for death. Senator Ron Wyden (Democrat for Oregon) sent a letter on Monday to John Brennan, the White House’s counterterrorism adviser and nominee to be head of the CIA, asking for an outline of the legal and practical rules that underpin the US government’s targeted killing of American citizens suspected of working with al-Qaida. The Obama administration has repeatedly resisted disclosing any such information about its so-called “disposition matrix” targeting terrorists, especially where it concerns possible American targets.

UK - US, Britain and France focused on securing anti-aircraft missiles but neglected other weapons, Human Rights Watch says. The US, working with Britain and France, focused on securing shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles, known as Manpads (man-operated portable air defense systems). Britain’s Ministry of Defence said last year it had located 5,000 of an estimated 20,000 in Libya. Peter Bouckaert, of Human Rights Watch, said his organisation had warned of the risks if Libya’s conventional weapons were looted.

EUROPE - Brussels was accused last night of a plot to set up curbs on Press freedom. A document calls for each European Union state to install media watchdogs with powers to strip journalists of their professional credentials and impose swingeing fines – all co-ordinated by Brussels. The proposals are from a “high-level group on media freedom and pluralism” set up by European Commission vice president Neelie Kroes. Tory MP Philip Davies said: “The EU hates a free Press.” Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: “Commissioner Neelie Kroes wants to send out the thought police.”

LONDON, UK - If you’ve just moved into a newly built apartment in central London, don’t be perplexed if your neighbors speak mostly Chinese. Market-cooling measures in Asia have helped fuel interest in London’s real estate market — long a popular destination for property buyers on the prowl, says property consultancy Knight Frank. Last year, overseas buyers spent $3.5 billion on apartments undergoing construction in central London, up 22% from the year earlier. Together, buyers from Singapore and Hong Kong snapped up nearly 40% of all such apartments in central London. Adding in buyers from Malaysia and mainland China, Asian buyers accounted for roughly half of all purchases.

UK - British Prime Minister David Cameron will deliver a speech in London on January 23, during which he will discuss the future of the United Kingdom's relationship with the European Union. Excerpts leaked to the media suggest that harsh EU criticism will figure prominently in the speech, a suggestion in keeping with Cameron's recent statements about the bloc.

USA - Forty years after the US Supreme Court struck down many state restrictions on abortion with Roe vs Wade, women who want to terminate a pregnancy face a growing number of roadblocks in many parts of the country. Last year, 19 states enacted a total of 43 provisions limiting access to abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute. “The laws that have been passed, in the last couple of years especially, really make women walk through a gauntlet to get abortions, throughout the country," said Eric Ferrero, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood. "What we've seen over the last two years is the public doesn’t want these preventive health services to be defunded and the courts won’t allow it," Ferrero said.

SAUDI ARABIA - A group of protesting Saudi Arabian women were arrested earlier this month, prompting a groundswell of outrage that may ultimately result in a sequel to the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

USA - Why are so many politicians around the world declaring that the debt crisis is “over” when debt to GDP ratios all over the planet continue to skyrocket? The global economy has never seen anything like the sovereign debt bubble that we are experiencing today.

UK - The world is moving step by step towards a de facto Gold Standard, without any meetings of G20 leaders to announce the idea or bless the project. Some readers will already have seen the GFMS Gold Survey for 2012 which reported that central banks around the world bought more bullion last year in terms of tonnage than at any time in almost half a century. They added a net 536 tonnes in 2012 as they diversified fresh reserves away from the four fiat suspects: dollar, euro, sterling, and yen.