SWITZERLAND - Swiss banking giant UBS has agreed to pay $1.5 billion (£940 million) to US, UK and Swiss regulators for attempting to manipulate the Libor inter-bank lending rate. It becomes the second major bank to be fined over Libor after Barclays was ordered to pay $450 million to UK and US authorities in the summer. Regulators worldwide are investigating a number of banks for rigging Libor. Libor tracks the average rate at which the major international banks based in London lend money to each other.

USA - The US will significantly increase its military presence in the Philippines – an announcement that has angered China, whose Communist Party chief urged his military to prepare for a struggle and whose state-run media have criticized the agreement. The US announced in 2011 that it would increase joint training exercises and ship visits to the Philippines in order to counter China’s growing influence in the region. These visits have been welcomed by Philippine President Benigno S Aquino III. This month, the US announced that it would increase the number of troops, aircraft and ships that rotate through the Philippines. The announcement was made during the 3rd Philippines - United States Bilateral Strategic Dialogue in Manila, which was held December 11-12.

USA - In response to a recent increase in crime, Paragould Mayor Mike Gaskill and Police Chief Todd Stovall offered residents at a town hall meeting Thursday night at West View Baptist Church what could be considered an extreme solution — armed officers patrolling the streets on foot.

UK - David Cameron has broken new ground on Europe by suggesting British withdrawal from the EU is "imaginable", aligning himself with the fiercely Eurosceptic Boris Johnson. The prime minister stressed that he supported membership of a reformed EU, though he said Britain was "in charge of our own destiny". [Mr] Cameron told the Eurosceptic Tory backbencher Edward Leigh: "It is quite a slow process at the moment, but I believe that at some stage it will speed up radically. When we discover that we really do need greater elements of banking union, fiscal union and other co-ordination, a greater treaty change will be proposed within Europe, and I think that that will give us an opportunity to secure the fresh settlement that we want."

VATICAN CITY - Benedict XVI received in audience Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, at the Vatican Apostolic Palace. Shortly after, President Abbas met with the Pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

BERLIN, GERMANY - Germany's central bank has poured cold water over a recently agreed deal of putting the European Central Bank (ECB) in charge of supervising banks in the eurozone. A legal opinion by the Bundesbank, seen by Der Spiegel magazine, raises concerns over the landmark deal reached last week by finance ministers to put the ECB directly in charge of 150-200 of the largest banks in the eurozone, along with new auditing powers for the rest of the 6,000 banks which remain under national supervision. The current deal lacks "a long-term solid legal basis," as a planned mediation committee between the banking supervisor and the ECB governing council may be attacked in EU courts, the Bundesbank said.

UK - Muslim leaders today demanded they should have the same legal exemption to gay marriages as the Church of England amid a growing chorus of condemnation. Farooq Murad, secretary general [of the Muslim Council of Britain], said his organisation had “explicitly” stated its strong opposition and had sought an urgent meeting with Mrs Miller [Culture Secretary] to discuss amending it. “The Muslim Council of Britain along with most other faith groups also made equally strong representation. No one in their right mind should accept such a discriminatory law.” Same-sex marriage has been fast-tracked by David Cameron despite strong opposition within his party and from some religious groups.

USA - Wall Street is finding it difficult to price the likely impact of a “fiscal cliff” deal on the economy, raising the possibility of a wild swing in the market if and when a deal is announced. So far, the markets have largely kept an even keel during the “fiscal cliff” negotiations, reflecting optimism among traders that congressional leaders will not let the recession-inducing policies of the “cliff” take effect. But analysts in New York say the markets could shift violently once the outlines of an agreement come into focus.

USA - A few words by an American scholar, a crumbling Mexican monument and the love of a good yarn were all it took to spawn the belief that the world could end this week. December 21 marks the end of an age in a 5,125 year-old Maya calendar, an event that is variously interpreted as the end of days, the start of a new era or just a good excuse for a party.

EUROPE - “I’m wondering how much this society can endure before it explodes,” said Georg Pieper, a German psychotherapist who specializes in treating post-traumatic stress disorders following catastrophes, large accidents (including the deadliest train wreck ever in Germany), acts of violence, freed hostages.... But now he was talking about Greece.

EUROPE - “Poverty is returning to Europe,” said Jan Zijderveld, head of Unilever’s European operations, in an interview. The British–Dutch consumer products company, third largest in the world, was adjusting its commercial strategy to this new reality, he said, by redeploying to Europe what worked in poor countries of the developing world.

UK - The stay-at-home mother is fast becoming consigned to history, according to the latest census figures. Returns showed there are 300,000 fewer than officials had previously estimated, with those who devote their lives to bringing up families now reduced to a tiny minority. Fewer than one in ten women of working age are stay-at-home mothers.

EGYPT - President Mohamed Mursi has won initial backing from Egyptians for a new constitution that he hopes will steer the country out of crisis, but which opponents say is an Islamist charter that tramples on minority rights. A first day of voting in a referendum on the draft basic law resulted in 56.5 percent 'Yes' vote, [Mr] Mursi's political party said. An opposition official conceded that Egyptians voting on Saturday appeared to have backed the measure. Rights groups reported abuses such as polling stations opening late, officials telling people how to vote, and bribery. They also criticized widespread religious campaigning that portrayed "No" voters as heretics.

USA - NYU student Josh Begley is tweeting every reported US drone strike since 2002, and the feed highlights a disturbing tactic employed by the US that is widely considered a war crime. Known as the "double tap," the tactic involves bombing a target multiple times in relatively quick succession, meaning that the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Christof Heyns said that if there are "secondary drone strikes on rescuers who are helping (the injured) after an initial drone attack, those further attacks are a war crime." The US refuses to discuss the merits of its overtly covert drone program, but the reports featured on @dronestream clearly document that US hellfire missiles have intentionally targeted funerals and civilian rescuers.

USA - The loner responsible for the sickening massacre was mentally ill, aggressive and had an unhealthy obsession for violent computer games, it emerged last night. Cowardly Adam Lanza, 20, was driven to carry out the bloody killings after his parents split up and his friends alienated him, reports emerging from America revealed. Chillingly, his favourite video game was said to be a shockingly violent fantasy war game called Dynasty Warriors which is thought to have given him inspiration to act on his darkest thoughts.