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.

USA - Navigation has become treacherous as the worst US drought in half a century brings water levels close to record lows. The worst drought in half a century has brought water levels in the Mississippi close to historic lows and could shut down all shipping in a matter of weeks.

USA/TURKEY - Planned deployment of US-made Patriot missiles in Turkey is a "provocative" action which could bring about "uncalculated" results, Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday. "The deployment of Patriot missiles will achieve nothing but to provoke and, God forbid, result in being forced into an uncalculated action," Ali Akbar Salehi said in remarks reported by the official IRNA news agency. "This is very dangerous for everyone, and even for the future of Europe," he said. At the request of Turkey, NATO has agreed to provide Patriot missiles to bolster its member's border defences amid tensions with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But both Russia and Iran, the most powerful allies of the Assad regime, are opposed to the move.

UK - Liam Fox and Boris Johnson point to emerging public consensus on a new EU-UK relationship centred on the single market. Speaking at a joint Open Europe-RUSI event, former Defence Secretary the Right Honourable Dr Liam Fox argued that: “I believe that a new consensus is beginning to build inside the UK… politicians are [increasingly] beginning to catch up with the public’s attitude which points towards a new, looser and largely economic relationship with the European Union.”

ITALY - When Mario Monti took the helm a year ago, with Italy teetering on the edge of a Greek-style debt crisis, he was welcomed as a savior who could finally put the country back on track. Disgusted with the scandals, corruption and cronyism that had flourished under Silvio Berlusconi, workers and businessmen at first meekly accepted the technocrat premier's higher taxes and harsh pension reform, confident he would guide them out of the euro zone debt storm into calmer waters. A year later, after [Mr] Monti announced his resignation, many are wondering whether it was worth the pain as Italy faces an uncertain political future still mired in recession.

UK - David Cameron has been told he cannot “repatriate” powers from Brussels to Britain because membership of the European Union is “for life”. The French President, Francois Hollande, declared that Europe is not “a la carte” like a menu from which member states can pick and choose their powers. He issued his rebuke to the Prime Minister as Mr Cameron insisted he would fight for a “better deal for Britain” and seek to take back certain powers from Europe. Downing Street was not impressed by the French President's intervention.

BRUSSELS, EUROPE - EU leaders have agreed on a roadmap for eurozone integration beyond the deal on centralised banking supervision, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. Specific dates have not yet been agreed for the phases of integration. But the EU summit chairman, Herman Van Rompuy, said a deal should be reached next year on a joint resolution scheme for winding up failed banks. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the eurozone countries were committed to protecting the euro, but deeper integration involved big sovereignty issues. "I personally believe Britain won't ever join, certainly not while I'm prime minister," he said.