BRUSSELS, EUROPE - European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Thursday joined other international leaders blasting Israel for its “unprecedented” plans to increase construction in Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the Green Line, repeating a thinly veiled threat to “act accordingly” if Israel doesn’t back down.

CHINA - The Communist Chinese government, via its state-run media front Xinhua, has called for Americans to be disarmed, arguing that the Sandy Hook school massacre demands “no delay for US gun control.” Xinhua is virtually the press agency for the Communist Chinese government.

TURKEY - As the village of Sirince waited for what some say is an apocalypse from which the tiny Turkish hamlet will be spared, its streets were teeming not with doomsayers but a hoard of disappointed journalists. Hundreds of reporters were wandering aimlessly around the beautiful town of 570 inhabitants Thursday, hoping to grab a New Age spiritualist taking refuge there to dodge the apocalypse.

UK - The Obama administration has expressed concern at what US officials see as Britain's slide towards the European exit door. Washington firmly believes that the departure of its strongest partner in Europe would also reduce American influence on the continent, as Britain so often shares American views. An EU without Britain would be seen as weaker on free trade and less reliable on defence and foreign policy issues. With David Cameron now saying a Britain out of Europe was now "imaginable", US agitation has reached a new high.

RUSSIA/EUROPE - Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso have little affection for one another. Despite flourishing economic ties, Russia and the EU are drifting apart politically - and neither side knows what to do about it. In economic terms, Russia, the world's largest country by landmass, and the EU, the strongest economic bloc, are becoming ever more intertwined. Politically, however, they are drifting further apart. As reliant as each partner may be on the other, they do not appear to have joint plans together for the future.

TEMPLE MOUNT, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Jerusalem city council member Yair Gabai told Arutz Sheva of his first-hand humiliation of discrimination against Jews, especially those who are religious, trying to visit the Temple Mount. He said he has asked Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovitch to order equal treatment for Jews and Arabs but doubts any action will be taken, at least not before next month’s elections. “The only group of people prohibited from the Temple Mount are Jews even though it is our holiest place and holier to us than to any other people,” he said. Due to the extensive interrogation, he said little time remained to actually remain on the Temple Mount. On the other hand, Arabs are given free entry, he added.

ITALY - In an interview on Italian public broadcaster Rai Uno yesterday, Silvio Berlusconi said, “Either Germany understands that the ECB must act as a real central bank, and therefore print money, or unfortunately we will be forced to leave the euro and return to our currency.”

USA - US prosecutors charged two former UBS traders with taking part in a multi-year scheme to manipulate Libor and other benchmark interest rates, making them the first individuals to be criminally accused in the international scandal. The charges against the two traders, Tom Hayes and Roger Darin, resulted from a broad investigation into the activities of more than a dozen banks in the setting of prices for Libor and related rates. "The bank's conduct was simply astonishing," Lanny Breuer, who heads the US Justice Department's criminal division, said in announcing the settlement. "Make no mistake - for UBS traders, the manipulation of Libor was about getting rich."

SYRIA - Having seen its star wane in Iraq, al Qaeda has staged a comeback in neighbouring Syria, posing a dilemma for the opposition fighting to remove President Bashar al-Assad and making the West balk at military backing for the revolt. The rise of al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra Front, which the United States designated a terrorist organisation last week, could usher in a long and deadly confrontation with the West, and perhaps Israel. Inside Syria, the group is exploiting a widening sectarian rift to recruit Sunnis who saw themselves as disenfranchised by [Mr] Assad's Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that dominates Syria's power and security structures.

POLAND - Forty years ago Europe was being shaped by those who had survived World War II on the Western Front. Today, more and more, it is being driven by those who lived through the brutality of the Eastern Front, and who endured 40 years of communism. When 10 former communist countries of Eastern Europe first applied to join the European Union, Britain was an early enthusiast.

UK/EUROPE - David Cameron was accused yesterday of signing Britain up to a blueprint for a Euro Army. European leaders agreed plans for greater defence co-operation at a summit in Brussels that will force Britain to consult fellow EU nations over defence planning, with defence chiefs having to co-ordinate capabilities and procurement. The plans appear to duplicate the role of the Nato alliance, which Tories have traditionally credited with sole responsibility for European defence.

IRELAND - Ireland on Tuesday moved to legalise abortions when the mother's life is at risk, including when she is suicidal. This follows a public outcry over the death of Savita Halappanavar, a pregnant woman in October who died after her repeated requests for an abortion were refused while she was suffering a miscarriage. The Catholic hierarchy has demanded that the country's MPs are given a free vote after the Irish government announced that votes would be whipped next year in a bid to get the controversial legislation through parliament. Under current Irish law abortion is criminal unless it occurs as the result of a medical intervention performed to save the life of the mother.

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.