UK - London can expect to lose its crown as the leading global centre for high finance this year amid a barrage of City job cuts, falling bonuses and competition from rival hubs led by New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, according to a study. By 2015 the explosion in jobs in Hong Kong will have pushed the Square Mile into third place on a league table of international financial centres, says the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). The CEBR also had more immediate bad news for London's bankers, suggesting combined City bonus pools are likely to slip to £4.4 billion this year, down from £6.75 billion for 2011 and £11.56 billion in 2008.

USA - Sandy victims hit out after being forced to spend 12 days without power. An estimated 300 residents in Hicksville, Long Island, took to the street on Saturday, protesting the Long Island Power Authority for ongoing power outages. There are still over a quarter million New York customers without power. Early on Saturday more than 500 people lined up in Far Rockaway with empty fuel cans.

USA - A Texas megachurch pastor recently claimed that President Barack Obama's re-election victory would lead to the rise of the Antichrist. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at the First Baptist Church in Dallas, made remarks on Sunday before the election that should [Mr] Obama win, his victory would lead to the reign of the Antichrist. "I want you to hear me tonight, I am not saying that President Obama is the Antichrist, I am not saying that at all. One reason I know he's not the Antichrist is the Antichrist is going to have much higher poll numbers when he comes," said Jeffress. "President Obama is not the Antichrist. But what I am saying is this: the course he is choosing to lead our nation is paving the way for the future reign of the Antichrist."

USA - Gun sales in America are soaring in the wake of President Barack Obama's re-election with weapons retailers reporting AK-47s flying off shelves "like hotcakes." Owners of guns have been stocking up because they are concerned about a potential tightening of regulations on assault weapons in the president's second term. Mel Bernstein, owner of Dragonman Arms in Colorado Springs, told KOAA-TV that sales of semi-automatic weapons had boomed in recent days. He said: "We're going from normally six to eight guns a day, to 25. I stocked up, I got a stockpile of these AK-47s, we're selling these like hot cakes. Luckily I had an idea of what was going on because it happened with [Mr] Clinton."

USA - It’s Friday morning, and so far today, the Obama administration has posted 165 new regulations and notifications on its reguations.gov website. In the past 90 days, it has posted 6,125 regulations and notices – an average of 68 a day. The website allows visitors to find and comment on proposed regulations and related documents published by the US federal government. "Help improve Federal regulations by submitting your comments," the website says. Some of the proposed regulations revise regulations already on the books.

USA - World shares edged down for a fourth day on Monday as concerns about a potential US fiscal crisis and Greece's bailout dented optimism over global growth. Adding to the uncertainty, Japan reported that its economy shrank 0.9 percent in July-September from the previous quarter, pointing to a mild recession in the world's third-largest economy. "Investors remain consumed by US fiscal cliff consequences, and this is capping market enthusiasm," said Tim Waterer, senior trader at CMC Markets.

GREECE - Arm raised in a Nazi-style salute, the leader of Greece's fastest-rising political party surveyed hundreds of young men in black T-shirts as they exploded into cheers. Their battle cry reverberated through the night: Blood! Honour! Golden Dawn!

UK - The UK’s most senior general said in a BBC interview Sunday that Britain had in place contingency plans for a “very limited” response in the case of a worsening humanitarian situation in Syria within the next few months. The admission from Chief of the Defense Staff General Sir David Richards is the most serious warning yet that Britain is preparing for some kind of military involvement in Syria. It seems that British policy has now shifted from trying to support and organize the disparate rebel groups to considering full-blown military action. “The situation this winter I think may deteriorate and may well provoke calls to intervene in a limited way,” General Richards told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

USA - The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world's top oil producer by 2017, the West's energy agency said on Monday, predicting Washington will come very close to achieving a previously unthinkable energy self-sufficiency. The forecasts by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which advises large industrialized nations on energy policy, were in sharp contrast to previous IEA reports, which saw Saudi Arabia remaining the top producer until 2035.

GUATEMALA - A strong earthquake has hit Guatemala just days after at least 52 people were killed by the country's most powerful quake in decades. Thousands of people lost their houses and were left without power. President Perez Molina said 22 people were still missing. The 6.1-magnitude tremor had its epicentre off Guatemala's Pacific coast. It was also felt in El Salvador and Mexico's southern Chiapas state. There are no immediate reports of deaths or major damage, but the second strong quake in less than a week caused panic in the Central American country.

UK - As David Cameron completes his tour of the Middle East, flogging billions of dollars worth of British weapons for repression and mass destruction to Arab dictators, the British Prime Minister took absurdity and deception to new heights - by appointing himself as an interlocutor for “peaceful transition” in Syria.

ARGENTINA - An estimated 700,000 people gathered around the city's landmark obelisk and other main avenues to march towards the Casa Rosada, the Argentine seat of government. High crime, inflation of roughly 25 per cent a year, and a possible bid by government allies to reform the constitution to allow Ms Fernandez to run for a third term are also stoking unrest, particularly among middle-class Argentines. Her government has virtually banned dollar purchases and it limited imports this year, worsening a steep economic slowdown.

ISRAEL/GAZA - Israel said it was poised to escalate attacks on the Gaza Strip on Sunday following a surge of rocket and mortar salvoes by Hamas and other factions in the Palestinian enclave. A missile strike wounded four Israeli troops on jeep patrol along the Gaza boundary on Saturday, triggering army shelling that killed four Palestinian civilians and, in turn, dozens of short-range rocket launches out of Gaza that paralyzed Israel's southern border towns. Two Gaza militants died in the ensuing Israeli air strikes. The 2008-2009 Gaza conflict coincided with an election campaign and, four years on, some Israeli analysts see the same dynamics building.

UK - Schools should downgrade Christianity in assemblies for a more “inclusive” multi-faith approach, say religious education advisors. Teachers should no longer be expected to “accord a special status to Jesus Christ” as part of traditional acts of collective worship for pupils, it was claimed. Guidance sent out to local committees – established to determine RE in communities across England – called for a focus on a “wide range of religious traditions” such as Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. By law, conventional state schools are required to stage daily acts of collective worship that are “broadly Christian” to reflect the country’s heritage.

LONDON, UK - Lord Patten today insisted the BBC would go through a 'radical overhaul' in the wake of George Entwistle's dramatic resignation last night as director-general after just seven weeks in the job. The BBC Trust chairman said Mr Entwistle left the Corporation 'extremely honourably' and was taking responsibility for the 'awful journalism' that saw Newsnight wrongly label a Tory peer a paedophile. He told The Andrew Marr Show: 'Throughout this in the way the BBC has covered ourselves, our credibility depends on telling the truth about ourselves and others, however horrible it might be.'