Britain has formed an alliance with Switzerland to push changes to the court, which is based in Strasbourg and is not related to the European Union. The court's rulings are increasingly controversial, and ministers accuse it of over-reaching its role as an overseer of basic human rights. As well as ordering the UK to allow all prisoners to vote, the European judges have overturned some British immigration rulings. The Foreign Office and its Swiss counterpart have written a joint submission seeking reform of the court. "Urgent action is needed in order to avoid further damage to the reputation and effectiveness of the convention system," the document says.

The court "must address growing public and political concern", the two governments say. Instead of intervening in individual cases, the court should focus on major issues of principle, the text says. "The circumstances in which the European Court of Human Rights should need to reconsider the case and substitute its own view for that of the national court should be relatively limited." The court has a backlog of more than 150,000 cases to hear. Appealing a British immigration case to Strasbourg can delay final judgement on deportation by more than two years.

"The most pressing question we now face, we might well say, is who and where we are as a society. Bonds have been broken, trust abused and lost. Whether it is an urban rioter mindlessly burning down a small shop that serves his community, or a speculator turning his back on the question of who bears the ultimate cost for his acquisitive adventures in the virtual reality of today's financial world, the picture is of atoms spinning apart in the dark," he said.

It is not the first time the Archbishop has referred to last August's disturbances, which spread from Tottenham, north London, to cities across the country. Writing in The Guardian this month, Dr Williams spoke about the "enormous sadness" he felt during the riots. But he also said the Government should do more to rescue young people "who think they have nothing to lose".

The Church of England has also been caught up in the struggle between anti-capitalist protesters camped in front of St Paul's Cathedral since October and the Corporation of London, which is fighting a legal battle to disband the campsite. After the Church initially gave support to the protesters, the canon chancellor of St Paul's, Dr Giles Fraser, resigned from his position on October 27 following reports suggesting a rift between clergy over what action to take concerning the activists.

NFU Mutual estimates more than 60,000 sheep could have been stolen in the UK in the first 10 months of the year. The insurance company says 9,000 sheep had been stolen in north-west of England alone in the same period. NFU Mutual says livestock theft is costing UK farmers at least 6 million pounds a year based on insurance claims, but the true total is much higher. Last month, Carmarthenshire farmer Hugh Davies and his wife Mary noticed 150 sheep were missing from their 1,000-head flock on the Black Mountain at Brynamman.

"We are now keen to highlight this problem that is causing havoc among sheep farmers," said Mr Davies. NFU Mutual's livestock rustling figures for the first 10 months of 2011 showed claims up two-and-a-half times over the previous year. They also report rises in stolen cattle, pigs and game birds.

High meat prices may explain a resurgence in livestock rustling and NFU Mutual draws comparisons with the trade in stolen copper and diesel. Lamb chops have gone up in price from 1039p per kilogram in July 2008 to 1424p per kilo in July 2011. Farmers and butchers are being advised to check livestock records and ear tags to make sure they are not buying stolen animals.

They say Stratfor's clients include the US defence department, law enforcement agencies and media organisations. The Austin-based company says it has now suspended the operation on its servers and email. An alleged member of Anonymous posted an online message, claiming that the group had used Stratfor clients' credit card details to make "over a million dollars" in donations to different charities.

Stratfor later announced that it would keep its email and servers suspended for some time. It also said the disclosure was "merely a list of some of the members that have purchased our publications and does not comprise a list of individuals or entities that have a relationship with Stratfor". Anonymous has previously claimed responsibility for cyber attacks on financial institutions seen as enemies of the whistleblowing website Wikileaks.

Amid a fresh raft of poor eurozone economic data, Scott Bugie, head of S&P's financial institutions division doused the key cause for pre-Christmas optimism. Although he agreed Wednesday's long-term refinancing operation was a "big deal", Mr Bugie told Reuters: "It is not solving the fundamental issues though... It's kicking the can a long way down the road rather than just a little bit, but in the end it is still kicking the big old can down the road."

He said the action did not "change the fundamental picture but it does buy valuable time". He added: "The move in itself will not lead to any improvement in (banks') credit ratings." Earlier this month S&P put 15 of the 17 eurozone countries and some of their biggest banks on credit downgrade watch. The agency is expected to deliver a verdict on the credit watch in January.

The mainstream media, particularly in the US and the UK, are silent on the fact that the man who was once nominated as a key figure in a power sharing coalition, has gone into hiding. There is a warrant out for his arrest on the specious grounds that he was the mastermind controlling a death squad picking on senior military officers and government officers belonging to the majority Shiite sect. It is also claimed that his hands are stained with the latest round of ethnic bombing attacks.

Frankly, this seems more the line of work of the country's Prime Minister - and de facto dictator - Nouri Hasan al-Maliki. Al-Hashemi is now in Arbil, seat of the Iraq's quasi-independent northern Kurdish enclave. His departure seals the fate of further attempts to involve the Sunni minority faction in the central government in any meaningful fashion. Al-Maliki's power is now absolute. He is stepping directly into the vacant shoes of Saddam Hussein. Interestingly, the warrant for Al-Hashemi's arrest warrant was issued barely hours after the "last" American troops left the country.

It remains to be seen whether Al-Hashemi gets his exit papers to Turkey. If he does, then the presumption is that the Sunnis will be powerless to challenge Al-Maliki.

The government in Baghdad also knows that Iraq cannot afford to trifle with the Turks for another important reason: Turkey controls much of the Tigris-Euphrates river system. The rivers are filtered through a series of immense dams in south eastern Anatolia. So, in a sense it is Turkey (and to some extent, Iran) that exercises an important direct power over whatever government is in power in Baghdad.

Michael Snyder writes: So if things are going well for you right now, enjoy this little bubble of peace and tranquility while you can. Because while things may look calm on the surface right now, the truth is that this is a very scary Christmas for financial professionals and world leaders. Most of them know how fragile the global financial system is at the moment. Most of them know that we are living in the greatest bubble of debt, leverage and financial risk that the world has ever seen. As I wrote about the other day, world leaders would not be throwing huge bailouts around like crazy if everything was going to be just fine.

The truth is that we are rapidly approaching another financial crisis that may end up being even worse than the horrific crash of 2008. Despite unprecedented efforts by the European Central Bank, the yield on 10 year Italian bonds is nearly up to 7 percent again. Keep an eye on the yield on 10 year Italian bonds. That is going to be one of the most important financial numbers in the world in the coming months.

But Italy is not the only problem. The reality is that several European governments are teetering on the verge of default right now. Meanwhile, confidence in the European financial system has been absolutely shattered and a devastating credit crunch has set in. Nobody (other than the ECB) wants to loan money to the banks and the banks are massively cutting back on loans to businesses and consumers. This is causing the money supply to fall. The ECB is trying to hold things together with chicken wire and duct tape, but it isn't going to work.

In major financial centers such as the City of London, this is a very scary Christmas and the outlook for the new year looks very frightening. Because financial activity has dried up so dramatically, a number of firms are already shutting down. As the Telegraph recently reported, the British government is now making plans based on the assumption that a collapse of the euro is only "just a matter of time".

Yes, we are heading for a huge financial collapse and massive economic trouble. So enjoy the good times while we still have them. They are not going to last too much longer.

The rally on Moscow's Sakharov Avenue on Saturday was the fourth and by far the biggest of the mass demonstrations provoked by the parliamentary vote held on 4 December. The ruling United Russia party, led by the Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, held on to a slim majority in parliament in those elections, but the results have been tainted by claims of wholesale fraud.

The demonstrators stood for hours in sub-zero weather on Saturday listening to a line-up of speakers as diverse as the crowd itself, including TV celebrities, writers, musicians, politicians, scientists and a jailed dissident whose video message was broadcast on a giant screen beside the stage. "The people are waking up," said Sergei Udaltsov, the leader of the Left Front opposition group who was arrested on the day of the elections as he heading to a rally. "The people have stopped putting up with this humiliating regime."

The name given to the demonstration - "For Fair Elections" - was also its main demand, suggesting a growing desire for the return of true democracy, not the "managed democracy" crafted under Mr Putin's 12-year rule.

A source in the United Russia party, who spoke to The Independent after the rally on Saturday, said the government planned to engineer opposition parties to fill in the political spectrum and soak up opposition votes. "We have to take drastic action," he said. "We've missed our chance to learn how to work with the people and calm them down. We urgently have to open up the system."

The statements were made in messages Firouzabadi sent to his Iraqi counterpart, Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari, and to Iraq's acting defence minister, Saadun al-Dulaimi, IRNA said. "I hope the humiliating failure of the United States after nine years of occupying Iraq will serve as a lesson for them to never think of attacking another country," he said.

Firouzabadi added that Iran was now "ready to expand its military and security ties with Iraq." Zebari led a delegation of Iraqi military chiefs to Iran last month to explore greater cooperation between the two defence forces. US analysts have expressed concern that Iran could exploit the vacuum left by the US withdrawal to bolster links with Iraq's Shiite-led government. The United States frequently accused Iran of arming Iraqi militias that attacked US forces when they were deployed there.

The party list led by the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won 36.3 percent of the list vote, while the ultra-conservative Salafi al-Nour Party took 28.8 percent, pushing the liberal Wafd party into third place. The vote, staged over six weeks, is the first free election Egypt has held after the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak, who routinely rigged polls before he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February.

The West long looked to Mubarak and other strongmen in the region to help combat Islamist militants, and has watched warily as Islamist parties have topped votes in Tunisia, Morocco and now Egypt. Parliament's prime job will be appointing a 100-strong assembly to write a new constitution which will define the president's powers and parliament's clout in the new Egypt.

Analysts say poor coordination among non-Islamist groups has divided the liberal vote, sometimes handing the majority to an Islamist by default.

"The world economy is in a dangerous situation," she told France's Journal du Dimanche in an interview published on Sunday. The debt crisis, which continues into 2012 after a European Union summit on December 9 only temporarily calmed markets, "is a crisis of confidence in public debt and in the solidity of the financial system," she said. European leaders drafted a new treaty for deeper economic integration in the euro zone, but it is not certain that the accord will stem the debt crisis, which began in Greece in 2009, and now threatens France and even economic powerhouse Germany.

"The December 9 summit wasn't detailed enough on financial terms and too complicated on fundamental principles," said Lagarde. "It would be useful for Europeans to speak with a single voice and announce a simple and detailed timetable," she said. "Investors are waiting for it. Grand principles don't impress." Lagarde added: "National parliaments grumble at using public money or the guarantee of their state to support other countries. Protectionism is in the debate, and everyone for themselves is winning ground." She did not specify which countries she was referring to.

Militant Islamist group Boko Haram said it carried out the attacks. A blast outside a church near the capital Abuja claimed 35 lives, while a policeman died in the city of Jos and four people were killed in Damaturu. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said the attacks were "an unwarranted affront on our collective safety and freedom", adding: "Nigerians must stand as one to condemn them."

Martin Plaut, BBC News, comments: "Boko Haram - which has admitted carrying out these attacks - has been locked in an increasingly bloody struggle with the Nigerian authorities since it was founded in 2002. There were indications these attacks were being planned. In the past week, bombs that were being prepared exploded prematurely in Yobe and Kaduna states. Then the police raided a suspected Boko Haram hideout in Yobe. Some 60 people were killed in the ensuing gun battle. Sunday's bomb attacks appear part of a planned offensive by the militants, who are calling for a strict Islamic state."

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden", wants the imposition of Sharia law.

His statement comes days after Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner claimed Britain was ready to use force to seize other countries' natural resources 'anywhere, anyhow'. Mrs Kirchner pledged an 'eternal fight' for the disputed islands which Britain has held since the 1830s and fought a brief but bloody war over in 1982. Cameron also used the message to insist that Britain wanted to work with Argentina. He said in his statement: 'It is in our interests that we have a constructive relationship with Argentina.'

Argentina has repeatedly claimed ownership of the Falklands and the dispute has escalated since the exploration for oil in in the islands' territorial waters in recent years. There were newspaper reports yesterday claiming that Argentina has prepared secret plans for a new invasion.

"I start dreading Christmas from the time the decorations go up in the stores," she says. "It stopped being fun for me, so I'll find out this year if I can do without it altogether. I think it will be a relief. It already is."

The holiday is in no danger of extinction. Retail sales broke records over the Thanksgiving weekend, and online sales are up 15% from 2010, according to ComScore, a research company. A Gallup Poll found that Americans expect to spend an average of $764 on Christmas gifts, $50 more than a year ago. And forecasters expect spending on Christmas to rise 3.1% to $3.4 billion this holiday season.

Still, says Leah Ingram, who runs the Suddenly Frugal blog at suddenlyfrugal.com, many people are scaling way back this year, if not opting out of Christmas completely. Homemade presents and shared experiences are replacing expensive store-bought gifts among people who are feeling the pinch financially and those who object to the season's rampant consumerism.

"Everybody has too much stuff, and maybe that's where it's coming from," Ingram says. Some people simply loathe the holiday. A Facebook search for "I hate Christmas" turns up dozens of results, including pages and posts from people who say they despise almost everything about Christmas: music, shopping, family gatherings, trees and lights.

The 84-year-old pope, celebrating the seventh Christmas season of his pontificate, also urged that those marking the holiday in poverty, suffering or far from home not be forgotten. At the start of a Christmas Eve service, he was wheeled up the central aisle of St Peter's Basilica standing on a mobile platform which he has been using since October.

The Vatican says it is to conserve his strength, allow more people to see him and guard against attacks such as one on Christmas Eve, 2009, when a woman lunged at him and knocked him to the ground. He is believed to suffer from arthritis in the legs.

On January 1 he marks the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace.