David Cameron battled to stay ahead of the swirl of allegations about child sex abuse in the UK, including the potential involvement of a close ally of Lady Thatcher, by announcing two further urgent inquiries into an alleged paedophile ring in north Wales in the 1970s and 1980s.

Faced by claims that senior Conservative politicians and other establishment figures may have been involved in the scandal - and a subsequent cover-up - Cameron announced he would establish an urgent investigation by a senior independent figure into the conduct of the official Waterhouse inquiry into the child sex abuse ring, which was held between 1996 and 2000.

The prime minister is on an official visit to the Middle East. His spokesman in London said a separate inquiry was also expected to be held into the way the North Wales police had handled complaints at the time. That inquiry is likely to be conducted by the National Crime Agency.

David Cameron has arrived in the Gulf at the beginning of a low-key arms trip aimed at persuading regional powers upset by Britain's response to the Arab spring to buy more than 100 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets. The deals could be worth more than £6bn to Britain.

The prime minister landed in Dubai on a mission to patch up relations with leaders in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where major British businesses such as BP and BAE have important interests.

Cameron, who is irritated by claims that he uses his overseas trips to sell defence equipment to countries with questionable human rights records, has made arrangements to minimise the media coverage of the trip.

Every schoolboy used to know that at the height of the empire, almost a quarter of the atlas was coloured pink, showing the extent of British rule.

But that oft recited fact dramatically understates the remarkable global reach achieved by this country.

A new study has found that at various times the British have invaded almost 90 per cent of the countries around the globe.

The analysis of the histories of the almost 200 countries in the world found only 22 which have never experienced an invasion by the British.

Among this select group of nations are far-off destinations such as Guatemala, Tajikistan and the Marshall Islands, as well some slightly closer to home, such as Luxembourg.

I learned at the age of 10, when I was shipped off to a New England boarding school where the hazing of younger boys was the principal form of recreation, that those who hunger for power are psychopathic bastards. The bullies in the forms above me, the sadistic masters on our dormitory floors, the deans and the headmaster would morph in later life into bishops, newspaper editors, college presidents, politicians, heads of state, business titans and generals. Those who revel in the ability to manipulate and destroy are demented and deformed individuals. These severely diminished and stunted human beings - think Bill and Hillary Clinton - shower themselves, courtesy of elaborate public relations campaigns and an obsequious press, with encomiums of piety, patriotism, devoted public service, honor, courage and vision, not to mention a lot of money. They are at best mediocrities and usually venal. I have met enough of them to know.

So it is with some morbid fascination that I watch Barack Obama, who has become the prime "dominatrix" of the liberal class, force us in this election to plead for more humiliation and abuse. Obama has carried out a far more egregious assault on our civil liberties, including signing into law Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), than George W. Bush. Section 1021(b)(2), which I challenged in federal court, permits the U.S. military to detain American citizens, strip them of due process and hold them indefinitely in military facilities. U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest struck down the law in September. The Obama administration immediately appealed the decision. The NDAA has been accompanied by use of the Espionage Act, which Obama has turned to six times in silencing whistle-blowers. Obama supported the FISA Amendment Act so government could spy on tens of millions of us without warrants. He has drawn up kill lists to exterminate those, even U.S. citizens, deemed by the ruling elite to be terrorists.

Rafea Mohamad was an actor in Syria. He was kidnapped and killed by the FSA. He spoke out several times and told the truth about what is really happening. They silenced his voice, but his legacy lives on.

In 2010, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the IDF to prepare fully for a war with Iran. The head of Mossad intelligence service and country's chief of general staff opposed the move and prevented war with Iran, a documentary claims.

­Investigative journalist Ilana Dayan produced an hour-long documentary for Israel's Channel 2 TV on the decision-making process in Israeli policy towards Iran over the last decade, from PM Ariel Sharon to PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

The film, to be aired late on Monday, poses the question as to how far a politician can go in taking a "no return" decision to assault a foreign state he believes poses a threat to his country and whether he has the authority to do so unilaterally.

The move was made during a meeting of "forum of seven" group that represents only a part of the Israeli government. Netanyahu addressed the now-retired Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and actually ordered the head of the Israeli Defense Forces to "set the systems for P-plus," which means full IDF readiness for an assault. The request met full support of the attending the meeting country's Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

The merger of the rightwing parties will increase extremism and racism against Palestinians. Sanctions are the only answer

Ahead of the Israeli elections next January, a merger between the parties of the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has been announced. They are to contest the elections on a joint list, intending to become the largest bloc in the Knesset.

The move is seen as an achievement for both men. Netanyahu was shaken by the recent decline in the popularity of his Likud party at the rate of one seat per week. More specifically, his apprehension revolved around the possible return of Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, as leader of an opposition alliance consisting of Tzipi Livni, the former foreign minister; Shaul Mofaz, leader of Kadima; and Yair Labed, a rising political star.

Netanyahu's avowed objective is to assemble a major political force that would guarantee his re-election and ensure his dominance of the Israeli right. Lieberman is the main beneficiary of this alliance: it guarantees power for his party, Yisrael Beiteinu, and under the agreement, Lieberman can choose to run whatever ministry he desires, including the important ministry of defence. He will gain political legitimacy and be transformed from a mere participant in a coalition government to a key player. If in recent years the government has been a construct of Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, the defence minister, the next government will be a Netanyahu-Lieberman one. Lieberman can also contest Likud's leadership after Netanyahu.

The alliance reflects a lunge to the right, at a time of greater extremism in Israeli politics. Previously, Lieberman was very much on the margins. When he became minister of transport, a minister in the Labour party resigned, refusing to sit at the same table with him.

Residents throughout the city and surrounding areas have been hit hard by the violent winds, rains, and flooding that the "super storm" Sandy threw at them earlier in the week.

Now facing the aftermath, residents and businesses await the next phase of recovery as they piece back together their lives to some sense of normality. But when will it come?

In the middle of New York harbor lies weather struck Staten Island, mostly flooded and submerged from the storm.

It has now been reported by ABC and others that Staten Island is under distress as residents fight for there lives in what has been described as not only a "disaster zone" but a "war zone".

Thousands of people are displaced as some seek refuge in shelters throughout the region.

This is a video and picture enhanced radio show interview between Dr. Judy Wood and Regina Meredith on Conscious Media Network at http://www.cmn.tv/radio/judy-wood/

Where Did The Towers Go is Dr. Judy Wood's book which is a summary of the physical evidence submitted in her federal qui tam case accusing the defendants of science fraud. NIST was mandated by congress to "Determine why and how WTC 1 and WTC 2 collapsed..." yet NIST admitted to me that they did not analyze the "collapse." The contractors they hired with taxpayer money knowingly allowed the fraudulent report to become final.

A year on from the Arab Spring, supposed to usher in a new era for Yemen, for most it is a perilous time. With no clear direction, it is plagued by instability and lawlessness, allowing it to fall prey to further US military expansion.

­The unrest brought about by the Arab Spring triggered numerous political transitions throughout the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. In Yemen, the only state in the Arabian Peninsula to have a republican form of government, President Ali Abdullah Saleh was deposed after 33 years in power, and replaced by his deputy, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

After nearly a year since this political transition, Yemen continues to face food insecurity, impoverishment and the threat of violent extremism from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and other Islamist militias. Guns are everywhere in the country's capital, Sana'a, and several government ministries are abandoned and riddled with bullet holes. Once frequented by foreign tourists, political instability has left Yemen's rich historical sites abandoned.