New technologies, dwindling resources and explosive population growth in the next 18 years will alter the global balance of power and trigger radical economic and political changes at a speed unprecedented in modern history, says a new report by the U.S. intelligence community.

The 140-page report released today by the National Intelligence Council lays out dangers and opportunities for nations, economies, investors, political systems and leaders due to four "megatrends" that government intelligence analysts say are transforming the world.

Those major trends are the end of U.S. global dominance, the rising power of individuals against states, a rising middle class whose demands challenge governments, and a Gordian knot of water, food and energy shortages, according to the analysts.

The United States is reportedly planning to send sophisticated weapons to foreign-sponsored militants fighting the Syrian government.

Washington has already admitted to providing logistical and communication assistance to militants in Syria, but now there are reports of a covert US plan to practically arm them.

The recent reports said a wide range of modern weapons would be sent to Syria through Washington's regional allies, such as Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

According to diplomatic sources, Americans have bought some of the weapons, including Russian-made Strela 2 missiles, from the stockpiles of slain Libyan dictator Muammar Ghaddafi. Strela 2 or SA-7 is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system.

I am sitting in the visiting area of the SCI Mahanoy prison in Frackville, Pa., on a rainy, cold Friday morning with Mumia Abu-Jamal, America's most famous political prisoner and one of its few authentic revolutionaries. He is hunched forward on the gray plastic table, his dreadlocks cascading down the sides of his face, in a room that looks like a high school cafeteria. He is talking intently about the nature of empire, which he is currently reading voraciously about, and effective forms of resistance to tyranny throughout history. Small children, visiting their fathers or brothers, race around the floor, wail or clamber on the plastic chairs. Abu-Jamal, like the other prisoners in the room, is wearing a brown jumpsuit bearing the letters DOC - for Department of Corrections.

Abu-Jamal was transferred in January to the general prison population after nearly 30 years in solitary confinement on death row and was permitted physical contact with his wife, children and other visitors for the first time in three decades. He had been sentenced to death in 1982 for the Dec. 9, 1981, killing of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. His sentence was recently amended to life without parole. The misconduct of the judge, flagrant irregularities in his trial and tainted evidence have been criticized by numerous human rights organizations, including Amnesty International.

Western officials believe Israel may have leaked information from IAEA investigation in bid to raise global pressure on Tehran

Israel is suspected of carrying out a series of leaks implicating Iran in nuclear weapons experiments in an attempt to raise international pressure on Tehran and halt its programme.

Western diplomats believe the leaks may have backfired, compromising a UN-sanctioned investigation into Iran's past nuclear activities and current aspirations.

The latest leak, published by the Associated Press (AP), purported to be an Iranian diagram showing the physics of a nuclear blast, but scientists quickly pointed out an elementary mistake that cast doubt on its significance and authenticity. An article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists declared: "This diagram does nothing more than indicate either slipshod analysis or an amateurish hoax."

The leaked diagram raised questions about an investigation being carried out by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors after it emerged that it formed part of a file of intelligence on alleged Iranian nuclear weapons work held by the agency.

Cameron asks military chiefs to draw up plans for maritime or air support to rebels - but UK 'will act only if US does'

Britain's military chiefs have drawn up contingency plans to provide Syrian rebels with maritime, and possibly air, power in response to a request from David Cameron, senior defence sources said on Monday night.

However, they said the UK would act only if the US did so and made it clear that British chiefs of staffs are seriously worried about the consequences of intervening in the Syrian crisis.

Military sources have privately been expressing growing concern about pressure from Downing Street.

Officials compared it to the pressure applied by Cameron before Britain and France took the lead in the campaign of air strikes on Libya early last year.

Cheik Modibo Diarra was arrested at his home around 10pm on Monday by soldiers loyal to Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo

Mali's prime minister resigned on state television in a broadcast at 4am local time on Tuesday, hours after soldiers who led a recent coup burst into his home and arrested him.

Cheik Modibo Diarra appeared somber in his national address, saying: "Our country is living through a period of crisis. Men and women who are worried about the future of our nation are hoping for peace.

"It's for this reason that I, Cheik Modibo Diarra, am resigning along with my entire government on this day, Tuesday, 11 December, 2012. I apologise before the entire population of Mali."

A police officer and an intelligence official confirmed that the 60-year-old Diarra had been arrested at his private residence at around 10pm on Monday by soldiers loyal to Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, the leader of the country's recent coup.

News of bank's agreement comes hours after Standard Chartered admitted settlement with US regulator over Iran

HSBC is expected to admit on Tuesday it has settled allegations of running money for Mexican drug barons for a larger than expected $1.9bn (£1.2bn), barely 24 hours after close rival Standard Chartered admitted paying $670m (£415m) in penalties to US regulators to settle allegations it broke sanctions on Iran.

The $1.9bn that HSBC will pay to the US authorities exceeds the $1.5bn it had warned it could cost to settle the allegations raised in a damning US Senate report in the summer which came amid a wave of scandals to hit the banking sector.

HSBC is expected to confirm it has struck the agreement which has already led to the departure of compliance head David Bagley and put pressure on former chairman Lord Green, now a trade minister.

The bank is expected to admit violating US laws meant to prohibit money laundering including the Bank Secrecy Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act. The deal is expected to include a settlement with the powerful Manhattan district attorney's office and a deferred prosecution agreement with both the Justice department and Treasury department.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the maid who accused him of trying to rape her, resolving a legal saga that ended his term as head of the International Monetary Fund and derailed a potential French presidential bid.

Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn and the hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, told New York State Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon in the Bronx today that they have reached an agreement to end the suit, which accused the former IMF head of "violent and deplorable acts" during an encounter at the Sofitel in midtown Manhattan.

Iran on Monday once again lambasted the NATO forces in Afghanistan for increasing drug cultivation, production and trafficking in Afghanistan, saying almost all the world opium production is done in front of the eyes of the foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Deputy Head of Iran's Anti-Narcotics Headquarters Babak Dinparast on Monday deplored the weak performance of NATO and US forces in Afghanistan in combating narcotics.

He referred to the seizure of 12 tons of narcotics in Eastern Iran in recent days, and said, "These seizures have been made as we are witnessing production of 95 percent of the world's opium in Afghanistan despite the presence (of the forces) of 48 countries in there."

Dinparast further reminded that war on narcotics was one of the reasons mentioned by the US-led western countries for their 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, while their soldiers have refused to take any measure to help combat drugs in practice.

Americans would benefit from less outrage at anti-US sentiment and more energy toward understanding why it's so widespread

Which of these two stories is causing more controversy and outrage in the US?

New York Daily News, Friday:

"Fiercely anti-American lyrics from Korean rapper Psy have been unearthed just two weeks before the star is scheduled to perform for President Obama.

"The 'Gangnam Style' singer calls for US soldiers to be killed in one song, prompting a short-lived petition to ax Psy from the bill at the Christmas in Washington celebration.

"In 2004, Psy rapped on a South Korean metal band's song, 'Dear American', at a protest concert, The Washington Post reported. 'Kill those f---ing Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives', he said. 'Kill those f---ing Yankees who ordered them to torture. Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers. Kill them all slowly and painfully.'

"Two years earlier, after a pair of Korean schoolgirls were mowed down by a U.S.-operated armored vehicle, Psy again expressed vitriol toward America. Onstage, he smashed a plastic model of a U.S. tank into pieces as the crowd cheered, The Korea Herald reported.

"Psy apologized in a statement to the Daily News, adding that the song in question is from nearly a decade ago, and was 'part of a deeply emotional reaction to the war in Iraq and the killing of two Korean schoolgirls.'"

The Guardian, Friday:

"The US military is facing fresh questions over its targeting policy in Afghanistan after a senior army officer suggested that troops were on the lookout for 'children with potential hostile intent'".

"In comments which legal experts and campaigners described as 'deeply troubling', army Lt Col Marion Carrington told the Marine Corp Times that children, as well as 'military-age males', had been identified as a potential threat because some were being used by the Taliban to assist in attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. . . .

"In the article, headlined 'Some Afghan kids aren't bystanders', Carrington referred to a case this year in which the Afghan national police in Kandahar province said they found children helping insurgents by carrying soda bottles full of potassium chlorate.

"The piece also quoted an unnamed marine corps official who questioned the 'innocence' of Afghan children, particularly three who were killed in a US rocket strike in October. Last month, the New York Times quoted local officials who said Borjan, 12, Sardar Wali, 10, and Khan Bibi, eight, from Helmand's Nawa district had been killed while gathering dung for fuel.

"However, the US official claimed that, before they called for the strike on suspected insurgents planting improvised explosive devices, marines had seen the children digging a hole in a dirt road and that 'the Taliban may have recruited the children to carry out the mission'. . . .

"'When you get to the suggestion that children with potentially hostile intent may be perceived to be legitimate targets is deeply troubling and unlawful,' [said Pardiss Kebriaei, senior attorney of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a specialist in targeted killings]."

Whatever else one wants to say, the US is a country that, for more than a decade, has loudly and continuously declared itself to be a "nation at war". It's not "at war" in any one county, but in many countries around the globe.