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* Biggest economies face $7.6 trillion bond tab

* Economists see bleak year ahead

* Bulk of emerging nations struggle through 2011

* Year-end bets against euro hit record

* Embraer wins $355m US Air Force contract

* India, China manufacturing shows resilience

* China’s new leaders get in line

* Chavez to settle Exxon claim with $255m cash payment

* BAE wins £133m Brazil navy contract

* Tens of thousands protest against Hungary government

* Arab League says Syria monitors are helping

* Tunisia seeks guarantee to extradite Libyan ex-PM

* Markets: mixed

Biggest economies face $7.6 trillion bond tab
Governments of the world’s leading economies have more than $7.6 trillion of debt maturing this year, with most facing a rise in borrowing costs, Bloomberg reports. Led by Japan’s $3 trillion and the U.S.’s $2.8 trillion, the amount coming due for the Group of Seven nations and Brazil, Russia, India and China is up from $7.4 trillion at this time last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Ten-year bond yields will be higher by year-end for at least seven of the countries, forecasts show.

Economists see bleak year ahead
The coming year will rival 2009 for economic weakness as output is hit by the continuing debt crisis in the eurozone, according to a large majority of economists polled by the Financial Times.

Bulk of emerging nations struggle through 2011
It has been a torrid year for emerging markets and there have been few success stories. Amid fears of a global recession and huge volatility across markets, investors have fled many risky assets, including EM, the FT reports.

Year-end bets against euro hit record
Hedge funds increased their bets against the euro to a record level in the last week of 2011, increasing pressure on the embattled European common currency as it enters the most testing year of its history, the FT reports.

Embraer wins $355m US Air Force contract
Brazil’s Embraer has won a hotly disputed contract to build counterinsurgency aircraft in its first deal with the US Air Force that marks a strategic victory for the company and an important milestone in relations between the two nations, the FT reports.

India, China manufacturing shows resilience
Manufacturing in India and China improved in December, a sign the world’s fastest-growing major economies are withstanding Europe’s debt crisis, Bloomberg reports.

China’s new leaders get in line
China begins a once-a-decade leadership change in 2012 that could paralyze decision-making, stir infighting and expose flaws in an ossified political system—just when urgent action is needed to steer the world’s second-largest economy, the WSJ reports.

Chavez to settle Exxon claim with $255m cash payment
Petroleos de Venezuela, the state oil company, said it was given 60 days to pay Exxon Mobil about $255m in cash to settle a $907m arbitration claim over assets seized by Hugo Chavez in 2007, Bloomberg reports.

BAE wins £133m Brazil navy contract
BAE Systems has won its first big naval contract in Brazil in a £133m deal that underscores the rising importance of developing economies as new markets for military equipment, the FT reports.

Tens of thousands protest against Hungary government
Tens of thousands of Hungarians protested in Budapest on Monday against the government and its new Basic Law in a show of anxiety over what they see as the ruling Fidesz party’s moves to weaken democratic institutions and cement its powers, Reuters reports.

Arab League says Syria monitors are helping
The head of the Arab League has said its peace monitors are helping to ease a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in Syria, but urged President Bashar al-Assad’s government to carry out a peace plan in full, Reuters reports. Though the WSJ reports that the Arab League conceded that outside observers have failed to halt the lethal violence in Syria’s 10-month civil conflict, exposing pitfalls of the organization’s self-reinvention as a regional diplomatic playmaker.

Tunisia seeks guarantee to extradite Libyan ex-PM
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki told Libya on Monday that his country would extradite former Libyan prime minister Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi to Tripoli to face charges of abuse of office if Libya guaranteed him a fair trial, Reuters reports.

Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index up +1.07% at 926.88

Americas
DJIA down -0.57% at 12,218
S&P 500 down -0.43% at 1,258
Bovespa up +1.89% at 57,829

Asia
Nikkei 225 up +0.67% at 8,455
Topix up +0.90% at 728.61
Hang Seng up +2.05% at 18,813
Shanghai Composite up +1.19% at 2,199
MSCI Asia ex-Japan up +1.76% at 465.85
S&P CNX Nifty Index up +1.77% at 4,719

Currencies
€/$ 1.30 (1.29)
$/¥ 76.80 (76.85)

Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) up +1.30 at 108.68
Light Crude (Nymex) up +1.69 at 100.52
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +13.20 at 1,579