The World

- ‘The troika decision-making [is] baffling and the vision of the founding fathers of the single currency [is] a mockery,” argues Christopher Pissarides, an adviser to the president of Cyprus, as other small eurozone nations are feeling increasingly defensive about their economies.

- Stefan Wagstyl suggests that the latest Brics summit has exposed the limits of the five nations’ possible co-operation. (Imagine a group of five friends who get together to build a holiday house but can’t agree on what it should cost, where to put it or who should pay for it.?) Meanwhile Gideon Rachman reckons that Brazil is the only Brics country that still qualifies to be a member of the club. Read more

The US House of Representatives easily but grudgingly passed a compromise bill to avert the fiscal cliff but the deal triggers a fresh showdown in two months, over spending and the deficit.

Andrew Higgins of the New York Times reports from Latvia on how the government’s austerity measures have revived the economy. Read more

Predictions that the world would end today proved misplaced but Jamil Anderlini has shone a light on the crackdown on a Chinese doomsday cult – Eastern Lightning.

Roula Khalaf writes in a Global Insight how the shifting balance in Syria presents a new opportunity to end the conflict, while the New York Times reports on the impact of President Bashar al-Assad’s use of cluster bombs. Read more

- China has just completed its leadership transition and while the Communist party congress was carefully scripted, plenty of questions remain unanswered. The FT’s Beijing bureau chief Jamil Anderlini discusses the extent to which the party is in decline, while the FT’s Asia editor David Pilling sets some benchmarks for incoming leader Xi Jinping.

- Gershon Baskin, a mediator in the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit – who was held hostage by Hamas, writes that the Israeli offensive in Gaza was a mistake. Read more

- It’s hard not to be drawn into the salacious elements of the David Petraeus resignation scandal. The Daily Telegraph’s Jon Swaine has examined the Jill Kelley and her twin sister’s financial woes. Of the more serious issues, the FT looks at the scrutiny around the FBI’s investigation and the Atlantic addresses the growing militarisation of the CIA.

- On a related theme, the BBC examines the cult of the American general. Read more

- “Beijing looks as if the government declared martial law in the midst of a floral convention” – FT Beijing bureau chief Jamil Anderlini discusses Chinese society’s ever greater expectations amid the start of the Communist party congress that will choose the country’s new leadership.

- FT China correspondent Kathrin Hille analyses how and why outgoing president Hu Jintao has kept the next generation of leaders on a short leash , and the concern raised by his call to build up the nation’s sea power. Read more

Here are some of the articles that have grabbed our attention from today’s FT and elsewhere:

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Photo: Getty

The FT’s Westminster Blog ran live coverage of James Murdoch’s appearance at the Leveson inquiry in media standards and journalistic ethics. Read more