A brave step towards peace or grudging acceptance that military defeat was inevitable – the IRA’s historic ceasefire of 1994 still sharply divides opinion in the North 20 years on.

Republicans in the House of Representatives confronted with a revolt among the party’s rank and file abruptly delayed a vote on legislation to avert a fast-approaching “fiscal cliff”.

A federal judge ordered the US military to stop enforcing its ban on openly gay troops immediately, bringing the 17-year “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy closer than it has ever been to being abolished.

The White House press secretary most known for defending President George Bush on Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and a host of other controversies has produced a shock memoir damning his old boss on nearly every level.