The British Airways Stewards’ and Stewardesses’ Association, part of Unite, urged members to be bolder in reporting “fume events” and warned their long term health might be at risk from toxic organophosphates. The alert came after a Mayday distress call was issued on a flight from Heathrow to Marseille last Sunday, and as a plane travelling to London from Lisbon on Thursday radioed for help at 30,000 feet.

The airline has now suffered four known emergencies due to suspected toxic engine oil fumes in the past three weeks. It insists there are “no common trends” but BA’s chief executive Keith Williams is now being fully briefed on the issue.

Shutdown was only avoided because a gas-fired station due to close by next winter came to the rescue. Last night experts warned that life-threatening blackouts are increasingly likely as “we head downhill – fast”. Alistair Buchanan, the outgoing head of energy regulator Ofgem said: “On Wednesday, January 16, due to unplanned outages and cold weather, National Grid had to find power to supply roughly a million homes to keep the lights on.”

“Fawley, an oil-fired plant in Hampshire, was one of the power stations that responded. Next winter Fawley will not be there. And as a spell of bitter cold once more hits the UK, the near switch-off which came so perilously close on that freezing afternoon, underscores the magnitude of the energy crisis.”

If you fall behind on your mortgage payments, the big banks have shown that they are willing to be absolutely ruthless. They will change locks in the middle of the night, they will toss disabled veterans and families with children out into the street in the middle of winter, and sometimes once the foreclosure process has begun they will not even allow someone to come forward and offer to pay off the loan if they think that they can make more money by selling the home. In fact, the big banks just continue to gain even more market share and even more power.

"Too often Americans are victimized by government force simply for engaging in commercial transactions disproved of by Congress and the federal bureaucracy."

"For example, the offices of Rawesome Foods in Venice, California, have been repeatedly raided by armed federal and state agents, and Rawesome’s founder, 65-year old James Stewart, has been imprisoned. What heinous crime justified this action? Rawesome sold unpasteurized (raw) milk and cheese to willing customers – in a state where raw milk is legal! You cannot even drink milk from a cow without a federal permit!"

Pope Benedict XVI's resignation, the first by a pope in nearly 600 years, takes effect on Thursday. His decision surprised many within the Church. There have been recent articles in the Italian and international media suggesting intrigue and corruption in the Church.

An unconfirmed report in one of Italy's biggest newspapers, La Repubblica, suggested that the Pope had resigned shortly after being presented with a dossier detailing a network of Vatican priests, "united by sexual orientation" who were being blackmailed. Without giving credence to such allegations or addressing the report specifically, the Vatican spokesman said those putting themselves in positions of judgement had no authority to do so.

"Whoever has money, sex and power at the forefront of their mind sees the world through these parameters and cannot see beyond, even when looking at the Church," he said. "Their view cannot look to the heights or go in-depth to understand the spiritual dimensions and motivations of existence," he added.

The pope's spokesman declined to confirm or deny the report, which was carried by the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica. The paper said the pope had taken the decision on 17 December that he was going to resign – the day he received a dossier compiled by three cardinals delegated to look into the so-called "Vatileaks" affair.

Last May Pope Benedict's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested and charged with having stolen and leaked papal correspondence that depicted the Vatican as a seething hotbed of intrigue and infighting. According to La Repubblica, the dossier comprising "two volumes of almost 300 pages – bound in red" had been consigned to a safe in the papal apartments and would be delivered to the pope's successor upon his election.

The newspaper said the cardinals described a number of factions, including one whose members were "united by sexual orientation". In an apparent quotation from the report, La Repubblica said some Vatican officials had been subject to "external influence" from laymen with whom they had links of a "worldly nature". The paper said this was a clear reference to blackmail.

It quoted a source "very close to those who wrote [the cardinal's report]" as saying: "Everything revolves around the non-observance of the sixth and seventh commandments." The seventh enjoins against theft. The sixth forbids adultery, but is linked in Catholic doctrine to the proscribing of homosexual acts.

When it comes to the European Union, many in Germany and around the 27-member club think first and foremost of mind-numbing bureaucracy in Brussels and the never-ending crisis facing the Continent's common currency. Citizens feel powerless, helpless and oftentimes ignored.

The German president noted the difficulties currently facing the EU and warned that further integration is needed in terms of financial and economic policy as well as foreign and defense issues. When it comes to the need for reform, he said, "We are in the midst of this discussion, not at the end" and urged that "we must prevent anyone being driven into the arms of populists and nationalists by uncertainty or fear."

Finally, Gauck addressed the skepticism toward Germany that has become widespread in Europe as the euro crisis has progressed, particularly in those countries laboring under onerous austerity programs. "I want to assure all citizens of neighboring countries that I cannot imagine any of Germany's policymakers seeking to impose a German diktat," Gauck said. "It is my heartfelt conviction that, in Germany, more Euorpe does not mean a German Europe. For us, more Europe means a European Germany."

Gauck received a standing ovation at the end of his speech. And then he quickly left the stage.

North and South Korea are technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The US-South Korean Combined Forces Command is holding an annual computer-based simulation war drill, Key Resolve, from March 11 to 25, involving 10,000 South Korean and 3,500 US troops.

The command also plans to hold Foal Eagle joint military exercises involving land, sea and air manoeuvres. About 200,000 Korean troops and 10,000 US forces are expected to be mobilized for the two month-long exercise which starts on March 1.