Standard Chartered is understood to have withdrawn tens of billions of pounds from the eurozone inter-bank lending market in recent months and cut its overall exposure by two-thirds in the past few weeks as it has become increasingly worried about the finances of other European banks. Barclays has also cut its exposure in recent months as senior managers have become increasingly concerned about developments among banks with large exposures to the troubled European countries Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy and Portugal.

In its interim management statement, published in April, Barclays reported a wholesale exposure to Spain of 6.4 billion pounds, compared with 7.2 billion pounds last June, while its exposure to Italy has fallen by more than 100 million pounds. One source said it was "inevitable" that British banks would look to minimise their potential losses in the event the eurozone crisis were to get worse. "Everyone wants to ensure that they are not badly affected by the crisis," said one bank executive.

Moves by stronger banks to cut back their lending to weaker banks is reminiscent of the build-up to the financial crisis in 2008, when the refusal of banks to lend to one another led to a seizing-up of the markets that eventually led to the collapse of several major banks and taxpayer bail-outs of many more. While the funding position of UK banks is far stronger now than it was back in 2008, the banking systems of several other major European countries, including Spain, Germany and Italy, are showing increasing signs of weakness.

And despite the downside of having to add soya to bind it all together, Prof Ikeda thinks there's no reason why we shouldn't all tuck into his turd burgers. Why would he even think of it, you might ask. Because Tokyo Sewage asked him to. Tokyo is swimming in sewage mud, it seems, and there's only one way it can save itself and that's eat it.

Prof Ikeda found the mud was loaded with protein due to the high bacteria content. Combine it with reaction enhancer and put it in a magical machine called an "exploder" and artificial steak comes out the other end. According to Digital Trends, it's 63 percent protein, 25 percent carbohydrates, 3 percent lipids and 9 percent minerals. It's colored red so you don't know it's poo.

"Initial tests have people saying it even tastes like beef," Digital Trends reports. Prof Ikeda and his colleagues say it's the perfect solution for reducing waste and emissions from flatulent cows. Which is understandable, because if someone told you that Whopper you just ate was actually made from yesterday's leftover feces, you'd probably be too traumatized to masticate meat ever again.

Of course, there's a hitch - besides the fact it's made from poo and soya. The cost of producing Prof Ikeda's stinky steaks at the moment is about "10 to 20 times" the price of carving it off a cow. Leave it to the fast food chains to work out the economics. You can't argue the mass production side of the equation is already sorted...

Bank losses across the Continent would be enormous, and there is mounting concern that Portugal and Ireland would then be hit by a 'domino effect' as international markets turned on other debt-laden nations. Some economists believe the euro could disintegrate as a single currency, causing unprecedented turmoil.

Last night the International Monetary Fund issued an extraordinary warning to debt-laden nations, warning them they were 'playing with fire' unless they took immediate steps to reduce their budget deficits. The IMF said a lack of political leadership in dealing with the debt crisis in countries including the United States could create major financial volatility in coming months.

Jose Vinals, director of the IMF's monetary and capital markets department, said: 'You cannot afford to have a world economy where these important decisions are postponed because you're really playing with fire. We have now entered very clearly into a new phase which is, I would say, the political phase of the crisis.' Another giant bailout for Greece appears inevitable to try to stave off disaster, though there are doubts about whether the country is sufficiently politically stable to agree to austerity measures attached to it.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy held emergency talks in Berlin after a public dispute over whether private investors, rather than taxpayers, should be forced to assume a greater burden to resolve the crisis. 'There is no time to lose,' Mr Sarkozy told reporters with Mrs Merkel at his side. France's banks are particularly exposed to Greek debt and Mr Sarkozy is warning that the row threatens the future of the euro.

Britain is resisting attempts to be drawn into having to stump up more cash towards a Greek rescue package through a European bailout mechanism. Chancellor George Osborne insists eurozone countries must shoulder the burden. The UK was not involved in an original bailout for Greece last year, which was funded via bilateral loans within the single currency area.

Their projections, which strip out the impact of inflation, show butter will be even dearer, costing on average more than 45 per cent more over the next decade than in the last. When inflation is factored in, the nominal prices - what people actually pay - will be still higher, making food bills yet harder to stomach. "People are going be forced, either to literally eat less, or find other sources of income," said Angel Gurria, the head of OECD.

The world's "slow growing" supply of food coupled with high demand will be to blame for the rising prices, according to the experts behind the report.

They expect the steep price of oil and competition for water and land to limit farmers' production, while swelling populations and rising incomes in newer economic powers like China and India will keep demand strong. The use of grain to produce biofuel is also worsening the volatility in prices, the report warned. That phenomenon has already sparked a "food versus fuel" debate.

The OECD and FAO are among those calling for the Group of 20 nations to stop subsidising biofuel, in a bid to prevent spikes in food prices. "The problem is not biofuels in themselves," said Jacques Diouf, the FAO's director-general. "The problem is the policies adopted by certain governments to encourage the development of biofuels."

Rosalina Gonzales had pleaded guilty to a felony charge of injury to a child for what prosecutors had described as a "pretty simple, straightforward spanking case." They noted she didn't use a belt or leave any bruises, just some red marks. As part of the plea deal, Gonzales will serve five years probation, during which time she'll have to take parenting classes, follow CPS guidelines, and make a $50 payment to the Children's Advocacy Center.

She was arrested back in December after the child's paternal grandmother noticed red marks on the child's rear end. The grandmother took the girl, who was two years-old at the time, to the hospital to be checked out. Gonzales who doesn't have custody of the child or her other two children, is trying to get them back, but until CPS feels she is ready the kids are living with their paternal grandmother.

China's disaster alert has been raised to the highest level, four. More heavy rain is expected in the coming days, with little let-up until Sunday. In Jiangxi province in the east, troops helped 122,400 residents move from vulnerable, low-lying areas, the China News Service reported. In central Hubei province, downpours earlier this week triggered a landslide that left six people missing and blocked the Pingdu River, forcing 2,000 residents to flee.

The floods come after months of crop-destroying drought in the centre and north of the country. Some areas along the Yangtze River have suffered their worst drought in half a century. Despite the rain, officials have warned that the crop shortages and dislocation caused by drought will remain severe. Analysts say crop shortages in China could affect prices around the world.

Called "flash robs," these crimes are being organized by young teenagers through various social media outlets, most notably Twitter. Police say the suspects select a time and place and enter the store in droves taking what they want and leaving before security or police can catch them. Some of the most brazen robberies take place in the light of day and on busy streets despite all the security cameras and the watchful eyes of workers.

"Young people are risk takers; they do things in groups far more than adults do. A medium like Twitter plays into the characteristics of young person's behavior," Scott Decker, a professor of criminology at Arizona State University, told FoxNews.com. Because of these flash plots, police have begun to more closely monitor social media sites, reports the Chicago Sun Times. The pack mentality emboldens the thieves to strike fast, so fast that the store clerks don't have time to react.

"Over 90 percent of crimes committed by young people are done so in a group," Decker told FoxNews.com. Technology hasn't just made it easy to plan and organize, it's allowed the thieves to off-load their loot. A recent survey done by a leading retail industry group shows that technology has led to a spike in organized crime, mostly as thieves find it easier to sell stolen goods online. Of 129 retailers surveyed by the National Retail Federation, nearly 95 percent said they were victimized by organized criminals in the past year and 85 percent said the problem has worsened over the past three years.

Recent disasters - including the earthquake in Japan - as well as anxiety over pandemics and economic concerns - are creating a global climate of fear, which for some are omens of impending doom. The hamlet of Bugarach, in the south of France, has attracted the attention of a government watchdog which monitors cults and suspicious spiritual activities.

Bugarach - and the rocky outcrop of Pic de Bugarach - have had an influx of New Age visitors in recent months who believe it is the only place in the world which will survive an Apocalypse on December 21, 2012. This is the date when many believe the world will end according to an ancient Mayan prophecy. The theory has taken root around the world but seems to have been most widely embraced in France.

A report published yesterday by watchdog Miviludes said the picturesque village near Carcassonne should be monitored in the lead-up to the end of 2012. Bugarach and the Pic de Bugarach have been shrouded in legend for centuries. The watchdog added that the increase in visitors to the area has pushed up property prices as well as raising the threat of financial scams and psychological manipulation. With a population of just 200, Bugarach has long been considered magical, partly due to what locals claim is an 'upside-down mountain' where the top layers of rock are older than the lower ones.

The internet is awash with myths about the hamlet. These include beliefs that the mountain is surrounded by a magnetic force, that it is the site of a concealed alien base, or even that it contains an underground access to another world. Mr Fenech said he recently visited the area, and found six settlements in the surrounding countryside set up by members of the American Ramtha School of Enlightenment. He said other 'gurus' and messianic groups have been organising fee-paying conferences at local hotels. 'This is big business,' he added.

The report says its aim is not to stigmatise movements but to inform the public about 'groups or individuals whose doctrine or discourse follows an "end-of-world" theory'. Since the end of the Roman Empire there have been 183 false predictions of the end of the world, and these are multiplying with the internet and new technology. Miviludes was set up in 2002 to track the activity of sects, after a law passed in France the previous year made it an offence to abuse vulnerable people using heavy pressure techniques, meaning sects can be outlawed if there is evidence of fraud or abuse.

The figures were discovered by Conservative MP Douglas Carswell, who accused Chancellor George Osborne of going back on assurances that bailouts would not cost taxpayers. They emerged on a day that violent riots broke out in Greece over anti-austerity measures being debated by the country's parliament. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Athens, sparking clashes with riot police that left more than 60 people injured and at least fifteen arrested.

Up to 5,000 riot police used stun grenades and tear gas during running battles through the streets of the capital. The people are unhappy over plans to introduce new austerity measures that Greece needs to comply with the terms of the 110 billion euro bailout package it signed in May 2010. Greece's ailing economy could be in line for another 18 billion pounds bailout from the EU and IMF amid concerns it could default on the first deal.

It is not known how much of that figure Britain is liable for, but the money would come from the extra contribution made to the IMF.

Ms Osborne has already overseen 7 billion pounds given to Ireland during its bailout, along with 4.3 billion pounds handed to Portugal. Britain is also liable for around 1.2 billion pounds of the original Greece bailout - a total of 21.7 billion pounds, including the increased IMF contribution, to help prop up the Eurozone.

Mr Carsell, MP for Harwich, told The Sun: 'The Government has given us cast-iron assurances that bailouts would not cost British taxpayers. Now they've been caught out trying to sneak through plans that will cost the UK an extra 9.2 billion pounds. This money could be funding tax cuts for hard-working families or more police on our streets.'

But the Treasury rejects the claims, saying the increased contribution to the IMF was first announced by the Labour government in 2009.

Some 11mm of rain drenched Heathrow, West London, where the average total for the entire month of June is 51mm. Roads in Essex became flooded yesterday afternoon after heavy rain caused flash flooding. Lindsay Dovey, forecaster with MeteoGroup said rain would continue to fall in the South East today. 'London could be looking at 20mm throughout the afternoon and evening. There's a risk of the odd rumble of thunder too.' These conditions are in stark contrast to the balmy spring enjoyed by many.

Across the whole of England and Wales it was the second driest spring since 1910 and the driest spring since 1990. Overall, England and Wales had only 45 per cent of the long-term average rainfall for March, April and May. But East Anglia had only 21 per cent, giving the area the driest spring for 101 years. Met Office had warned earlier this week that the rest of June would offer a 'mixed bag' weather-wise. Met Office spokesperson Barry Gromett said: 'I think it's definitely a sunshine and showers set-up this week. We shouldn't expect too much in the way of sunshine.'

So desperate has the nation's plight become that even economic suicide seems preferable to the austerity European neighbours seem minded, brutally, to impose upon it. For the birthplace of European civilisation and modern democracy to boot, there could hardly be a more ignominious descent.

If the tax rises, spending cuts and state sell-offs of the ruling government's medium term financial strategy (MTFS) aren't approved, then assuming international policymakers are as good as their word, all future IMF/eurozone loans will cease. In such circumstances, sovereign debt default would follow within days, and government, unable to pay its bills, would grind to a halt. Given Greece's comparatively recent history of junta rule, it would surely only be a matter of time before the military stepped into the ensuing political vacuum.

Unthinkable for an apparently advanced economy? Well, perhaps, but the unthinkable has had a nasty habit of becoming true these past four years.

Sunway's products, widely used in China, are also deployed to a lesser extent in other countries including the United States, DHS's Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team said in its advisory. "These are vulnerabilities that hackers could leverage to cause destruction," said Dillon Beresford, a researcher with private security firm NSS Labs, who discovered the bugs.

The DHS advisory comes amid a wave of high-profile cyberattacks on institutions ranging from the International Monetary Fund to Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Sony Corp (6758.T). The attacks focussed primarily on stealing data; only in a few instances has critical infrastructure been attacked. Last year the Stuxnet computer worm surfaced, targeting industrial control systems manufactured by Siemens (SIEGn.DE). Security experts widely believe that the worm was built as part of a state-backed attack on Iran's nuclear program.

Iran said the worm was used to attack computers at its Bushehr nuclear reactor. There has been widespread speculation that Stuxnet actually damaged the plant, something Iran denies. Beresford has worked with Sunway, Chinese authorities and the DHS to fix the bugs he found. Sunway has developed software patches to plug the holes, but it could take customers months to install those patches, Beresford said. That gives hackers a window of time in which to exploit those vulnerabilities.

Beresford said that there are other vulnerabilities in SCADA systems that have yet to be documented by security experts and plugged by the manufacturers. "The point of my putting this information out and getting it into the public domain is so that we can pressure the vendors to actually patch the vulnerabilities instead of sitting on them because these systems are inherently flawed by design," he said.

South African Home Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa confirmed yesterday that the deportations would be carried out after the July 31 deadline, although he refused to reveal the logistical plans put in place for the massive operation. He said his government was on course to beat the July 31 deadline to provide permits to all eligible illegal Zimbabwean immigrants who applied to regularise their stay.

"The process (of providing permits) is still underway and we are hopeful we will beat the deadline," he said. "We will take action once the process is complete and that's when we will announce how the deportations will be conducted." Zimbabwe Exiles' Forum programme manager Eddie Matangaidze, whose organisation is part of the Zimbabwe Documentation Project Stakeholders' Forum, headed by SA's Home Affairs Department, said it appeared there would be no reverse in the deportations.

"From the meetings we have had with the Home Affairs guys and what we see on the ground, it appears the deportation deadline is very serious. We are worried that a significant number of people who applied for permits is still to receive the documents, while others have not received their Zimbabwean passports," said Matangaidze.

"In the 21st century, (Britain) continues to be a crass colonial power in decline, because colonialism is out-of-date as well as unjust," said Fernandez, who is expected to run for a second term in an October presidential election. Britain says it will only agree to sovereignty talks if the territory's residents ask it to.

"As long as the Falkland Islands want to be sovereign British territory, they should remain sovereign British territory - full stop, end of story," Prime Minister David Cameron said in response to a question in parliament. Fernandez rejected his comments as a display of "mediocrity bordering on stupidity." Centre-leftist Fernandez started her political career in Patagonia, where nationalist feeling about the nearby islands is especially strong.

Earlier this week, she gave a national identity card to the son of a Falklands war veteran born in the islands, celebrating his decision to seek Argentine citizenship. Diplomatic tensions over the islands, which Argentines call Las Malvinas, have increased in recent years over offshore oil exploration.

"Outside forces should not interfere in internal processes in the countries of the region." Rather, the conflicts should be solved by "launching broad national dialogue about rebuilding stability and social order and the promotion of democratic and economic reforms," the statement said. The two presidents also expressed concern over the situation in Libya, calling for an end to hostilities between the forces of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the rebels.

Russia has said it opposes the UN Security Council adopting any resolution on Syria, risking a major dispute with the West over the response to the crackdown on Syrian protestors. China has backed Russia's cautious stance although, as is customary, it has allowed its fellow permanent UN Security Council member to do most of the public talking on the issue.

Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich confirmed in Moscow that Russia "as before" was opposed to a UN Security Council resolution on Syria.