An opinion poll commissioned by German state TV ZDF published on Friday showed that 79% of respondents rejected eurobonds as a solution to the crisis. Support for euro membership appears to be waning as 50% of respondents (up from 43% in February) say they believed Germany’s euro membership carried more disadvantages than advantages. According to the poll, 45% took the opposite view (down from 51% in February).

A series of new polls ahead of Greece’s re-run elections on June 17 show the centre-right New Democracy party, which supports the conditions attached to the bailouts, ahead on 25.6% and 27.7%, a 0.5% and 5.7% lead on anti-bailout SYRIZA party. New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras warned yesterday that "If Greece terminates the loan agreement, it will remain isolated for many years internationally. It will not have food, medicine, or fuel. It will live in a constant blackout."

IMF director Christine Largarde’s comments in an interview with Saturday’s Guardian - in which she said that she had more sympathy for victims of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa than Greeks hit by the economic crisis and claimed that tax evasion in Greece was rife - have provoked a furious reaction in the country. PASOK leader and former Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said that “Nobody has the right to humiliate the Greek people during the crisis, and I say this today specifically addressing Ms Lagarde … who insulted the Greek people”. Lagarde subsequently qualified her comments by saying she was “very sympathetic to the Greek people and the challenges they are facing”, and that she had been referring to tax evasion among the most privileged.

In fact, the Syrian National Council, the main opposition group which was led until May 24, 2012, by leader-in-exile Burhan Ghalioun, could well be in a process of disintegration. Ghalioun resigned from his self-nominated position after having realized that he could not represent all the factions fighting against Assad. Ghalioun had particular problems extending his authority over the Free Syrian Army (FSA) that was, until lately, the main fighting arm of the rebellion against Assad.

As in the Egyptian case, in Syria THE MUSLIM BROTHERS HAVE SUCCEEDED IN APPROPRIATING (some would call it hijacking) THE REVOLT AND ULTIMATELY BECOMING ITS BACKBONE. Moreover, the Muslim Brothers, with their worldwide organization, provide the conduit through which Muslim fighters from around the globe are coming to join the ranks in the battle against Assad.

The epicenter of the quake originated in the province of Ferrara at 09:03 GMT. Some train services have been suspended in the north. A quake of the same strength hit the region on May 20, killing seven people and causing havoc. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed in the initial quake which was followed by several aftershocks. Italy experiences frequent seismic activity on a small scale, although large tremors are comparatively rare.

UPDATE:- The Daily Mail reports that "At least six dead as Italy is struck by 5.8 earthquake in same area where seven killed by tremor last week. Italian media said the latest earthquake caused more buildings to collapse in the areas already affected by the previous May 20 quake, where thousands are still sleeping outdoors in tents. Television station Rai said some schools had been evacuated as far south as Florence."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2151469/Italy-earthquake-2012-6-dead-5-8-quake-hits-region-7-died-week.html#ixzz1wFYDdp1p

Photographer Marco di Lauro who took the shot grabbed by the BBC says he nearly “fell off his chair” after finding the picture on the network’s website with a caption reading: “Photo from Activist. This image – which cannot be independently verified – is believed to show bodies of children in Houla awaiting funeral.”

The picture was actually taken on March 27, 2003; it depicts an Iraqi boy jumping over dozens of white body bags containing skeletons found in a desert south of Baghdad. The image, which is published on Marco di Lauro’s website, is part of his story Iraq, the Aftermath of Saddam. Marco di Lauro takes photographs for Getty Images picture agency, his works have been published across Europe and the US. But the indication that the BBC picked his image from the internet, not from official stock worries him somewhat.

“What I am really astonished by is that a news organization like the BBC doesn't check the sources and it's willing to publish any picture sent it by anyone: activist, citizen journalist or whatever. That's all,” the photographer told The Daily Telegraph. “Someone is using someone else’s picture for propaganda on purpose,” he added.

A BBC spokesman says the picture, illustrating Sunday night’s story “Syria Massacre in Houla Condemned as Outrage Grows,” was taken down “immediately” when the source was identified. “We were aware of this image being widely circulated on the internet in the early hours of this morning following the most recent atrocities in Syria. We used it with a clear disclaimer saying it could not be independently verified,” he added.

Tsipras, the 37-year-old rising star in Greek politics, lays his Ray-Ban sunglasses on the table. It's Tuesday afternoon, and he looks exhausted. Indeed, he has a packed schedule: first Paris and then Berlin, where he met with Gregor Gysi and then with Jürgen Trittin and Sigmar Gabriel, senior officials in Germany's Left Party, Green Party and Social Democratic Party, respectively. Tsipras was the surprise victor when his Radical Left (Syriza) party took second place in May 6 general elections in Greece.

Because leaders were unable to form a coalition government, a new election will be held on June 17. Most believe that Tsipras will attract even more votes in this second election. Tsipras' tour through "Europe's two most important capital cities," as he put it, was primarily about cultivating his image. The civil engineer, already politically active in high school as a member of the Communist Youth of Greece, numbers among the strongest critics of the EU-International Monetary Fund (IMF) strategy for Greece, which calls for radical budget cuts and austerity in return for international aid.

Should he win the June 17 election, Tsipras plans to ditch the terms of the bailout agreements struck with its creditors. On the campaign trail, one of his slogans has been that Greece is in danger of becoming a "German colony." But he toned things down in Berlin, saying: "We want to persuade, not blackmail."

"The world is not safe," Romney told veterans on Memorial Day. He was joined by Senator John McCain, in a speech to honor the veterans of America's wars. The United States now has two paths forward, Romney said. He called one "the pathway to Europe," suggesting Europe had acquiesced to geopolitical threats. "To shrink our military smaller and smaller to pay for our social needs." The other path, Romney said, is "to commit to preserve America as the strongest military in the world, second to none, with no comparable power anywhere in the world."

Romney, expected to face off against President Barack Obama in November, joined the 2008 Republican presidential nominee in thanking the nation's veterans. Romney, who has focused his campaign on the struggling US economy, changed his focus on Monday in his warning about the dangers of the world outside America's borders, indirectly criticizing [Mr] Obama's foreign policies.

"I wish I could tell you that the world is a safe place. It's not," Romney said.

Romney ticked off Iran, Pakistan, China and Russia, among other countries, as threats as he transformed his message from economic warnings of the United States becoming like Europe to a military warning that America was becoming weaker. McCain introduced Romney to the 5,000 people gathered as a "man who I believe is fully qualified to be commander-in-chief." "He believes in American exceptionalism," McCain said. "He believes the 21st Century will also be an American century." American exceptionalism is a political philosophy that assigns a unique and unprecedented place to the United States as the leading global proponent and exemplar of liberty, freedom and equality around the world."

The US and members of the United Nations Security Council recently met in Baghdad for talks about Iran’s suspected nuclear weapon program. Iran denies it has military intentions but has called for the destruction of Israel.

“We have plans to be able to implement any contingency we have to in order to defend ourselves,’’ Panetta said on ABC’s This Week. Earlier, Panetta said, “The fundamental premise is that neither the United States nor the international community is going to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.’’

It was a poisonous Pentecost Sunday for the pope, who likely had the tumultuous events of the past week on his mind as he celebrated a mass in St Peter's Basilica on the day regarded as the birthday of the Church. On Saturday his personal butler, Paolo Gabriele, 46, was formally charged with stealing confidential papal documents in the scandal that has come to be known as "Vatileaks". Some of the documents allege cronyism and corruption in contracts with Italian companies.

One prominent cardinal, illustrating the growing emotion of the debate in Vatican circles, wrote in an Italian newspaper that the pope had been betrayed just as Jesus was betrayed 2,000 years ago. The scandal, which has been brewing for months, has hit the very heart of the Roman Catholic Church. Gabriele - now known in Vatican statements as "the defendant" - was until Wednesday night the quiet man who served the pope's meals, helped him dress and held his umbrella on rainy days.

The pope made no reference during his two public appearances on Sunday to the scandal or the arrest, which aides said had "saddened and pained" him. The leaked documents included letters by an archbishop who was transferred to Washington after blowing the whistle on what he saw as a web of corruption and cronyism, a memo that put a number of cardinals in a bad light, and documents alleging internal conflicts about the Vatican bank.

Some say that seemingly arcane economic policy debate doesn't matter. In the UK, in particular, but across much of the rest of Western Europe too, the political and media classes have long displayed a tendency to roll their eyes whenever anybody with even a smattering of economic insight has had the audacity to show it. For the bien pensants, ignorance of financial issues has been a badge of honour. Economics has been dismissed as a "trade". To hold well-researched views about commerce and asset markets has been seen to be a suspect arriviste "striver".

Such is the prejudice of those cosseted from economic reality, their minds dulled by generations of inherited wealth. Well, such minds created the euro and what a disaster the euro has been. And the greatest disaster could yet be to come. Let what is now happening in Europe serve as a reminder, a 28 million decibel wake-up call that serious economic debate matters and matters a lot. Attempts to dismiss or even suppress it, because it's "hard" or "boring", have very real human consequences.

In the run-up to the eurozone's launch, there was almost no popular discussion of its inherent technical flaws. Those of us who tried to air such concerns, to wield the lessons of history, were dismissed as "xenophobes" and "cranks". So we've ended up with a eurozone so replete with inherent contradictions that it threatens now to spark financial meltdown across Europe and serious civil unrest.

For now, it's all eyes on the Greek election on June 17 – which, it seems, could go either way. The economically illiterate eurocrats, having insisted euro-exit was impossible, must now insist it could all too easily happen. That's the only way they can threaten to pull the plug if the Greeks vote the wrong way. Yet, for all the summitry and posturing, their credibility is shot to ribbons.

Richard Ward said the London market had put in place a contingency plan to switch euro underwriting to multi-currency settlement if Greece abandoned the euro. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph he also revealed that Lloyd's could have to take writedowns on its £58.9 billion investment portfolio if the eurozone collapses.

Europe accounts for 18 per cent of Lloyd's £23.5 billion of gross written premiums, mostly in France, Germany, Spain and Italy. The market also has a fledgling operation in Poland. Lloyd's move comes as a major Franco-German provider of credit insurance for eurozone trade, Euler Hermes, said it was considering reducing cover for trade with Greece because of the risk the country might leave the eurozone.

When a company goes bust, it is often sparked by withdrawal of credit insurance for suppliers wanting to trade with it. A spokesman for Euler Hermes, Bettina Sattler, told Bloomberg: "The outcome of the new elections in June remains highly uncertain. Consequently, the situation is further deteriorating. The risk of Greece exiting the eurozone has been revived."

Nothing I’ve heard from politicians or economists on the world crisis has shivered my spine like an hour spent with the gentle mannered historian Antony Beevor, whose mighty new book on the Second World War is making him the pundit of the moment. He does not mean to be alarmist, and that is why the soft warnings in his sunlit garden are chilling.

Of course the rise of the Right in Europe is not the same as the rise of the Right in the Thirties, he soothes. But isn’t it terrifying the way the Greeks are portraying the Germans as Nazis in their popular press, with Angela Merkel in Nazi uniform? There are “far too many jibes” about a Fourth Reich. The weedlike eruption of extremist parties makes him “uneasy” – and if Beevor is uneasy, it probably means the rest of us should be scared witless.

“The great European dream was to diminish militant nationalism,” he says. “We would all be happy Europeans together. But we are going to see the old monster of militant nationalism being awoken when people realise how little control their politicians have. WE ARE ALREADY SEEING POLITICAL DISINTEGRATION IN EUROPE.”

The Informal Anarchist Federation has already claimed to be responsible for damaging railway signal systems which led to travel being disrupted around Bristol earlier this week. They said their representatives had deliberately lifted concrete slabs beside the tracks to burn out signalling cables, on a route chosen to target Ministry of Defence employees. The group, known as FAI, have now threatened to continue their “guerrilla attack” on the country, “disturbing the social peace” in a protest against the establishment.

Posting on anarchist website 325.nostate, the group said: “In the United Kingdom of clockwork control and domestication, we’re some of the ‘unpatriotic ones’ who find the 2012 Olympics, with the ensuing spectacle of wealth (when so many here struggle to feed themselves and their families), harmful developments and escalating police state, frankly offensive. But no union or movement calls our shots, and we have no inhibition to use guerrilla activity to hurt the national image and paralyze the economy however we can. Because simply, we don’t want rich tourists – we want civil war.”

A spokesman for British Transport Police have confirmed a signal system was sabotaged at two places on the rail network in Bristol last Tuesday. The same anarchist group has previously claimed responsibility for a drive-by gun attack in Italy in which the chief executive of a nuclear power firm was shot in the kneecaps. The group now say they are deliberately targeting the Ministry of Defence and defence firms in Britain. They added: “The purpose of guerrilla attack is to spread the struggle into different territories and facets of life.”

The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a think-tank which tracks Iran's nuclear program closely, based the analysis on data in the latest report by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which was issued on Friday. Progress in Iran's nuclear activities is closely watched by the West and Israel as it could determine how long it could take Tehran to build atomic bombs, if it decided to do so. Iran denies any plan to and says its aims are entirely peaceful.

During talks in Baghdad this week, six world powers failed to convince Iran to scale back its uranium enrichment program. They will meet again in Moscow next month to try to defuse a decade-old standoff that has raised fears of a new war in the Middle East that could disrupt oil supplies.

Friday's report by the IAEA showed Iran was pressing ahead with its uranium enrichment work in defiance of UN resolutions calling on it to suspend the activity.

It said Iran had produced almost 6.2 tons of uranium enriched to a level of 3.5 percent since it began the work in 2007 - some of which has subsequently been further processed into higher-grade material.

Fourteen months after the accident, a pool brimming with used fuel rods and filled with vast quantities of radioactive cesium still sits on the top floor of a heavily damaged reactor building, covered only with plastic. The public’s fears about the pool have grown in recent months as some scientists have warned that it has the most potential for setting off a new catastrophe, now that the three nuclear reactors that suffered meltdowns are in a more stable state, and as frequent quakes continue to rattle the region.

The worries picked up new traction in recent days after the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, said it HAD FOUND A SLIGHT BULGE IN ONE OF THE WALLS OF THE REACTOR BUILDING, stoking fears over the building’s safety.

To try to quell such worries, the government sent the environment and nuclear minister to the plant on Saturday, where he climbed a makeshift staircase in protective garb to look at the structure supporting the pool, which he said appeared sound. The minister, Goshi Hosono, added that although the government accepted Tepco’s assurances that reinforcement work had shored up the building, it ordered the company to conduct further studies because of the bulge.

The head of the International Monetary Fund has been forced to express her sympathy for the Greek people after politicians and irate locals vilified her for saying the country was a nation of tax dodgers. After being bombarded on her Facebook page with 10,000 messages, many of them obscene, Christine Lagarde took to the social networking site to say she was “very sympathetic to the Greek people and the challenges they are facing”.

Despite the emergence this afternoon of a new Facebook page titled “Greeks are against Lagarde”, she reiterated that everyone should pay their taxes. Greek politicians were similarly enraged, with socialist party leader Evangelos Venizelos claiming she had “insulted the Greek people”.

The backlash came as Greece’s former prime minister warned the country could run out of the money by the end of June if bailout funds are withdrawn after next month’s election.