Some of them are even from nursery schools where children are no older than three. One youngster was accused of being racist for calling a boy 'broccoli head' and another was said to be homophobic for telling a teacher 'this work is gay'.

Two primary school children were reported for homophobia after quarrelling over a rubber and calling each other 'gay' and 'lesbian'. Those youngsters reported for petty offences at nursery classes included four in the London borough of Tower Hamlets and three in Hertfordshire.

Schools are forced to report the language to education authorities, which keep a register of incidents. Although the Department for Education recently pledged to cut unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy, it has given no guidance on such 'offences'. In total, 34,000 nursery, primary and secondary pupils were effectively classed as bigots because of anti-bullying rules. The school can keep the pupil's name and 'crime' on file.

The record can be passed from primaries to secondaries or when a pupil moves between schools. And if schools are asked for a pupil reference by a future employer or a university, the record could be used as the basis for it, meaning the pettiest of incidents has the potential to blight a child for life.

Figures for the year 2009-10 were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the civil liberties group the Manifesto Club. Adrian Hart, of the Manifesto Club, called for the Government to roll back the policy of hate speech reporting in schools. He said: 'Children need space to play and to learn the meaning of words, without being reported to the local education authority. These policies are an inappropriate intervention into playground life, and undermine teachers' ability to set a moral example to children and to teach them right from wrong.'

They say Friday penance will be "a clear and distinctive mark" of Catholic identity and an act of common worship. A resolution issued in May said penance would begin on 16 September to mark the first anniversary of the Pope's UK visit. In a statement issued earlier this month, the bishops said it was important that followers of the Church were united in a common, identifiable act of Friday penance because "the virtue of penitence is best acquired as part of a common resolve and common witness".

Those who cannot or already choose not to eat meat as part of their daily diet are being asked to abstain from some other food or activity. Those aged under 14, the sick, elderly, pregnant women, seafarers, manual workers or others in situations where there are moral or physical reasons for eating meat are excused from abstaining. The Catholic Church defines meat as the flesh of warm-blooded animals, so eating fish is permitted on Fridays.

The practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays is centuries-old, but in 1985 the Catholic Church in England and Wales allowed Catholics to substitute another form of penance in its place.

Brazilian finance minister Guido Mantega on Tuesday said that the Brics states are to hold a meeting on 22 September to discuss co-ordination of an EU rescue plan."We will meet next week in Washington to decide how to help the European Union to get out of this situation," he said. The nations are considering substantially boosting their holdings of euro-denominated bonds in their foreign exchange reserves. According to Brazilian business daily Valor, the Brics nations are to unveil a plan that would go beyond Europe and look to aid a stabilisation of the wider global economy.

However, the paper also said that the plan would involve investment in only the stronger European economies, such as Germany and the UK. At the same time, the Financial Times has reported that Italy has taken its begging bowl to Beijing, with finance minister Giulio Tremonti meeting with the head of the China Investment Corporation, China's major sovereign wealth fund, to discuss the possibility of the Middle Kingdom purchasing Italian bonds.

Brazil's Mantega for his part did not give additional details of what was being considered. The Brics pow-wow is to take place a day before the wider G20 meeting and ahead of a gathering of the International Monetary fund from 23 to 25 September. What have been regularly referred to as 'emerging economies' have seen their growth outstrip that of the main industrialised nations in recent years. China, the most successful of the group, maintains reserves worth some $3 trillion.

As Brussels' austerity strategy wobbles in the face of faltering growth and soaring unemployment, Europe may have to submit to the ultimate indignity of a rescue from the former subjects of its colonialism.

Britain is drawing up contingency plans for a catastrophic collapse of the euro which experts fear could plunge our economy back into a recession 'beyond comprehension'. Economists believe the EU would be unlikely to survive a disorderly break-up of the euro and say that even stronger economies could contract by as much as 25 per cent in the aftermath.

Amid a mounting sense of inevitability that Greece will default on its massive debts and be forced to leave the single currency, the US urged EU governments to use 'overwhelming force' to address the debt crisis. US treasury secretary Tim Geithner, who will take the unusual step of attending a meeting of EU finance ministers in Poland tomorrow, admitted Washington had been 'behind the curve' in tackling its own financial crisis but urged Europe to act decisively.

Yesterday ratings agency Moody's downgraded the credit ratings of two of France's largest banks, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole, because of their exposure to Greek debt causing panic on French stock markets. The ratings agency left France's largest bank, BNP Paribas, on review, saying its profitability and capital base gave it an adequate cushion to support its Greek, Portuguese and Irish exposure.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown, a long-time supporter of the single currency, asked in an interview with The Spectator whether he thought the euro could survive in its current form, replied: 'No, I don't.' 'The most likely outcome is probably a core euro, a euro that has Germany, Austria, Finland and the Benelux countries in it - you'd have to have France in there for political reasons, even though economically they wouldn't come up to the mark precisely - and maybe Sweden. Then you have a core euro and you then create the institutions to govern the euro.'

Mr Goodhart, of the London School of Economics, told MPs that while the Bank and the UK Government should have been making contingency plans for a second downturn, in reality there would be little more they could do. "In 2008 the fiscal positions of most governments was considerably stronger than they are now, and interest rates as of the beginning of October 2008 were considerably higher than they are now," he said. He said therefore the policy tools available in better times - including cuts in interest rates - had already been used up.

"You have got the potential for another grave shock with less in the way of Government instruments to offset it and protect communities against it." Addressing the Treasury Select Committee, Mr Goodhart said a severe recession in the eurozone combined with sluggish growth in the US would lead to lower growth in the UK and potentially see it stripped of its triple-A rating.

Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, said the session, which included evidence from a range of academic and city economists, suggested the current crisis in the eurozone was "political rather than economic". It is clear there is a "need to make absolutely sure that the situation in Spain and Italy is insulated", he said.

Premier Wen Jiabao said his country and will play its part to "prevent the further spread of the sovereign debt crisis," but warned that China will not sign a blank cheque for states that have failed to carry out full reform. "Countries must first put their own houses in order," he told the World Economic Forum in Dalian.

Mr Wen said he had spoken to Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, laying the conditions for Chinese intervention. "I made clear to him that we are confident Europe will overcome its difficulties and make a full recovery. We have on many occasions expressed our readiness to extend a helping hand, and that we are willing to invest more in European countries. At the same time, we need bold steps to give redirection to China's strategic objective. We believe they should recognise China's full market economy status," he said, referring to World Trade Organisation rules. "To show one's sincerity on this issue... is the way a friend treats another friend," he said.

Market status under the WTO has become the Holy Grail for China, both because it makes the country less vulnerable to 'anti-dumping' sanctions from the EU and because it marks the country's final coming of age in the global economy. Beijing is bitter that the EU recognises the market status of Russia despite open violations of WTO rules by the Kremlin, claiming that the "double standard" is a disguised form of protectionism. Under its WTO accesssion accord in 2001, China remains a "non-market economy" for 15 years unless other members agree to fast-track the process. There could still be problems even after 2016 if major powers take a tough line.

Answering a question about the legal status of a Jewish minority in the future state, Areikat apparently rejected the issue, saying: "I believe, I still believe that as a first step we need to be totally separated," adding "I think we can contemplate these issues in the future. After the experience of the last 44 years, of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it will be in the best interest that the two peoples should be separated," Areikat added.

Former US National Security Council official Elliot Abrams responded to the Palestinian official's comment, saying to USA Today that the Palestinian demand was "a despicable form of anti-Semitism," adding: "No civilized country would act this way."

Speaking shortly before a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, he did not elaborate on the possible consequences. "The moment has not yet come to give details of what will happen," he said. In the past he has called for Israel to sever all relations with the administration of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas should it press on with its UN bid. "What I can say with the greatest confidence is that from the moment they pass a unilateral decision there will be harsh and grave consequences," Lieberman told an agricultural conference in southern Israel.

"I hope that we shall not come to those harsh and grave consequences, and that common sense will prevail in all decisions taken, in order to allow coexistence and progress with negotiations," he added. Some hardline Israeli ministers are calling for Israel to annex chunks of the West Bank if the Palestinians go ahead, though Israeli officials say they have not finalised their response to the UN move as the Palestinians have yet to reveal its details.

"We're not saying what we'll do, a lot of our reaction is subject to what the final resolution will say," a foreign ministry official told AFP earlier this week on condition of anonymity. Lieberman has accused the Palestinians of planning an "unprecedented bloodbath" after the UN move, although they say they will hold purely peaceful rallies.

People whose gender was different from that of their birth were previously required to have reassignment surgery before they could change their passport to their preferred sex. An Australian senator, Louise Pratt - whose partner was born female and is now identified as a man - said the reform was a huge step forward.

"There have been very many cases of people being detained at airports by immigration in foreign countries simply because their passports don't reflect what they look like," she told Australian radio. "It's very distressing, highly inconvenient and frankly sometimes dangerous."

The answer, it seems, is that we put too little store on family time and too much on material goods. Unicef paints a picture of a country that has got its priorities wrong - trading quality time with our children for "cupboards full of expensive toys that aren't used".

"Parents in the UK want to be good parents, but aren't sure how," the research suggests. "They feel they don't have the time, and sometimes the knowledge, and often try to compensate for this by buying their children gadgets and clothes." The research compares Britain with Sweden and Spain. While the UK languishes in 21st, and last, place in the child well-being table, they come second and fifth respectively. One reason they perform so much better, according to Unicef, is that in both countries "family time is protected" and children "all have greater access to activities".

"In Sweden their social policy allows family time and their culture massively reinforces it. In Spain fathers do work long hours, but the extended family is still very important and women stay at home to look after their children." The report argues that the pressure of the working environment and rampant materialism combine to damage the well-being of our children. They want our attention but we give them our money.

"All children interviewed said that material goods did not make them happy, but materialism in the UK seems to be just as much of a problem for parents as children," the research concludes. "Parents in the UK often feel compelled to purchase consumer goods which are often neither wanted or treasured." It is a profoundly depressing analysis of British life, not least because it rings true.

The ECB's plans would require clearing houses that handle more than 5% of the market in a euro-denominated financial product to be based in the eurozone. The Treasury says the move would contravene European law. It has started proceedings at the European Court of Justice.

A Treasury spokesperson said: "This decision contravenes European law and fundamental single market principles by preventing the clearing of some financial products outside the euro area. The government wants to see this resolved swiftly and without involving the courts, but if necessary will not shy away from continuing legal action to make sure there is a level playing field across the EU for British businesses."

The pressure rose on all fronts with the United States again expressing great concern, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying European states "now recognise they are going to have to do more" to resolve the crisis. Highlighting the threat to the global economy, Geithner is to attend exceptional talks between European Union finance ministers and central bankers in Poland on Friday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou were to hold a teleconference late Wednesday as markets price in a default by the government in Athens, and credit rating giant Moody's downgraded two major French banks given their exposure to Greek debt. "Europe is in danger," Polish Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski, whose country currently chairs EU meetings, told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

"If the eurozone breaks up, the European Union will not be able to survive," he added. At his most dramatic, Rostowski even warned that "war" could return to Europe if the crisis fatally weakens the EU, founded amid the rubble of World War II. His underlying message was backed up by European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, who described the crisis as "the most serious challenge of a generation." Barroso stressed: "This is a fight... for the economic and political future of Europe."

Industrial action, potentially involving millions of workers, could start by late November. Unions plan to follow up the strikes with co-ordinated action across the UK. "The idea that we will have a one-day dispute, marching around town with a few flags... ain't going to do it," said the union leader. When asked specifically whether there would be a number of one-day national strikes, he replied "yep".

"In some areas there will be two or three days," said the union leader. "In other areas it will be continuous. In other areas it will be a rolling programme." He added: "There are lists that are being drawn up of targeted areas." The three biggest public sector unions - Unison, Unite and the GMB - are thought to be close to announcing a strike ballot over planned pension reforms.

Between them they would have to ballot around 1.5 million members, ranging from the health sector to local government. The involvement of the "big three" unions would significantly escalate the dispute and could bring millions of workers out on strike.

But one economic think tank said any move towards sustained industrial action could not be justified. Mark Littlewood from the right-leaning Institute for Economic Affairs, said public sector workers were not "the oppressed poor" and also enjoyed "unbelievable job security, more generous annual holidays". "Your average worker in the public sector earns 4,000 pounds more a year in their salary, and if you start building in their pensions then it's about 7,000 pounds a year more. Overall, average to average, [they are] 35%, maybe 40% richer than the average private sector worker," Mr Littlewood said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are due to hold talks on Wednesday in response to growing market expectations of an imminent default by Greece. The two downgraded banks have seen their share prices fall 60% and 65% respectively since February, while BNP has fallen 53% over the same period.

Moody's focused on the banks' exposure to the Greek economy, although the recent market sell-off reflects a broader concern over the health of other southern European countries such as Italy, as well as over the political will to sustain the euro. SocGen has a total exposure to Greek government and commercial debts equal to 6.6 billion euros, while Credit Agricole has 27 billion euros, according to their disclosures to the European Banking Authority. For BNP Paribas the total is 8.5 billion euros.

Moody's said BNP's rating could also be cut one notch, although it noted that the bank's capital and accumulated profits should be enough to absorb losses from Greece, as well as from the troubled Portuguese and Irish economies.

With only days to go before world leaders gather in New York, the maneuvering became an exercise in brinkmanship as the administration wrestles with roiling tensions in the region, including a sharp deterioration of relations between three of its closest allies in the region: Egypt, Israel and Turkey.

Nabil el-Araby, secretary general of the Arab League, said after meeting with the Palestinians that "it is obvious that the Palestinian Authority and the Arab countries are leaning towards going to the General Assembly," where a successful vote could elevate the status of the Palestinian Authority from nonvoting "observer entity" to "observer state," a status equal to that of the Holy See.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey ratcheted up pressure on the United States and Israel by telling Arab League ministers that recognition of a Palestinian state was "not a choice but an obligation." In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that American negotiators would return to the region on Wednesday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in a final effort to avert a vote on the matter.

The administration, working with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, and Tony Blair, who serves as a special envoy to the region, continued to seek international support for what Mrs Clinton described as "a sustainable platform for negotiations" between the Israelis and the Palestinians to create a Palestinian state.

The timing of the confrontation has created a diplomatic quandary for President Obama, putting him in the position of opposing Palestinian aspirations for self-determination even as his administration has championed Arabs who have overthrown leaders in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya or who seek to in Syria. At the same time, he faces pressure from Israel's vocal supporters in Congress to block the vote or cut off military and economic assistance the United States has given to the Palestinians.

Internationally, however, the United States and Israel appeared increasingly isolated, with even some European nations, from Russia to France, signaling support for at least a General Assembly vote for the Palestinians. The support for the Palestinians from the Turkish prime minister was not a surprise, but the commanding tone of his endorsement - coupled with Turkey's souring relations with Israel, once a close ally - underscored the growing sympathy for Palestinian aspirations for sovereignty and statehood.