Mr Cameron said that once the document is endorsed by all 27 EU members and comes into force, it will "NOT BE A TREATY" AND WILL INSTEAD BE PART OF EUROPEAN LAW. The last obstacle to the ratification of the treaty is likely to be removed today when the constitutional court in the Czech Republic rules that the treaty is compatible with the country's laws. Once the Czech court approves the Treaty, all that remains is for Vaclav Klaus, the Czech President, to sign it. Mr Klaus has repeatedly tried to block the treaty, but has now said he is prepared to sign it.

Speaking at a press conference in London today, Mr Cameron gave his signal that the Czech ratification of the treaty would change his policy. Senior Tories say that instead of a referendum on Lisbon, the Tories will now seek to renegotiate several of the changes it implements. A Tory source said: "It is clear that a post-ratification referendum is simply not possible. WE WILL LOOK AT THE PARTS OF THE TREATY THAT ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE AND SEEK TO RENEGOTIATE THEM."

Barry Legg, of the sceptic Bruges Group, said: "David Cameron needs to come clean with the British people: why is he breaking his pledge to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty? How can David Cameron claim he'll fight to repatriate powers from Brussels when he won't even fight to implement his own past words?"

Officials said cuts in water service were to be staggered throughout Caracas through the duration of the current dry season, which is not expected to end until May 2010.

Weather forecasters blame the "El Nino" weather phenomenon, saying the periodic weather system has markedly reduced rainfall and created drought conditions. Others blame the shortage on poor government management of the country's water resources, while President Hugo Chavez faulted the excesses of capitalism.

The government recently created A MINISTRY OF ELECTRICITY TO HELP CONSERVE THE USE OF POWER, WHICH ALSO IS IN SHORT SUPPLY. Officials also urged the public to employ better conservation practices, like shorter showers and the use of less water when brushing teeth.

The estimate comes from an analysis of 30 years of national data, and it bolsters other recent evidence on the pervasiveness of youngsters at economic risk. It suggests that almost everyone knows a family who has received food stamps, or will in the future, said lead author Mark Rank, a sociologist at Washington University in St Louis. "Your neighbor may be using some of these programs but it's not the kind of thing people want to talk about," Rank said.

The analysis was released Monday in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The authors say it's a medical issue pediatricians need to be aware of because children on food stamps are at risk for malnutrition and other ills linked with poverty. "This is a real danger sign that we as a society need to do a lot more to protect children," Rank said.

Food stamps are a Department of Agriculture program for low-income individuals and families, covering most foods although not prepared hot foods or alcohol. For a family of four to be eligible, their annual take-home pay can't exceed about $22,000. According to a USDA report released last month, 28.4 million Americans received food stamps in an average month in 2008, and about half were younger than age 18. The average monthly benefit per household totaled $222.

High-frequency trading (HFT) is AUTOMATED DEALING WHERE SHARES CHANGE HANDS, FREQUENTLY IN MICROSECONDS. Lord Myners said the process risked destroying the relationship between an investor and a company. HFT is based on computer programmes which, in effect, REMOVE THE HUMAN ELEMENT FROM SHARE TRANSACTIONS by searching for trends in the market and trading automatically in a fraction of a second.

It is estimated that HFT has risen sharply in the USA and now accounts for up to 70% OF ALL SHARE TRADES and is rising rapidly in the UK and Europe. But Lord Myners told the BBC's File on 4 he already had doubts about this development. "I have been increasingly troubled that we seem to find ourselves in a situation in which shares are to be bought and sold rather than being part of an ownership relationship between investor and a company," he said. "The danger is that nobody really seems to think of themselves as owners."

The peer fears that this process denies capital to businesses which should be the main aim of share trading. "It has gone too far, it has now lost its supporting function for the provision of capital to business and HAS BECOME A GAME TO BE PLAYED."

And Gerald Celente of TrendsResearch.com says people right now should be bracing for "THE GREATEST RECESSION" which will hit worldwide and will mark the "decline of empire America." CROP FAILURES COULD BE AMONG THE MINOR CONCERNS. "Here we are in 2012. Food riots, tax protests, farmer rebellions, student revolts, squatter dig-ins, homeless uprisings, tent cities, ghost malls, general strikes, bossnappings, kidnappings, industrial saboteurs, gang warfare, mob rule, terror," he writes for a quarterly publication that is available through subscription on his website.

The recent surge in Wall Street indexes back to near the 10,000 level, still far below the 14,000 prior to the crash, should be no reassurance for anyone, he said. "THERE'S NO RECOVERY. THIS IS MERELY A COVER-UP," he said. "The market crashed in March of 2009 and around the world they papered over the damage from the collapse with phantom money printed out of thin air backed by nothing," he said. This is "much bigger" than an economic collapse, he said. "THIS IS THE DECLINE OF EMPIRE AMERICA."

Tim Barello in the Examiner noted that since 1980 Celente has made at least 40 accurate predictions about major world events, such as the 1987 stock market crash. "Throughout the 1990's, many other forecasts came true, including the collapse of the Soviet Union, surges in global terrorism, the popularity of spiritual and new age philosophies, public backlash against globalization, upsurges in online shopping, and the 1997 Asian financial crisis, to name a select few," he wrote.

Now comes his forecast for a global depression and for the United States, "OBAMAGEDDON". Never before has so much PHANTOM MONEY been printed out of thin air, backed by nothing, producing practically nothing," Celente continued. "You don't even have to be a student of history to know the outcome of this. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS HAVE YOUR EYES OPEN, AND START THINKING FOR YOURSELF." He forecasts the possibility of a civil war, and says if people want to see what Main Street America will look like, they should "drive around Detroit. Look at all the blown out houses and empty neighborhoods. Look at the violence that's increasing. Look at the types of heinous crimes being committed by people – some blowing their whole families away."

Meanwhile, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is in theaters, and HBO's True Blood is reviving discussion of societal prejudice, along with Anna Pacquin's career. NOT COUNTING SHORT MOVIES AND DIRECT-TO-VIDEO RELEASES, 43 VAMPIRE MOVIES AND TV SHOWS ARE SLATED FOR RELEASE THIS YEAR.

It seems like only yesterday that zombies held the top spot in the pop-culture pyramid. With Shaun of the Dead's shambling undead parodying the mindless grind of modern life, and 28 Days Later's quarantined safe zones offering a thinly-veiled criticism of the military, zombies were the go-to metaphor for pop culture junkies. Now, however, they are fighting for position against an army of big-screen bloodsuckers.

Given the number of films in the hopper, it seems likely that vampires are here to stay, at least for the time being. Conversely, if the trend toward zombie slapstick is any indication, the walking dead may be poised for a major drop over the next year or two. The question is: what monster best represents the rebirth that accompanies the end of a recession. Werewolves, anyone?

ThyssenKrupp announced it would renounce on civilian ship production to CONCENTRATE ITS DOCKYARDS SOLELY ON ARMS PRODUCTION. It is entering a "strategic partnership" with the Abu Dhabi Mar Co from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Their deal seals the military alliance between Germany and the Emirates, possibly creating the opportunity for circumventing German arms exports regulations and ending efforts aimed at forging a German/French ship production - under German leadership.

Paris successfully repudiated German hegemony in warship production and therefore will now be confronted with the fait accompli. IF A GERMAN DOMINATED "EUROPEAN SOLUTION" CANNOT BE ACCOMPLISHED, BERLIN WILL DO WITHOUT "EUROPE" AND GO IT ALONE.

Abu Dhabi's joining the German maritime shipbuilding industry, signals Berlin's fundamental change of strategy in its long-term efforts to help BRING THE GERMAN ARMS INDUSTRY TO A POSITION OF PREDOMINANCE IN EUROPE. The aspired concentration of the European maritime shipyards under German leadership has so far been thwarted by France's opposition, which also seeks a predominating position in the production of warships.

"We are fast approaching a situation where the EU will have the full coercive machinery of a state, but WITHOUT THE PROPER DEMOCRATIC CONTROLS OR ROBUST CHECKS on power that citizens should expect."

The Telegraph quoted the report saying: "In practice, the UK has often been a key driver of policy, and has in some instances even exported domestic initiatives to the rest of the EU, particularly those that increase the power of the state over the individual."

Quoted in the Mail, Stephen said: "How can citizens expect their fundamental rights to liberty and independence from the state to be protected by UNACCOUNTABLE INSTITUTIONS WHICH HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN CREATING MORE LAWS?"

Built in 1936, and severely damaged in 1989 by the Loma Prieta earthquake, the Bay Bridge closed over Labor Day weekend for retrofitting designed to help it withstand further quakes. In the process of the repairs, an enormous crack was found in an I-bar, requiring further fixes. On Tuesday, a portion of the second emergency repair gave way, sending steel cables onto the roadway, damaging cars and closing the bridge to traffic once more.

Bridge safety is by no means an isolated issue, however. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, MORE THAN 26 PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY'S BRIDGES WERE FOUND TO BE EITHER STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT OR FUNCTIONALLY OBSOLETE. Even more worrisome, in 2008, 1 out of every 3 bridges in America's urban areas was found to be deficient.

Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak has personally witnessed the consequences of putting off infrastructure repair and maintenance. On August 1, 2007, his city's I-35W Bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 145.

The annual contest encourages students to mix and match genetic parts in order to program spectacular results from run-of-the-mill organisms. In fact, students can order DNA pieces online from MIT's Registry of Standard Biological Parts. The chunks of DNA, called BioBricks, have been catalogued and their functions defined so that students can take this BioBrick and that BioBrick and build new little creatures for themselves.

Perhaps students are using harmless strains right now for this competition, but as the old adage says, familiarity breeds contempt. WILL THESE STUDENTS WORK CAREFULLY IN THEIR FUTURE RESEARCH, stepping lightly with awe and respect for the genetic code, or will they treat genetic engineering like a game – with potentially catastrophic results?

"I like messing with genes and genomes, throwing things in and out and manipulating all that stuff," said, Chris Von Dollen, a junior at Johns Hopkins University. "WE'VE ALREADY CONTROLLED SO MANY OTHER THINGS IN NATURE THAT IT'S BECOME UNNATURAL. To me, it's just one more step in the process."

No one knows exactly when a country tips into a debt compound trap. But Japan must be close, even allowing for the fact that liabilities of the state Loan Programme (FILP) have fallen by 40pc of GDP since 2000. "THE DEBT SITUATION IS IRRECOVERABLE," said Carl Weinberg from High Frequency Economics. "I don't see any orderly way out of this. They will not be able to fund their deficit. THERE WILL BE A FISCAL SHUTDOWN, A PENSION HAIRCUT, AND BANK FAILURES THAT WILL ROCK THE WORLD. It is criminally negligent that rating agencies are not blowing the whistle on this."

Japan's terrible errors are by now well known. It failed to jettison its mercantilist export model in time. It resisted the feminist revolution, leading to a baby strike by young women. It acquiesced in a mad investment bubble (like China now) in the 1980s, stealing growth from the future.

It wasted its immense fiscal firepower, scattering money for 20 years on half-baked spending projects to keep the economy afloat. QE was too little, too late, and this is the lesson for the West. We must cut borrowing drastically over the next decade, and offset this with ultra-easy monetary policy. Does Downing Street understand this? Does the White House? Does the European Central Bank? Clearly not.

Data on diet among 3,500 middle-aged civil servants was compared with depression five years later, the British Journal of Psychiatry reported. The team said the study was the first to look at the UK diet and depression.

Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: "This study adds to an existing body of solid research that shows the strong links between what we eat and our mental health. Major studies like this are crucial because they hold the key to us better understanding mental illness." He added people's diets were becoming increasingly unhealthy.

"The UK population is consuming less nutritious, fresh produce and more saturated fats and sugars. We are particularly concerned about those who cannot access fresh produce easily or live in areas where there are a high number of fast food restaurants and takeaways." Margaret Edwards, head of strategy at the mental health charity SANE, said: "PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH ARE CLOSELY RELATED, so we should not be too surprised by these results, but we hope there will be further research which may help us to understand more fully the relationship between diet and mental health."

The bankruptcy, ONE OF THE LARGEST IN US CORPORATE HISTORY, has been widely expected for months and is unlikely to provide a massive near-term shock to the financial system. But CIT's trouble could further weigh on the fragile US economy. The bankruptcy is also a blow for the US government, which invested $2.33 billion in CIT in December through the Troubled Asset Relief Program and will likely lose most of it.

"The bankruptcy filing is unlikely to crater financial markets," said Chip Hanlon, president of Delta Global Advisors in Huntington Beach, California, but he noted, "It's not a positive. If anything it may be psychological and weigh on people's mind about how things are overall. It adds to peoples' question marks about how healthy the economy is," Hanlon said.

CIT'S SHARES PEAKED ABOVE $60 APIECE IN 2007, BUT CLOSED ON FRIDAY AT 72 CENTS.

CIT, founded in 1908, has historically been one of the biggest lenders to small and mid-sized businesses, a sector that is starved for credit now. US President Barack Obama is offering taxpayer money to community banks in an effort to kickstart lending to these companies, WHICH EMPLOY ABOUT HALF OF THE US WORK FORCE.

Between the end of the Second World War and the erection of the Wall in 1961, 3.5million East Germans had fled west. The south side of Bernauer Strasse became part of the infamous 'death strip' – a no-go zone, up to 500 yards wide in places, cleared to provide an uninterrupted line of fire for East German border guards, who had orders to shoot on sight. In all, 239 people died trying to breach the Wall.

The strip was floodlit and overlooked by 116 watchtowers, 20 command centres and fierce guard dogs. It contained anti-vehicle obstacles and was lined with finely raked gravel, making it impossible to move quietly, while beds of nails lay beneath overhanging balconies.

After reunification, Berlin spent £50billion tearing down the Wall, erasing its traces and refurbishing the structures that communism had allowed to fall into ruin, with the death strip becoming the city's most sought-after and expensive real estate.

The closings boost the number of FAILED US BANKS THIS YEAR TO 115. The nine banks closed Friday were the most the agency has shut in one day since the financial crisis began taking down banks last year. In 1989, at the height of the savings-and-loan crisis, the FDIC closed 534 banks, or about 10 a week.

Failures have been especially concentrated in California, Georgia and Illinois. While the pounding from losses on home mortgages may be nearing an end, DELINQUENCIES ON COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE LOANS REMAIN A HOT SPOT OF POTENTIAL TROUBLE, regulators say. If the recession deepens, defaults on the high-risk loans could spike. Many regional banks, especially, hold large concentrations of these loans.