Speaking about a more distant relationship with the EU, he told The Times: 'It's true of the euro, it could be true of more areas in future. In fact we may get ahead as a result of being outside.' Mr Hague said the creation of the eurozone without closer tax and spending rules was 'always a giant mistake' and it 'would stand as a monument in time to how group-think can go so seriously away from what is realistic'.

Prime Minister David Cameron has come under increasing pressure to hold an 'in/out' referendum on Europe. Earlier this week a 100,000-name petition was delivered to Downing Street, enough to trigger consideration of a parliamentary debate on the issue. Mr Cameron insisted there was 'no case to answer' on membership, adding: 'I want us to be influential in Europe about the things that matter to our national interest - promoting the single market, pushing forward for growth, making sure we get lower energy prices.' On Monday, a group of 80 new intake Tory MPs will meet to discuss what reforms they want.

The system also picked up early clues about Osama Bin Laden's location.

Kalev Leetaru, from the University of Illinois' Institute for Computing in the Humanities, Arts and Social Science, presented his findings in the journal First Monday.

The study's information was taken from a range of sources including the US government-run Open Source Centre, and the Summary of World Broadcasts (now known as BBC Monitoring), both of which monitor local media output around the world. News outlets which published online versions were also analysed, as was the New York Times' archive, going back to 1945.

In total, Mr Leetaru gathered more than 100 million articles. Reports were analysed for two main types of information: mood - whether the article represented good news or bad news, and location - where events were happening and the location of other participants in the story.

Mood detection, or "automated sentiment mining" searched for words such as "terrible", "horrific" or "nice". Location, or "geocoding" took mentions of specific places, such as "Cairo" and converted them into coordinates that could be plotted on a map. Analysis of story elements was used to create an interconnected web of 100 trillion relationships.

Media "sentiment" around Egypt fell dramatically in early 2011, just before the resignation of President Mubarak. For Egypt, the tone of media coverage in the month before President Hosni Mubarak's resignation had fallen to a low only seen twice before in the preceding 30 years. Previous dips coincided with the 1991 US aerial bombardment of Iraqi troops in Kuwait and the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. Mr Leetaru said that his system appeared to generate better intelligence than the US government was working with at the time.

"If you look at this tonal curve it would tell you the world is darkening so fast and so strongly against him that it doesn't seem possible he could survive." said Kalev Leetaru - University of Illinois.

The aide said the plane suffered disturbance to its GPS system due to jamming signals from the North's southwestern cities of Haeju and Kaesong as it was taking part in the annual US-South Korea drill, Key Resolve. The incident was disclosed in a report that Seoul's defense ministry submitted to Ahn Kyu-baek of parliament's defense committee, the aide to Ahn said. Spokesmen for the defense ministry and US Forces Korea declined to comment.

Jamming signals - sent at intervals of five to 10 minutes on the afternoon of March 4 - forced the plane to make an emergency landing 45 minutes after it took off, the aide quoted the report as saying. The signals also affected South Korean naval patrol boats and speedboats, as well as several civilian flights near Seoul's Gimpo area, according to the report.

Seoul mobile users also complained of bad connections, and the military reported GPS device malfunctions as the South and the US were staging the drill, which was harshly criticized by the North. The Communist state has about 20 types of jamming devices, mostly imported from Russia, and has been developing a new device with a range of more than 62 miles (100 kilometers) near the heavily-fortified border, the Yonhap news agency has said.

The action came under an unusual legislative procedure spelled out under the August agreement to raise the US debt ceiling and avoid a US credit default. In a 52-45 vote, the Senate blocked an attempt by Republicans to slow down the process that will result in the $500 billion debt-ceiling increase.

The increase stems from a deal between Congress and the White House, finalized last month, that spells out how the borrowing limit would be increased by $500 billion. Under the process, lawmakers in both the House and Senate must vote on a resolution of disapproval against the increase in the borrowing limit. President Barack Obama would then have to veto the resolution of disapproval, and Congress would then vote to try and override that veto.

The complicated procedure, designed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican for Kentucky), would allow an increase of the borrowing limit while allowing most Republicans to vote against such an increase. There was a twist in this scenario Thursday evening, however. Democrats held firm, rejecting the resolution of disapproval, thereby speeding the process and increasing the borrowing limit immediately.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble said there will be no more money until Grecce "actually does" what it agreed to do. "I understand that there is resistance among the Greek population to austerity measures. But in the end it is up to Greece whether it can fulfil the conditions necessary for membership of the common currency. We offer no discounts," he told Deutschlandfunk. The wording has been taken as a threat to eject Greece from EMU, though is there no legal mechanism for such drastic action.

Dutch finance minister Jan Kees de Jager said the Netherlands "will not participate" in further payments to Greece unless it secures the go-ahead from the EU-IMF Troika, which left Athens abruptly last week after talks broke down. The showdown in Greece came as the European Central Bank (ECB) abandoned its push for higher interest rates and slashed growth forecasts for the next two years, warning that the situtation is "extraordinarily demanding" and that "downside risks" have intensified.

It is not clear who is in the stronger position in the latest round of brinkmanship between Greece and the German bloc. If pushed too far, Greece can set off a powderkeg. The International Monetary Fund says European banks are highly vulnerable and need to raise their capital by 200 billion euros. Many of the weakest are in Germany. Barclays Capital said Italy and Spain have already slipped back into industrial recession, ratcheting up the pressure. The question is what will happen if the global economy fails to stabilize quickly. Italy faces 62 billion euros of debt redemption this month, and 170 billion euros by the end of December. The ECB's ordeal by fire may yet be ahead.

This would mean that almost as many homes blighted by negative equity as in the early 1990s after the last housing crash. The data, by mortgage administrators Homeloan Management Limited (HML), was based on 250,000 mortgage accounts across the country. It shows that home owners in Northern Ireland and the North West of England are likely to be worst hit by further property price falls.

With this price fall, one in three home owners in Northern Ireland could be trapped by negative equity. Not surprisingly, this problem will adversely affect those under 40, who have moved onto the property ladder more recently. HML's chief finance officer Neil Warman said: "This analysis show just how vulnerable UK households are to a continuing fall in house prices. Since their peak before the onset of the credit crunch, house prices have fallen by nearly 18 per cent and, although there's considerable variation in future forecasts, a number of analysts are saying we need to brace ourselves for further falls."

Nick Hopkinson, the director of PPR Estates, said, "Our company has had relatively few distressed inquiries from London sellers as a result of the unique dynamics in the capital." But he said this sentiment had changed over the past few months, a trend particularly noticeable in areas hit by the recent riots - such as Lewisham, Croydon, Walthamstow and Tottenham.

"In the areas we have seen buyers withdrawing. We are also aware of international buyers pulling back from investment purchases as a result of a loss of confidence in the 'safe haven' investing benefits of London. As we move into autumn I fear this may prove to be the catalyst that bursts the unsustainable property bubble that built up over the last few years."

PPR Estates said that in the regions negative equity was a growing problem for many home owners. A year ago it was able to help more than 15pc of the "distressed" sellers outside London who contacted the company. Now it was able to help less than 10pc because they market price of their property was less than the value of their mortgage.

No date has been fixed for the strike, but Mr Serwotka said it was likely to be in the middle or end of November. The Government's pre-Budget report is being announced on November 29. Officials suggested that as many as 10 unions might support the industrial action. The scale would dwarf the 24-hour stoppage in June when an estimated 200,000 went on strike.

Last night Mr Serwotka and the leaders of other public sector unions were meeting Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, to discuss pension reforms. He said: "On plans to make people work longer, pay more and receive less they have not moved one jot."

The People's Daily, the main paper of China's ruling Communist Party, said the United States should excise the "cancer" of the law which authorizes Washington's sale of weapons to the self-ruled island of Taiwan that China considers its own territory. Taiwan's biggest ally and arms supplier, the United States is committed under a 1979 law to supply it with the weapons it needs to maintain a "sufficient self-defense capability."

Taiwan hopes to buy 66 late-model F-16 aircraft from the United States, a sale potentially valued at more than $8 billion and intended to phase out its remaining F-5 fighters. The arms sale debate has been building steam in the United States, with US Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, where Lockheed Martin Corp manufactures the F-16, saying killing the sale would cost valuable US jobs.

"At present, some madmen on Capitol Hill are making an uproar about consolidating and expanding this cancer," the People's Daily said in a commentary, adding these politicians were "wildly arrogant." "If these crazy ideas come to fruition, what kind of predicament will Sino-US relations find themselves in?" the paper wrote. The commentary appeared under a pen name "Zhong Sheng," a name suggesting the meaning the "voice of China," which is sometimes used to reflect higher-level opinion.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said spot checks in the New York subway would be more frequent in coming days. President Obama called on the US to "redouble" anti-terror efforts. US TV network ABC News reports that three individuals - one a US citizen - entered the US in August aiming to carry out a terror attack. There was no confirmation about whether this information was linked to the threat detailed by US officials.

A service marking the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks in which almost 3,000 people died will be held on the site of the World Trade Center on Sunday. US President Barack Obama and former President George W Bush will attend the ceremony.

"Al-Qaeda has shown an interest in important dates and anniversaries. In this instance it is accurate that there is credible, specific but unconfirmed information" FBI Janet Fedarcyk said.

An investigation is looking into why the blackout spread from Arizona, where a piece of equipment was switched off. Extreme heat may be a factor. Officials say that a power line between Arizona and California was knocked out of service after an employee carried out a procedure at a substation in Arizona.

"There appears to be two failures here - one is human failure and the other is a system failure. Both of those will be addressed," said Damon Gross, a spokesman for APS. Daniel Froetscher, a vice-president at APS, told the Associated Press news agency it was "not a deliberate act". "The employee was just switching out a piece of equipment that was problematic," Mr Froetscher said.

In Los Angeles, trains were stopped because there was no power for lights and signalling, and a number of people had to be rescued from stuck elevators and theme park rides. California's two nuclear reactors were forced to shut down.

At Binghamton, New York, the wide river broke a flood record and flowed over retaining walls downtown as more than 8 inches of rain fell in some areas. Road closures effectively sealed the city off to outside traffic as emergency responders scrambled to evacuate holdouts who didn't heed warnings to leave neighborhoods.

"It's going to get worse," said Governor Andrew Cuomo, who urged residents to heed evacuate orders rather than wait until the flood danger is obvious. "By the time it looks that bad, you won't be able to leave, so leave and leave now," he said. Most of the people ordered to evacuate their homes were about 80 miles downstream in Wilkes-Barre, where the river was projected to crest later Thursday at 41 feet - the same height as the levee system, officials said. Residents were ordered to leave by 4 pm.

Wet weather followed by Hurricane Irene and its remnants have saturated the soil across the Northeast, leaving water no place to go but into already swollen creeks and rivers. After three days of living in shelters because of Irene, Edith Rodriguez, her mother and her sister spent Wednesday night at a high school outside Schenectady when the latest storm chased them from their home near the Mohawk River. "We just finished cleaning up after the flood from Irene," the 19-year-old said. "Now we have to start all over again."

About 240 other homes have been lost in other fires since Sunday, the service said. Despite hopes that the fire would be largely contained by Wednesday night, it remained 30% contained Thursday morning, she said. About 34,000 acres have been destroyed. The fire has killed at least two people. An elite search team is helping local officials scour the area for other potential victims. At least 5,000 people evacuated the area, officials said.

Authorities said Thursday they were allowing some people to return to their homes in areas where it was safe to do so. Officers were being repositioned to help keep order and make sure people did not enter closed-off areas. The Bastrop fire is one of scores that have been burning across the drought-stricken state. Wildfires have been scorching Texas for nearly 300 days. In the past week, the Texas Forest Service said it has responded to 176 fires over 126,844 acres. President Barack Obama called Governor Rick Perry to "express his concern for citizens of Texas impacted by the unprecedented fires."

The "big five" has told the EU foreign minister that she must set up a European "Operational HQ" by any means necessary, including a legal mechanism, created by the Lisbon Treaty that bypasses a British veto. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, threatened in July to veto a proposed military HQ to "command and control" troops, including British forces, taking part in EU operations, such as the current antipiracy naval force off the coast of Somalia.

But in a confidential letter, dated September 2, foreign ministers from the five countries create a powerful alliance against an isolated Britain by pledging their "strong political will to continue" as a "matter of urgency". "France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain remain at your disposal to support your work in this regard," says the letter to Lady Ashton, seen by The Daily Telegraph. "We believe it remains the most comprehensive basis for further work on all the issues: capabilities, including civil-military planning and conduct capability, battle groups and EU/Nato relations."

Most controversially, the alliance instructs Lady Ashton to seek "structured co-operation" a legal route, never before used, to set up the HQ without Britain, with "tangible results" demanded by the end of the year. "We encourage you to examine all institutional and legal options available to member states including permanent structured co-operation to develop critical Common Security and Defence Policy capabilities, notably a permanent planning and conduct capability." "Structured co-operation" would allow countries to go it alone on the military HQ on the basis of a majority vote, bypassing Britain's veto to put British forces in EU battle-groups outside the command structure and creating a new rift in Nato.

In her proposals, Lady Ashton, urged that the European operational headquarters currently spread across Europe in Germany, France, Greece, Italy and Britain be united under one roof, with an EU military staff of 250 people. The move puts the EU foreign minister, a Labour peer, at odds with the British government and could lead to the worst rift in European foreign policy since the Iraq war in 2003.

British officials observe that European divisions over military operations, such as with Libya, will not be papered over by creating an expensive HQ. "Focusing energy and resources on a project which is essentially about symbolism represents a costly distraction from investment in the defence and civilian capabilities that are really required, and will do nothing to increase political will to act," said the spokesman.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has long been accused of dragging her feet in the euro-zone debt crisis - and of shying away from the kind of greater European integration that many have been calling for. On Wednesday, however, she sang a different tune.

In a speech before German parliament, part of a general debate on the budget, Merkel made a plea for "more Europe" and said that to make Europe strong and lasting, "treaty amendments can no longer be taboo in order to bind the EU closer together." She also reminded her country that a strong Europe was in Germany's interest. "In the long term, Germany cannot be successful if Europe isn't doing well too."

It was unclear whether Merkel was referring to recent demands by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble for a new treaty which would hand far-reaching fiscal powers to Brussels or to her own 2010 demands for a Lisbon Treaty amendment strengthening deficit rules.

Merkel also said it was time to seriously consider installing a measure which would allow countries who violate European Union deficit rules to be brought before the European Court of Justice, the legal body that settles disputes between EU governments and institutions. It marked a return to her staunch position last summer that those who violate deficit rules must be automatically punished - a position she ultimately backed away from at the urging of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Merkel's speech came amid growing concerns in the European Union that sluggish implementation of austerity measures in Greece and inconsistent focus on exorbitant debt in Italy could put the common currency under yet more pressure.