And the financial situation has become so worrying that, in a highly unusual move, King Albert II has intervened despite his limited political power. He has told caretaker prime minister Yves Leterme to draw up a new budget for 2011 that makes deep cuts in public spending.

Standard & Poor's, the ratings agency, has said that Belgium's credit rating could be downgraded if it cannot form a government in the coming months.

Borrowing costs in Belgium rose again yesterday on fears it could get dragged into the crisis gripping Europe. It came as the interest rate Portugal must pay to borrow money hit a new high on speculation that it will need to be rescued like Greece and Ireland. France and Germany are said to be pressing Lisbon to accept an international bailout that could be worth as much as 80 billion pounds.

But that still might not be enough to stop the crisis spreading to other countries such as Spain, Belgium and Italy. A bailout of Portugal could cost British taxpayers billions of pounds because the UK is obliged to contribute to the rescue fund set up by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

Britain has already pledged 7 billion pounds towards the 72 billion pounds Irish bailout. The deepening of the debt crisis raises the risk of a spill-over to the UK and the British banking system, a senior Bank of England official warned. Andrew Bailey said: 'I cannot say that the UK is insulated from the risks we observe in other parts of Europe.'

Both figures were up slightly from the previous 2005 survey, ending a steady decline since 1990, when US abortions peaked at 1.6 million and the abortion rate was 27.4. One possible factor was the recession that hit in 2008, altering the financial prospects for many families. "Abortion numbers go down when the economy is good and go up when the economy is bad, so the stalling may be a function of a weaker economy," said University of Alabama political science professor Michael New. "If the economy does better, you'll see numbers trending down again."

The new report did not provide demographic details on the ages, ethnicity and socio-economic status of women obtaining abortions, but Sharon Camp said it was clear that African-American and Hispanic women continued to account for a disproportionate share of abortions because they had relatively high rates of unintended pregnancies.

She remarked that abortion, since it was legalized nationwide in 1973, has become one of the most common surgical procedures. "Yet after all these years," she said, "it remains maybe the most highly sensitive issue in our country on the personal and political level."

The waters are rising fast; one local official said he saw the river level go up by 1.5m (4ft 10in) in just an hour. Some 200,000 people have been affected across the state by the floods. The flooding has caused billions of dollars worth of damage. The Brisbane River snakes its way through the centre of the Queensland state capital, and in places it has burst its banks already, says BBC Australia correspondent Nick Bryant.

Cars have been streaming out of the city and office workers have been fleeing the main business district, while lower lying suburbs have already been inundated by water. Sandbags have been given out to residents in the city of two million people, as the flooding is expected to peak on Wednesday and Thursday. Mayor Campbell Newman warned 6,500 homes, businesses and other properties were likely to be flooded by Thursday.

In Toowoomba, just west of Brisbane, flash floods killed at least nine people with at least 70 missing. A raging torrent of water hit Toowoomba on Monday without warning, following more than 36 hours of incessant rain. A huge search-and-rescue operation was mounted, with helicopters winching people to safety, as many residents were clinging to trees or railings for their lives, or trapped in cars or on the roofs of buildings.

Toowoomba resident Charlie Green told the BBC he was stranded by the floods. "It would be ironic if it wasn't so tragic," he said. "Toowoomba sits in the cradle of an extinct volcano about 2,000ft (610m) above sea level, and we have just endured 10 years of drought, unable even to wash our cars with town water for the last several years."

In a dry dock in the northern city of Dalian, smoke has begun to billow from the chimneys of the Shi Lang, a hulking Soviet-era ship that China bought from Russia and has refitted to become its first aircraft carrier. Named after a Qing dynasty admiral, the carrier is slated to make its maiden voyage later this year, four years ahead of schedule. Five more aircraft carriers could bolster the Chinese fleet further over the next decade.

Meanwhile, at an air base in the central city of Chengdu, China's first stealth fighter jet has been spotted taxiing along a runway. It has yet to take off, but American plane-spotters have already begun speculating that it might be able to beat an F-22 in a dogfight. Finally, at a command bunker in the north of Beijing, the Chinese Second Artillery Corps controls the jewel in the crown - a new missile that could sink a US aircraft carrier, the first such weapon in the world. The Dong Feng (or East Wind) 21D missile is now "operational", according to Admiral Robert Willard of the US Pacific Command, which will now have to think twice before committing a $20 billion (12.8 billion pounds) aircraft carrier and its 6,000 crew anywhere within 900 miles of the Chinese coast.

The unveiling of the new weapons could not have been better timed. Tomorrow, the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, is due to visit the tall white skyscraper that serves as the Second Artillery's headquarters. Mr Gates, who has admitted that US intelligence has underestimated the speed of China's progress, will be able to see the PLA's array of nuclear and ballistic missile options for himself.

According to the Pentagon, China has the world's "most active land-based ballistic and cruise missile programme". A battery of more than 1,100 short-range missiles faces Taiwan, while medium and longer-range missiles, many bought from Russia, can carry nuclear or conventional warheads to anywhere within 4,000 miles of China, giving Beijing the ability to knock out every US air base in the Pacific.

At times he has called for a national rebellion against foreign troops and sent out his Mehdi Army militiamen to confront the "invaders" and Iraqi security forces. At others he has appeared more compromising, seeking for himself a political role within the new Iraq and helping form the national unity government in December 2010. Hs return to Iraq on 5 January 2011 symbolised the resurgence of his movement, and sparked much conjecture about his intentions as the country prepares for the withdrawal of all US forces later this year.

He built on the gains of the Sadr Bloc in the 2005 elections to increase his political influence. His supporters performed strongly in the 2009 local elections and made gains in the March 2010 parliamentary polls as the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), ending up with 40 seats. The result made Moqtada Sadr the kingmaker in the new parliament. He toyed initially with backing Mr Maliki's rival for the premiership, but in June agreed to a merger between the INA and the prime minister's State of Law coalition to ensure Shia groups remained in power.

Then in October, he was finally persuaded by Iran to drop his objection to Mr Maliki's reappointment in return for eight posts in the cabinet.

Secure in his standing, Moqtada Sadr returned from Iran in January to scenes of jubilation.

As the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas laid the symbolic cornerstone for a new embassy in Brazil on Friday, he hoped the greater significance of the act would be noted. In recent weeks the South American nation and its neighbours, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador, have all officially recognised Palestine as an independent state within 1967 borders - that is to say the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

Uruguay says it will do the same in 2011 and Palestinian officials suggest at least another two countries are lined up to follow suit, though they are not saying which. As the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict with Israel have dimmed once again, the Palestinians say they are pursuing new and alternative diplomatic options.

"Since all the peace process has been based on the 1967 borders we are asking countries to recognise us on these borders," says Palestinian negotiator, Nabil Shaath, who has accompanied Mr Abbas on his trip. "This is revitalising and re-consecrating a principle that emanates from international law and all the agreements that we've signed before."

Israel however, disagrees. The foreign ministry spokesman, Yigal Palmor, insists that the Palestinians can only achieve statehood through a peace deal with Israel. "We are now breaching the whole framework that has allowed us to negotiate so far," he states. The Israelis want the Palestinians to drop their tactic and return to direct talks.

"By rewarding the Palestinians as it were, when they refuse to negotiate, this will certainly not encourage them to return to the negotiating table," Mr Palmor says. "If we don't negotiate how will we ever be able to get an agreement?"

The report also calls for an EU presence at the demolitions of Palestinian homes, and intervention when peaceful protesters face arrest. The document follows the razing of an East Jerusalem hotel to make way for 20 homes for Jewish settlers. The destruction of the Shepherd Hotel has angered Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The US and the EU have strongly condemned the demolition, which is against international law, but Israel says it has a right to build homes in any part of the city. The confidential policy document, prepared last month by the EU consuls-general, warns that Jewish settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land is making a two-state solution to the conflict increasingly difficult.

"The continued expansion of settlements, restrictive zoning and planning [and] ongoing demolitions and evictions... have not only serious humanitarian consequences, they undermine the Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem," the report says.

The diplomats recommend "specific actions" to bring EU actions in the occupied territory in line with the bloc's stated policy on East Jerusalem. The recommendations include:

- EU officials and politicians should refuse to visit Israeli government offices or facilities located in occupied East Jerusalem

- Israeli settlers who forcibly move into Palestinian areas of Jerusalem could be refused entry into EU countries

- A boycott of Israeli products from East Jerusalem

- Ensuring an EU presence when there is a risk of demolitions or evictions of Palestinian families, and at Israeli court cases on demolitions or evictions

- Ensuring EU intervention when Palestinians are arrested or intimidated by Israeli authorities for peaceful cultural, social or political activities in East Jerusalem

EU officials have not publicly commented on the leaked report, which was drawn-up for the EU's main foreign policy-making body. It is unclear if or when the recommendations will be adopted or implemented. But with a conclusion that Israel was "systematically undermining the Palestinian presence" in Jerusalem, the policy document could further strain relationships between Israel and the EU, our correspondent adds.

Nearly 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In an address devoted to religious freedom, Benedict XVI said the "tragic murder" of Salmaan Taseer, the Punjab governor who was killed for opposing legislation that imposes a death sentence for people who insult the prophet Muhammad, showed there was an "urgent need to make progress" in the abrogation of this law. He told an audience of ambassadors assigned to the Holy See: "The particular influence of a given religion in a nation ought never to mean that citizens of another religion can be subject to discrimination in social life or, even worse, that violence against them can be tolerated."

"In this regard, it is important for interreligious dialogue to favour a common commitment to recognising and promoting the religious freedom of each person and community." He also criticised countries such as Saudi Arabia, which curtails the worship of its million-plus Christian immigrant population by outlawing the public preaching and practise of non-Muslim religions.

He reiterated his alarm at the escalating persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Nigeria - a concern he shares with other religious leaders - while also taking aim at the west for marginalising Christianity through "the banning of religious feasts and symbols from civic life under the guise of respect for members of other religions or those who are not believers".

The retail data can be quirky but it fits in with everything else we know. The numbers of people on food stamps have reached 43.2 million, an all time-high of 14 per cent of the population. Recipients receive debit cards - not stamps - currently worth about $140 a month under President Obama's stimulus package. The US Conference of Mayors said visits to soup kitchens are up 24 per cent this year. There are 643,000 people needing shelter each night.

Jobs data released on Friday was again shocking. The only the reason that headline unemployment fell to 9.4 per cent was that so many people dropped out of the system altogether. The actual number of jobs contracted by 260,000 to 153,690,000. The "labour participation rate" for working-age men over 20 dropped to 73.6 per cent, the lowest the since the data series began in 1948. My guess is that this figure exceeds the average for the Great Depression

It is no surprise that America's armed dissident movement has resurfaced. For a glimpse into this sub-culture, read Time Magazine's "Locked and Loaded: The Secret World of Extreme Militias". Time's reporters went underground with the 300-strong 'Ohio Defence Force', an eclectic posse of citizens who spend weekends with M16 assault rifles and an M60 machine gun training to defend their constitutional rights by guerrilla warfare.

As it happens, I spent some time with militia groups across the US at the tail end of the recession in the early 1990s. While the rallying cry then was gun control and encroachments on freedom, the movement was at root a primordial scream by blue-collar Americans left behind in the new global dispensation. That grievance is surely worse today.

The long-term unemployed (more than six months) have reached 42 per cent of the total, twice the peak of the early 1990s. Nothing like this has been seen since World War Two.

Global food prices hit a record high last month, outstripping the levels that sparked riots in several countries in 2008, and key grains could rise further, the United Nations' food agency said this week. Policymakers are concerned that, if unchecked, rising food prices could stoke inflation, protectionism and unrest.

High food prices and unemployment were blamed for a second day of rioting in Algeria Friday with police deployed around mosques and authorities suspending football matches. Rhee Chang-yong, who represents South Korea at the G20, said working-group talks were under way aimed at improving global cooperation to resolve food security problems. "France is emphasizing food security. As a former host country of G20, we would like to deal with the price volatility problem thoroughly," Rhee said.

Last year, wheat futures prices rose 47 percent, buoyed by bad weather including drought in Russia and its Black Sea neighbors. US corn rose more than 50 percent and US soybeans jumped 34 percent. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report Wednesday that sugar and meat prices were at their highest since its records began in 1990. For wheat, rice, corn and other cereals, prices were at their highest since the 2008 crisis.

During that crisis, riots broke out in countries from Egypt to Haiti. Import prices jumped, forcing many countries' trade balances into a deep and costly deficit, and several governments in Asia imposed export restrictions on rice.

A row of ceremonial candles and a bag of potting soil lay nearby, photos reveal. Experts on Sunday said the elements are featured in the ceremonies of a number of occult groups. Investigators have focused on Loughner's online anti-government ramblings as the chief motivation for the shooting Saturday of US Representative Gabrielle Giffords (Democrat for Arizona).

The discovery of the shrine raises the possibility that Loughner, 22, may have been driven by other forces. Students and faculty at Pima Community College, which he attended until his suspension last summer, said Loughner was clearly at odds with the world.

"He was one of the last kids to come in, and he sat down and almost immediately started laughing to himself in a way that was just kind of creepy," a classmate, Alex Kotonias, 20, told USA Today.

"As soon as the teacher started going over the syllabus, he had this outburst out of nowhere, didn't even raise his hand, and started asking the teacher some sort of weird questions about whether he believed in mind control."

With a sense that the battles against destabilising capital inflows are here to stay has come a determination to set new rules of engagement on controlling them. But given the uncertainty and political explosiveness around the issue, any such venture faces a tough future.

The International Monetary Fund last week revealed an attempt to put itself at the centre of the debate, releasing a study arguing for global rules to constrain governments' use of capital controls. But observers doubt that it will broker a deal soon. "The IMF has made a pre-emptive grab for power without a clear idea of what it is asking for," says Eswar Prasad, a former senior IMF official now at Cornell University.

The IMF and many economists urge governments to try other means first, such as tighter fiscal policy and allowing the exchange rate to rise, before resorting to direct action. Even then, Professor Rogoff says, countries should choose more subtle interventions such as banking regulation rather than quantitative controls on outflows.

"Clearly capital flows can be used as an excuse, as they are in China and India, for financial repression - to protect domestic financial services sectors from competition and retard their development," he says. While the IMF may have brought the capital controls debate out into the open, it is unlikely to come to a neat and rapid conclusion.

He said his government would raise the issue at the World Trade Organization and the G20 group of rich and developing countries. Mr Mantega was speaking in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper. "This is a currency war which is turning into a trade war," Mr Mantega said in his first major interview since Dilma Rousseff took office as Brazil's new president on 1 January.

He said Brazil's trade with the US had slipped from an annual surplus of about $15 billion (9.6 billion pounds) to a deficit of $6 billion because of US efforts to revive its economy through loose monetary policy. "The exchange rate is one of the main drivers of economic policy, more so even than productivity," he said.

Mr Mantega added that China's "undervalued currency" was also distorting world trade. He has been finance minister since 2006. In September last year he accused some rich countries of deliberately devaluing their currencies to boost exports and make their economies more competitive.

The Brazilian real has increased by 39% against the US dollar in the last two years. Its value has been going up steadily as Brazil's economy has grown, making Brazilian exports less competitive. The International Monetary Fund warned in October that some countries appeared to be trying to use their currencies "as a weapon" and the issue of currency manipulation was discussed at the G20 summit in November.

In Britain the disease, officially known as phytophthora ramorum, spared oaks and jumped to rhododendrons and Japanese larch trees. In the last year it has taken hold along the west of the country in larch plantations, including more than 120 Forestry Commission sites, 20 National Trust properties and two Woodland Trust reserves. Already 4 million trees have been felled or marked for destruction.

More are expected to be chopped down in the coming years because the warmer, wetter conditions expected with climate change encourage the spread of the disease. In the latest cull, a landowner in the Quantock Hills in Somerset was forced to cut down 50,000 trees, while the National Trust chopped down 10,000 larch trees in the area. Landowners face crippling costs for felling sick trees, while walkers are urged to disinfect boots to stop P. ramorum, which is a fungal disease, spreading on their feet.

Philip Chambers, the owner of Milverton Sawmill, in Taunton, Somerset, said that landowners had been forced to pay to chop down larch trees even though the timber was worth very little because of oversupply. He compared the situation to the foot and mouth crisis when farmers were forced to cull their cows to stop the disease spreading. "It is for trees what foot and mouth was for cows, except there is no compensation for the landed gentry," he said.

Experts from the Forestry Commission are carrying out inspections across Britain and will order a cull wherever the disease is found.

It takes hold quickly, causing bleeding lesions, blackened or wilted leaves and, ultimately, death. It can also affect garden shrubs, such as rhododendron and camellia.

Among the organizations and persons Danon intends to invite to the committee, he lists:

• B'tselem - director, Jessica Montel

• The Center for Defense of the Individual - director, Dalia Kirstein

• Yesh Din - director, Roi Maor

• Ir Amim - director, Yehudit Oppenheimer

• The Public Committee against Torture in Israel - director, Yishai Blanc

• Adallah - director, Mahmoud Yazbek

• Peace Now - director, Yariv Oppenheimer

• Gisha - director, Kenneth Mann

• Association for Civil Rights ion Israel - President, Sami Michael

• Mousawa - Anwar Jamal, Tariq Bashir, Jafer Farah

• as well as: Breaking the Silence, Machsom Watch, The Israeli Committee against Home Demolitions and the Center for Alternative Information.

Danon said that "it is time to find out the sources of the monies for these groups that act without letup against the state of Israel." He added: "We will try to find out who are the ones who arrange the riots at the Bil'in checkpoint, who funded the legal motions in the matter of Highway 443. We will reveal the bodies that roam the Galilee and purchase private lands with Saudi money. The leftists seem afraid and they must have a reason for fearing this committee."

The committee does not have powers of subpoena and is no different from other Knesset committees as far as its powers. Danon is optimistic, however: "I hope we can stop these groups, which received 40 million shekels from the European Union in the last five years alone... We will try to discover the truth and in the end we will recommend changes in legislation as well."