The 50-page analysis of 37 global risks precedes the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual meeting in two weeks' time in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, which brings together high-level politicians, central bankers and business leaders. "The world is probably more vulnerable to future shocks than it ever has been in the last half century," WEF Chief Business Officer Robert Greenhill told reporters at a briefing in London.

"The response to the financial crisis has drained national treasuries and drained household incomes, but the underlying risks still remain." Debt was also highlighted as a top threat in the WEF report last year, and Greece's meltdown went on to overshadow the 2010 Davos meeting. Since last January, the euro zone's crisis has spread to Ireland, which has also been bailed out, and now threatens to engulf Portugal and possibly Spain - the euro zone's fourth largest economy - as investors worry about governments' ability to repay debts and the risk of write-downs for bondholders.

There will also be a greater focus than ever in Davos on the mismatch between buoyant economic growth in emerging markets and sluggish conditions in the developed world. Such imbalances increase the risk of protectionism and currency wars as 'hot' capital surges into emerging economies.

Other threats in 2011 include tightening supplies of basic resources such as food, water and energy, which John Drzik, chief executive of management consultancy Oliver Wyman, said were aggravated by lack of investment in infrastructure because of chronic fiscal deficits.

Surging global food prices have already set warning lights flashing on inflation. Food prices hit a record high last month, according to the United Nations food agency, surpassing levels in 2008 that sparked riots in countries from Egypt to Haiti. "We're entering a new age of commodity price volatility," Drzik said. "It is not just a near term issue."

The tribunal is widely expected to name members of Hezbollah in upcoming indictments, which many fear could re-ignite sectarian tensions that have plagued the tiny country for decades. "This cabinet has become a burden on the Lebanese, unable to do its work," Energy Minister Jibran Bassil said at a news conference announcing the resignations, flanked by the other ministers who are stepping down. "We are giving a chance for another government to take over."

Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, has denounced the tribunal as an "Israeli project" and urged Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri - the son of the slain politician - to reject any findings by the court even before it announced any indictments. The walkout followed the failure of a diplomatic push by Syria and Saudi Arabia to ease political tensions in Lebanon. There had been few details about the direction of the Syrian-Saudi initiative, but the talks were lauded as a potential Arab breakthrough, rather than a solution offered by Western powers.

Violence has been a major concern as tensions rise in Lebanon, where Shiites, Sunnis and Christians each make up about a third of the country's four million people. In 2008, sectarian clashes killed 81 people and nearly plunged Lebanon into another civil war. Rafik Hariri's assassination in a suicide bombing that killed 22 other people both stunned and polarized Lebanese. He was a Sunni who was a hero to his own community and backed by many Christians who sympathized with his efforts in the last few months of his life to reduce Syrian influence in the country.

A string of assassinations of anti-Syrian politicians and public figures followed, which UN investigators have said may have been connected to the Hariri killing. The Netherlands-based tribunal has not said who it will indict, but Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has said he has information that members of his group will be named.

Mr Griffiths predicted that gold's 10-year bull run would continue and even intensify. "Although it's been a top performer for each of the last 10 years, it's still in a linear trend," he said. "Eventually it will go exponential and make more in the last little bit than the whole of the 10-year trend."

He said investors should regard any short-term falls in the gold price as a buying opportunity, adding that gold was still not an "over-owned trade". His comments come against the background of the US Federal Reserve's huge monetary stimulus from quantitative easing, which many believe will result in inflation and a fall in the value of the dollar.

"The downward trend in the dollar is awesomely powerful," Mr Griffiths said. "It's vital to get yourself out of the dollar long-term on any significant rally. Continuing to own a currency that is going to be printed virtually into oblivion - that's the official policy - is crazy." He added: "Real assets hedge paper money being printed into oblivion, so you've got to own gold and you've got to own other commodity-related investments still."

Cairo's dramatic reaction came amid reports of a further attack in Egypt in which a Christian died. The interior ministry said an off-duty policeman boarded a train in southern Egypt and opened fire, killing a 71-year-old man and wounding five other Christians, including the dead man's wife. The attack raises fears of a new wave of rioting by Christians still mourning the deaths of at least 21 worshippers as they were leaving mass at a Coptic church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve.

In a statement, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said Cairo's ambassador had been called back for consultations "after the Vatican's new statements that touch on Egyptian affairs and which Egypt considers an unacceptable interference in its internal affairs". In a speech to diplomats accredited to the Holy See on Monday, the pope said the Alexandria bombing, coming after a string of attacks in Iraq, showed "the urgent need for the governments of the region to adopt, in spite of difficulties and dangers, effective measures for the protection of religious minorities".

Quoting from a message agreed by a synod of bishops last year that discussed the situation of Christians in the Middle East, the pope said they were loyal citizens who were entitled to "enjoy all the rights of citizenship, freedom of conscience, freedom of worship and freedom in education, teaching and the use of the mass media". He also praised European countries who had asked for action by the European Union to protect Middle Eastern Christians.

Where will the euro crisis lead us next? Will Portugal really be the next euro-zone country to ask for help from the European Union's rescue fund? It would appear that the majority of investors are expecting it to. What's more, German banking executives even go one step farther: According to a recent survey of executives at 120 banks in Germany conducted by the management consulting firm Ernst & Young, almost half of them predict that at least one euro-zone country will go bust. Indeed, when asked whether they currently expected to see a sovereign debtor in Europe default, 47 percent of those questioned answered "yes."

Still, only a quarter of them said that they expected possible defaults to negatively affect their companies. Claus-Peter Wagner, the head of the financial services division of Ernst & Young's branch in Germany, said that: "The vast majority of surveyed institutions hold either no or very few bonds of the shaky countries and, consequently, do not have to fear any direct losses." Wagner also added that measures recently taken by the European Central Bank (ECB) to stabilize the bonds of weak euro-zone countries had been successful.

Nevertheless, Wagner did warn that there would be catastrophic consequences if one of these countries actually did become insolvent. "If some of the major banking houses are forced to make massive write-offs," Wagner said, "it would lead to renewed turbulence in the entire global securities market."

They are buying hundreds of billions of dollars of United States Treasury securities on the open market in a controversial attempt to keep interest rates low and, in the process, revive the economy. To critics, it is a Hail Mary play - an admission that the economy's persistent weakness has all but exhausted the central bank's powers and tested the limits of its policy making. Around the world, some warn the unusual strategy will weaken the dollar and lead to crippling inflation.

But inside the Operations Room, on the ninth floor of the New York Fed's fortresslike headquarters, there is no time for second-guessing. Here the second round of what is known as quantitative easing - QE2, as it is called on Wall Street - is being put into practice almost daily by the central bank's powerful New York arm.

Each morning Mr Frost and his team face a formidable task: they must try to buy Treasuries at the best possible price from the savviest bond traders in the business. As offers to sell Treasuries flash on a bank of trading screens, a computer algorithm works out which ones to accept. The computer compares the offers from Wall Street against market prices and the Fed's own calculation of what constitutes a "fair value" price.

"Rates have risen for the reasons we were hoping for: investors are more optimistic about the recovery," said Mr Sack. "It is a good sign."

The government has estimated the cost of the damage at more than $20 million (12.8 million pounds); new heavy downpours are due over Bicol and the Eastern Visayas. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said many more people were missing after being swept away by floods or buried by landslides.

Their latest bulletin said that soldiers and government personnel were evacuating more people in Samar and nearby Leyte island. Floods overflowed bridges, damaged hundreds of homes, wrecked communication lines and blocked highways. The disaster council bulletin said that the rains - which became heavy at the start of the year - have affected 1.29 million people across 144 towns.

It said a total of 338,000 people had fled their homes or are receiving government food aid since then; many have since gone home. About 25,000 people are currently in evacuation centres, officials said, mostly in the Albay province of the central Bicol region. The affected regions run from Southern Luzon, Bicol, Central and Eastern Visayas and Caraga to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the south.

But the head teacher did not authorise the sledging session - and he was sacked from his £40,000-a-year job as head of technology. Mr Tremelling appeared before a General Teaching Council for Wales disciplinary hearing yesterday where he could be struck off the teaching register. Rosa Fernandez, presenting the case, said: "Mr Tremelling took the sledge to school without the authorisation of the head teacher. He used the sledge on snow covered slopes at the rear of the school and allowed two pupils to use it. He failed to carry out appropriate risk assessments and failed to provide a written risk assessment. He didn't ensure pupils were wearing protective headgear and protective clothing." The two year 11 pupils - both boys - were unharmed in the 10-minutes sledging demonstration at the Eastside school.

Mr Tremelling was dismissed following the sledge lesson after a snowfall in February 2009. He denies unacceptable professional conduct. The hearing in Cardiff continues.

In regard to international organizations, the Holy See is present in the United Nations as an observer state. Moreover, it is a member of seven organizations and agencies of the UN system, an observer in eight others and member or observer in five regional organizations.

From the point of view of bilateral relations, 2010 was a fruitful year, the communique reported.

On April 6 the Holy See signed an agreement with the German state of Lower Saxony, which modified article 6 of the addendum to the 1965 Accord and regulates the juridical position of some Catholic schools run by the Dioceses of Hildesheim, Osnabruck and Munster. The exchange of instruments of ratification of this agreement took place on June 28.

On April 8 in Sarajevo an agreement was signed between the Holy See and Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding religious assistance to Catholic faithful who are members of the Armed Forces of that country. The exchange of instruments of ratification of the agreement took place in the Vatican on September 14. The communique concluded with the note that last year in three African countries - Chad, Malawi and Gabon - the presence of the diplomatic representation of the Holy See was stabilized.

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?"