Only four months after the fanfare of Herman Van Rompuy's appointment as European Council president, his most jealous and powerful rival in Brussels has persuaded allies to allow him to muscle in too. Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, has succeeded in his demands that he should also go to diplomatic summits, such as the G20, after insisting only he has the expertise to deal with specific policy matters.

At certain summits there will even be a third representative - the leader of the country holding the EU's rotating presidency. This seems to justify criticism that the Lisbon Treaty would add to the EU's murky waters and not be a move towards transparency. Sarah Gaskell, spokeswoman for the Open Europe think-tank, said last night: "This surely must be the final nail in the coffin of the Government's promise that the Lisbon Treaty would bring greater clarity to the European Union."

"Instead of Europe speaking with one voice we have two of the EU's many presidents fighting for the limelight and over who gets to speak on what issue. Other countries at the G20 will be completely puzzled by the EU's failure to decide who should speak for it. It seems to change from one day to the next."

Speaking on Sunday to the annual legal service in Wells Cathedral, Somerset, the bishop said the General Election would be held at the end of one of the most legislative parliaments in history, in which about 4,000 new laws had entered the statute book. "It can be argued that the cause of much of this legislation is as a result of the loss of community, the perceived breakdown of family life, and the decline of a sense of individual responsibility," he said.

"The effect of many of these new laws is to place responsibility for cleaning up the mess of society upon educationalists, doctors and health workers, social services, the police and other institutions and structure. Paradoxically, legislation on the rights of the individual has increased, leading to something of a victim society, as well as a blame culture. A culture of suspicion, accompanied by a climate of fear that to engage with strangers, even those evidently in need, is stultifying both innate social virtues and common good."

He added: "Most of us will have seen the adverts from some of the less scrupulous within the legal profession advising, 'Had any accident. Not your fault. You could make money.'" The bishop said that while the rights of the individual had increased, equivalent responsibility had decreased. "There is always someone or something to blame, whether it is background, social status or environment," he said. "Fault and accountability for one's own actions has been significantly diminished."

He added: "There is a perception, and perception is often all, that the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty' is effectively being reversed by much of the intrusive registration and monitoring currently enshrined in law."

It extends coverage to 32 million more Americans, and marks the biggest change to the US healthcare system in decades. "We proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things," Mr Obama said in remarks after the vote. "This legislation will not fix everything that ails our healthcare system, but it moves us decisively in the right direction," he said. Mr Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law shortly.

Under the legislation, health insurance will be extended to nearly all Americans, new taxes imposed on the wealthy, and restrictive insurance practices such as refusing to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions will be outlawed. The Republicans have vowed to continue resisting it. They say the measures are unaffordable and represent a government takeover of the health industry. "We have failed to listen to America," said Republican party leader John Boehner.

The $2.59 trillion of Treasury Department sales since the start of 2009 have created a glut as the budget deficit swelled to a post-World War II-record 10 percent of the economy and raised concerns whether the US deserves its AAA credit rating. The increased borrowing may also undermine the first-quarter rally in Treasuries as the economy improves.

"It's a slap upside the head of the government," said Mitchell Stapley, the chief fixed-income officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at Fifth Third Asset Management, which oversees $22 billion. "It could be the moment where hopefully you realize that risk is beginning to creep into your credit profile and the costs associated with that can be pretty scary."

"There's no natural law that says a Treasury has to yield less than a corporate," said Daniel Shackelford, who is part of a group that manages $18 billion in bonds at T Rowe Price Group Inc in Baltimore. "It wouldn't be the first time that I would scratch my head and say 'this doesn't make sense, the market's behaving irrationally.' And it can go on for much longer than you may think."

Monday is World Water Day, but I suspect relatively few will have noticed. Most people equate water consumption with what they use in their homes and places of work, but the challenge facing the globe goes much, much further than that. The 2030 Water Resources Group, a collaboration between the private and social sectors to discover solutions to combat water scarcity, estimates that global water requirements will grow by over 50% over the next 20 years. Such levels of usage will be 40% greater than what can currently be sustainably supplied.

Of course this global figure is an aggregation: at a more local level the situation is far worse. For example, by 2030 one third of the global population, mainly concentrated in developing countries, will have only half the amount of naturally renewed water available they need. What most consumers might not be aware of is that agriculture accounts for 70% of global water usage today, and how the need to feed the growing population of the world will put an even greater strain on already scarce water resources. And in recent years food and water supplies have also been significantly affected by the use of agricultural land and resources on the production of biofuels.

The 2030 Water Resources Group also predicts that industrial use of water will almost double by 2030. It currently accounts for 16% of total usage - more than half of it for energy production - and this will grow to a projected 22% by 2030 with China alone accounting for 40% of the additional demand. The challenge facing governments, businesses and - arguably - all of us, is how to close the gap in supply in a way that is both environmentally sustainable and economically viable. At the moment we are coping by 'borrowing' water supplies from non-replenishable aquifers or from water reserved for environmental needs, an approach which is clearly not a long-term solution.

The sooner governments, industry and consumers start to see the links between energy, food and water security, and how policies in one area affect another, the more likely it is that water scarcity will get the profile it deserves and that we start acting decisively to assure the sustainability of humankind's most precious resource, water.

John Lipsky, the International Monetary Fund's first deputy managing director, said the scale of the adjustment required was so vast that it would have to come through less-generous health and pension benefits, spending cuts and increased tax revenues. "Addressing this fiscal challenge is a key near-term priority, as concerns about fiscal sustainability could undermine confidence in the economic recovery," Lipsky told the China Development Forum.

"Already in several countries with particularly high debt and deficits, sovereign risk premia have risen sharply, imposing strains for the countries affected and raising risks of possible broader spillovers," he said in remarks prepared for delivery to the conference. For most advanced economies, maintaining fiscal stimulus in 2010 remains appropriate, but consolidation should begin next year if the global economic recovery remains on track.

He painted a daunting picture of the tightening needed to restore public finances to health. Gross general government debt in the advanced economies will rise from an average of 75 percent of GDP at end-2007 to 110 percent of GDP at end-2014, even assuming that temporary, crisis-related stimulus steps are withdrawn in coming years. Reducing the ratio to the pre-crisis average of 60 percent by 2030 would require raising the structural primary balance - before interest payments - from a deficit of about 4 percent of GDP in 2010 to a surplus of about 4 percent of GDP in 2020 and keeping it at that level for the following decade.

Much of Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle and parts of Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas were under a winter storm warning that was to last into Sunday. Travel was being discouraged in central and northern Oklahoma, where authorities said roads were slick and hazardous. Several flights were delayed or canceled at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City because of snow and freezing fog, spokeswoman Karen Carney said.

Authorities reported dozens of wrecks amid heavy snow and high winds, many of them with injuries. Single deaths were reported in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. Forecasters said snow accumulations will average 4 to 8 inches over much of northern, central and eastern Oklahoma, with up to a foot in some areas northeast of Oklahoma City. In Kansas, 6 to 12 inches of snow were possible. Accumulations of 1 to 4 inches were forecast for north-central Kansas.

By late afternoon, snowfall totals ranged from 1 inch to 7 inches across Oklahoma, with the highest accumulations in the north-central part of the state. In Braman, just south of the Kansas state line, 7 inches had fallen, while 6 inches fell in Stillwater. The storm is the third major winter storm to hit Oklahoma in the last three months, including a Christmas Eve blizzard that stranded holiday travelers at airports and on snow-packed highways.

The number of people living in shantytowns increased by 55 million to 827.6 million as population growth and migration from the countryside outstripped the effect of upward mobility in cities, the UN's biennial report on cities found. "The situation has improved over 10 years, but alas over the same period, the net increase of the urban poor is 55 million," Anna Tibaijuka, the executive director of the UN Habitat program, said in Rio de Janeiro.

The Brazilian city will next week host the World Urban Forum, a five-day UN conference on the state of the world's cities, where more than half the global population now lives. Some 227 million people escaped slum conditions from 2000 to 2010, meaning that countries easily surpassed their collective target under the UN Millennium Development target, the report said.

Tibaijuka played down the achievement of beating the Millennium goal of pulling 100 million people out of poverty, calling it "totally inadequate." The Millennium goals include cutting extreme poverty, reducing child mortality and fighting epidemics by 2015. Barring "drastic" action, the number of slum dwellers in the world's cities is expected to grow by 6 million a year over the next decade to hit 889 million by 2020, the report said.

It came as a surprise this month to Wang Jianwei, a graduate engineering student in Liaoning, China, that he had been described as a potential cyberwarrior before the United States Congress. When reached by telephone, Mr Wang said he and his professor had indeed published "Cascade-Based Attack Vulnerability on the US Power Grid" in an international journal called Safety Science last spring. But Mr Wang said he had simply been trying to find ways to enhance the stability of power grids by exploring potential vulnerabilities.

"We usually say 'attack' so you can see what would happen," he said. "My emphasis is on how you can protect this. My goal is to find a solution to make the network safer and better protected." And independent American scientists who read his paper said it was true: Mr. Wang's work was a conventional technical exercise that in no way could be used to take down a power grid.

The difference between Mr Wang's explanation and Mr Wortzel's conclusion is of more than academic interest. It shows that in an atmosphere already charged with hostility between the United States and China over cybersecurity issues, including large-scale attacks on computer networks, even a misunderstanding has the potential to escalate tension and set off an overreaction.

"Already people are interpreting this as demonstrating some kind of interest that China would have in disrupting the US power grid," said Nart Villeneuve, a researcher with the SecDev Group, an Ottawa-based cybersecurity research and consulting group. "Once you start interpreting every move that a country makes as hostile, it builds paranoia into the system."

"For decades," the letter says, "the United States Catholic bishops have supported universal health care. The Catholic Church teaches that health care is a basic human right, essential for human life and dignity. Our community of faith," the bishops continue, "provides health care to millions, purchases health care for tens of thousands and addresses the failings of our health care system in our parishes, emergency rooms and shelters. This is why we as bishops continue to insist that health care reform which truly protects the life, dignity, consciences and health of all is a moral imperative and an urgent national priority."

Nevertheless, they add, "we are convinced that the Senate legislation now presented to the House of Representatives on a 'take it or leave it' basis sadly fails this test and ought to be opposed." The bishops regret that the House leadership is "ignoring the pleas of pro-life members for essential changes in the legislation. Apparently they will not even try to address the serious problems on abortion funding, conscience protection and fair treatment of immigrants."

"We are bishops, not politicians, policy experts or legislative tacticians. We are also pastors, teachers, and citizens. At this point of decision, we cannot compromise on basic moral principles. We can only urge - and hope and pray - that the House of Representatives will still find the will and the means to adopt health care reform that protects the life, dignity, conscience and health of all. The legislation the House adopted, while not perfect, came closer to meeting these criteria. The Senate legislation simply does not meet them," the bishops say.

"With deep regret, but clear in our moral judgment, we are compelled to continue to urge House members to oppose the Senate bill unless these fundamental flaws are remedied. At this critical moment, we urge Representatives to take the steps necessary to ensure that health care reform respects the life and dignity of all, from conception to natural death," the letter concludes.

The warnings echoed a speech by US President Barack Obama, who warned of complacency in the banking sector. Also, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that there was "unfinished business" with banks. Lehman Brothers, once the fourth-largest US investment bank, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the early hours of 15 September 2008.

Governments around the world subsequently had to pump trillions into their financial systems through bank bail-outs, central bank actions and huge stimulus plans to save their economies from collapse. BBC business editor Robert Peston said that Lehman's collapse had huge repercussions on the psyche of investors and the scale of the financial crisis. "The significance of Lehman Brothers was in the massive panic that it caused in the marketplace, where funds were withdrawn from any bank anywhere in the world that was perceived as remotely vulnerable," Robert Peston said.

But there is now concern that as the banks start to recover, they have not taken the necessary steps to prevent a repeat of the crisis. "Alarm bells should be ringing with the early signs of a 'back to business' attitude in the City and little evidence that policymakers are taking measures to ensure the next economic recovery is better balanced than the last one," said Tony Dolphin, senior economist at the IPPR. The report warned that unless urgent action was taken, the banking crisis might not be the last of its type.

It is almost 200 years since a volcano near Eyjafjallajoekull, 120km (75 miles) east of Reykjavik, last erupted. "We estimate that no one is in danger in the area but we have started an evacuation plan and between 500 and 600 people are being evacuated," Sigurgeir Gudmundsson of the Icelandic civil protections department told the Agence France-Presse news agency. There are fears that the volcano could cause flooding, as it causes ice to melt on the glacier above it.

"Ash has already begun to fall in Fljotshlid and people in the surrounding area have reported seeing bright lights emanating from the glacier," RUV public radio said on its website. "It was a bit scary, but still amazing to see," Katrin Moller Eiriksdottir, who lives in Fljotshlid, told the BBC News website. "The ash had started falling and we couldn't leave the car. They have now closed the road but we'll see what happens in the morning."

Three Icelandair flights, bound for Reykjavik from the United States, have been ordered to return to Boston, RUV radio reported, and much of Icelandic air space is a no-fly zone. The last volcanic eruption in the area occurred in 1821.

The pastoral letter is the first statement of its kind by the Vatican on the sexual abuse of children. It follows revelations of paedophilia within the Irish Catholic Church, which have rocked the institution. Scandals involving Catholic priests have been reported in other countries, including the Pope's native Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria and the US.

Addressing the victims of abuse, the Pope wrote: "You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry." He continued: "Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated... I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel." He said those guilty of abuse must "answer before God and properly constituted tribunals for the sinful and criminal actions they have committed".

However, the Pope's statement may fall short of demands by victims' groups for an admission that abuse was systematically covered up, says BBC Religious Affairs correspondent Robert Pigott. The only direct reference to cover-ups is a reference to "a misplaced concern for the reputation of the Church and the avoidance of scandal".

The Pope also criticised inadequate procedures in selecting candidates for the priesthood and "insufficient human, moral, intellectual and spiritual formation in seminaries and novitiates" as factors contributing to the crisis. He said: "Urgent action is needed to address these factors, which have had such tragic consequences in the lives of victims and their families, and have obscured the light of the Gospel to a degree that not even centuries of persecution succeeded in doing.

On Wednesday, she added more fuel to the fire. Speaking to the French radio station RTL, she said that when an economic union such as the euro zone faces difficulties, "everyone" should contribute to the solution. Countries with a deficit, she said, ought to reduce it, while those with a trade surplus cannot "stand on only one leg." "For instance, perhaps Germany could reduce its taxes a little to stimulate domestic spending," the minister suggested.

Germany's Christian Democratic Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted coolly. "We will not give up our strengths in those areas where we are strong," she said in German parliament on Wednesday. The chancellor may have shown recent interest in the long-shunned concept of a "common economic government" for Europe. But she would like it to be pegged to Europe's economic success stories, not those countries which are lagging behind.

But it is precisely the less competitive countries that pose the biggest problem for the euro zone. The disastrous budget situation in Greece has highlighted the common currency's weaknesses in recent weeks and similar situations in Spain, Ireland, Italy or Portugal could aggravate the situation even further.

They said the informant chose the targets, supplied fake bombs for the synagogues and a fake missile to shoot down planes. The motion said he also offered to pay the defendants, who attorneys alleged weren't inclined toward any crime until the informant began recruiting them. "The government well knew that their case had been a government-inspired creation from day one and that the defendants had not been independently seeking weapons or targets," the motion said.

Federal court spokesman Herb Hadad said the government would file its response next month. The four men, who were arrested last May, face up to life in prison if convicted. They have been previously identified as James Cromitie, 55, David Williams, 28, Onta Williams, 32, and Laguerre Payen, 27, all of Newburgh in upstate New York, where authorities were conducting raids at their homes, sources said.

Authorities have said they had the plotters under surveillance since June of 2008 and there was "no chance" the alleged scheme could succeed. They credited the work of a long time informant with keeping tabs on the group. The FBI has said the Muslim suspects were angry and full of hate for America.