According to the Department for Work and Pensions, 2,290 children under 16 received Disability Living Allowance for metabolic diseases in 2013/14. The total included 630 under-fives and 50 who were officially recorded as obese, it revealed in response to a freedom of information request. Metabolic diseases are a range of conditions which involve problems with the way the body breaks down food. The best known is diabetes.

Weight could be a factor in why children listed as having a metabolic disease require the benefit, as many of the conditions are linked to or aggravated by obesity. Some, however, are caused by genetic factors. Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said it was 'astounding' any young child was classed as obese enough to need disability benefits. 'What does this say about our health services and society that we should let a five-year-old become so obese that they qualify for DLA?' he added.

In many ways the situation here is a mirror image of what happened with Britain’s ERM fiasco in 1992, when we stopped locking the pound to a basket of European currencies. The Swiss have spent the past three years trying desperately to stop a tide of money pouring into the country, mostly from investors desperate to avoid or ditch the euro: the influx was causing the franc to inflate and make their famous exports – chocolates, watches, pharmaceuticals – too expensive, especially for the Euro market that accounts for half of Switzerland’s trade.

They even began charging negative interest in their world famous banks – effectively upending the basic rule of banking by forcing depositors to pay – but still the cash flowed in. Finally, last week, rumours swept the money markets that the European Central Bank was about to print more money – so-called quantitative easing – to bail it out of its latest crisis; this time, brought on by concerns Greece will tumble out of the eurozone after an election later this month.

The pressures between the strong franc and weak euro became intolerable, and the Swiss threw in the towel. The cap had to be lifted, and the franc instantly jumped 39 per cent against the floundering euro – the biggest single-day move for a rich nation’s currency in four decades. It ended the day ‘just’ 17 per cent up in a market that considers a two per cent move dramatic.

But while many Swiss shares slumped, the bigger problem is faced by the euro. It has lost a key pillar of support and, as one London analyst said so rightly last week, ‘can’t find a friend for love nor money’. Even now, after such a long time and damaging episode, the eurozone and its pathetic panjandrums have not resolved the internal contradictions of a costly experiment that has caused economic carnage around the Continent. Now even Germany, the Continent’s economic powerhouse, is struggling to bear the cost of this flawed attempt to align diverse economies without resolving core structural issues.

While Muslims in Jerusalem protested by burning the French flag on the Temple Mount, their brethren in Asia, Africa and Europe set fire to churches and raided shops run by Christians in Niger, attacked police in Algiers and Jordan, and burned the French flag in Pakistan. It no longer is the “occupation” and the “Zionist enemy” that are the targets of angry Muslims. The burning of the French flag on the holy site of the Temple Mount, as a response to the attack on Charlie Hebdo journalists, has exposed, once again, that a large number of Israeli and Palestinian Authority Muslims act in the name of religion and not for a Palestinian Authority state.

The protesters on Friday screamed: “Burn it! burn it! … in the cause of God. Allah the greatest. Prophet Mohammed is our leader forever.” God. Allah. The Prophet Mohammed. Everything is in the name of God, but President Barack Obama and his counterpart in France don’t see it that way.

President Barack Obama was careful not use the “M” word when he denounced the attacks in France and said: “The fact that this was an attack on journalists, attack on our free press, also underscores the degree to which these terrorists fear freedom of speech and freedom of the press. But the one thing that I’m very confident about is that the values that we share with the French people, a belief — a universal belief in the freedom of expression, is something that can’t be silenced because of the senseless violence of the few.”

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest explained that radical Islam was not mentioned because “these terrorists are individuals who would like to cloak themselves in the veil of a particular religion.” Obama’s position suggests that if a Muslim kills anyone in a terrorist attack, he is not acting as a Muslim. And does the president think that any Muslim who burns the French flag in the name of Allah is not acting as a Muslim?

"In the terrible hours, during which Paris and the French suffered between Wednesday afternoon and Friday afternoon last week, the subject was two of the great evils of our time, which not always, but often go hand in hand: murderous Islamist terrorism and anti-Semitism - the hatred of Jews. We remember here today in the Bundestag the 17 people killed in these attacks," Merkel said. Merkel's speech on Thursday also came in light of recent expressions of xenophobic sentiment in Germany, propagated mainly by the anti-Islamization group PEGIDA, mainly in the eastern German state of Saxony. Dresden is its capital.

"Many people would find it difficult to say that Islam belongs to Germany," Merkel said on Thursday. "People ask me, which Islam do I mean?" "They want to know why terrorists have so little value for human life and why they always link their deeds to their faith," she said, calling on the urgent need for the Islamic clergy to clarify these issues. Elsewhere in Germany, demonstrations by the so-called "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West" have been predominantly outnumbered by counter demonstrations.

Merkel also said that as chancellor she would protect Germany's Muslim community. "Every exclusion of Muslims in Germany, every general suspicion is forbidden," Merkel said, emphasizing that the free practice of religion, including Islam, was protected under the German Constitution. "We will not let ourselves be divided," the Chancellor added.

Speaking at a businessmen's meeting in the capital Ankara, Erdogan said Charlie Hebdo was known for its provocative publications. "We are following with great concern the attacks against Islam hidden behind the attack on the satirical magazine in France," said Erdogan, who has become an increasingly vocal critic of what he sees as mounting Islamaphobia in the West. "Despite all our efforts to prevent it, the clash of civilizations thesis is being brought to life."

A kulliye is traditionally a complex including schools, kitchens, guest houses and bath houses which surrounds a mosque and is managed by the mosque. Erdogan, a pious Muslim who has dominated Turkish politics for over a decade, has been accused by opponents of imposing a creeping Islamisation on Turkey’s officially secular society. Some of Ottoman Turkey’s greatest imperial mosques in Istanbul and elsewhere have hugely impressive kulliyes and it is this tradition that Erdogan appears to be harking back to.

Erdogan opened his hugely controversial new presidential palace on the outskirts of Ankara in October. It has 1,150 rooms and was built at a cost of around 490 million euros ($615 million). He says that the palace is a symbol of a resurgent Turkey which he is building. But opponents decry it as an extravagance in an increasingly authoritarian state.

1. Shocking numbers in the news

On January 3, Boko Haram began an assault on the town of Baga in Nigeria’s restive northeast. While the Nigerian government said 150 died in the attack, other estimates of the death toll ranged from hundreds to some 2,000 people. On Saturday, a suicide bomb attached to a 10-year-old girl killed at least 16 people.

2. Approval and elections

On the back of his successful handling of the Ebola crisis, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s approval ratings vaulted to an all-time high 74% in September. By December, this number had fallen to 55%, and in the northeast, Boko Haram’s stronghold, his approval fell 23 points that month. In 2011, post-election violence in Nigeria killed 800 people.

3. Boko Haram vs Ebola

The West African Ebola outbreak has killed roughly 8,400 people so far. That’s by far the biggest Ebola outbreak ever, yet the Council on Foreign Relations has compiled data that links 10,340 violent deaths between November 2013 and November 2014 to Boko Haram–related violence. The conflict has displaced more than 1.5 million people, and with more than 20,000 square miles under its control, Boko Haram–held territory is larger than Switzerland.

4. The government’s energy headache

The major problems in Nigeria’s energy sector makes a robust and costly response to Boko Haram that much more difficult. A steep fall in oil prices — down more than 50% since June — is bad news for a country that relies on crude for 95% of export revenue and 75% of government revenue. Nigeria has also severe electricity generation concerns. Half of Nigeria’s 170 million people have no access to electricity whatsoever.

5. A blind eye

President Jonathan has an election to win, and his government has been accused of underestimating deaths attributable to Boko Haram to deflect political criticism. Less than 24 hours after the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, President Jonathan publicly declared it a “dastardly terrorist attack.” Yet nine days after the violence in Baga began, Jonathan has not publicly acknowledged that the attacks had even happened, though a spokesman for Nigeria’s Defense Ministry issued a statement questioning the “exaggerated” death-toll estimates, dismissing them as “speculation and conjecture.”

Charges found against the accused were announced by a masked Islamic State fighter, using a small handheld radio. Reading from a list, he declares the men are guilty of engaging in homosexual activities and should be punished by death, in accordance with Islamic State’s radical interpretation of Sharia law.

Down on the ground, two men accused of banditry have been tied to makeshift metal crosses. Strung up tightly with yellow and green ribbon around their wrists, the men were hanged from the crosses, ‘wincing in agony’. Their blindfolds appear to have partially slipped from their eyes, allowing them to possibly see the surrounding hostile crowd.

Two masked IS fighters, dressed in khaki military fatigues are photographed standing behind the two crucified men. Upon drawing their pistols, the fighters shoot the two alleged bandits in cold blood. Their motionless bodies remain tied to the metal crosses to the delight of the all male crowd.

It comes a day after five people were killed in the majority Muslim country in protest over the cartoons, which were published on Wednesday in the wake of the Paris terror attacks which saw 17 people killed, including 12 at the controversial magazine. The violence was sparked outside the city's grand mosque after the authorities banned a meeting called by local Islamic leaders. Gangs of youths gathered in protest and were met by police firing teargas. The teenagers responded by throwing petrol bombs and erecting barricades of burning tyres.

Calm returned this afternoon but Islamic associations have called for a protest march tomorrow leading to fears of another violent confrontation. "They offended our Prophet Mohammad, that's what we didn't like," said Amadou Abdoul Ouahab, who took part in the demonstration. "This is the reason why we have asked Muslims to come, so that we can explain this to them, but the state refused. That's why we're angry today."

The country entered into a number of highly controversial tax deals with multinational firms during his premiership of the Grand Duchy between 1995 and 2013. Up to 340 multi-national companies were given help to avoid tax during his 18 years in office, it has been alleged. The deal between Amazon and Luxembourg regarding how much tax the online retailer should pay was reached after just 11 days - which the Commission deems a 'very short period of time'.

Ms Manzur lives in a three-bedroom house that has been customised by the council to accommodate her disability and drives a Fiat Quibo disability car worth around £15,000. Ms Manzur said: "There's no point in dieting, it doesn't make a difference". Ms Manzur admits she eats junk food or ready-made meals because she said: "It costs £1 for a pasta ready meal, so why bother spending money on ingredients to cook?"

"I do like fruit, but it's expensive. It's £1.50 for a punnet of grapes. A chocolate bar costs 50p and I can get a six-pack of crisps for £1, so I buy those instead. Convenience food is cheaper. I buy paper plates too, so I don't have to wash up." Ms Manzur's obesity comes with a string of chronic health problems, many of them weight-related. They include oedema (swellings caused by a build-up of fluid) diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, high cholesterol and the heart condition angina.

We already know they massage these numbers to achieve a happy ending, but even the massaged numbers tell an entirely different story than the one peddled to the masses by the government and corporate media.

Below are the annual price increases for items that might impact your life on a daily basis:

• Food at home – 3.7%
• Food away from home – 3.0%
• Meat – 12.7%
• Fish and seafood – 5.6%
• Eggs – 10.7%
• Milk – 5.2%
• Fruits & vegetables – 4.1%
• Coffee – 4.2%
• Butter – 22.5%
• Natural gas – 5.8
• Footwear – 2.8%
• Prescription drugs – 6.4%
• Newspapers & magazines – 4.8%
• College textbooks – 5.0%
• Cigarettes – 3.1%
• Apartment rent – 3.4%
• Owners equivalent rent – 2.6%
• Hotels – 7.3%
• Water & sewer – 5.6%
• Medical care -2.4%
• Hospital care – 4.9%
• College tuition – 3.4%
• Postage – 4.1%
• Tax preparation – 6.1%

Your government keepers will continue to drown you in propaganda and misinformation. But the average person should know they are being lied to. They see how much money they have left over at the end of every month. If any.

1. State conflict

The biggest threat to world stability over the next 10 years is likely to come from geopolitical tensions. According to the report, the crisis in Ukraine, Russia's simmering tensions with Europe, and strained Chinese-Japanese relations are all evidence that the world's biggest powers have once again started engaging in strategic power struggles. Although not all these conflicts were explicitly violent in nature, the probability of regional spillovers was the issue that most spooked policymakers about global stability in the short and long-term.

2. Water is the new oil

The threat which was judged as having the biggest impact on the world population, was a crisis in the world's water supply. An estimated 4 billion to 5 billion people in the world suffer from strained access to clean water, with the Middle East in particular likely to be a hotspot for struggles around water supply. “We could see the same tensions around water as we have seen around oil” - Espen Elde, managing director of the WEF.

3. State collapse

2014 saw the emergence of the non-state actors which threatened and sometimes over-ran the sovereignty of nation states. Chief among them were the Islamic State (Isil) and this trend towards government collapse in Syria and Iraq is highlighted as one of the associated risks that come with geopolitical conflict. “Isis has claimed control of territory and attracted 20,000 to 30,000 fighters from a near standing start,” read the report. The group's brutality could also lead to the use of weapons of mass destruction and increase the likelihood of large-scale terrorist attacks over the next decade.

4. Unemployment

For the first time in the report's near 10-year history, economic concerns feature far less prominently. A slow and sluggish return to global growth has reduced the likelihood of another financial crisis, but of all the economic threats that still remain, unemployment ranked as the most probable long-term threat to social stability.