One expert said the number of practising Muslims could soon outnumber the number of Christians who actively worship in the UK. David Voas, Professor of Population Studies at the University of Essex, told The Times: ‘It’s not inconceivable.’ There were 1.6 million Muslims in England and Wales in 2001, or 3 per cent of the population, according to the census. By 2011 the Muslim population had grown to 2.7 million people or 4.8 per cent of the population.

There are now 136 Muslim schools, 125 of them in the private sector, according to the Department for Education. Britain has a total of 1,600 mosques and the first UK halal food festival was held in September. Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said that the large number of young Muslim children reflected the confidence that Muslims had in the country, encouraging them to bring up families here. ‘I just wouldn’t want our fellow citizens to be alarmed by an increase in number,’ he said.

‘This generation is very much British. They feel very much this is their home. It’s not about Britain becoming a Muslim country but about Britain enabling the practice of Islam, which gives confidence to the vast majority of Muslims. It’s a great country to regard as our home.’

The controversy began after a number of hard-line Muslim student groups insisted that men and women must sit separately at their public meetings and lectures. Universities UK, the official voice of British universities, deemed such segregation to be acceptable so long as women were not forced to sit at the back of the room.

The guidance caused an uproar, drawing the prime minister, David Cameron, into the debate, and leading an opposition spokesman, Chuka Umunna, to insist that “a future Labour government would not allow or tolerate segregation in our universities.”

For some, the debate has been an expression of Islamophobia, singling out Muslim practices for criticism. For others, the attitude of Universities UK demonstrates how many in authority are willing to appease Islamist extremists, and to tolerate the intolerable so as not to offend minority groups.

Christian Social Union (CSU) General Secretary Andreas Scheuer has called the EU Commission's statement making the rounds in German newspapers since Friday (10.01.2013) "Eurocratic madness." The document has been interpreted as claiming that Germany should not be permitted to deny immigrants from the EU welfare assistance.

The EU Commission's statement has poured fuel on the fire of a raging national debate in Germany about migrants from less prosperous EU countries coming to the country and claiming benefits. The Bavaria-based CSU - the sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) - has been flaunting its views with the slogan "those who commit fraud will be [kicked] out," claiming that migrant workers could exploit German welfare programs.

The Pope has previously spoken out to encourage priests to baptise the children of unmarried women in order to pass on the Christian faith, calling those who refuse 'hypocrites'. According to the Vatican Network, he said: 'You parents have the baby boy or girl to be baptised, but in a few years it will be they who will have a baby to be baptised, or a grandchild... And so goes the chain of faith.'

'What does this mean? I would just tell you this: you are the ones that transmit the faith, the transmitters, you have a duty to pass on the faith to these children. It's the most beautiful legacy that you leave to them: the faith.' Speaking in the relaxed manner that has become his trademark, Francis broke with the tradition of delivering a long and formal speech, instead reading a short script he had written himself.

Now their police officers say they are using military type tactical equipment to fight crime. The new MRAP looks like a tank on wheels. "Mine response ambush protection." said Officer Keith Holmes , who applied to acquire the MRAP from the US Military for the Fort Pierce Police Department, "The military was pretty much handing them out to the different cities and I put in the application for it, and we got pushed through due to the violence in the city we have here."

Used last in Afghanistan, "They brought this back from Afghanistan and now it's in Fort Pierce for officer rescues, search warrants, things like that that an officer would need protection." Holmes said. Still many libertarians argue the police departments these days are becoming too militarized. "I agree to a certain extent its overkill but for the cost, for $2000, yes it's what we need." said Officer Holmes. Purchased through a program from the US Military for $2,000, an armored swat vehicle could cost in the $150,000 range.

The military is unloading hundreds of these types of vehicles post Operation Enduring Freedom. More and more police agencies are signing up to use retired military equipment.

Among the TPWD's specialized units is the "Scout Team," a group of 25 wardens who "have received a variety of training and can be used in border operations, dignitary protection, or any form of high-risk law enforcement, such as serving felony arrests or hostage situations," explains Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine. "We can have a team anywhere in Texas in four hours, and that's the worst-case scenario," boasts Law Enforcement Special Operations Chief Grahme Jones. "A lot of times it's much faster."

For public consumption, the TPWD's einsatzgruppen are portrayed as kindly people who will pluck terrified children from rooftops during floods, or come to the aid of people whose boats have broken down. However, the agency's 532 wardens are "fully commissioned peace [sic] officers" who "have long assisted local authorities and state agencies," observes Texas Parks & Wildlife. In other words: They’re cops, which means they are agents of officially sanctioned violence.

Jones points out that in addition to looking for "game and fish law violations," wardens also "assist with community policing." The last is an anodyne phrase that should be terrifying to reasonably well-informed people.

The government that afflicts Texas is run by extravagantly punitive people with a penchant for criminalizing practically everything. Several years ago, this anti-social compulsion led the Texas Legislature to enact a measure that would literally make a felony out of telling a fish story: A participant in a fishing tournament who exaggerates the size of his catch could be sent to prison for ten years, and be fined up to $10,000.

Lord Dobbs, the author of House of Cards, said the European Union had become a “pestilence” that politicians had failed to deal with. More than 70 peers have asked to speak in today’s second reading debate on the Bill, which would set in law a commitment to hold an in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.

Lord Mandelson, the former European Commissioner, said a referendum was a “lottery” and the Prime Minister was “holding a pistol” at European leaders in order to appease voters who might vote for Ukip. Lord Dobbs said no-one under the age of sixty had had a say on Britain’s role in Europe, following the last vote on British membership in 1975. The bloc has “changed beyond imagination” in the years since.

“It’s become a pestilence. It’s become a poison in our political system. It dominates so much of our political dialogue here and we need to get rid of this burden. We need to decide one way or the other whether we are going to stick with Europe or whether we are going to leave it. It is not the politicians who are going to sort this out because we failed all these years to sort it out; it’s going to be the people who sort this out,” he said. “The political elites have made a real mess of this.”

Radio 4 broadcaster Evan Davis was accused of repeatedly interrupting Tory Lord Dobbs on the Today show but let Labour’s Lord Mandelson twice speak for almost two minutes. Mr Davis also predicted a Labour victory in 2015 that made a Bill over the referendum pointless. Downing Street complained, but the BBC last night said it was ‘satisfied’ its coverage was fair and balanced.

Former European Commissioner Lord Mandelson, who will get a lucrative pension from Brussels at 65, said politicians should not entrust the public with an in-out vote on the EU as the outcome would be a lottery. Lord Kinnock, whose family is reported to have received £10 million in pay, perks and pension entitlements while he and his wife Glenys worked in Brussels, attacked the plans as an appeasement to Eurosceptics.

They spoke in a seven-hour Lords debate on a Private Member’s Bill, introduced by Tory MP James Wharton, which sailed through the Commons after Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg declined to block it. But Labour and Liberal Democrat peers yesterday launched a coordinated assault. The Bill passed its second reading without a vote – the convention in the Lords – but critics are now expected to table hundreds of amendments in a bid to derail it.

The Bill was introduced into the Lords by Tory Lord Dobbs, who said: ‘Nobody below the age of 60 has ever had a chance to have a say on this issue. This Bill is needed and it is very much wanted. A referendum is about democracy. It is not about being in Europe, it about allowing people to decide their own future. It would be a brave man who denies them that choice – and an even braver unelected peer.’

Netanyahu has claimed he won't sign any document which in any way allows the establishment of a Palestinian Authority (PA) capital in Jerusalem, no matter the price to peace talks, according to Haaretz reports Friday morning.

On Thursday, sources in Jewish Home reported that Chairman Naftali Bennett was ready to quit the coalition if a framework of Israeli withdrawals was adopted. Kerry's interim plans reportedly would have Jerusalem follow the model of the Vatican, whereby the Old City and the Temple Mount would be a sort of autonomous region under joint international management, including Israeli and PA representatives.

Reports by a senior PA official on Monday further clarified that Kerry's plan would divide part of Jerusalem to the PA, while Jordan would have jurisdiction on holy sites in the Jewish capital.

Israel's Makor Rishon Hebrew daily reported last April that a major biblical archeology find in the Judean hills south of Jerusalem was apparently being covered up by the government. At the time, a member of the Kfar Etzion Field School in the Eztion Bloc of Jewish communities had stumbled across an ancient ornate pillar as he descended into a cave in the Judean hills. The pillar and its attached capital clearly belonged to a royal structure, and local archaeologists said it certainly dated back to the times of the Judean kings, if not David himself.

The undisturbed nature of the find suggested that a large part of the ancient palace was probably buried intact beneath where the pillar was found. "We appear to have a complete castle here," Kfar Etzion Field School Director Yaron Rosental told the newspaper. "Those who lived here after it did not know of its existence and thus, instead of using its stones to build a new building as was the usual practice, left it intact."

But, when Rosental contacted Israel's Antiquities Authority, he was harshly rebuffed and told to "keep [his] mouth shut" about the find. The Antiquities Authority later confirmed to Makor Rishon that the find exists, and had actually been first discovered the year prior, but that political sensitivities had prevented archaeologists from exploring the site.

It was pointed out that the find is located in territory claimed by the Palestinian Authority. Uncovering a major and even unprecedented archaeological site that solidifies the ancient Jewish presence in and control of these lands could upset the peace process.

But yesterday the Met Office said there was no evidence to support such assertions. Its statement came as forecasters said the relentless rain would ease off this weekend – to be replaced by a cold snap with temperatures falling to -4C (25F) nationwide.

Mr Cameron made his remarks in the Commons when he was asked by a Lib Dem MP whether he believed the gales and torrential rain were ‘a destructive and inevitable consequence at least in part of climate change’. He replied: ‘I agree with you that we are seeing more abnormal weather events and very much suspect that it is.’

Climate scientists say no single extreme weather event can be entirely attributed to the changing climate, but the impact of greenhouse gases makes extreme weather – such as floods and droughts – more frequent. But yesterday the Met Office said that despite December being the stormiest month since 1969, it can be explained by natural variations in the jet stream, the band of fast-moving air which creates winter storms in the US and blows their remnants across the Atlantic.

The pontiff has named his first batch of cardinals, choosing 19 men from Asia, Africa, North and South America and elsewhere, including Haiti and Burkina Faso, to reflect his attention to the poor. Francis made the announcement Sunday as he spoke from his studio window to a crowd in St Peter’s Square.

Health experts claim the reduction could shave 100 calories from each person’s daily intake and reverse the UK’s growing obesity epidemic. Later a group of health experts and academics come together to launch ‘Action on Sugar’, a campaign which is calling on the food producers to dramatically reduce levels of sugar in everyday products.

They are also asking companies to stop advertising sugary drinks and snacks to children claiming sugar has become ‘the alcohol of childhood.’ And they are calling on the government to fine those who do not meet reduction targets or impose a Sugar Tax. Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool, UK, Simon Capewell says, “Sugar is the new tobacco. Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focussed on profit not health.”

“The obesity epidemic is already generating a huge burden of disease and death.” One in four adults in England is obese and these figures are set to climb to 60 per cent of men, 50 per cent of women, and 25 per cent of children by 2050. Three in every 10 children aged between two and 15 are overweight or obese.

In a brief speech on the House floor about safety nets that touches on all manner of government assistance, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee suggested that the term “welfare” is no longer politically correct, and like all masters of doublespeak, wants Congress to change its name to a “transitional living fund.”

As we highlighted in a recent interview, and though it’s not necessarily descriptive of everyone who receives welfare assistance, the program itself is being abused on a massive scale. In the case of this particular caller, the “transitional living” involved going from working a job to sitting at home, smoking weed and still getting paid.

Sometimes our best laid plans fall apart. People hit hard times. That’s inevitable. Providing those people with transitional living assistance with food, health care or housing makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is the confiscation of earnings from hard working Americans to the tune of $500 billion per year only to distribute those funds to apathetic leeches who contribute absolutely nothing to society. For many on government assistance you are a joke if you struggle at a 40-hour job for a weekly paycheck.

Transitional living? Hogwash. People like the esteemed Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee would like to see nothing less than cradle-to-grave long term government dependents.