Head of volcanology at the BGS Sue Loughlin, who will present the paper, warns that Eyjafjallajokull was a relatively small eruption and would be dwarfed by eruptions at other volcanic systems, which have erupted in the relatively recent past. Loughlin's report warns that such eruptions, "typified by the Laki eruption in Iceland in 1783-84, have been identified as one of the three highest priority natural hazards faced by the UK."

Unlike with a traditional funnel-shaped volcano, the 1783 Laki event happened when a 17-mile fissure opened up in the Grimsvotn complex in the east of the island. This caused 130 craters along the crack to pump out 3.6 cubic miles of lava, sending lava fountains a mile into the sky. The Laki event caused 120 million tons of sulphur dioxide cloud to drift across the UK. Once inhaled it turns to sulphuric acid, which can cause fatal inflammation. Around 23,000 died in Britain – in an age when the population was far lower and there were far fewer older people. The consequences of "effusive gas-rich eruptions" in a country of 63 million people could be truly disastrous.

In Iceland during 1783 the effects were even more devastating, with 80% of livestock being wiped out and crop failure causing 20% of the population to starve to death. Over the following years winters across Europe were exceptionally cold and summers blisteringly hot, and it has been suggested that the knock-on effects may have helped usher in the French Revolution of 1789.

The report found that major events at Grimsvotn and at Katla, a similar volcanic system, have occurred at least 40 times over the last 1,130 years. The government has now ordered the Met Office to monitor Iceland's active volcano systems.

From Ukraine’s upheaval and the renewed Russian menace to Syria’s civil war and chaotic post-revolutionary Libya, today’s EU confronts no shortage of external dangers. But instead of knitting the bloc’s 28 countries together, the threats have exposed what is keeping them apart.

“The EU is internally divided about the right answer,” said Jan Marinus Wiersma, a former Dutch member of the European Parliament who is now with the Clingendael Institute in The Hague. “As long as there is no common direction in how to react to Russia’s ambitions, we will keep a divided Europe.”

Throughout history, perils from abroad have been spurs to unity. Continued British animosity after the American revolution led to the setup of the US federal government; the consolidation of federal power after the US Civil War was one of the factors that led Britain to turn its Canadian colonies into a confederation. Switzerland evolved out of a medieval alliance to defend Alpine trade routes.

The modern-day EU has taken a different path, and hasn’t gotten as far. Post-World War II western Europe relied on the US for defense, allowing it to stitch together a market that culminated with the creation of the euro currency in 1999. The result is a loose federation with limited authority in Brussels and most power residing in national capitals such as Berlin, Paris and London.

Europe doesn’t need to be much more than that, said Thomas Hueglin, a professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada, who studies federal systems. What matters is that the decision-making apparatus that was revamped in response to the euro debt crisis brings back the prosperity that nurtured the bloc in the past, he said.

“Citizens of Israel, my brothers and sisters, Has the world learned from the mistakes of the past? Today, we are again facing clear facts and a tangible threat. Iran is calling for our destruction. It is developing nuclear weapons. This is the reason it is building underground bunkers for the enrichment of uranium. This is the reason it is establishing a plutonium-producing heavy water facility. This is the reason it continues to develop inter-continental ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads to threaten the entire world.

“Today, just like then, there are those who dismiss Iran's extreme rhetoric as one that serves domestic purposes. Today, just like then, there are those who view Iran's nuclear ambitions as the result of the natural will of a proud nation – a will that should be accepted. And just like then, those who make such claims are deluding themselves. They are making an historic mistake. I call on the leaders of the world powers to insist on a full dismantling of Iran's capability to manufacture nuclear weapons, and to persist until this goal is achieved.

“On this day, on behalf of the Jewish people, I say to all those who sought to destroy us, to all those who still seek to destroy us: you have failed and you will fail. The State of Israel is stronger than ever. It is a state that seeks peace with all its neighbors – a state with a will of iron to ensure the future of its people." He ended his speech with a quote from the Book of Numbers, Chapter 23: "The people will arise like a lion cub and raise itself like a lion; it will not lie down until it consumes prey, and drinks the blood of the slain."

Defying the Obama-inspired “talks” by refusing to release the third batch of murderers gives hope that Israel has had enough and is finally getting up off its knees. Let the gloves to come off now and let Israel declare the Oslo Accords a tragic mistake that recognized a people who never existed in the annals of history and expose to the world - in clear and unambiguous language - the fiction that is the “Palestinian” narrative.

Israel must declare that the current so called “peace talks” are dead and buried, not just stopped, and that the PA’s day in the sun and limelight on the world stage is well and truly over. Serious issues now require urgent attention. It is time for Israel to act like a sovereign power in control of its own destiny. According to Israel’s Chief of Military Intelligence, Major General Aviv Kohavi, Israel faces 170,000 rockets aimed at her citizens.

To quote General Kohavi: “Israel is surrounded by 360 degrees of actual enemies. We call this period in time the ‘Era of Fire’, in light of the amount of missiles and rockets we face as a constant threat. There are about 170,000 rockets and missiles that threaten Israel. For the first time the enemy now has the ability to hit Israeli cities hard. IAF pilots can no longer move freely towards their targets and have to dodge missiles that threaten them.”

If ever there was a need for a pre-emptive surprise strike to take out these missile batteries, it is the present. If the “Palestinians” chose to locate these missile batteries in and around their civilian population centres, any collateral damage should be of no concern to Israel. To those who frown upon this scenario, examine the alternative. Can Israel afford to wait until these missiles are airborne and cause pandemonium throughout the length and breadth of the country? A devastated Israel will have profound implications for Diaspora Jewry as well.

The gloves coming off should include bringing an end to all hostility in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. No longer should the IDF be taunted by rock throwing Arabs and be expected to do nothing. In short the IDF’s current restraint and paralysis in this arena should be the failed policy of the past and any future acts of terror be confronted by ruthless and overwhelming force.

He recycled the same conditions, after he already knows Israel won't accept them. Abbas said in his speech Saturday that talks with Israel could only continue if Israel submits to a freeze on construction in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, releases jailed terrorists, and starts agreeing to borders for a Palestinian state.

The PA chairman has "time and again" blocked Israeli and US efforts to extend talks according to the officials, who note at the beginning of the month he violated "existent agreements by unilaterally applying to the UN conventions." The officials noted that Abbas's Fatah faction signed a reconciliation deal with Hamas last Wednesday, "while Israel was making sincere efforts to advance negotiations with the Palestinians."

Abbas continued by declaring that his unity government would not agree to receive a state in the heart of Israel, unless eastern Jerusalem was its capital. In conclusion, Abbas reiterated his threats, made twice last week, to disband the PA and turn over responsibility to govern Judea and Samaria over to Israel. "If they (Israel) don't want to commit there is the other solution - for them to take over everything," Abbas said.

To ensure that this can happen, we wish to submit to your attention the fact that the Bible is based on the attitude of God to the People of Israel, prophesying and promising their return from exile to His country and the Temple Mount, Judaism's most holy site. We hope that unlike the classic Catholic position, you will clarify that you approve the return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem to establish the Temple as described by the prophets.

Therefore you have to pray that all the people of the world will join together in order to help realize the vision of the Bible. Up to now, unfortunately, the Catholic Church itself has refused to be friendly to Israel and has instead supported the Arab position, denying the Jews the right to live secure and free in their own land.

We therefore ask Your Holiness to please announce that the return of the Jewish people to its land as promised in the Scriptures is a Divine phenomenon, that the Jewish people have the full right to establish His kingdom in Israel, and that the State of Israel is the political expression of the Jewish people. The Papacy must restore to Judaism, in the Christian consciousness, the dignity of a millennial faith of a covenantal people in its biblical land — a concept which for centuries was fought against and denied by the Catholic Church.

You have the opportunity to change the face of history and we hope it will not be missed. You are called by the God of Israel to do what the great Emperor Cyrus of Persia did in his time and you will be blessed for this by the God of Israel. It will be the greatest of merits and recorded as a major historical deed that no other Pope before had the privilege to accomplish.

When it comes to details, though, opinions will diverge. The debates are long and complex, but the popular notion of John as a liberal champion and John Paul as a conservative stalwart gives a rough outline of how they are seen. As such, they symbolize two groups in the Catholic Church that have disagreed for decades, sometimes bitterly, over how to interpret the results of the reforming Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965 that John launched and John Paul largely implemented. By canonizing both, Argentine-born Pope Francis will be using the symbolism of unity to urge Catholics to look beyond these divisions to join together in following the Gospel.

"These two popes represent different wings of the Church," said Ashley McGuire of the Catholic Association, a Washington-based lay group that defends Catholic views on public issues. "Unity is a big theme of Pope Francis's papacy. He's saying we're all Catholics, we're on a common journey together."

It followed a five-hour meeting of Benjamin Netanyau's security cabinet called to discuss Wednesday's pact, which Israel depicted as an effective rejection of peace negotiations because of Hamas' denial of its right to exist. "The cabinet has unanimously decided that the Israeli government will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas, a terror organisation that calls for the destruction of Israel," a statement issued by Mr Netanyau's office said.

Mr Netanyahu said that Palestinian moves to form a unity government with Hamas were "a giant leap backwards" for the peace process. "The pact with Hamas kills peace," the Israeli leader said. US mediators had been scrambling to find a formula to extend the negotiations, which had already been plunged into crisis over Israel's refusal to release Palestinian prisoners, as previously agreed, and the PA's application to join a host of international organisations and treaties.

Wednesday's unity agreement - jointly announced in Gaza City by Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation - appeared to signal the end of seven years of conflict between the Islamist group and Fatah, the Western-backed movement headed by Mahmoud Abbas, the PA president. It promised to form a new unity government in five weeks while pledging to hold fresh elections within six months.

The announcement heralded scenes of celebration in the streets of Gaza, which is run by Hamas - designated a terrorist organisation by the US and the European Union (EU). Ironically, Baroness Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief welcomed the Palestinian unity agreement on Thursday before news of Israel's suspension of talks emerged. "The European Union believes that the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas is an important step toward a two-state solution," Michael Mann, Baroness Ashton's spokesman, told Haaretz. "But the top priority remains the continuation of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians."

"Four times (PA Chairman) Mahmoud Abbas refused to advance the talks in recent weeks," a diplomatic source said. "He refused the American paper (framework deal), he refused to recognize the Jewish state, he refused a meeting with (US President) Barack Obama, and refused to receive the prisoner (release) deal and going to the UN institutions." The source noted that "in every case Abbas was not rebuked, and the result was that he went to Hamas."

"It's clear that assertiveness is needed from the US to prevent the talks from collapsing. There's anger against the Americans, because they needed to make a firm statement telling Abbas not to make a deal with Hamas and instead to make a deal with Israel," the source added. Instead, the source stated that American statements against the PA's move have been "feeble."

For its part, the European Union (EU) openly welcomed the PA-Hamas unity deal, despite Hamas being on the EU's official list of terrorist organizations.