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.

Specific actions protected under the legislation include:

1. Brandishing a pastry or other food which is partially consumed in such a way that the remnant resembles a weapon.

2. Possession of a toy weapon which is five (5) inches or less.

3. Possession of a toy weapon made of plastic or wood snap-together building blocks.

4. Using a finger or hand to simulate a weapon.

5. Vocalizing imaginary firearms or munitions.

6. Wearing articles of clothing or accessories that support or advance Second Amendment rights or organizations.

The bill also protects students who use objects such as a pencil to simulate a gun, as well as protecting those who draw pictures of firearms, military vehicles, aircraft or any object that can be deemed to protect constitutional freedoms.

"We must not avoid confrontation with populists, nationalists, with these brainless people who call themselves Eurosceptics," he told the Greek Ta Nea newspaper while on a visit to Athens. "They all promote anything national without making proposals of their own." His comments are an opening shot in what is expected to be a fierce political battle in European elections this May amid a growing popular backlash against the eurozone.

"I am concerned about the situation in our union," he said. "The economic crisis could activate centrifugal political forces that could prove dangerous to the European Union as a whole."

Martin Callanan MEP, the leader of the European Conservatives and Reform group, in the European Parliament, said: "The most dangerous people in the EU are those who put their head in the sand and ignore people's concerns about the direction the EU has taken. They are the brainless ones who can only shout abuse at those who want the EU to interfere less."

Mr Steinmeier's remarks are the first time that a senior German politician has identified Eurosceptic opposition as an existential threat ahead of spring elections to the European Parliament that are expected to mark big gains for anti-EU parties. Mr Steinmeier's hostility to Eurosceptics also includes British Conservatives like David Cameron, the Prime Minister.

The inquiry by the European parliament's civil liberties committee says the activities of America's National Security Agency (NSA) and its British counterpart, GCHQ, appear to be illegal and that their operations have "profoundly shaken" the trust between countries that considered themselves allies.

The 51-page draft report, obtained by the Guardian, was discussed by the committee on Thursday. Claude Moraes, the rapporteur asked to assess the impact of revelations made by the whistleblower Edward Snowden, also condemns the "chilling" way journalists working on the stories have been intimidated by state authorities.

Though Snowden is still in Russia, MEPs are expected to take evidence from him via video-link in the coming weeks, as the European parliament continues to assess the damage from the disclosures. Committee MEPs voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to have Snowden testify, defying warnings from key US congressmen that giving the "felon" a public platform would wreck the European parliament's reputation and hamper co-operation with Washington.

Hedge funds with trading activities exceeding a set value of $400 billion to $600 billion would also be assessed by national authorities to gauge whether they need extra rules because their collapse could spark a crisis, the Financial Stability Board said in a statement yesterday.

The report addresses “the risks to global financial stability and economic stability posed by the disorderly failure of financial institutions other than banks and insurers,” Mark Carney, Bank of England governor and FSB chairman, said in the statement. “They are integral to solving the problem of financial institutions that are too big to fail.”

The FSB, which brings together regulators and central bankers from the Group of 20 nations, is ranking banks and insurers by their potential to cause a global meltdown and demanding bigger financial cushions to avert a repeat of the 2008 credit freeze.

As Reuters reports, "If a ship docks in one of the closed ports," warned Libya's defense ministry, "then we will destroy it," but the group, led by tribal leader and 2011 civil war hero Ibrahim Jathran, shrugged off Tripoli’s warning, stating "we welcome global oil companies ... The oil security guards will guarantee the safety of tankers."

The development adds to an air of chaos as the weak Tripoli government struggles to rein in the armed groups that helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but which kept their guns and are now demanding political power and a bigger share of the country’s oil wealth.

His supporters are aghast. “A black life ain’t worth nothing,” one shouts in court. One of his relatives stands outside the court shouting “No peace, no justice!” and gives a black power salute. But this is Britain, the relative is white – and the case of Mark Duggan does not conform to any “race riot” model. There were the usual attempts to argue differently yesterday, along with revived talk about “police racism” that lit the tinder of inequality.

But two years since the riots, it is hard – almost impossible – to conclude they can be explained by racial discrimination. The strange thing about Britain is that our social problems tend to have very little to do with racism, and all too much to do with the worklessness that still plagues inner-city estates.

It is also a gross exaggeration to describe the riots as a direct result of Duggan’s death. Those who took to the streets of Manchester and Milton Keynes had little idea who he was: they saw, from 24-hour news, that order seemed to have collapsed and that there was a great chance of some profitable criminality.

Overwhelmingly, it was former convicts who went off to loot. Of the 3,000 convicted, four-fifths had been through the courts before and a quarter had chalked up more than 10 previous offences. This looks less like an act of mass protest – against the treatment of Duggan, or anything else – and more like opportunistic crime. Known members of criminal gangs were disproportionately represented in the rioters, especially in Leeds and Nottingham. But again, you can look in vain for a racial element.

Speaking from her Paris headquarters, Miss Le Pen, whose party is expected to score well in forthcoming European elections, said Ukip is avoiding an alliance due to "electoral considerations". "They say they're not in agreement with us.

"My foot," she told the Telegraph. "OK, we don't have the same economic policies [but] they share our point of view on the European Union and immigration: everyone must control his borders, European technocrats must disappear, the European Soviet Union must collapse, everyone must have their own currency, their economic policy and decide in their own home."

"There are political considerations behind this," she said. "Ukip currently presides its own group and will try to rebuild that group (after the EU elections in May). If they don't manage to create a group again, they will surely not find it a bad idea to join with us."

Nigel Farage, the head of Ukip, ruled out joining forces, stating on Thursday: "We keep getting this every fortnight or so don't we? Look, we've made it clear that we don't intend to do a political deal at any point with French National Front. As a strictly non-racist and libertarian party, Ukip will be ploughing our own furrow in Europe with parties with which we are happy to do business and make a stand against the EU's political union."