David Green, director-general of the Serious Fraud Office, said the agency was in the process of an “enormous” investigation into interest rate manipulation, with about a fifth of its staff now working on the inquiry. “I am sure there will be more charges against others,” said Mr Green in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph in which he also acknowledged a rift with the US over the handling of the investigation.

Three men have already been charged by the SFO over allegations they were involved in attempts to rig the benchmark index, including former Citigroup and UBS trader, Tom Hayes. The SFO currently has a team of 60 working on the investigation, out of a total staff of more than 300. US prosecutors had wanted to try Mr Hayes and two former brokers in America. But the SFO charges mean that the men will now face trial in Britain.

The first Libor-linked trials are not due in court until 2015 and are being seen as a major test of the SFO’s ability to prosecute complex banking fraud cases successfully. The Treasury is providing millions of pounds in extra funding for the investigation.

Germany's new grand coalition will take on the country's greatest problems, Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the start of her third term in office. But whoever is waiting for a political sensation will be disappointed. The key challenges of 2014 will be the same as in 2013. The country's sound economic footing will be crucial to the chancellor. Budgetary discipline, a debt ceiling and tightening tax loopholes will all be on the government's list of priorities.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, a member of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), only wants to create about 6 billion euros ($8.2 billion) of new debt in 2014, which would represent the lowest amount of new debt in four decades. The country has committed to doing away with new debt in 2015. Whether the government can fulfill that promise, however, will depend on both tax income and the overall economy continuing to grow.

Stabilizing the eurozone and implementing further reforms will be tasks Merkel is likely to take on herself. Berlin wants the billions of euros it pays to the EU only to be used to bailout countries that adhere to binding austerity and competition measures. If Germany gets its way, these requirements will be written into agreements with the EU commission.

No one has been hurt, say the authorities. Anyone living in a 3km (2 mile) radius will be evacuated. Temporary shelters are being set up in the area. Civil protection authorities say that some 5,000 people live in the area, in San Miguel province. The eruption began at 10:30 local time (16:30 GMT).

The Salvadoran government says it had been monitoring the situation since 13 December, when they detected increased activity inside the volcano.

According to the CDU/SPD Coalition Agreement, the government is more determined than ever to help "shape international policy" and play "a strong autonomous role." Counting on the EU, to couple more tightly its "civilian and military instruments" to intervene globally, the German government will promote EU foreign and military policy at the summit in Brussels later this week.

Designated Foreign Minster, Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), has been actively involved in Berlin's geopolitical climb since he became the Chancellery's coordinator of the German intelligence services in 1998. In 2001, he became Chief of Staff of the Federal Chancellery and played a central role in the German/American coordination in the "War on Terror," which had initially consisted of the abduction and torture of terror suspects.

As a matter of course, Berlin will continue to use humanitarian rights to justify its global hegemonic claims. As the coalition agreement remarks, "in its international missions for human rights, the credibility of the European Union is largely dependent upon how consequently it lives up to its principles and punishes violations on its own territory." The appointment of a foreign minister, who is controversial because of his role in Germany's cooperation in torture practices by the USA's services, speaks volumes.

Obama's words - promising Americans they could keep their doctors under his health care plan - didn’t match his deeds. Surprisingly, the same thing is happening on the other side of the world among Arabs in the Middle East and for the same reason.

Too often, Obama’s speeches and actions don’t match. "We are glad the Americans are here," said Ahmed al-Ibrahim, an adviser to some of Saudi Arabia's royals and officials, when I met with him recently, "but we fear that the president has lost credibility after Syria."

The Saudi official is referring to Obama’s “red line” vow of military action if the Syrian dictator Bashir Assad used chemical weapons against his own people. Assad did and Obama didn’t. Saudi officials were stunned. Next came the revelation earlier this year that Obama was secretly negotiating with Iran, the mortal enemy of both Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Officials in both nations have told me that they simply don't believe that the president can sweet-talk the mullahs out of the weapons they have coveted for years. “The bond of trust between America and Saudi Arabia has been broken in the Obama years," al-Ibrahim said. "We feel we have been stabbed in the back by Obama."

"We remain confident that PIN numbers are safe and secure," said a statement issued by Molly Snyder, a spokeswoman for the company hit by the November-December data breach.

According to the company, Target does not have access to nor does it store the encryption key within its computer systems. When a Target customer uses a debit card in one of the company's stores and enters his or her PIN, the number is encrypted at the keypad with a widely used security program known as Triple DES, the company said.

Triple DES is the common name for the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm, a standard designed to thwart efforts to crack encrypted data. The PIN data can only be decrypted when it is received by the company's external payment processor, Target said.

"What this means is that the 'key' necessary to decrypt that data has never existed within Target's system and could not have been taken during this incident," the company said, adding, "the most important thing for our guests to know is that their debit card accounts have not been compromised due to the encrypted PIN numbers being taken."

About 600 people were in the lot, fighting and jumping on cars. Many did not have movie tickets, said Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lauri-Ellen Smith. Smith said 62 officers were brought in to disperse the crowd, using pepper spray and other tactics. There were no reports of gunfire or serious injuries. Among the five arrested were three juveniles, an 18-year-old, and a 19-year-old.

More than 400 crazed teens — who mistakenly thought the rapper Fabolous would perform — erupted into brawls all over Kings Plaza Shopping Center in Mill Basin on Thursday at 5 pm, sources said. The troublemakers looted and ransacked several stores as panicked shoppers ran for the exits and clerks scrambled to pull down metal gates.

“I was begging them to stop. There were a lot of kids, hundreds of kids. [Security] would chase them out one door and they would come back in another door,” said Abu Taleb, 31, a clerk at the kiosk Candy Plaza 2. “I’ve been here seven years, and I have never seen anything like this before.”

Some of the teens staged a game of “knockout” on the top floor — and one may have been carrying a gun, sources said. “They were playing the ‘knockout’ game,” said Shante, a 21-year-old perfume merchant, in reference to a violent trend in which teens try to knock out an unsuspecting victim with a single punch.

While there is still some time remaining on the 2013 calendar, the SI Organization - a self-described engineering and technology company that has worked with the US Department of Defense - released a recent report deeming the past year as one of the mildest in terms of devastating natural disasters.

For example, the number of wildfires that burned across the US was on pace to be the lowest in the last 10 years. By October 16, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, 2013 had seen 40,306 fires ravage 4,152,390 acres. That total, which accounts for the devastating fires outside Colorado Springs that displaced hundreds of people in June, is the lowest since 5,254,109 acres burned in 2008.

"Mr Kerry has told the Palestinian Authority he will return to the region on January 4, 2014 to discuss the peace process and negotiations with Israel," the official stated, on condition of anonymity. The news agency cites "a well-informed Palestinian source" who confirmed that the US chief diplomat plans to stay in the Middle East for a "number of days."

This will be Kerry's tenth visit since March 2013. Kerry, who helped to launch nine-month direct talks between the two sides in July, insisted this month that concrete progress had been made in the peace talks. But he said details would be kept under wraps as talking about any agreements could be counterproductive.

"I'm personally encouraged that very tough issues are beginning to take shape," he said in an interview with ABC television on December 15. "But we've agreed not to be talking about what we're doing because it just creates great expectations. It creates pressure. It creates opposition, in some cases."

"I think it's much better for us to do exactly what we've been doing, which is negotiate quietly and privately," he added. Israeli and Arab media reports say the plan envisaged by Washington would see Israel maintain a military presence in the Jordan Valley, in eastern Samaria (Shomron) for 10-15 years after a peace agreement with the PA.

The former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge said the European court in its current form is threatening to undermine the sovereignty of Parliament. He urged the Government to seek allies to rein in the body of unelected judges, who are not 'answerable to anybody', as he questioned the right of any judge to 'have that sort of power'.

It comes as the President of the European court, Judge Dean Spielmann warned Britain's ban on prisoner voting is a breach of international law. Earlier this month Prime Minister David Cameron called for the court's powers to be restricted.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Lord Judge, said: 'The most fundamental principle of our unwritten constitution is parliamentary sovereignty.' Our elected representatives have ultimate sovereignty not only over our own unelected judges but in my view over the unelected judges of any other jurisdiction, including Europe, unless we choose to give them sovereignty.

Over one week since a massive ice storm, at least 50,000-100,000 have been estimated to still be without power. Last week saw over 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) of freezing rain, downing trees city-wide. The aftermath: damage to Toronto's electricity system - which has affected at least 600,000 customers.

As of Thursday, 100,000 people were estimated to still be disconnected from the power supply. That number includes at least 79,000 people in major metropolitan areas - approximately 72,000 in Toronto and 7,000 in the North York area. Late Thursday, estimates hovered closer to 50,000 without power, according to various local media sources.

The charity has become more interested in animal rights than promoting welfare, while its inspectors have been given intrusive powers with no proper basis in law, Sir Barney said. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he also says the BBC is guilty of a metropolitan bias, portraying rural people as “Neanderthals”.

Sir Barney also claimed that the National Trust was partly responsible for turning the countryside into “some sort of theme park”. The RSPCA was criticised by rural campaigners over its pursuit of fox hunters, after spending £326,000 on a private prosecution against Oxfordshire’s Heythrop Hunt last December. The judge in the case questioned whether the money could have been better spent, while the charities watchdog warned that any future prosecutions must be a “reasonable and effective” use of members’ money.

In another case, a judge criticised the society for spending £10,000 prosecuting an elderly woman with an unblemished record for being slow to take her cat to a vet. More recently, the charity has infuriated dairy farmers by trying to stop the badger cull, intended to halt the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

The quake's epicentre was about 50 kilometres deep in the Mediterranean Sea, and about 80 kilometres from Antalya, Turkey. Israel saw a series of earthquakes in October, when as many as 6 shook the northern area of the country within a single week.

Experts have warned that another major earthquake could strike at any time, prompting preparation efforts from the Home Front Ministry.

US head envoy over the peace talks Martin Indyk has met with senior IDF generals in recent days according to the report, urging them to accept the deal. Further, Indyk and his staff have reportedly told generals to "go to the media and be interviewed and respond, because they have the impression that the Israeli public has doubts about the subject."

The report comes just prior to Kerry's "offensive" in January to push Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to adopt his plan. Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has already rejected the plan. In response to the report, Analyst Mark Langfan, who has critically analyzed and dissected Kerry's Jordan Valley plan, said "any Israeli general advocating the Jordan Valley plan is a military fraud, and I challenge them to a debate." Langfan added "Martin Indyk has planned the annihilation of Israel for decades."

Prior to the 2005 "Disengagement," whereby Jews were expelled from Gush Katif, Indyk was woefully mistaken in his predictions of the move's results. Indyk claimed the unilateral withdrawal would produce "a new Palestinian leadership that is more responsible and capable and legitimate." Instead the terror organization Hamas took control of Gaza.