Prime Minster Viktor Orbán, like Áder a member of the conservative Fidesz party, has expanded his power dramatically. While the head of state was in Berlin, the prime minister moved ahead with a highly controversial package of amendments to the country's constitution. The amendments weaken the country's constitutional court, the last defender of Hungary's constitutional state, and they limit the independence of the entire judiciary branch.

In other words, a country at the center of the European Union is moving away from the principles of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. Hungarian constitutional expert Kolláth György said the constitutional amendments "destroy the system of checks and balances and overturns the mutual, trustful and pluralistic cooperation of the constitutional bodies. ... Likewise it is a rejection of the European values that Hungary once willingly accepted."

Such appraisals don't phase parliamentary speaker Kövér. Asked whether he thought a compromise was possible with government critics, he answered: "It's unlikely that we would find a compromise with representatives who see even same-sex marriage as conceivable."

Such systems could be used to track health and monitor healing near the skin’s surface, as in the case of surgical wounds. So-called “epidermal electronics” were demonstrated previously in research from the lab of John Rogers, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; the devices consist of ultra-thin electrodes, electronics, sensors, and wireless power and communication systems.

In theory, they could attach to the skin and record and transmit electrophysiological measurements for medical purposes. These early versions of the technology, which were designed to be applied to a thin, soft elastomer backing, were “fine for an office environment,” says Rogers, “but if you wanted to go swimming or take a shower they weren’t able to hold up.”

Now, Rogers and his coworkers have figured out how to print the electronics right on the skin, making the device more durable and rugged.

A Vatican representative at the meal, annoyed by the requests for more information, shouted, “How can you ask us such questions?” The clash came amid mounting pressure on the Vatican to clean up its bank — for decades the subject of dark intrigue and linked to one mysterious death — as part of a push by the European Union to apply common rules to all the countries and micro-states like Vatican City and Monaco that use the euro.

Those pressures continued until the very last days of Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy and remain a critical issue for the cardinals now meeting to elect a new pope. As the conclave begins Tuesday, the specter of financial scandal presents a special challenge for Benedict’s successor, who must modernize the Roman Catholic Church’s finances or risk the Vatican’s access to the global banking system, undermining its moral authority and its financial stability.

Founded in 1942 and housed in a small round tower at the foot of the Apostolic Palace, the Vatican bank generally does not give loans but manages deposits and patrimony for religious institutions, clerics and diplomats accredited to the Vatican, who are among the only depositors allowed to hold accounts there. During the cold war, the bank was widely seen as a back channel to transfer money to the Eastern Bloc to help end Communism, and today the Vatican uses the bank to help it operate in sensitive areas like Cuba and China, Vatican experts say.

But largely because of the Vatican’s reluctance to reveal its account holders to outside authorities — and especially to subject itself to scrutiny of past transactions — suspicion has swirled for years about whether some of its accounts had ties to organized crime or Italian political slush funds.

While history may not repeat itself so neatly, the emergence of new political parties speaking for the unemployed and the newly poor could lead to governments who enclose their economies from the world and manage their performance through directive and manipulation.

The global financial crisis of 2008 has slowly yielded to a global unemployment crisis. This unemployment crisis will, fairly quickly, give way to a political crisis. The crisis involves all three of the major pillars of the global system – Europe, China and the United States. The level of intensity differs, the political response differs and the relationship to the financial crisis differs.

But there is a common element, which is that unemployment is increasingly replacing finance as the central problem of the financial system. When unemployment emerges, that consensus shifts and the focus shifts with it. When unemployment becomes intense, then the entire political system can shift. From my point of view, the Italian election was the first, but expected, tremor.

The Church protects the secrecy of its deliberations but at the same is keen to feed a worldwide audience. So it holds at bay and entices at the same time. The Vatican well understands the fascination with the workings of the Conclave and drip feeds the detail. Yet this remains a dangerous time for the Church.

The age of deference has passed. Much of the press approaches the Vatican as it would any other institution. Commentators are not shy in suggesting who should lead the Church. Some writers have called for a Vatican Spring. The Vatican has accused the media of trying to influence the conclave.

Here is the dilemma: The election of a new Pope can display the splendour of the Church and its worldwide influence. What it cannot do of itself is restore the authority, the moral authority of the Church. The abuse scandal remains corrosive. The question is not just: "why were the allegations not investigated more rigorously?" The more disturbing question is: "why was there so much abuse?"

One figure caught my eye. An internal report in Germany implicated over 60 priests in more than 500 cases of sexual abuse. Across the world hundreds of priests must have faced or must be facing allegations. It raises questions of whether celibacy in the priesthood is working. From leaks and interviews it is clear some cardinals want a more rigorous cleaning up of the abuse scandal.

It is naive to describe the conclave as a contest between conservatives and reformers. There are many different priorities at play. Some want a pope who will be a great evangelist; some want a communicator like John Paul II. Others want a inspirational theologian who can communicate the core beliefs of the Church. Still others mark out the priority as dealing with the challenge of faith in a secular society. All of those tensions would be expected to surface at a conclave. Yet is clear there are more fundamental arguments.

Some are looking for a powerful manager who can control the divisions within the Church. Some believe that needs to be an insider; others are arguing for a reformer less tied to the bureaucracy. That is why the outcome is so difficult to predict.

The most basic operations - getting an appendix removed or a hip replacement - could become deadly. Cancer treatments and organ transplants could kill you. Childbirth could once again become a deadly moment in a woman's life. It's a future without antibiotics. This might read like the plot of a science fiction novel - but there is genuine fear that the world is heading into a post-antibiotic era. The World Health Organization has warned that "many common infections will no longer have a cure and, once again, could kill unabated".

The US Center of Disease Control has pointed to the emergence of "nightmare bacteria". Antibiotics kill bacteria, but the bugs are incredibly wily foes. Once you start treating them with a new drug, they find ways of surviving. New drugs are needed, which they then find ways to survive. As long as new drugs keep coming, resistance is not a problem. But there has not been a new class of antibiotics discovered since the 1980s.

This is now a war, and one we are in severe danger of losing. "The consequences are absolutely massive, that's actually something people have not quite grasped."

In a swipe at the UK, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who took over as president in January, said that Britain’s high national debt and persistent budget deficit had left it vulnerable to attacks from currency traders. His comments will not be welcomed by the Coalition, coming just days before the Budget and with the pound already in freefall, having dropped from €1.23 to below €1.16 since the start of the year.

It will also invoke ugly memories of the last sterling crisis, when the pound crashed out of the ERM in 1992. Speaking to students at the University of Amsterdam, Mr Dijsselbloem said the UK was a much riskier proposition than the US due to the state of the public finances, despite its equally high deficit and the battles in Washington over the need to cut spending.

“England is vulnerable, it may be faster on the currency speculation. That has happened in the past. A new sterling crisis could happen again,” Mr Dijsselbloem said.

The mountains of rubble and piles of smashed cars and scooters scattered along the coast only hint at the scale of the debris removed so far from coastlines and river valleys stripped bare by the tsunami. To clear, sort and process the rubble — and a vastly larger amount of radiation-contaminated soil and other debris near the nuclear plant in Fukushima, the government is relying on big construction companies whose multi-layer subcontracting systems are infiltrated by criminal gangs, or yakuza.

Researchers are only beginning to analyze environmental samples for potential health implications from the various toxins swirled in the petri dish of the disaster zone — including dioxins, benzene, cadmium and organic waste-related [matter], said Shoji F Nakayama of the government-affiliated National Institute for Environmental Studies.

The cleanup is bound to overrun its budget by several times, as delays deepen due to a lack of long-term storage options as opposition among local residents in many areas hardens. It will leave Fukushima, whose huge farm and fisheries industry has been walloped by radiation fears, with 31 million tons of nuclear waste or more. Around Naraha, huge temporary dumps of radioactive waste, many football fields in size and stacked two huge bags deep, are scattered around the disaster zone.

In a live television broadcast, she will sign a new charter designed to stamp out discrimination against homosexual people and promote the ‘empowerment’ of women – a key part of a new drive to boost human rights and living standards across the Commonwealth.

In her first public appearance since she had hospital treatment for a stomach bug, the Queen will sign the new Commonwealth Charter and make a speech explaining her passionate commitment to it.

Insiders say her decision to highlight the event is a ‘watershed’ moment – the first time she has clearly signalled her support for gay rights in her 61-year reign.

The charter, dubbed a ‘21st Century Commonwealth Magna Carta’ declares: ‘We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds.’ The ‘other grounds’ is intended to refer to sexuality – but specific reference to ‘gays and lesbians’ was omitted in deference to Commonwealth countries with draconian anti-gay laws.