Responsibility to Protect, or Responsibility to Act, as cited by President Obama, is a set of principles, now backed by the United Nations, based on the idea that sovereignty is not a privilege but a responsibility that can be revoked if a country is accused of "war crimes," "genocide," "crimes against humanity" or "ethnic cleansing."

A Turkish-US-NATO strike could have immediate implications for Israel. The Syrian president warned in a recent interview with a UK newspaper that foreign intervention in Syria would cause an "earthquake" across the region and create another Afghanistan, while directly threatening the Jewish state.

Assad reportedly made similar comments in a meeting in early October with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmad Davutoglu. He was quoted stating, "If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv." Assad also reportedly warned that "all these events will happen in three hours, but in the second three hours, Iran will attack the US warships in the Persian Gulf and the US and European interests will be targeted simultaneously."

A United Nations appeal has reached barely more than a quarter of its 223 million pounds target and some charities have raised less than a tenth of their appeal goals. The eurozone crisis, competition from other humanitarian appeals, lack of coverage and suspicion aid will be siphoned off by corruption have all hit fund-raising, charities said. This year's flooding came as millions were still trying to recover from a similar disaster last year, described by the UN as the worst in its history.

Shaheen Chughtai, a humanitarian policy adviser at Oxfam, said: "Last year it was very clear that this was an extraordinary disaster. It was a once in a century flood. The fact we have had floods again this year in Pakistan means that in terms of media news agendas it looks like a continuation of a familiar story."

Investors fear that Italy could become the next victim of the debt crisis. In a bid to calm markets, President Giorgio Napolitano said reforms would be passed and Mr Berlusconi would resign "within a few days". The 7% level is widely viewed as unsustainable and was the point at which Portugal, Greece and the Irish Republic were forced to seek a bailout.

This so-called yield on Italian government debt is the highest since the euro was founded in 1999. In comparison, Germany's implied cost of borrowing for 10 years is 1.73%. The BBC's business editor Robert Peston said: "No-one wants to lend to a country when that country would use the loan to pay the interest on previous loans - that's throwing good money after bad." The debt was also pushed up as a clearing house asked for a larger deposit to trade Italian bonds - to cover the increased risk of non-payment.

The government-controlled firm also attributed the deeper cash drain to losses on derivatives used to hedge its exposure to interest-rate swings and on expenses related to home loans made prior to the 2008 financial collapse. In the year-earlier quarter it had a loss of a $1.3 billion. Fannie Mae has now drawn $112.6 billion in bailout funds from the Treasury Department since being seized by the government in 2008 as mortgage losses mounted, and it has returned $17.2 billion to taxpayers in the form of dividends.

"There is certainly a lot of pre-2009 loans that we need to work through and that is certainly driving the credit losses you saw in this quarter and over the last several years," Fannie Mae Chief Financial Officer Susan McFarland told Reuters. She said the company was "working to reduce losses" on those legacy loans and "limit taxpayer exposure." The mortgage finance company and its smaller rival Freddie Mac were taken over during the financial crisis as losses on subprime mortgages threatened insolvency.

Given the crucial role the two play in US housing finance, owning or guaranteeing about half of all mortgages, the government has pledged unlimited funds to keep the firms afloat through the end of 2012. Combined, they have cost taxpayers around $169 billion.

Naqavi also warned, should Tehran's nuclear program be attacked, the battlefield won't be in Iran, but "the entirety of Europe and the US. Iranian forces will fight with the enemies with maximum might and power all throughout the European and US soil, if Iran comes under attack," he reiterated.

Naqavi also responded to reports Britain might strike Iran's nuclear sites, saying "a look at the history reveals that the British regime has been using threat, intimidation, terror and colonialism all throughout the last 500 years. Now a country with such a long record of crimes and colonialist actions should know very well that the Islamic Republic enjoys a high military capability today," he added.

Naqavi's remarks have become a part of Tehran's mantra of threatening counter-strikes as international criticism of its nuclear aspirations continues to mount. "Iran does not stand alone in the struggle against Israel," Naqavi insisted, "Israel will be destroyed by the allies of the Islamic Republic if she so much as tries to attack us." However, despite Iran's threats of a 'street war' in Tel Aviv, Tehran's ability to strike Israel directly is limited. While the Islamic Republic does possess a small number of long-range missiles capable of striking Israel, its air force and army would have to move through other countries in which large US and western forces are operating.

Additionally, tensions between Shiite Persian Iran and the predominantly Sunni Arab world - especially Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies - have limited Tehran's strategic latitude. Analysts say Iran would have to strike Israel by proxy, relying on Syria, Hizbullah, and various terror groups like Hamas who are at war with Israel.

Last year a wave of student protests ended in violent clashes. The Met Police said there will be 4,000 officers on duty, with baton rounds - plastic bullets - available. The student protest, organised by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, is campaigning against the government's plans for a market-driven higher education system. "We are being told by a cabinet of millionaires that we will have to pay triple tuition fees," said campaign leader Michael Chessum.

The route of the march is headed towards the financial district of the City of London, where there is already a protest camp outside St Paul's Cathedral. The Occupy London protesters at the cathedral are planning to stage their own events in support of the student marchers. After the violent scenes that accompanied a series of student protests last year, there is set to be a heavy police presence. As a warning against any outbreaks of violence a police spokesman said that one of the tactics available is "the authority to deploy baton rounds in extreme circumstances".

"We wish to protect the French against the grave problems facing other European countries. Bankruptcy is not an abstract word," said premier Francois Fillon. The belt-tightening plan - the second package since August, taking total cuts to 112 billion euros - include a 5 per cent super-tax on big firms, a rise in VAT on restaurants and construction, and cuts in pensions, schools, health, and welfare. It is the latest squeeze in a relentless campaign of fiscal tightening across the eurozone.

"It is like the 1930s: imposing austerity on countries already in recession is the way into a death spiral," said Danny Blanchflower, a former UK rate-setter. Left-wing critics have evoked grim parallels with the "deflation decrees" of Pierre Laval in 1935 when France had to take ever harsher measures to preserve the country's viability on the Gold Standard, a gamble that ultimately set off violent street protests. France's move came amid a further blizzard of grim data from Europe, confirming that most of the region is already on the cusp of recession. Growth has reached a "virtual standstill", said EU commissioner Olli Rehn.

Mr Fillon said the country must accept sacrifice to "avoid the day where policies are imposed upon us by others," insisting that France would meet its "untouchable" deficit target of 4.5 per cent of GDP next year - down from 5.7 per cent this year. The austerity plan seems aimed at insulating France from the unfolding disaster in Italy, where a deepening slump and the final agonies of Silvio Berlusconi's government sent debt markets into a tail-spin on Monday.

Goldman Sachs warned that Italy might start to take "unilateral decisions" such as seizing banks or clamping down on the bond market (effectively holding investors captive) if the political climate deteriorates further and authorities feel boxed in. It said the crisis has set off a "self-fulfilling dynamic" that may ultimately make it impossible for Italy to roll over debt.

Joachim Fels from Morgan Stanley said Europe's leaders may themselves have invited disaster by suggesting for the first time that a country - Greece - may be pushed out of EMU. This shatters the stated orthodoxy until now that the euro is inviolable and eternal. "They may have set in motion a sequence of events which could potentially lead to runs on sovereigns and banks in peripheral countries that make everything we have seen so far in this crisis look benign," he said.

Now, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) reports that a whopping 650,000 Americans have joined credit unions since September 29 - the date that Bank of America announced it would start charging a $5 monthly debit fee, a move it backed down on this week. To put that in perspective, there were only 600,000 new members for credit unions in all of 2010. "These results indicate that consumers are clearly making a smarter choice by moving to credit unions where, on average, they will save about $70 a year in fewer or no fees, lower rates on loans and higher return on savings," said CUNA President Bill Cheney.

The big problem: Berlusconi doesn't seem like he's in an urgent mood to make reforms, the ECB isn't doing much, and China and Brazil have dropped out of the picture. Hence we could get a big bustup! For us there is no obvious near-term solution other than a stress event which prompts action. Maybe the EU authorities will use the experience learnt from the Greece situation last week that a hard-line response is the only way to force countries to act in the way they want. It is a big risk but at the moment the weaker countries seem to still want the Euro enough that the ECB and Germans could play hard ball and get what they want if they are prepared to take the risk. Indeed ECB Governing Council member Yves Mersch fired a warning over the weekend saying that the ECB often discusses the possibility of ending the purchase of Italian government bonds and could if it concludes Italy is not adopting promised reforms. Such talk will not encourage private capital into Italy meaning that the ECB may need to intervene more to have the required impact.

What we are witnessing is the economic colonisation of Europe by stealth by the Germans. Once, it would have taken an invading military force to topple the leadership of a European nation. Today, it can be done through sheer economic pressure: it might be that within a few days the Germans - along with their French allies - will have secured regime change in the two most tiresome countries in the eurozone.

They have already achieved it in another, Ireland, where the new post-bailout prime minister, Enda Kenny, has followed the euro-script to the letter and therefore looks safe in office. Mr Kenny is a former vice-president of the federalist European People's Party (EPP), so he understands the role Brussels expects him to play. When these coups in the leadership of major countries occur, the markets swoon with relief: but they change only the political fundamentals and not the economic ones. The EU can change regimes as much as it likes, but unless the regimes stop spending and start repaying debts, the problem with the currency will continue, bailouts or no bailouts.

This is especially true in Italy's case, for only the strictest austerity - far beyond anything attempted by Mr Berlusconi, and possibly even beyond what Mr Monti would receive in his orders from Brussels - can repair the damage. It suits the Franco-German axis to put its people in charge in such countries: not just because they will do what they are told now, but because they will do what they are told so long as they are in office.

What has happened in Greece, and what may be about to happen in Italy, should terrify all true democrats. That it does not terrify those who lead the EU shows, yet again, what a profoundly sovietised institution it is. And when the people realise what is being done to their democratic rights in the name of the future of Europe, one dreads to think what their reaction will be.

Despite publishing a more detailed mandate following a summit in Brussels, the Eurogroup delayed agreeing specifics on how to leverage the 440 billion euros European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), risking further market turmoil ahead of votes on Tuesday that could topple Silvio Berlusconi's government.

The EFSF also pushed ahead with a 10-year bond auction which it had put off from last week because of lack of demand. The fund, which is supposed to be the eurozone's key weapon against the debt crisis, managed to raise 3 billion euros but only after having to pay record returns to entice investors. Joachim Fels of Morgan Stanley said: "The leveraged EFSF may still turn into a bazooka but so far it looks more like a water pistol."

The fund is hampered by uncertainty over Greece's bail-out and eurozone membership. The country is expected to announce the new head of its interim Government on Tuesday. Italian government bond yields hit 14-year highs, crossing the threshold economists say is unsustainable for the country's 1.9 trillion euros debt pile. The yield on 10-year bonds soared to 6.68 per cent at one point, leading to frantic speculation that Italy will require an international bail-out.

"When extreme weather hits, we hear about the property damage and insurance costs," said Kim Knowlton, a senior scientist at Natural Resources Defense Council and a co-author of the study. "The healthcare costs never end up on the tab." The study in the journal Health Affairs looked at the cost of human suffering and loss of life due to six disasters from 2000-2009.

"This in no way is going to capture all of the climate-related events that happened in the US over that time period," Knowlton said. "At $14 billion, these numbers are big already." To put this in context, 14 weather disasters in the United States so far this year have cost at least $14 billion, according to Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground website. Masters said by email that health costs and deaths are considered in some of the data used to reach this figure.

According to the US Geological Survey, the epicenter of Monday evening's earthquake was five miles northwest of Prague, six miles southeast of Sparks, nine miles east, northeast of Meeker, and 44 miles east of Oklahoma City. The earthquake was only three miles deep. News 9 felt it here in our studio in Oklahoma City, and several viewers have posted on our Facebook page saying they felt it too, including folks from Norman, Chickasha, Tulsa, Enid, Wakita, Alva, Guthrie and more.

These are troubling times for Britain's manufacturing sector, once a relative bright spot in the country's lacklustre recovery, which contracted at its fastest pace in more than two years in October, as new orders plummeted. But there is unlikely to be a clamour for consumers to start buying British. In the US, people are used to hearing the phrase "buy American". It is seen as one of the ways of putting Americans back to work.

Adverts proudly proclaim how the product was born and bred in America, and closer to home, many French people would not dream of drinking anything other than French wine or driving a French car. But despite daily doomsday reports about high unemployment and low growth, the politicians have not been ordering us to go and buy British. Why?

Political pundit Kevin Maguire says it would be a bit like shooting yourself in the foot."It would be very hard for Cameron to stand up and say Buy British, when half of our exports go to the EU. If they did the same half our exports would no longer go there."

Mr Berlusconi's majority has crumbled ahead of the vote, with several MPs defecting or saying they will rebel. Until now he has insisted he has enough support to be able to continue to govern and has denied he will resign. "We asked the prime minister to stand aside," Mr Bossi told reporters on the margins of parliament. However, when asked about the expected outcome of a normally routine vote on approving state finances, Mr Bossi told reporters: "Nothing will happen today."

Last month, the same measure was defeated in parliament by a single vote. Mr Berlusconi is reported to be short of the 316 votes needed to prove that he still has a majority. But analysts say Mr Berlusconi may still win as the centre-left may abstain, allowing the essential measure to pass.