Hedge funds, pension funds and investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Barclays Capital now dominate the food commodities markets, dwarfing the amount traded by actual food producers and buyers. Purely financial players, for example, account for 61 per cent of investment on the wheat futures market, according to the World Development Movement report Broken Markets.

Speculative investment in agricultural commodities in 2011 was 20 times the amount spent by all countries on agricultural aid. Goldman Sachs, the largest player in the agricultural commodities market, earned £600 million from food speculation in 2009, and Barclays Capital, the world's third-largest player and largest British bank in this market, earned up to £340 million in 2010, according to the report. Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital declined to comment.

Before it was deregulated in the year 2000, the agricultural commodities futures market was used mainly by farmers and food buyers seeking to insure themselves against changes in the prices of products such as wheat, maize and sugar. When George W Bush passed the Commodities Futures Modernization Act 12 years ago, there was an influx, led by Goldman Sachs, of purely financial players who had no interest in ever buying food, but who sought solely to profit from changes in food prices, says Olivier De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food.

He added: "What we are seeing now is that these financial markets have developed massively with the arrival of these new financial investors, who are purely interested in the short-term monetary gain and are not really interested in the physical thing – they never actually buy the ton of wheat or maize; they only buy a promise to buy or to sell. The result of this financialisation of the commodities market is that the prices of the products respond increasingly to a purely speculative logic. This explains why in very short periods of time we see prices spiking or bubbles exploding, because prices are less and less determined by the real match between supply and demand."

The vote marked the first time UN diplomats on the council all agreed on a resolution since the conflict began more than a year ago. It calls on both sides to immediately "cease all armed violence in all its forms." It also calls on the Syrian government to implement the six-point peace plan put forward by international envoy Kofi Annan, including the pull-back of troops and heavy weapons from cities and towns.

The resolution calls for the deployment of an advance team of up to 30 unarmed military observers to initiate contacts with both sides and begin to report on whether there has been "a full cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties."

As is becoming ever more common when it comes to euroland, it's a view which is quite at odds with the facts. True enough, the ECB's surprise liquidity operation did succeed in dousing the crisis, at least temporarily. A Lehman's style meltdown was averted. But the idea that the ECB can now sit back and let the politicians do the rest is surely deluded.

Despite the ECB's actions, the big southern European countries – Italy and Spain – are slumping back into recession, casting doubt on their ability to meet fiscal targets, reigniting the banking crisis and undermining political support for structural reform. Mr Asmussen's solution to this problem appears to be more of the same, or more austerity and more structural reform.

The structural reform bit, I would go along with. All advanced economies need urgently to improve their competitiveness. Labour protections need to be swept away, and entitlement systems put on a sustainable basis. But it is plain as a pike staff that repeated rounds of immediately imposed austerity are making matters worse, not better. Once again, the eurozone is in danger of falling apart.

Since fiscal expansionism is out of the question, the only possible hope for salvation – within the euro that is – lies with the ECB. It may require the whole of the eurozone to move seriously into recession before the ECB acts, but eventually it will surely have to follow the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England into full scale quantitative easing. To the Bundesbank, it would be anathema. Already the Bundesbank thinks policy in the eurozone far too loose. To Germans, even 5 per cent house price inflation, which is roughly what they've got at the moment, looks like a bubble, and there have been a number of inflation busting pay awards of late, not least in the public sector.

The move demonstrates Beijing’s belief that the yuan is now stable enough to handle major structural reforms, despite slowing growth of the Chinese economy. Analysts said the slowdown may have actually spurred Beijing to make the change, because the Chinese government knew it could introduce the larger band without causing a spike in the yuan’s value. "The central bank chose a good time window to enlarge the trading band. The market's expectation for a stronger yuan is weakening," said Dong Xian'an, chief economist at Peking First Advisory in Beijing.

Nonetheless, The People's Bank of China took the unusual step of issuing its announcement in English rather than Mandarin. Sources said China wanted to deflect criticism of its currency policy ahead of the International Monetary Fund's annual spring meeting in Washington next week. IMF managing director Christine Lagarde supported the move today.

She said: "I would like to welcome this important step by the People's Bank of China to increase the flexibility of their currency. This underlines China's commitment to rebalance its economy toward domestic consumption and allow market forces to play a greater role in determining the level of the exchange rate."

Just when you hoped it really was "solved", the eurozone crisis has roared back on to the global agenda. Like a lingering bad smell, the fundamental contradictions at the heart of monetary union can be blanked out for a while but refuse to go away. The busted banks, the grotesque indebtedness, the inherent contradictions – in recent days they've all burst back into view. The eurozone has deeply entrenched economic, financial and political problems. No amount of tub-thumping – by Sarko, European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi, or anyone else – can change that fundamental truth.

The focus has been on Greece but now it is most definitely on Spain. Will Spanish debt woes spiral out of control and, if so, can they then be contained? That's the €1 trillion question. But how much is that in pesetas? Spain is the fourth-largest eurozone economy and the 12th biggest in the world. Spanish GDP last year was almost five times that of Greece. On the surface, Spain's government finances don't look bad, with national debt at 68 per cent of annual GDP – around half that of Italy.

Yet Spain has a vast and less widely recognised stash of private sector debt. Global bond markets, previously sedated by ECB "funny money", now realise that a big slice of those liabilities could land on the government's balance sheet. Greece has already enacted the largest sovereign debt restructuring in history to avoid a big, disorderly default. Pulling that off involved a €110 billion EU/IMF package in May 2010, another €170 billion this year and a hefty bondholders "haircut".

What would it take in Spain if that's what in took in Greece? Spain is a "grown-up" economy. Should Spain need a bail-out, and if (a big if) one can be afforded, then who's next? Where does this madness end? "Economic spring is in the air," said International Monetary Fund supremo Christine Lagarde, chiming in behind Sarkozy. Nothing as dramatic as a Prague spring or an Arab spring, one hopes. But the signs for Europe are ominous.

The isolated North, using the launch to celebrate the 100th birthday of the dead founding president Kim Il-sung and to mark the rise to power of his grandson Kim Jong-un, is now widely expected to press ahead with its third nuclear test to show its military strength. "The possibility of an additional long-range rocket launch or a nuclear test, as well as a military provocation to strengthen internal solidarity is very high," a senior South Korean defense ministry official told a parliamentary hearing.

The two Koreas are divided by the world's most militarized border and remain technically at war after an armistice ended the Korean War in 1953. The United States and Japan said the rocket, which they claimed was a disguised missile test and the North said was to put a satellite into orbit, crashed into the sea after travelling a much shorter distance than a previous North Korean launch.

Its failure raises questions over the impoverished North's reclusive leadership which has one of the world's largest standing armies but cannot feed its people without outside aid, largely from its only powerful backer, China. "There is no question that the failed launch turns speculation toward the ramifications for the leadership in Pyongyang: a fireworks display gone bad on the biggest day of the year," said Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The blessing is held at the Kotel - the Hebrew name for the Western Wall - during the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot, and also on Shavuot, and typically attracts thousands of worshipers. The assemblage at the Temple Mount for these holidays is rooted in the Jewish tradition which saw Israelites ascend to the Temple for ritual worship led by the high priests during these three holidays, called the Shalosh Regalim, or the three pilgrimage festivals.

While pilgrimage is no longer required in Judaism since the destruction of the Second Temple, many Jews grasp the opportunity to go up to Jerusalem during these holidays.

The sudden change in weather has been caused by a cold wind coming in from the North West and passing over the hot air rising from the ground warmed by sunshine. This clash of cold and hot air causes clouds to form and sudden downpours. In the most extreme cases the air becomes so turbulent it creates 'funnel’ clouds that cause tornadoes when they touch the ground.

The rain may be a welcome relief to gardeners who have been banned from using hosepipes in the south east but put a dampner on Easter Holidays. Tornadoes in Birmingham a few years ago sent bins hurtling down streets and injured 19 people.

Then he stated he is confident that the Supreme Court would not choose to overturn his health care law, through which the government requires Americans to buy a product approved by the federal bureaucracy or face fines... “I think the president is dangerously close to totalitarianism,” Judge Andrew Napolitano, a Fox News analyst, said.

Under the laws, a minimum jail term of two years could be imposed on those found guilty of instigating and carrying out violent acts of protest under a new package of measures unveiled on Wednesday. But it has raised fears that the new measures could be used to stem the wave of protests that began last summer with the birth of what has been dubbed the "indignado movement", when tens of thousands of peaceful protesters camped out in squares across Spain.

Protest groups were quick to draw comparisons to the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. The measures come amid growing incidents of street violence in cities across Spain, most notably Barcelona where "anti-capitalist" groups were blamed for stirring tensions during last month's general strike.

Comparisons were drawn with Cuba, where peaceful protesters are routinely rounded up by the communist regime, and with Spain's dark days of the Franco dictatorship which ended with his death in 1975. "We fought for freedom and civil rights during the dictatorship of Franco only to lose them now," one Twitter user, @Iaioflautas wrote. Another, @Mordorpress said that the government of Mariano Rajoy was a step back to dictatorship. "Goodbye democracy, you only lasted 30 years," he wrote.

Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard said on his twitter account there were no initial signs of serious damage and that key services in the capital, including its subway system and the international airport, were operating normally. "There was a nasty crunching sound in my bathroom and everything moved," said Adela Arceo, who was looking after two young children in the central Roma neighborhood of Mexico City. There were no initial reports of casualties.

The US Geological Survey said the 7.0 magnitude quake struck in the western state of Michoacan at a depth of 40.8 miles. Emergency services in Michoacan and in the neighboring state of Guerrero, which has been hit by a series of recent quakes, reported no major problems on Wednesday. It was the third major earthquake to hit Mexico in less than a month. A 7.4 magnitude quake struck on March 20, damaging hundreds of buildings in the southwest. That was followed by dozens of aftershocks.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quakes were unlikely to trigger a tsunami. The Oregon quake was initially reported as a magnitude 6.2 and the California one as a 5.3. Both were later downgraded. It was not immediately known whether the quakes caused any damage or casualties.

The big time-buying exercise was the ECB’s injection of 1 trillion euros of super-cheap three-year money into the region’s banks. A smaller breathing space was won last week when governments agreed to expand the ceiling on the region’s bailout funds from 500 to 700 billion euros.

These moves have taken the heat out of the crisis – both by easing fears that banks could go bust and by making it easier for troubled governments, especially Italy’s and Spain’s, to fund themselves. Data from the ECB last week shows how much of the easy money has been recycled from banks into government bonds. In February, Italian lenders increased their purchases of euro zone government bonds by a record 23 billion euros. Spanish banks, meanwhile, increased their purchases by 15.7 billion euros following a record 23 billion euro spending spree in January.

The risk is that, as the short-term funding pressure comes off, governments’ determination to push through unpopular reforms will flag. If that happens, the time that has been bought will be wasted – and, when crisis rears its ugly head again, the authorities won’t have the tools to fight it. Early signs of such fatigue are emerging. One is the tendency of politicians – most recently, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti – to say that the worst of the crisis is over. They may wish to take credit for their crisis-fighting skills or relax. But it is too early to declare victory.

Italy is a case in point. Monti should have pushed through crucial reforms to the labour market earlier, while his popularity was high and the electorate was afraid that Italy would be engulfed by the crisis. He did not. And although he has now come up with a good package, his honeymoon period as the unassailable technocratic prime minister is nearing its end. His popularity fell to 44 percent from 62 percent in early March, according to a poll published last week by ISPO. Two-thirds of Italians oppose his labour reforms.

The flashpoint provinces of Homs, Hama and Idlib, which have been under sustained shelling by Assad's forces over the last week, were calm after the 6am (0300 GMT) ceasefire deadline. An activist in Damascus said the capital was also quiet. "More than two hours have passed and it's completely quiet across the country," said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The Syrian government bars access to most independent media.

Fighting had raged in the countdown to Thursday's deadline, fuelling widespread doubts that Syria would comply with international envoy Kofi Annan's ceasefire plan. World leaders, grappling with fundamental disagreements particularly between the West and Russia over how to deal with the crisis, are monitoring events on the ground closely. "It was a bloody night - there was heavy shelling on the city of Homs, but now it is calm and there is no shooting," said an activist who called himself Abu Rami, speaking from Syria's third largest city which has endured some of the worst violence.

But, like activists in other towns, he said there was no indication that Syrian army forces were withdrawing from Homs in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.

Sudan has pulled out of negotiations with South Sudan. The fighting is the worst since South Sudan seceded in July last year. South Sudan has seized the town of Heglig, which is internationally recognised as Sudanese territory, though South Sudan disputes this. Sudan has complained to the United Nations and the AU about South Sudan's "aggression". The parliament in Khartoum called for a "mobilisation and alert" of the people.

After talking to President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had suggested an immediate summit between the two countries to build confidence and reaffirm that dialogue was the only solution. UN Security Council members and the AU urged the Southern forces to withdraw immediately from the disputed oilfields. The US condemned South Sudan's seizure of Heglig, saying it was "an act which goes beyond self-defence and has increased tensions between Sudan and South Sudan to dangerous levels".

Sudan relies on the Heglig oilfields for a sizeable part of its budget, and has vowed to use "all legitimate means" to retake them, warning of "destruction" in the South.