The threat was voiced by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a meeting with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in New York on Monday, a diplomatic insider told Kommersant daily. “The invasion will happen before year’s end. The Israelis are de facto blackmailing Obama. They’ve put him in this interesting position – either he supports the war or looses the support of the Jewish lobby,” the diplomat told the Russian newspaper.

The source said Washington has given Tehran one last chance to solve the conflict peacefully and wants Moscow to deliver the message. Iran has to make progress with the P5+1 group, which consists of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany. The group is to negotiate Iran’s controversial nuclear program with Iranian officials sometime in April. The exact timing and place of the talks are still under consideration. The negotiators want clarity from Iran over the potential militarization of its nuclear program. They also demand access for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to a suspected nuclear site in Parchin.

“Spain has very large downside risks and it needs to tread very carefully – Spain is in a very fragile situation. Its problems are significantly worse than Greece’s,” Sony Kapoor, managing director at international think tank Re-Define said. He added that a “huge danger” was posed to the macroeoconomic situation and the social fabric of the country by the current austerity program and an expected 5 percent deficit adjustment.

“The financial panic is temporarily over but 2012 will be the year of austerity across Europe and Spain is a microcosm for the euro zone as a whole,” he said. Earlier this month the Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy, publicly defied Brussels-imposed targets, which were 4.4 percent of gross domestic product, saying that the targets were based on forecasts of economic growth when in fact the government expects the Spanish economy to contract this year. The country has the euro zones highest rate of unemployment - now over 22 percent.

Ben May, European economist at Capital Economics, told CNBC.com that underlying issues in Spain could derail any attempts to curb the budget deficit. “Spain is so much larger than Greece, so even if there is a small risk of a default or a bailout then it has much bigger implications for the euro zone than Greece had,” May added.

In a formal complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the three trade powers accused Beijing of trying to hold down prices for its domestic manufacturers and to pressure international firms to move operations to China. "We want our companies building those products right here in America. But to do that, American manufacturers need to have access to rare earth materials which China supplies," US President Barack Obama said at the White House.

Europe's trade chief said China's restrictions violated international trade rules and had to be removed. "These measures hurt our producers and consumers in the EU and across the world, including manufacturers of pioneering hi-tech and 'green' business applications," said European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

Rare earths are crucial for the defense, electronics and renewable-energy industries and are used in a range of products such as the iPhone, disk drives and wind turbines. China described the trade complaint on Wednesday as unfair, arguing that it only controlled 90 percent of global production because other countries, notably the United States, had long ago closed their own rare earths refineries on pollution concerns.

The service was part of celebrations marking the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of the Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine order. Camaldoli monks and nuns live and pray at the Church of St Gregory and have an active program of ecumenical contacts.

"We hope that the sign of our presence here together in front of the holy altar, where Gregory himself celebrated the eucharistic sacrifice, will remain not only as a reminder of our fraternal encounter, but also as a stimulus for all the faithful - both Catholic and Anglican - encouraging them ... to renew their commitment to pray constantly and to work for unity, and to live fully in accordance with the 'ut unum sint' (that all may be one) that Jesus addressed to the Father," Pope Benedict said during the evening prayer service.

Faith is a gift of God, but it requires a response, the pope said. "It requires the commitment to be reclothed in Christ's sentiments: tenderness, goodness, humility, meekness, magnanimity, mutual forgiveness and, above all, as a synthesis and a crown, 'agape' - the love that God has given us through Jesus, the love that the Holy Spirit has poured into our hearts," he said. Camaldoli monks and nuns - wearing hooded white robes - were joined by cardinals, Anglican and Catholic faithful and representatives of other Christian communities in Rome for the prayer service.

According to a set of guidelines sent out by the FBI as part of its Communities Against Terror program, ordinary citizens need to be on the lookout for suspicious characters who follow patterns of behavior of a covert operative.

The latest revelation from the FBI files? Paying in cash for coffee. The most recent update asks coffee shop owners, baristas and other customer-service specialists to lookout for the enemy who walks among us… Using cash for small purchases like a cup of coffee, gum and other items is a good indication that a person is trying to pass for normal without leaving the kind of paper trail created using a debit or credit card for small purchases.

He was arrested on Friday and charged over the weekend. A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "He didn't make his point very well and that is why he has landed himself in bother." Ahmed has been charged with a racially aggravated public order offence and will appear at Dewsbury Magistrates Court on 20 March 2011.

The soldiers were killed on March 6 in the deadliest single attack on British forces in Afghanistan since 2001 when their Warrior armoured vehicle was blown up by a massive improvised explosive device (IED). The deaths take the number of UK troops who have died since the Afghanistan campaign began in 2001 to 404.

It seems you have to be careful if you have an opinion on Facebook these days.

Bus passenger Zoe Frost said looting began immediately and she was pushed aside as people went for the valuables. "They wanted to get the gold and jewellery out of the shop window and where it had fallen on to the ground," she said. Inspector Yvonne Bruton, from West Midlands Police, said: "We are looking into reports that a number of people stole items of jewellery from the shop, with some apparently forcing onlookers out of the way to get to the items. One girl crawled under the bus to get a handful of stuff”

"This group of individuals had no regard for the welfare of those caught up in the incident and it appears simply sought to make their own ill-gotten gains." Police said they would be looking at CCTV footage.

In countries where gay marriage is legal, the terms 'husband’ and 'wife’ are disappearing. David Cameron told last year’s Conservative Party conference that he supported marriage and that it didn’t matter whether it was “between a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man and another man”. If this sounds complicated to say, it’s going to be even more complicated to legislate.

Last month Stonewall published a draft gay marriage bill which removes the words “husband and wife” from the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, replacing them with “parties to a marriage”. When asked to explain, Ben Summerskill, the CEO, said: “In some clauses you have to replace the words husband and wife because you cannot have two husbands or two wives.” I doubt many husbands and wives will be happy to have the legal definition of their marriages re-written in such a way.

The remainder of their simplistic bill grants wide-ranging powers for a minister to amend the rest of the statute book on marriage, presumably to get rid of all the other references to husband and wife. The minister is going to be busy. The word “husband” appears 1,003 times in statute; “wife” appears 888 times; “spouse” occurs 2,740 times. In all, there are 3,000 references to marriage in current law. The oldest is in an Act passed in 1285, in the reign of King Edward I, part of which is still in force.

Given our present economic situation, why does Mr Cameron think that so much parliamentary time and energy should be dedicated to a change in the law which would obliterate vast amounts of our cultural and legal heritage? Surely not to burnish his “modernising” credentials?

Officials called the find “significant” and added, "Surveys conducted in recent months found oil in the target strata. The potential oil reservoir is 128 million barrels of oil, and the contingent reserves are an additional 120 million barrels."

"Bottom line, there is oil. It's 100 percent. Secondly, the quantities are commercial,” said Tzachi Sultan, controlling shareholder of Modiin. The Gabriella license is near shore in shallow water. “At a time of soaring oil prices, this is good news for IDB, Modiin, Adira,” said Chaim Gavriella, CEO of the IDB holding company that owns most of Gabriella’s shares.

The oil was defined as “high quality” and reportedly can be extracted even easier than the gas.

Khulood Badawi, who Honest Reporting says works as an Information and Media Coordinator for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is responsible for sending the photo out on Twitter. In a message disparaging to Israel, she wrote, “Palestine is bleeding. Another child killed by #Israel. Another father carrying his child to a grave in #Gaza.”

Here’s the problem: The photo was taken in 2006 by Reuters, and ... the girl ... was injured by falling off a swing.

It said limited supplies were being wasted, and nations had to implement existing legislation more effectively.The EEA presented its findings at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille. "The critical thing for us is that we are seeing an increasing number of regions where river basins, because of climate change, are experiencing water scarcity," said EEA executive director Jacqueline McGlade.

"Yet behavioural change, and what that means, hasn't really come about." Professor McGlade said the main purpose of the report was to raise awareness about the issue. "Member states need to be clearer about the opportunities they can make in order to enhance their use of a scarce resource," she told BBC News.

"Nations need to use different kinds of methods. Instead of just having a hosepipe ban to fix this year's problem, you need to invest in a very different way. Long-term investment needs to recognise these different uses of how water is allocated, how it is used [and the need for] different water qualities."

Millions have already been spent on studies to look at how to convert the ship after ministers decided to scrap the jump-jet variant of the plane in favour of a conventional take-off and landing model. But so great is the rise in total costs, ministers are considering abandoning the plan and reverting to the Ministry of Defence’s original proposals.

Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, believes there is not enough money in the budget to afford the £300 million a year to carry out the work over six years. “We are certainly looking at what’s affordable and what can be done in terms of risk and cost,” said an MoD official. “If you have an unaffordable programme you cannot ignore it.” The move is likely to be embarrassing for the Government as the changes were at the heart of the Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2010. It will also heighten criticism of the Government for disbanding the fleet of Harrier jets and selling them to US Marine Corps for “peanuts”.

Under the new plans, the Government is expected to choose the jump-jet version of the JSF, even though the take-off and landing model can fly further and carry more bombs. The decision will also mean an end to plans for joint-carrier operations with French and American ships as they are only equipped to handle conventional fighters.

Jonathan Porritt, Tom Burke, Charles Secrett and Tony Juniper say the firms are landing UK citizens with all the financial risks of nuclear new build. They have told Prime Minister David Cameron he is being badly advised.

The four - all former directors of Friends of the Earth (FoE) UK - say that the current policy to start building at least eight new reactors over the next decade cannot withstand the "intense scrutiny" it is coming under in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. "There is now a growing risk of policy failure," they write in their letter to the prime minister.

Mr Cameron recently signed an agreement with French President Nicolas Sarkozy to boost nuclear co-operation. "Our analysis shows that building new nukes will be a massive rip-off for the the British taxpayer," said Mr Secrett. "How on Earth can the prime minister justify paying billions of pounds of subsidy to French power companies when the chancellor is slashing welfare budgets for poor people in Britain and there are a million young people unemployed?"

Corn is critical not only as a food staple, but is heavily used in ethanol production, animal feed, and much more. As GM corn becomes the norm, currently taking over 94 percent of the supply, these scientists are seriously concerned about the future of corn production. Joseph Spencer is one outspoken member of the group, a corn entomologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, part of the University of Illinois. Spencer states that what is happening is no surprise, instead it is something that needs to be addressed. Warning the EPA over the dangers, the experts sent a letter on March 5th to the agency explaining their worries regarding long-term corn production prospects in light of GMO crop failures.

Specifically, the experts are worried about the lack of protection presented by GMO crops against rootworms. The EPA has already acknowledged that Monsanto’s GMO crops are creating resistant rootworms, which are now ravaging the GMO crops as they mutate to the biopesticide used known as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The EPA found that the resistant rootworms, which are evolving to resist the insecticide, are currently found in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Nebraska. After the EPA evaluated documented cases of severe crop damage as well as reports from entomologists, the EPA stated “Monsanto’s program for monitoring suspected cases of resistance is ‘inadequate’.”

Essentially, the GMO crops are doing the opposite of their supposed purpose — leading to more damage from rootworms as they become mutated to resist the defense of the crops. And Monsanto has answered by simply further genetically modifying the Bt, which research shows is extremely ineffective. “When insecticides overlay transgenic technology, the economic and environmental advantages of rootworm-protected corn quickly disappear,” the scientists wrote. It’s time for the EPA and other agencies to address the serious threats to nature and human health presented by Monsanto’s genetically modified creations.

As she travels from one European Union summit to the next, Angela Merkel's constant mantra in recent months has been austerity, austerity, austerity. But apparently the German chancellor hasn't been quite as strict when it comes to her own country's budget. Spiegel reports this week that the German government didn't reach even half of its planned savings in the federal budget. Only 42 percent of the spending cuts named by Merkel's coalition government, comprised of the conservative Christian Democrats and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party, were actually implemented.

Calculations made by the influential Cologne Institute for Economic Research indicate that only €4.7 billion ($6.16 billion) of the €11.2 billion in austerity measures stipulated by the savings package actually took shape in 2011. The government is also falling behind on its targets for this year. Of the originally planned €19.1 billion in savings, less than half has been implemented. For the coming year, the concrete measures that have been agreed on so far cover just one-third of the announced amount of savings. Merkel's cabinet is hoping to agree to the basic foundations of the 2013 federal budget in March.