Referring to several recent politicians’ statements that caused a stir in the international media, most notably by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Netanyahu urged the ministers to stay clear of remarks on the Iranian issue.

“The chatter causes extensive damage, puts Israel on the front line and impedes the sanction efforts,” he said during a Likud ministers’ meeting. Barak said last week that if sanctions on Iran fail, the international community would have to consider other options, while Ya’alon claimed that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities are vulnerable to an attack. The two were speaking at the Herzliya Conference on security.

Reverend Stephen Trott, who is a rector in Boughton, Northampton, said Christians should be free to show their faith without fear of persecution. His motion, which is to be debated by the Synod this week, highlights the case of Gary McFarlane, a Christian relationship counsellor sacked for refusing to give sex therapy sessions to gay couples.

Reverend Trott said: “There is a growing number of cases reported about the ways in which our freedom of expression as Christians is being limited. This creates a climate of opposition and people feel more reluctant to talk about their faith. If the motion is passed I hope we will then have a statement on record of the view of the Church.”

Mr McFarlane and BA check-in clerk Nadia Eweida are among four Christians fighting a case in the European Court of Human Rights over religious discrimination. But despite a plea by former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, they have not won support from ministers.

The powers include the European Arrest Warrant, under which 200 British nationals have been surrendered to Continental prosecutors, and a requirement for DNA and fingerprints to be shared with European police forces. The letter has been signed by two former cabinet ministers, more than half the influential backbench 1922 Committee and several committee chairmen.

The MPs organising the letter insist that it is intended to be a positive contribution to the debate on Europe, but it threatens a new confrontation between Mr Cameron and backbenchers, who are demanding further repatriation of powers after successfully lobbying him to veto a new EU treaty at a summit in Brussels in December. Backbenchers want Mr Cameron to use a one-off opportunity under the Lisbon Treaty, which came into force in December 2009, to repatriate unilaterally up to 130 EU rules and regulations on crime and policing.

Unless Mr Cameron exercises the opt-out by June 2014, the European Courts of Justice in Luxembourg could force Britain to enforce them in full. The letter says: “We should maintain our national standards of justice and democratic control over crime and policing — but let other nations integrate more closely if they wish. We do not wish to subordinate UK authorities to a pan-European Public Prosecutor.”

“We do not want to see British police forces subjected to mandatory demands by European police under the European Investigation Order.”

The Carolingian union is all that anybody in French public life can really remember. It worked marvellously for two generations, levering French power on the global stage, and the euro was of course their own creation, intended to tie down a reunited Germany with “silken cords”. How can they now face the awful truth that this elegant strategy has blown up in their faces, enthroning Germany as undisputed hegemon?

Yet they can hardly ignore the evidence. While German unemployment has fallen to a post-Reunification low of 5.5 per cent, France’s jobless rate has crept up to a post-EMU high of 9.9 per cent and is certain to rise further as recession bites again. While both countries had the same sorts of export surplus in the early 1990s, they have diverged massively since the D-Mark and franc were fixed in perpetuity. Germany has a current account surplus of 5 per cent of GDP: France has a deficit of 2.7 per cent, anathema for Colbertistes.

So it has fallen to the Socialists – less compromised lately – to start the rebellion. “We cannot let the Germans alone appoint themselves experts and judges,” said party leader François Hollande. He called for “substantial modifications” to the fiscal compact if elected president in May, as he may well be since he is running six points ahead in the polls.

Lucas Papademos held emergency telephone talks with Christine Lagarde and Mario Draghi today in a bid to find a way to meet the demands of both Greece’s private creditor banks and its “troika” paymasters. Evangelos Venizelos, the Greek finance minister, told reporters he hoped to announce a deal this evening to avoid rattling global stockmarkets. However, he added: “It’s not an impasse but there are problems for the Greek side.”

There are just six weeks left before Greece faces a €14.5 billion (£12 billion) bond repayment which it cannot meet without international aid. European leaders have said Greece will not receive funds from the €130 billion rescue package unless it can persuade its private creditors to take losses to reduce the country’s debt pile.

Sources close to the private creditors told The Daily Telegraph that an agreement was still “some way off”. Although the banks have in principle agreed to take a 50 per cent loss on their bonds and an artificially low coupon on new Greek debt, the process is complicated by the demands of international officials on the country’s budget. Sources said the “focus” of the talks remained stuck on troika demands that include a 25 per cent reduction in the minimum wage and tougher public sector spending and job cuts.

At the weekend, Jean Claude Juncker, chairman of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, said a disorderly Greek default could not be ruled out. He told Der Spiegel, that without an agreement “in March they have to declare bankruptcy”.

It can be mounted on speed boats and other light vessels, can withstand electronic warfare, and is able to fly at low altitudes to avoid detection, the report said. Iran has a fleet of speed boats that often challenge US and allied warships in the Gulf. The vessels are usually controlled by the elite Revolutionary Guards and can be equipped with missiles.

The Islamic republic says it has a wide range of missiles. It says some are capable of striking targets inside Israel as well as Middle Eastern military bases of its other main archfoe, the United States.

The development also comes in the week Prince William left for the Falklands on a routine deployment as a search and rescue pilot. However, he is not involved in what is called Falklands Forum 12 in which Navy, Army and Royal Air Force personnel stage a “paper exercise” inside an aircraft hangar at Mount Pleasant, the island’s military airport.

It will also test in “real time” the reaction of naval, Army and RAF forces based on the islands. Crucially, it includes staff officers from the Permanent Joint Force Headquarters, based in Northwood, Middlesex, as well as 70 reservists who will spend two weeks in the South Atlantic.

The Sunday Express has learned that a British nuclear submarine en route to the region is carrying a special team of Spanish-speaking communications technicians who will monitor any maritime radio transmissions in the region. Argentina reacted to the 29-year-old prince’s deployment by accusing Britain of sending him “in the uniform of a conquistador”.

His warning comes as security sources confirmed that the threat of a Republican led bombing campaign now exceeded that of terror acts by Islamic fundamentalists. A senior member of the organisation last night said a cadre of activists was already well established in mainland Britain, with the capacity to cause chaos through a series of bombing campaigns. It is feared they may have learned from the tactics of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and will increase the size of Improvised Explosive Devices.

The Continuity IRA terrorist, who claims to have organised the UK mainland branch, said: “The British security services are perfectly right to protect against the threat of an attack because as long as they continue their policies in Ireland there will always be somebody willing to stand up and fight back.”

“Our numbers go up and down all the time but we are building a strong following in London and in other parts of the country including Scotland.” IRA insiders claim Republicans are furious over plans to bring the Olympic torch to Northern Ireland. On a Republican internet forum hardliners have boasted about plans to kidnap the torch during its tour of the province.

Since the agreement was first signed in 2008 only two nations have reached a deal with Britain, both securing opt-outs from the project. Labour ministers allowed Poland to dodge its obligations for five years while Ireland negotiated a complete opt-out. It leaves more than 1,400 Polish and Irish prisoners serving time in British jails at taxpayers’ expense. Offenders from the two nations make up more than a third of all the European inmates in the UK.

Labour MPs last week rounded on the coalition for failing to secure any new agreements on the prisoner transfer deal since the election in 2010 but Prisons Minister Crispin Blunt criticised the previous Government for letting Poland and Ireland off the hook.

Conservative MPs last night accused former Labour ministers of landing taxpayers with an unnecessary bill of millions of pounds. Andrew Percy, Tory MP for Brigg and Goole, said: “Members of any Government do not need to be brain surgeons to work out that the biggest foreign providers of our prison population are Poland and Ireland. Knowing this, I cannot believe the last Labour government allowed these countries to opt out of the new prisoner transfer agreements."

Hungary is seeking backup from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union to reassure investors it has financing even if it gets cut off from debt markets later this year. The country's currency, the forint, sank to a record low against the euro a month ago, and its government bond yields rose above 11 percent on concerns that amid the euro zone crisis it may not be able to finance central Europe's highest debt burden compared to its economic output.

Varga reiterated that the government expected to reach a deal soon on a credit line that it could tap if the European debt crisis deepened further. "A quick agreement is in the interest of both parties, therefore a deal could be outlined in one or two months," he said in an interview in the daily Magyar Hirlap.

"The amount of the safety net could be somewhere between 15 and 20 billion euros," he added. Hungary's government unnerved investors repeatedly in 2010 and 2011 with unorthodox economic policy steps. It has also upset the European Commission with a range of legislation including a central bank bill that the Commission said curbed the bank's independence.

The hard-line Iranian Revolutionary Guards began naval maneuvers in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, more than a week after the western Allies dispatched more warships to the strategically critical choke point in the Persian Gulf.

Iran plans to conduct war games in the strait for the next month, coming at a time of already heightened tension with the US and its European allies over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. At the end of January, Washington deployed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the region, which was accompanied by two British and French warships.

Tehran has threatened to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, the route for one-fifth of the world’s crude oil, in response to EU and US sanctions against its oil exports. Washington has vowed to keep the Persian Gulf open to international trade.

If you are out in public and you attempt to keep snoopers from peeking at your computer screen, then according to the FBI they should gather as much information about you as they can and they should report you to the authorities immediately. If this seems completely and totally ridiculous to you, then you are not alone. Millions of Americans have become deeply concerned about the constantly expanding definition of “suspicious activity” in the United States.

Sadly, the federal government is now engaging in an all-out attempt to have us all spy on one another. All over America, the Department of Homeland Security is running ads promoting the “See Something, Say Something” campaign. They even had 8,000 stadium workers at the Super Bowl this year go through special training on how to spot potential terrorists. So the next time you see a hot dog vendor, keep in mind that he might also be part of a special anti-terrorism task force.

The warnings were distributed last week by Israeli security officials said ABC News, which published over the weekend what it said was text from several documents sent from Israeli consulates. "We predict that the threat on our sites around the world will increase … on both our guarded sites and 'soft' sites," one letter quoted by ABC News said. Another document said that “In the past few weeks, there has been an escalation in threats against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world. Open source has reported many demonstrations against Israel are expected to be concentrated on Israeli embassies and consulates.

Such demonstrations have occurred internationally as well as domestically. These demonstrations could potentially turn violent at local synagogues, restaurants, the Israeli Embassy and other Israeli sites. … Law enforcement should be vigilant when making periodic checks at all Jewish facilities.” A third document said that “there is a possibility that forged passports will be used in order to pass as Israeli citizens at the security checks in Israel and around the world. Israeli security authorities may consider an Israeli citizenship as a [criterion] to proceed with a more lenient security check in secure sites such as airports, etc.”

Security levels have been raised at Israeli institutions in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and other cities as well.

Mr Cameron and his wife Samantha will attend a state dinner hosted by Mr Obama and First Lady Michelle, with the White House stressing the “strong personal bond” between the leaders and their families. The visit comes after Downing Street said British troops will step back from their lead combat role in Afghanistan by the end of next year under plans drawn up by the Nato-led international alliance.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has confirmed that American troops will also shift to a support role, although they will remain “combat ready”. A White House spokesman said: “The visit will highlight the fundamental importance of the US-UK special relationship and the depth of the friendship between the American people and the people of the United Kingdom, as well as the strong personal bond that has developed between the two leaders and their families.”

“It will also be an opportunity to recall the valour and sacrifice of the US and British armed forces and their long tradition of standing shoulder to shoulder beside each other in defence of our liberties and shared values. The visit will underscore the strength of our economic links, which contribute to millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.”

The US, she said, would work with "friends of a democratic Syria" to support opponents of Syria's president. The vetoing of the resolution drew an angry reaction from around the world. "What happened yesterday at the United Nations was a travesty," Mrs Clinton said in strongly worded remarks during a visit to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.

"Faced with a neutered Security Council, we have to redouble our efforts outside of the United Nations with those allies and partners who support the Syrian people's right to have a better future," she said, the Associated Press news agency reported. "We will work to expose those who are still funding the regime and sending it weapons to be used against defenceless Syrians, including women and children," she said.

Human rights groups and activists say more than 7,000 people have been killed by Syrian security forces since the uprising began in March. The UN stopped estimating the death toll in Syria after it passed 5,400 in January, saying it was too difficult to confirm. The government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed fighting "armed gangs and terrorists".