As of late Friday, the yield spread on Italian 10-year bonds over German Bunds was a post-EMU record of 458 basis points. This is dangerously close to the point where cascade-selling begins and matters spiral out of control. The European Central Bank has so far bought time by holding a series of retreating lines but either it has reached its intervention limits after accumulating nearly 80 billion euros of Italian debt, or it is holding fire to force Silvio Berlusconi to resign - if so, a foolish game.

The ECB's hands are tied. A German veto and EU treaty constraints stop it intervening with overwhelming force as a genuine lender of last resort. The bank is itself at risk of massive over-extension without an EU treasury and single sovereign entity to back it up. This lack of a back-stop guarantor is an unforgivable failing in the institutional structure of monetary union. As Berkeley professor Brad DeLong argues in a new paper, such "utter disregard for financial stability - much less for the welfare of the workers and businesses that make up the economy - is a radical departure from the central-banking tradition."

Yet Europe's fiscal rescue machinery remains a fiction, a fund designed for Greece, Ireland, and Portugal that is now being stretched by every disreputable artifice of structured credit to shore up the whole EMU edifice on the cheap. The market has already cast its verdict on plans to leverage the EFSF (version III) to 1 trillion euros as a "first loss" insurer of Italian and Spanish bonds, seeing at once that the scheme concentrates risks in lethal fashion for creditor states, dooms France's AAA rating, and is likely to contaminate the core very fast.

We can argue over details, but the necessary formula - if they wish to save EMU - undoubtedly entails some form of eurobonds, debt-pooling, fiscal transfers, and of course the constitutional revolution that goes with all of this. That would at least buy them time, though I doubt that even fiscal union can ever bridge the North-South gap.

The Tories undertook to reduce immigration from around 250,000 people a year to fewer than 100,000. Now, however, it appears that their own officials have been sabotaging even that modest commitment. Last Friday Brodie Clark, head of the Border Force, was suspended with two other senior officials after the discovery that thousands of foreigners had been let into the country last summer without full passport and anti-terrorism checks.

Staff in the immigration service were apparently ordered to stop checking biometric chips of passports outside of the EU, significantly increasing the risk of the public to terrorism. This was no rogue event. It surfaced one day after Home Affairs Select Committee MPs accused the Border Agency - the Border Force's parent body - of losing track of enough asylum-seekers and migrants to populate the city of Cambridge.

Immigration probably sits at the very top of the public's concerns. Yet it's the one issue which - even today - politicians of all parties prefer not to mention. Is this not curious? In a democracy, pressure from the public generally runs the political agenda. Yet when it comes to immigration, politicians who otherwise react like Pavlov's dogs to the slightest movement in the opinion polls choose at best to ignore it or at worst to go in the opposite direction.

The reason is the iron grip on the political psyche of the belief that upholding the cultural identity of the nation is racist. Immigration has thus long been the driver of a cultural transformation that dare not speak its name. This dates back long before New Labour to Enoch Powell, the Tory politician whose warnings about immigration made his name synonymous with racism, and turned the entire subject toxic. As a result, immigration slipped off the political radar.

When a country becomes thus profoundly demoralised, there inevitably follow two related consequences. The first is that it begins to destroy its own national interest. The second is that it descends into a dizzying downward spiral of administrative incompetence. The chaos at the Border Agency reflects nothing less than the crisis over Britain's very soul.

Vast crowds cast pebbles as they flowed past the three pillars, on the same day as the start of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. The ritual in the desert valley commemorates Abraham's stoning of the devil, who is said to have appeared three times to the prophet to tempt him. Male pilgrims in two-piece seamless white robes, and women covered head to foot except for their hands and faces, chanted 'God is great' while casting the pebbles. Pilgrims later shaved their heads or clipped off a lock of hair, a tradition dating back to the Prophet Muhammad's own pilgrimage.

They are also required to slaughter a lamb or goat, representing the lamb that Abraham sacrificed in the place of his son Ishmael. Pilgrims are allowed to arrange for this to be done in a different location or in their own countries. Today also marks the start of Eid al-Adha, in remembrance of Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son.

There is increasing concern that core EU nations are planning to use the debt crisis to join forces to 'bulldoze' over British interests, leaving the UK marooned in a permanent voting minority as they integrate further. Alarm on the Conservative benches deepened last night as Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander, a keen Europhile, confirmed that Britain's contributions to the IMF could rise to 40 billion pounds and said he would have no problem with more money being loaned to Greece.

Rebel MPs will be emboldened by a report from a group of economic experts, which says the cost of the euro collapsing would be a contraction of at least two per cent of GDP across the eurozone - but that keeping it together will mean a decade of austerity. The Centre for Economics and Business Research predicts that Britain will suffer two-and-a-half years of pain if the single currency breaks up but after that will grow faster than if the eurozone survives.

Tory eurosceptics say that Britain will be powerless to resist a tide of new EU laws as the 17 countries in the single currency seek to keep the EU project alive by coming together as a 'caucus', a group that will override the views of the UK and other countries outside the euro. The Prime Minister is under increasing pressure to use talks on allowing the eurozone countries to integrate economically to try to contain the crisis as an opportunity to demand protections for Britain.

Mr Duncan Smith, who is the Cabinet's leading eurosceptic, and Mr Paterson are expected to use a private meeting at Downing Street tonight to urge Mr Cameron to 'stiffen his resolve' on the EU to prevent further Tory rebellions. Mr Cameron was rocked last month by the biggest revolt over Europe ever endured by a Conservative Prime Minister when 81 of his MPs defied him by voting in favour of a referendum on Britain's future in the EU. The Prime Minister will today use a Commons statement to tell the eurozone to get its act together after the failure of last week's G20 summit to make progress on the debt crisis. Mr Cameron is increasingly frustrated at the refusal of Germany to allow the European Bank to intervene and stand behind the stricken economies of Europe.

Homes have been evacuated and roads closed on the southern-most Canary Islands following a government-issued warning about a possible volcanic eruption. Tremors have been felt on the southern tip of El Hierro, in the Spanish Canary Islands, raising fears of a possible eruption off the coast of Spain. El Hierro experienced two earth tremors last week alone, while more than 10,000 have been recorded in the past four months.

The regional government of the Spanish Canary Island issued a 'yellow' volcanic eruption alert yesterday - the second on a four-level scale - and closed some hillside roads to avoid injury from falling rocks. The island has some 500 volcanic cones, and was last shaken by a 4.3-magnitude quake late on Saturday. New fears over an eruption came after solid material was seen spewing from the sea in the area near El Hierro.

Government officials said smoky magmatic material has again been found in the sea after an underwater volcanic eruption began on October 10. Eyewitness reports claimed that small explosive plumes and jets could be seen from the ocean surface. Others who have seen the volcano site say material is being ejected as high as 20 metres into the air. New evacuations have also been called for people living on the southern end of the island due to the renewed eruptive activity.

Spanish authorities have also shut down access to La Restinga, a port on El Hierro island. Ships have been ordered away from waters around the port and aircraft have been banned from flying over the island's southern tip. La Restinga's 600 residents were also evacuated last Tuesday after volcanic activity began. The regional government of the Canary Islands says scientists have detected airborne volcanic fragments called pyroclasts rising from the sea off La Restinga. The government said it awaited scientific reports on the danger posed by pyroclasts, but a research vessel that was collecting samples there has been ordered to desist.

But make no mistake - the high drama and low farce of the past seven days revealed that the endgame of the mortally wounded euro has well and truly begun. This time last week, Europe's leaders were congratulating themselves on their bailout package, confident in their hope that it would save the single currency from meltdown. Then, on Monday, the Greek bombshell hit, with Mr Papandreou announcing that the issue would be decided by a referendum of his country's people.

He later decided against it, but not before French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel unleashed an extraordinary display of fear, loathing and despair. Mr Sarkozy's grim face at the opening of his G20 meeting in Cannes spoke volumes. Its agenda had been wrecked and his planned presidential launch pad suddenly sabotaged. The ungrateful Greeks would not receive a single cent until they bent to the EU's will, they declared.

There followed a truly surreal speech by Mr Papandreou on Friday which seemed to be leading to a resignation... then did not. He narrowly scraped through a confidence vote with a majority of eight, and gave his somewhat delayed backing to the bailout package designed to save his nation from bankruptcy, vowing to form a coalition to ensure it was pushed through. But it is predicted that he will not recover from the damage to his credibility.

Europe has been bought a little more time to resolve the crisis, but the 'referendum that never was' has left its mark. It has shaken confidence in the bailout package and, crucially, forced Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy to reveal their hands. Their horrified reaction to the idea of taking the issue to a public vote tells us everything we need to know about the anti-democratic character of today's EU.

The whole history of the euro has been a Greek tragedy. It started with hubris - arrogant pride and over-confidence. It is now in nemesis - the pit of despair and fear. For the Euro-elite, this means accepting that they were wrong and that this whole 'beneficial crisis' intended to bounce unwilling citizens into a federal political state that they do not want, has got hopelessly out of control. And they won't do that voluntarily.

We are still heading for a default in Greece, which will trigger a disorderly break-up of the euro with ominous consequences for us all. The Treasury had better have good contingency plans ready.

Congress is expected to decide by year's end whether to continue providing emergency unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks in the hardest-hit states. If the emergency benefits expire, the proportion of the unemployed receiving aid would fall further. The ranks of the poor would also rise. The Census Bureau says unemployment benefits kept 3.2 million people from slipping into poverty last year. It defines poverty as annual income below $22,314 for a family of four.

Yet for a growing share of the unemployed, a vote in Congress to extend the benefits to 99 weeks is irrelevant. They've had no job for more than 99 weeks. They're no longer eligible for benefits. Their options include food stamps or other social programs. Nearly 46 million people received food stamps in August, a record total. That figure could grow as more people lose unemployment benefits.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has noted that the long-term unemployed increasingly find it hard to find work as their skills and professional networks erode. In a speech last month, Bernanke called long-term unemployment a "national crisis" that should be a top priority for Congress. Lawmakers will have to decide whether to continue the extended benefits by the end of this year. If the program ends, nearly 2.2 million people will be cut off by February. Congress has extended the program nine times. But it might balk at the $45 billion cost.

As of this writing, the total debt is $14.97 trillion, so moving beyond the symbolic $15 trillion is a foregone conclusion. When the unwelcome milestone is reached, it will come at a volatile time both in this country and abroad. Across the Atlantic, President Obama is in Cannes, France, for the G-20 summit that takes place as Europe is trying to finalize a bailout for debt-ridden Greece.

In Washington, a polarized Congress has ground to a halt in the dispute on how to jumpstart the economy and reduce the country's deficits. Only a few months ago, the acrimonious debate on Capitol Hill about raising the debt ceiling - a debate that almost caused the Treasury Department to default on its debts - illustrated the enormous partisan divide that still shows no signs of improving.

The approaching $15 trillion debt milestone is not even the only piece of bad economic news for the country. The jobs report for October - released this morning - showed that US employers added an estimated 80,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, worse than economists expected. The unemployment rate decreased to 9.0 percent, down from 9.1 percent a month earlier, small consolation for a nation still struggling to recover from a severe recession.

The quake was centred near the town of Sparks, some 44 miles (71km) north-east of Oklahoma City, at a depth of 3.1 miles (5km). It shook a packed football stadium at Oklahoma State University. Nearly 60,000 fans were leaving the stadium having watched Oklahoma State's victory over Kansas State when the stadium shook for several seconds.

"Everybody was looking around and no one had any idea," said Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden, who was in the locker room with the other players at the time."We thought the people above us were doing something. I've never felt one, so that was a first," he told Associated Press.

The quake struck at 10:53pm local time (03:53 GMT Sunday) and followed a 4.7 magnitude tremor that had been felt near the town of Prague earlier on Saturday. Observers say that if the 5.6 magnitude reading given by the US Geological Survey stands, then it would be the most powerful earthquake ever recorded for Oklahoma, which is more used to dealing with tornadoes.

'You come from an island, so maybe you don't understand the subtleties of European construction,' he snapped at BBC Newsnight's economics editor Paul Mason. Mr Sarkozy had been asked whether it was right for the European Union to be attempting to block an EU referendum and install a coalition government in Greece.

His outburst was quickly seen as evidence that the diminutive French premier has contempt for both Greece and Britain. His comments come less than two weeks after he snapped at David Cameron at a Brussels summit, telling the Prime Minister to stop telling the eurozone 'what to do' about the economic crisis. 'You have lost a good opportunity to shut up,' he said. Also at the Brussels summit Mr Sarkozy publicly snubbed Mr Cameron by turning away as the Prime Minister offered his hand in friendship.

Eurosceptics fear the big eurozone countries are using the economic calamity to rush headlong into the fiscal union they have always wanted - and see an effective end to independent nation states. They accused Mr Sarkozy of having 'contempt' for Britain and democracy.

Tory MP Philip Davies said: 'This just shows what the project is all about. President Sarkozy is not interested in what we have to say. He is only interested in getting his hands on our money. He's behaving like the new Charles de Gaulle, another French leader who didn't want us in Europe. But I'm right behind him. I don't want us in the EU either.'

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Chris Grayling, the employment minister, said that the EU had launched a "land grab" and that "pre-emptive action to stop this" was now necessary. "We are not going to be rolled over on this, it's a hugely sensitive issue," Mr Grayling said.

The action is the first sign that Conservative ministers are determined to act on David Cameron's pledge to begin renegotiating Britain's relationship with Europe. Mr Grayling said that he was sympathetic to the calls from dozens of back-bench Conservative MPs for a referendum on Britain's EU membership and that the "renegotiation" of the relationship was now the minimum requirement.

He also said that in this country a "big bang" of radical deregulation to help business was now necessary to help kick-start economic growth. In September, it emerged that the EU was threatening Britain with legal action after this country refused to pay some benefits to other European citizens who have not worked or lived here. Britain has been given a two month deadline to reverse the decision but will refuse and is braced for court action. But a "new front" of the battle has been opened up as the EU has begun agreeing reciprocal benefit arrangements with other countries.

However, ministers have learnt that negotiations are beginning with other poorer nations beyond the EU's borders and the "point of principle" must now be challenged. Mr Grayling added: "This is something that's catching up with us very fast. Something has to happen about this. We are concerned about benefit tourism, we want tighter rules. We want the rules changed and they're just not listening."

It was a telling tidbit of news. This week, the French bank BNP Paribas announced that it had slashed its holdings of euro-zone government bonds, including 2.62 billion euros worth of Greek debt. But it wasn't just bonds from Athens that the bank dumped. BNP Paribas also indicated that it had drastically reduced its holdings of Italian debt. In the three months prior to the end of October, the bank sold off 8.3 billion euros worth of bonds issued by Rome, reducing its exposure by 40 percent.

Not surprisingly, stock markets were elated by the news and the bank's stock price shot upwards. After all, Italy promises to be the next battleground in the fight to save the euro zone from collapse. And world leaders, gathered in Cannes, France for the G-20 summit this week, have taken notice. On Thursday night, they pressured Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to agree to have his halting steps toward austerity monitored by both the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

"He himself knows that the question is not so much the content of the package but the implementation," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "That is what we need to work on."

Scientists at the federal Space Weather Prediction Center say that area is the most active part of the sun since 2005. It has dozens of sunspots, including one that is the size of 17 Earths. Sunspots are kinks or knots in the sun's magnetic field. "It's beautiful," said forecaster Jess Whittington. "It's still growing. The size is what blows me away."

Thursday's flare wasn't aimed at Earth. However, this active region is now slowly turning toward Earth, and scientists say it will be directly facing Earth in about five days. That storm region will only affect Earth if it shoots off flares and they hit our planet, which doesn't always happen with stormy areas, said prediction center space scientist Joe Kunches.

The region will be facing Earth for about two weeks as it rotates, he said.

Solar flares send out bursts of electromagnetic energy that can occasionally disrupt communications and electrical systems. For the past several years, the sun has been at a quiet end of its cycle and only recently has gotten more active. Solar cycles go in 11-year periods. This cycle has had fewer storms than usual for this time in its cycle. But that may be changing. "The sun is looking more like we think it should at this point in the solar cycle," Kunches said. "It's got a number of active centers."

The Lancet review says children are often at particularly high risk. Many of the world's major cities are on fault lines, including Los Angeles, Tokyo, New York, Delhi and Shanghai, putting millions of people at risk from earthquakes. In the past decade, earthquakes have caused more than 780,000 deaths - almost 60% of all disaster-related mortality. Other disasters, such as floods and hurricanes typically cause many deaths from drowning, but fewer injuries.

It is estimated that for every person killed in an earthquake, three others are injured. Depression can also be common after earthquakes - affecting up to 72% of the population. Following the 1999 Turkey earthquake, 17% of the population had suicidal thoughts. Children are often at higher risk of injury and death during earthquakes than adults. In Haiti in 2010, 53% of patients were younger than 20 years old and 25% were under five.

The team, led by Dr Susan Bartel of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative in Boston, wrote in the Lancet: "Because earthquakes frequently affect populous urban areas with poor structural standards, they often result in high death rates and mass casualties with many traumatic injuries."

Mark Lowen BBC News, Athens, reports:-

By winning the vote George Papandreou has crossed a hurdle, but several more remain. He will seek a broad consensus on last week's bailout deal for Greece negotiated in Brussels, reaching out to the opposition. And he will inform the president that he intends to begin talks on forming a national unity government.

The question now is whether Mr Papandreou is simply buying time, trying to rebuild his credibility by voting through the bailout before calling a poll which he still hopes to win. Or is his aim to secure a ratification of the deal and then to seek a dignified exit? With the opposition New Democracy party calling for his resignation, it would be difficult for Mr Papandreou to take the reins of a national unity government.

But the prime minister has shown himself to be a deeply unpredictable leader. Greeks - and all of Europe - are watching anxiously for his next move.