Earlier, the police placed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi under house arrest, according to his website. It said the move was intended to prevent the former prime minister attending the march in Tehran, which the authorities had prohibited. The road leading to Mr Mousavi's house was also blocked by police vans. Fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of parliament and a senior cleric, is also reportedly under de facto house arrest.

Both men disputed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009, which triggered mass protests that drew the largest crowds in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The demonstrations eventually led to a brutal crackdown. The opposition says more than 80 of its supporters were killed over the following six months, a figure the government disputes. Several have been sentenced to death, and dozens jailed.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who is on a visit to Iran, earlier warned that "when leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the demands of their nations, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands".

The UK Parliament has before it a motion supporting the Government's position that the UK should stay out of the European Stability Mechanism; some of us have been quite exercised about the matter. The tendency is clearly toward further centralization in Europe. Commentators fear an explicit transfer union, within which fiscally-reckless states are rewarded by transfers from the fiscally sound. Unfortunately, these worries come somewhat late.

One of the great merits of Philipp Bagus' enlightening new book The Tragedy of the Euro is to show that the Eurozone is already a transfer union. The very monetary system of Europe redistributes wealth from one country toanother. The monetary transfer union of the Eurozone caused the sovereign debt crisis that is now bringing us ever closer to a more explicit transfer union. A POTENTIAL EUROPEAN ECONOMIC GOVERNMENT or transfers through Eurobonds are the inevitable consequences of an underlying and dangerous monetary transfer union implicit in the institutional design of the Euro.

The Governor of the Bank of England has said, "Of all the many ways of organising banking, the worst is the one we have today." He is certainly correct: across the UK and Europe, the system of central banking which enabled our particular social system has now turned on itself. THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE PROFOUND.

Well, here is a dirty little secret. Black women abort their children at 3 times the rate of white women. Over 50% of black pregnancies end in abortion. Thus, according to the numbers, abortion in America is racist. This black genocide is so severe, black babies could be classified as an endangered species due to abortion.

And yet, abortion obsessed liberal democrats are lorded as champions of black America. Meanwhile, Martin Luther King's niece, Dr Alveda King who has committed her life to ending the genocide of black babies is vilified, called a 'traitor to her race" and a "sellout" because she is a black republican.

Case in point. Planned Parenthood was founded by Margaret Sanger, a white hardcore racist who believed black births were destructive to society. Thus, Planned Parenthood Abortion Centers are disproportionately located in black neighborhoods. Referring to blacks, Sanger proclaimed, "There is no doubt that procreation of this group should be stopped." In 1939 Sanger launched the "Negro Project" to kill blacks before they were born.

So while the liberal democrats support an organization whose mission is to kill as many black babies as possible, most black Americans have been duped by the liberal media into believing conservative republicans are their enemies. Taxpayer funded abortion is one of many hidden "far left progressive" agenda items buried in Obama's Health Care law which a federal judge ruled to be Unconstitutional.

Regardless of your political view of abortion, forcing taxpayers who morally oppose abortion to fund them is beyond arrogant, evil and down right tyrannical.

The company's immense holding, an area a third the size of Wales, easily outstrips that of El Tejar, the Argentine conglomerate which is the largest farm in the Western hemisphere, with 1.1 million hectares under cultivation. Analysts estimate that a sale could value the farm at 500 million-1 billion pounds.

Ivolga last year asked a team of investment banks from Europe and Russia to try and find a buyer for a stake in the company, after deciding it needed a strategic partner to fund further development.

Vasily Rozinov, the company's owner, is thought to be keen not to lose ultimate control of the company. Dr Angus Selby, the principal in charge of agricultural investment at Altima Partners, the London-based hedge fund, said: "We considered taking a stake, but our view over all was that the risk of political risk and weather exposure in Kazakhstan was too much."

Ivolga now controls 800,000 hectares of land in Kazakhstan, and 700,000 in Russia, most of it wheat-growing land developed as part of the Soviet Union's 1950s Virgin Lands campaign, when vast areas of previously barren steppe were brought into production. "They are the largest single entity in the world, but they have very low productivity," said Dr Selby. "They got caught by that perfect storm in 2008 and 2009. They bought all their fertilisers at the top of the market and then sold all that crop into a very deflated market and made massive losses."

The Customs and Border Protection Department tried to dampen speculation over his remarks, but doubts remained over whether he had inadvertently revealed a dirty bomb plot to attack the US mainland. Concern over a secret WMD bust came after US cables made public by the Wikileaks whistleblower website revealed terror groups were plotting a 'nuclear 911.'

In the interview screened by San Diego's 10News, Al Hallor, assistant San Diego port director, said 'weapons of mass effect' had been found, although he did not specify exactly where or what they were. Reporter Mitch Blacher asked Mr Hallor: 'Do you ever find things that are dangerous like a chemical agent or a weaponised device?' 'At the airport, seaport, at our port of entry we have not this past fiscal year, but our partner agencies have found those things,' the customs official replied.

'So, specifically, you're looking for the dirty bomb? You're looking for the nuclear device?' asked Mr Blacher.

'Correct. Weapons of mass effect,' said Mr Hallor.

'You ever found one?' asked Mr Blacher.

'Not at this location,' Mr Hallor said.

'But they have found them?' asked Mr Blacher.

'Yes,' said Mr Hallor.

'You never found one in San Diego though?' Mr Blacher asked.

'I would say at the port of San Diego we have not,' Mr Hallor said.

'Have you found one in San Diego?' Mr Blacher asked.

The interview was then interrupted and cut short by a public relations official before Mr Hallor was able to answer the question.

San Diego's Customs and Border Protection agency was unavailable for comment today.

Time and again, the Tory leader has used his promise to strengthen marriage so as to reassure people that he was fully committed to defending this core value of conservatism. Now, however, it is becoming all too plain that he is signing up instead to the wilder extremes of political correctness. Indeed, he is planning to go further than even New Labour dared to tread. Eat your heart out Harriet Harman, patron saint of equality!

For it was revealed yesterday that ministers are planning to change the law to allow homosexual couples to 'marry' in religious ceremonies, including in church. Gay partnership ceremonies in other venues will also be allowed for the first time to contain a religious element, such as hymns or readings from the Bible. These unions will then be called 'marriage'. For sure, this change doesn't force religious institutions to introduce such ceremonies; whether they do so is up to them.

But the Government's position is anything but neutral. For it implicitly endorses the idea that there is nothing wrong with overturning centuries of Biblical understanding of the sacrament of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. As such, the Government will be cutting the ground from under the feet of religious traditionalists.

And what if churches refuse to conduct such a travesty of a marriage ceremony? Presumably, they would then risk being sued for 'discrimination'.

Truly, we are fast reaching the stage where upholding Biblical sexual standards will become the morality that dare not speak its name. Once again, we have to wonder at the way in which a politically motivated faction within a tiny minority of the population - for many gay people do not approve of this ideological gay rights agenda - is now running public policy.

The truth is that marriage is a unique institution because it involves the process by which humanity reproduces itself - which is only through the union of male and female.

In the knowledge his downfall was imminent, Mr Mubarak is understood to have attempted to place his assets out of reach of potential investigators. On Friday night Swiss authorities announced they were freezing any assets Mubarak and his family may hold in the country's banks while pressure was growing for the UK to do the same. Mr Mubarak has strong connections to London and it is thought many millions of pounds are stashed in the UK.

But a senior Western intelligence source claimed that Mubarak had begun moving his fortune in recent weeks. "We're aware of some urgent conversations within the Mubarak family about how to save these assets," said the source, "And we think their financial advisers have moved some of the money around. If he had real money in Zurich, it may be gone by now."

The revelation came as the ruling military council, which took power as Mr Mubarak stepped down on Friday, confirmed its pledge eventually to hand power to an elected civilian government, although it did not set a date. It also reassured allies that Egypt will abide by its peace treaty with Israel, as it outlined the first cautious steps in a promised transition to elections and "to build a democratic free nation".

Economists expect the Office for National Statistics to reveal that inflation rose to 4.2 per cent in January - more than double the Bank's 2 per cent target - due to higher food and petrol prices as well as last month's rise in VAT from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent. It will be Mervyn King's 10th letter since April 2007.

Soaring prices were squeezing households, Mr King recently conceded. Take home pay was expected to end the year worth the same as in 2005, he said last month, the steepest fall in living standards in 80 years. Traders are now warning that inflation is threatening to damage Britain's growth prospects as well.

The price of Government debt has risen in the past six months, which in turn pushes up the cost of credit to households and businesses and lifts the interest bill on the 2.3 trillion pounds of public debt. The Bank is also expected to lower its growth forecasts for this year, from 2.6 to about 2 per cent, when it publishes its quarterly Inflation Report on Wednesday.

For Israel, Mubarak's departure has left behind an all-consuming worry that the influence of Islamic extremists will grow, and the two countries' historic 1979 peace treaty could be in jeopardy. For the Western-backed Palestinian leadership, the fall of Egypt's strongman deprives them of a key mediator with the Israelis and - just as crucially - with their Palestinian rivals in the militant Islamic Hamas movement. Both sides are now waiting to see what kind of Egyptian government emerges in Mubarak's wake. It's one more distraction preventing Israelis and Palestinians from reviving a US-backed peace push that ground to a halt only weeks after it started last year.

The Palestinians were already reeling from last month's leaks to Al-Jazeera TV disclosing that they had offered deep concessions to Israel in past peace talks. The revelations triggered public outrage. Hoping to diffuse the anger on the street, the Palestinians are now focused on moving ahead with long-delayed elections. "When it comes to the Palestinian people, this is a test for the Americans," said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the top Palestinian decision-making body, the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee. "They must understand it's a critical issue."

She said that just as President Barack Obama ultimately sided with the Egyptian protesters who brought down Mubarak, he should change what is viewed by the Palestinians as an unfair pro-Israel bias.

He was giving his first major speech since a popular uprising in neighbouring Egypt forced President Hosni Mubarak to resign, an event which electrified the Arab world and prompted speculation that other Arab governments could also be toppled. "Fleets of boats should take Palestinians... and wait by the Palestinian shores until the problem is resolved," Gaddafi was shown saying on state television. "This is a time of popular revolutions."

"We need to create a problem for the world. This is not a declaration of war. This is a call for peace," he said in a speech given to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohamed, a holy day in the Islamic calendar. He also said: "All Arab states which have relations with Israel are cowardly regimes." Palestinians have long demanded that refugees who fled or were forced to leave in the war of Israel's creation in 1948 should be allowed to return, along with their descendants.

Gaddafi also issued a call to Muslim countries to join forces against Western powers. He said the world was divided into white, denoting the United States, Europe and their allies, and green for the Muslim world. "The white colour has decided to get rid of the green colour," Gaddafi said. "These countries should be united against the white colour because all of these white countries are the enemies of Islam."

At its current rate of growth, analysts see China replacing the US as the world's top economy in about a decade. "It's realistic to say that within 10 years China will be roughly the same size as the US economy," said Tom Miller of GK Dragonomics, a Beijing-based economic consultancy. Japan played down the significance of the shift in the economic league table, and the fact that it has been replaced as the second-largest economy for the first time in more than four decades.

"As an economy, we are not competing for rankings but working to improve citizens' lives," said Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano. The minister added that China's booming economy was welcome news for Japan as a neighbouring country. China is now Japan's main trading partner and is increasingly important to companies such as electronics firm Sony and carmakers like Honda and Toyota. However Mr Yosano said that Japan needed to closely watch "risks from overseas economies and currency moves".

Most economists agree that while China as a whole is growing, and the average person is getting wealthier, comparing only the size of its economy to Japan's does not paint an accurate enough picture. "GDP per head in China is about $4,500, but in Japan it's about $40,000 per head," said Mr Miller of GK Dragonomics. "Most people in China are still poor, more people live in the countryside than in cities. The average Japanese person is much much richer than the average Chinese person."

The move comes after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in popular protests in Egypt, an important neighbour. The cabinet shake-up has long been demanded by Mr Fayyad and others in the Fatah faction, according to Reuters news agency. One political source told Reuters that it would result in a "massive change" in the composition of the government. Mr Fayyad, 58, will be asked to stay on in the post he has occupied since 2007.

An aide to Mr Abbas on Saturday said the PA planned to hold long-overdue elections before September. "The executive committee has decided to start preparations for presidential and parliamentary elections in the coming months... no later than September," the PLO's Yasser Abed Rabbo told journalists. The BBC's West Bank correspondent Jon Donnison says the election pledge seems intended to show that Palestinian leaders are responding to events in Egypt and Tunisia.

However, Hamas, who are in control of the Gaza Strip, immediately rejected the plan, saying Mr Abbas had no legitimacy. "Hamas will not take part in this election. We will not give it legitimacy. And we will not recognise the results," spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said. Hamas says the vote is intended to divert attention from the scandal caused by documents leaked by Al-Jazeera TV, which showed major concessions were offered to Israel during peace talks in 2008.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces can issue new laws during the transition period, according to the statement on state television. The government is now reporting to the military high command in the same way it reported to Mubarak before he stepped down, the prime minister confirmed shortly before the military statement was read.

The restoration of security and normal life is the government's priority, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said, as troops began trying to clear protesters from Tahrir Sqaure, the spiritual heart of the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak after 30 years. That could take time, Shafiq acknowledged in his first comments to the press since Mubarak stepped down.

"The feeling of the lack of security which started when the situation began has to end," he said. "It will end gradually, but not as fast as we want." He also said he was reviewing candidates to fill vacant government ministries, adding that no one who was not acceptable to the public would be appointed. His remarks were carried live on state television.

On Wednesday, the Bank publishes its quarterly inflation report. The document is the Bank's snapshot on the economy, where it is now and - crucially - where it is going. The centrepiece of the report is its inflation forecast, upon which its interest rate decisions are based. If inflation is projected to remain above 2 per cent, rates will have to rise. If it is expected to fall below 2 per cent, rates may fall - or in the new world of hyper-low interest rates, trigger more quantitative easing beyond the existing 200 billion pounds.

For the past three years the Bank has got inflation consistently wrong. Just last year, it predicted the current quarter's inflation figure would be 1 per cent. When the ONS publishes a figure four times that level on Tuesday, it will only aggravate concerns. The Governor and his cohorts have a formula for dealing with overshoots now. The Bank needs to "look through" inflation, King says. Shear off the one-off events, oil price spikes, poor harvests that lead to food price rises, the inflationary effect of the pound's devaluation and the VAT rise. Strip all that out and domestically generated inflation in the past four years has been "close to zero and obviously well below the target", King said in Newcastle last month.

The argument is wearing thin. DeAnne Julius, a former MPC member, said last week that the inflation forecast has become less credible. She even went so far as to state that current members of the MPC have doubts about whether the Bank's forecasting model is the best way of predicting the economy. "I think there is a credibility problem," she said. "We could well see that our high inflation gets embedded into parts of the wage-bargaining system. The difficulty is that wage bargainers and others will look at the actual inflation rate as they're beginning to try to increase wages."

If the market loses faith in the Bank's ability to contain inflation, market rates of interest will start moving independently of the Bank base rate - pushing up the cost of credit to businesses and households. It may already be happening. The Bank's unenviable task in its inflation report on Wednesday is to explain why one course of action is better than the other and, more crucially, convince doubters that the Bank's crystal ball is clearer than theirs.

In a political "win" for Nick Clegg and his party, the Coalition will also say that such ceremonies should for the first time be allowed to have a religious element, such as hymn-singing and readings from the Bible. They could, it is understood, also be carried out in the future out by priests or other religious figures. The landmark move will please equality campaigners but is likely to prompt a fierce backlash from mainstream Christian leaders, as well as some Right-leaning Tories.

The Church of England has already pledged not to allow any of its buildings to be used for civil partnership ceremonies, while last year Pope Benedict said same-sex marriage was among the "most insidious and dangerous challenges that today confront the common good." Some faiths, however - including the Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Jews - support the change in the law and will apply for their buildings to host same-sex "marriage" ceremonies.

Currently civil partnership ceremonies, which were introduced in 2005, have to be entirely secular and cannot contain any religious element, even though civil partners have almost exactly the same legal rights as married spouses.