BP's forecast shows that over the next 20 years OPEC will become as powerful as it was in 1970s - the decade when the cartel presided over a series of oil shocks and shortages. The OPEC nations' share of global production is likely to rise from 40 per cent to 46 per cent over the period covered. In fact, 75 per cent of all growth in oil reserves over the next two decades is expected to come from OPEC nations, which include Kuwait, Iran, Angola, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Nigeria.

On Wednesday, Bob Dudley, BP's chief executive, was upfront about the fact that oil majors from BP and Royal Dutch Shell to Chevron and ExxonMobil will have to change their model. He advocates striking new deals with state-backed oil companies as the best way of taking advantage of the shifting balance of power.

"We welcome China's rise," Mr Obama said at a press conference at the White House with Chinese President Hu Jintao. "I absolutely believe that China's peaceful rise is good for the world, and it's good for America." He added, "We just want to make sure that that rise occurs in a way that reinforces international norms and international rules, and enhances security and peace, as opposed to it being a source of conflict either in the region or around the world."

The president also pointed out that China's rise gives the US an opportunity to boost exports. "We want to sell you all kinds of stuff," Mr Obama said to laughter. "We want to sell you planes, we want to sell you cars, we want to sell you software. And as President Hu and his government refocuses the economy on expanding domestic demand, that offers opportunities for US businesses, which ultimately translates into US jobs."

Mr Obama noted that the United States economy is still three times larger than China's, despite the US having one-quarter of China's population. While China has a long way to go to catch up the US, he said, its growth means increased trading opportunities between the two nations.

"How does it feel to lead a country away from democracy and toward a dictatorship?" asked Austrian Socialist Joerg Leichtfried, making the kind of remark Orban called "a slap in the face of the Hungarian people." It was a raucous and rather unpromising start to the eastern European nation's six-month EU presidency. Coming in for particular criticism were Hungary's new media law, which was criticized as stifling free expression, and Orban himself, who was accused of trying to undermine democratic ideals in a European Union nation.

"This debate in the plenary was almost like holding it on Mars," Orban said after a caustic confrontation in parliament centering on the media law. At the start of Orban's speech to kick off the six-month presidency, some EU legislators covered their mouths with duct tape and held banners reading "Censored." In a debate marked by raised voices and finger-pointing, Socialist lawmakers demanded that Orban immediately withdraw the media law, while the Greens questioned his democratic credentials.

The leaders of Iceland, Norway, Latvia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Lithuania and Estonia are at the London summit. Mr Cameron said it would boost trade with the countries, currently worth almost 54 billion pounds a year. The government denied the summit is a gathering of EU-wary nations looking for alternative paths as some critics have suggested.

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins said Mr Cameron's mantra last week had been "Look East", when Chinese vice-premier Li Keqiang was visiting the UK, but now it was "Look North". "David Cameron says the summit is about opening up the flow of ideas, of trade and investment, particularly in green technology, as well as social policy," our correspondent says.

"But there's a hard political edge as well. Only two of today's participants use the euro: two others aren't even members of the European Union: some see this as the 'Cold Europe' Club of sceptical nations."

Last time the big players fled the mortgage market and everything that depended on it, as well as the US Dollar; today they are fleeing all financial stocks, Treasury bonds and other public debts. Therefore, we have to wait for a time between Spring and Autumn 2011 for the explosion of the quadruple bubble of Treasury bonds, public debt, bank balance sheets and real estate (American, Chinese, British, Spanish) and commercial, all taking place against a backdrop of a heightened currency war.

The inflation induced by US, British and Japanese Quantitative Easing and similar stimulus measures of the Europeans and Chinese will be one of the destabilizing factors in 2011... What is now clear with respect to what is happening in Tunisia, is that this global context, especially the rise in food and energy prices, now leads on to radical social and political shocks. The other reality that the Tunisian case reveals is the impotence of the French, Italian or American "godfathers" to prevent the collapse of a "friendly regime".

History is usually a "good girl". She often gives a warning shot before sweeping away the past. This time, it gave the warning shot in 2008. We estimate that in 2011, it will do the sweeping. Only players who have undertaken, even painstakingly, even partially, to adapt to the new conditions generated by the crisis will be able to hang on; for the others, chaos is at the end of the road.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has categorically stated that Germany will not abandon the euro and reintroduce the deutsche mark. Her comments are intended to quell speculation that Germany's love of the common currency is flagging in the wake of expensive bailouts of troubled euro-zone members Greece and Ireland.

In an interview to be published in Germany's weekly Stern magazine on Thursday, Merkel also rejected the idea of splitting the euro zone into north and south zones, reaffirming Germany's commitment to an economically united Europe. "There can be no return to the deutsche mark," she said, adding that Germany would "continue to do everything necessary to guarantee a stable euro." She told the magazine that, while she took citizens' concerns very seriously, she was convinced that "we in Germany can handle everything."

She expressed strong support for the common European currency and dismissed talk of splitting the euro zone into economically stronger northern countries and weaker southern countries. "Not on my watch. On behalf of Germany I say a clear 'no'." She explained her adamant opposition to a north-south division, saying that the situation within Europe "is not so black-and-white anyway."

"These economies are clearly overheating and governments are putting measures in place to slow them down to fight inflationary pressure. More than anything else, food inflation is a problem," Gijsels told CNBC.com. "In countries where 70 percent to 80 percent and sometimes more of a family's budget goes to food, explosive price rises risk to destabilize these societies. Remember the old saying: 'hunger starves civilizations,'" he added.

"We believe that some of these governments will be quite aggressive in their inflation fight. And we do not even want to think about the consequences if this year were to have a disappointing monsoon," Gijsels said.

But researchers warned that leaders must be wary of new credit "hotspots", where too much lending takes place, as the world emerges from a financial catastrophe blamed in large part "to the failure of the financial system to detect and constrain" these areas of unsustainable debt.

"Pockets of credit grew rapidly to excess - and brought the entire financial system to the brink of collapse," said the report, written in conjunction with consulting firm McKinsey. "Yet, credit is the lifeblood of the economy, and much more of it will be needed to sustain the recovery and enable the developing world to achieve its growth potential." The global credit stock has already doubled in recent years, from $57 trillion to $109 trillion between 2000 and 2009, according to the report.

The WEF said the continued demand for credit could be met "responsibly, sustainably - and with fewer crises". However, it cautioned that to achieve this goal, financial institutions, regulators, and policy makers need more robust indicators of unsustainable lending, risk, and credit shortages.

The Palestinians made the symbolic gesture as they continue a push for international recognition that is complicating the Obama administration's efforts to restart stalled Mideast peace talks. "Raising this flag in DC is part of the Palestinian leadership's scheme to manipulate international acceptance and diplomatic recognition of a yet-to-be-created Palestinian state while refusing to directly negotiate with Israel or accept the existence of Israel as a democratic, Jewish state," said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican for Florida.

"I remain deeply disappointed that the Palestinian leadership continues to reject the opportunity to negotiate directly and in good faith with the Israeli government to resolve all outstanding issues and achieve security and peace," she said in a statement. "Instead, Palestinian leaders reject negotiations, they make excuses and they seek shortcuts to statehood."

At a brief ceremony, the Palestinian's chief envoy to the United States, Maen Areikat, hoisted the red, green, white and black banner outside the PLO General Delegation office. He expressed hope it would help in the Palestinian quest to win support for independence with or without a peace deal with Israel.

The six additional states, all with Republican attorneys general, joined Florida and 19 others in the legal action, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said. "It sends a strong message that more than half of the states consider the health care law unconstitutional and are willing to fight it in court," she said in a statement. The states claim the health care law is unconstitutional and violates people's rights by forcing them to buy health insurance by 2014 or face penalties.

In the Florida case, the states also argue the federal government is violating the Constitution by forcing a mandate on the states without providing money to pay for it. They say the new law gives the state's the impossible choice of accepting the new costs or forfeiting federal Medicaid funding.

Joining the coalition in the Florida case were: Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Ohio, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The other states that are suing are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington.

Mr Schauble appeared to put the brakes on plans to increase the size and scope of the 440 billion euros ($588 billion) European financial stability facility, at the end of ministerial meetings in Brussels.

Ralf Preusser, head of European Rates Research at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research, said: "Every time policymakers see an improvement in market sentiment, even if in anticipation of policy action, they feel they are justified in stepping back from support. The market had traded positively because of hopes that we would get meaningful changes to the size and scope of the EFSF. This has now not materialised."

Mr Schauble's comments also hit other peripheral bond markets, with yields rising sharply in Greece and Ireland and a bond auction in Belgium. Belgium, which is also under market scrutiny because of high debt levels and political uncertainty, raised only 3 billion euros in 10-year bonds compared with 4 or 5 billion euros in the past.

Sales of short-term debt by Spain and Greece had been successful earlier in the day amid rising hopes that Europe was ready to take action. It was also announced that the EFSF would launch its first bond on January 25. EU policymakers hope this will reassure markets.

Abercrombie told the Honolulu Star Advertiser he was searching within the Hawaii Department of Health to find definitive vital records that would prove Obama was born in Hawaii, because the continuing eligibility controversy could hurt the president's chances of re-election in 2012. Donalyn Dela Cruz, Abercrombie's spokeswoman in Honolulu, ignored again yesterday another in a series of repeated requests made by WND for an interview with the governor.

Toward the end of the interview, the newspaper asked Abercrombie: "You stirred up quite a controversy with your comments regarding birthers and your plan to release more information regarding President Barack Obama's birth certificate. How is that coming?" In his response, Abercrombie acknowledged the birth certificate issue will have "political implications" for the next presidential election "that we simply cannot have."

They pulled out of direct talks with Israel over the issue in October. Nearly half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are held to be illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

The US traditionally protects Israel against criticism at the UN and does not want to be forced to veto a resolution based on what was its own policy, she adds. Attempts to bring it on side will continue before any vote. Diplomats say options include modifying the language of the resolution, or perhaps convincing the Palestinians to abandon the effort in exchange for American proposals more acceptable to them.

Our correspondents say that aside from the US, there is considerable support at the UN for the move. Three of the resolution's co-sponsors are members of the Security Council. The Palestinians say they are trying to galvanise international pressure on Israel to stop settlement construction so that talks can resume. The Israelis accuse them of using the issue to avoid negotiations.

The 7.6-magnitude Kashmir earthquake of October 2005 killed 73,000 people. In its initial reports the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake happened at a depth of just 10km (6.2 miles). Earthquakes at such a shallow depth have the potential to cause major destruction and loss of life. However, a later bulletin from the USGS revised the depth of the quake to 84km, potentially limiting the effects. Reports said the quake was felt across Pakistan and as far away as Delhi, India, and the Gulf emirates of Dubai and Qatar.

The area hit by the recent earthquake is sparsely populated and is located in a seismically active zone. The nearest town, Dalbandin, 55km east of the epicentre, is thought to have a population of about 15,000 people. Much of the area is so remote that the Chagai hills area of Balochistan was used as a site for the country's nuclear test in 1998.

Supporters say the baptism service should be 'expressed in culturally appropriate and accessible language' that is readily understood by 'non-theologically versed Britons'. The new service would be used at 150,000 christenings each year. If the plan is accepted, it will be the third full re-write of the baptism ceremony in around 30 years - the version in the Church's Book of Common Prayer went virtually unaltered for more than 400 years until 1980.

The Reverend Dr Tim Stratford, from Liverpool said that among clergy from poor and inner city parishes 'there was a strong plea for a shorter prayer in direct but poetic language that allows the Gospel to resonate better with people's experience of life'. He added: 'This was not a plea for a prayer in Scouse, but for a prayer that the majority of non-theologically versed Britons would understand.' A third part of the service was condemned as too long and not 'direct'. Stephen Parkinson, of the Anglo-Catholic Forward in Faith organisation, said there were problems with the 1997 service, but added: 'Simply dumbing it down is not the answer.'