The activists are angry at government plans to overhaul pensions and raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. France's retirement age is lower than many countries in Europe, but analysts say the issue is polarising politics in the country. Labour Minister Eric Woerth introduced the pensions bill to the National Assembly, warning of dire consequences if it did not pass. "If we don't modify our pension plan, then tomorrow there will be no money left to pay the French pensions," he told parliamentarians.

Under current rules, both men and women in France can retire at 60, providing they have paid social security contributions for 40.5 years - although they are not entitled to a full pension until they are 65. The government says it will save 70 billion euros (58 billion pounds) by raising the retirement age to 62 by 2018, the qualification to 41.5 years, and the pension age to 67. President Nicolas Sarkozy says reforms are needed to cope with an ageing population and the country's budget deficit.

The official census figures released Monday state the number of Israeli Jews at 5,770,900, an increase of nearly 67,000 over the previous year. The remainder of the total population of 7,645,000 includes 1,559,100 Arabs, an increase of 23,000. The Jewish birth rate rose to 2.9 percent from 2.88, while the Muslim birth rate dropped from 3.84 to 3.73, a continuing trend that belies the claim that Jews will be a minority in the future.

The 1.7 percent growth in the Jewish population was mostly internal, as the once-massive number of new immigrants from the former Soviet Union has dwindled over the past several years. Despite this, the number of new immigrants during the past year was 14,572, a 65 percent increase over the previous year. The Muslim population grew by 2.8 percent, while the Christian population increased by only 1 percent.

The State of Israel, now 62 years old, remains a young country, with nearly 28 percent of its residents under the age of 15, providing a base for continued economic growth as opposed to the aging population in other countries such as the United States.

The Exeter University academic also urged manufacturers to cut down on BPA in food packaging and containers. BPA is used to harden plastics and is found in baby bottles, CD cases, plastic knives and forks and the lining of food and drink cans. Because the chemical mimics the female sex hormone oestrogen, many scientists believe it interferes with the way hormones are processed by the body.

Although some animal studies have indicated it is safe, others have linked injections of BPA to breast cancer, liver damage, obesity, diabetes and fertility problems. Experts estimate that BPA is detectable in more than 90 per cent of people. Earlier this year, Denmark banned the chemical in food and drink containers for the under-threes. A study by Professor Melzer, an epidemiologist, found changes in sex hormones associated with exposure to BPA in men.

He told a briefing at the Royal Institution in London: 'Millions of pounds of this compound are being produced every day, but we still don't know how it gets into humans. 'I think small effects for large numbers of people matter and it's reasonable that a tiny proportion of the costs of BPA should be put to human drug trial-type assessments to settle once and for all whether this compound is bio-active in humans.

"This one was really terrifying," said Anissa Siregar, 30, as she and her two sleepy children arrived by truck at an emergency shelter near the base, adding that the whole mountain shook violently for at least three minutes. "It just keeps getting worse."

The volcano in North Sumatra province erupted last week for the first time since 1600, catching many scientists off guard. With more than 129 active volcanoes to watch, local vulcanologists had failed to monitor it for rising magma, slight uplifts in land and other signs of seismic activity. There are fears that current activity could foreshadow a much more destructive explosion in the next few weeks or months, though it is possible, too, that the mountain will go back to sleep after letting off steam.

More than 30,000 people living along the volcano's fertile slopes have been relocated to cramped refugee camps, mosques and churches in nearby villages.

The first batch of 45,000 letters demanding cash to be repaid will start to arrive on Tuesday - with the rest sent out over the next four months. But accountants said recipients should act swiftly to use a little-known loophole which forces HM Revenue and Customs to abandon 'out of the blue' demands and effectively write off the money.

They also insisted many of those affected are entitled to argue that they or their employer have done nothing wrong and should not be penalised for someone else's blunder. The advice has been issued after last week's admission by HMRC - highlighted by the Daily Mail on Saturday - that it has claimed too little, or too much, tax from 5.7 million individuals.

But accountants have revealed that under a technicality, called the 'A19: Extra-Statutory Concession', the law states that HMRC may have to write-off the money. There is no limit to the amount of money which can be written off under this concession. Under the working of the A19 concession, it states HMRC will back down if the victim 'could reasonably have believed that his or her tax affairs were in order'. The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group accused the department of being 'notoriously reticent' about the A19 loophole. Chairman John Andrews said: 'It is important to know that the concession exists.'

A 12-month rule also usually applies, which means the tax can be written off if the victim was told by HMRC more than a year after the end of the tax year that information was provided. Mike Warburton, senior tax partner at accountants Grant Thornton, said: 'Most reasonably intelligent people will assume that the taxman has got its calculations right.'

Mr Lewandowski, the Budget Commissioner, said an ongoing review of the EU's budget would target a number of previously 'taboo' subjects, including Britain's rebate. His comments provoked an angry response in Britain, where critics say that the UK's 8.3 billion pounds a year net contribution to the EU is already far too high.

Tonight Downing Street said David Cameron would defend the British rebate in the forthcoming negotiations on the EU's budget. The annual rebate was worth 5 billion pounds last year, but is forecast to fall to 3.25 billion pounds this year. Mrs Thatcher won it after years of negotiations, which culminated in a threat to withhold payments to Brussels. Other European leaders finally gave way and accepted the then Prime Minister's argument that Britain received far less back in farm payments than countries such as France and Germany.

But the rebate has long been targeted by the Brussels elite. With the European Commission now bidding for a 6 per cent increase in its 107 billion pounds annual budget, the rebate looks likely to be in their sights again. Mr Lewandowski, a 59-year-old Polish economist, said the rebate would be included in the review of the EU budget to be published next month.

The proposal, to be laid out Wednesday in a speech in Cleveland, tops a raft of announcements, from a proposed expansion of the research and experimentation tax credit to $50 billion in additional spending on roads, railways and runways. But unlike those two ideas, both familiar from Obama's 2008 campaign, the investment incentive would embrace a long-held wish by conservative economists that had never won support from either Republican or Democratic administrations.

"Temporary investment incentives like this can have big effects because they really pull investment forward," R Glenn Hubbard, dean of the Columbia University. School of Business and a former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W Bush. "This could have a big stimulative effect."

But the response Monday from business lobbyists hinted at uncertain political prospects for the idea: Many said a higher priority for their members remains extension of the Bush income-tax rates for higher earners that are set to expire at the end of 2010. Obama and many congressional Democrats want to let those breaks expire.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort," General Petraeus said in an interview. "It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."

Hundreds of Afghans attended a demonstration in Kabul on Monday to protest the plans of Florida pastor Terry Jones, who has said he will burn copies of Islam's holy book to mark the September 11 terrorist attacks. Afghan protesters chanted "death to America," and speakers called on the US to withdraw its troops. Some protesters threw rocks at a passing military convoy.

Military officials fear the protests will likely spread to other Afghan cities, especially if the event is broadcast or ends up on Internet video.

Mr Jones, head of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, said in a statement that "We understand the General's concerns. We are sure that his concerns are legitimate." Nonetheless, he added, "We must send a clear message to the radical element of Islam. We will no longer be controlled and dominated by their fears and threats." Mr Jones has been denied a permit for the demonstration, but has said he plans to go forward with the protest.

Military officials also fear that if video of the Quran burning is broadcast in Afghanistan, tensions could rise between NATO forces and the Afghan military and police. Allegations of mishandling the Quran have interrupted Afghan security training at least twice this year, General Caldwell said.

US infrastructure has long been considered underfunded and receives poor grades from government agencies. The move comes amid signs that the US economy is faltering. On Friday, the US Labor Department announced that the US economy had lost a further 54,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate rose to 9.6%, from 9.5% in July.

The infrastructure announcement marks the start of a week in which Mr Obama will focus on the economy, seen as the most important issue for voters in November's congressional elections. The proposals call for investments over six years, but would be backed by an initial $50 billion. The goals of the infrastructure plan include: rebuilding 150,000 miles (241,000km) of roads; building and maintaining 4,000 miles of railways, repairing 150 miles of airport runways, and installing a new air navigation system.

Mr Obama will also call for the creation of a permanent infrastructure bank that would focus on funding national and regional infrastructure projects, the Associated Press reported. In 2009, a report from the country's top civil engineers found that the state of America's infrastructure had not improved in the past four years.

Two years after the last food crisis, when prices surged by nearly 15% in the UK, food inflation is back. Soaring global food prices have prompted City and food industry experts to warn that the cost of the weekly shop is set to rise by up to 10% in the coming months. As in 2008, rocketing prices are the result of rising demand and supply shortages caused by freak weather and poor harvests. Moreover, these conditions are exacerbated by speculation on commodity markets and changing diets in fast-growing Asian countries.

Last week, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) called an emergency meeting for 24 September to discuss the food crisis. In Mozambique, riots broke out following the government's decision to raise bread prices by 30%, leaving seven people dead and hundreds injured. At the same time the Russian government extended its export ban on wheat by another 12 months as it battles drought, shortages and inflation at home, which threatens to push up prices further.

European wheat prices hit more than 231 euros (192 pounds) a tonne last week, just below last month's two-year high of 236 euros but still 60% higher than a year ago in sterling terms. Corn prices are at their highest level since June 2009 while sugar has been on a rollercoaster ride after hitting a 29-year peak in February. The Grocer's food and drink editor Alex Beckett reckons that if prices for commodities such as wheat, sugar, cocoa and palm oil remain at current levels, by January the weekly shop could cost 10% more than 12 months previously.

The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh said the corporation's intolerance of religion is equivalent to its "massive" political bias against the Conservatives in the 1980s. He also accused the corporation of plotting a "hatchet job" on the Vatican in a documentary about clerical sex abuse on the eve of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Britain.

Cardinal O'Brien believes that atheists like Professor Richard Dawkins are given a disproportionate amount of airtime while mainstream Christian views are marginalised. He is also angered by a 15 per cent slump in religious programming over the past 20 years and believes the broadcaster should appoint a religion editor to address the decline.

He said: "This week the BBC's director general [Mark Thompson] admitted that the corporation had displayed 'massive bias' in its political coverage throughout the 1980s, acknowledging the existence of an institutional political bias. Our detailed research into BBC news coverage of Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular, together with a systematic analysis of output by the Catholic church, has revealed a consistent anti-Christian institutional bias." He added that insiders at the BBC had privately admitted that there is a cultural intolerance of Christianity at the corporation. "Senior news managers have admitted to the Catholic church that a radically secular and socially liberal mindset pervades their newsrooms".

The BBC dismissed Cardinal O'Brien's criticism of its religious coverage and denied that it had marginalised mainstream religious issues, which it said were placed "at the heart" of its schedule. A spokeswoman said: "The BBC's commitment to religious broadcasting is unequivocal. BBC news and current affairs has a dedicated religion correspondent, and works closely with BBC Religion, ensuring topical religious and ethical affairs stories are featured across all BBC networks."

Minutes of the central bank's August 10 policy meeting said several officials felt the outlook would have to deteriorate "appreciably" to trigger more action, which might include additional purchases of government debt or a promise to keep interest rates near zero for an even longer stretch.

The latest batch of data - particularly the employment report on Friday that showed stronger-than-expected private hiring in August - doesn't seem to fit that description. "Is there enough here to prompt the Fed to pull the trigger as early as at the September 21 meeting? Probably not," said Lena Komileva, an economist with Tullett Prebon in London.

So what might make the Fed flinch? Neil Dutta, an economist with Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in New York, thinks the slow-but-steady economic slog will eventually prod the Fed into action, perhaps early next year. His firm predicts a "growth recession," which may sound like an oxymoron but essentially sums up what is happening now. The economy keeps growing, yet unemployment rises. Dutta said if monthly employment figures continue to show only modest hiring and rising unemployment, "the Fed is not going to sit idle."

Eurozone governments will try to raise 80 billion euros ($103 billion) in September compared with new bond issuance of 43 billon euros in August. Spain is expected to attempt to borrow 7 billion euros in September compared with 3.5 billion euros in August, according to ING Financial Markets.

Spain, Portugal and Ireland, so-called peripheral eurozone economies, are considered most in danger of being shunned by investors as worries persist over the health of their banks and economies. Greece is no longer a concern because it has emergency loans to cover its funding for the next two years.

Padhraic Garvey, head of rates strategy for developed markets at ING Financial Markets, said: "We are heading into a critical period as the chances rise that a government may fail to raise the money it needs. Some strategists say the return of most investors from holidays this week could increase volatility in these markets because many have put decisions on their portfolios on hold during the summer.

With most investors back at their desks, some could start selling peripheral debt in the coming weeks, particularly as the outlook for the global economy has deteriorated. In spite of some better than expected data out of the US last week, worries about a double-dip recession have increased

But hundreds of lives were saved by tough building rules, it was claimed. Only two injuries were reported. The quake was caused by the continuing collision between the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates, said Professor Mark Quigley, of Canterbury University. 'One side of the Earth has lurched to the right... up to 11ft and in some places been thrust up,' he said. 'We went and saw two houses that were completely snapped in half by the earthquake.'

The quake cut power across the region, roads were blocked by debris and gas and water supplies were disrupted. Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said power was back to 90 per cent of the city and water supply had resumed for all but 15 to 20 per cent of residents. Roger Bates, whose dairy farm at Darfield was close to the quake's epicentre 19 miles west of Christchurch, said the new faultline had ripped up the surface across his land. 'The whole dairy farm is like the sea now, with real soil waves right across the dairy farm. We don't have physical holes (but) where the fault goes through it's been raised a metre or metre and a half.'

New Zealand records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, but only about 150 are felt by residents. Fewer than ten a year do any damage.

After an international outcry, Iranian officials temporarily halted Ms Ashtiani's stoning sentence in July. However, campaigners fear Ms Ashtiani could still be hanged. The Vatican said it was "following this affair with attention and commitment," spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a statement.

"The Church's position against the death penalty is well known and stoning is a particularly brutal form of it," he said. Father Lombardi said the Vatican could use diplomatic channels to try to save Ms Ashtiani, but he told Associated Press news agency that no formal request to intervene had been made.

On Saturday, Mr Ghaderzadeh said an Iranian judge had sentenced his mother to 99 lashes for "spreading corruption and indecency" over a photograph published in a British newspaper purportedly showing her without a head covering. The photograph was published on 28 August but several days later the Times newspaper published an apology, saying the photograph was not of Ms Ashtiani, but of another Iranian woman.