Democrat Martha Coakley conceded she had lost the race after early results gave Mr Brown a healthy lead. The Republican win has robbed the Democrats of their filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate. This will make it much harder for Mr Obama to pass a healthcare reform bill - the most important domestic policy objective of his first year as president.

The BBC's Paul Adams, in Boston, says Ms Coakley's defeat is a humiliating blow for the Democrats and their agenda, and a deeply unwelcome anniversary present for President Obama a year after his inauguration. He adds that it is one of the biggest political upsets in years, and a devastating blow for the Democrats in a seat held for almost half a century by Edward Kennedy, a colossus of the party.

In a celebratory speech, Mr Brown said that the voters of Massachusetts had "delivered a great victory". He said: "Tonight, the independent voice of Massachusetts has spoken. The voters of this commonwealth defied the odds and the experts." Analysts say the race should have been an easy win for Ms Coakley in a state which traditionally has voted for Democratic candidates for the US Senate.

The Pope promoted the week, which runs from January 18-25, saying that it annually renews the opportunity for us "to revive the ecumenical spirit, to come together, to get to know each other, pray and reflect together."

The Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches jointly prepared and published a brochure outlining that the 2010 theme of the prayer for unity would be "kergyma,"or "preaching" in Greek, and that Chapter 24 of the Gospel of St Luke is the biblical text for meditation.

In closing his appeal for the week of prayer, the Pope said, "Our announcement of the Gospel of Christ will be so much more credible and effective when we are united in his love, as true brothers. I invite, therefore, the parishes, religious communities, associations and ecclesial movements to pray incessantly, in particular during the eucharistic celebrations, for the full unity of Christians."

Women are encouraged to have regular mammograms in middle age on the basis that the checks save 1,400 lives every year. But researchers now believe there is 'no convincing evidence' it has saved so many lives. According to the team from the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen, as many as 7,000 women are put through treatment they do not need every year such as surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

The independent scientific review of the NHS breast screening programme has accused the Government of providing misleading propaganda to persuade women of the benefits of screening, without mentioning the drawbacks. More than 21,000 women aged 50 to 69 were diagnosed with breast cancer in Britain in 2007. All women aged 50 to 70 are offered breast cancer screening with more than 1.7million taking up the offer each year.

The Cochrane Centre scientists claim improvements in breast cancer survival are more to do with better treatment, rather than detection through screening.

There were no immediate reports of injuries in the three-island chain in the Caribbean. The British territory of the Cayman Islands is about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which was devastated last week by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. Tuesday's quake struck about 32 miles (52 kilometers) east-southeast of Bodden Town in the center of the southern coast of Grand Cayman Island.

The Caymans are about 167 (268 kilometers) miles northwest of Jamaica and about 140 miles (240 kilometers) south of Cuba, according to the CIA World Fact Book.

The death toll has not been verified independently and it is not known how many Christians have died. The clashes broke out on Sunday and have continued since, with reports of gunfire and burning buildings. A 24-hour curfew has been enforced in the area, which has seen several bouts of deadly violence in recent years. At least 200 people were killed in an outbreak of fighting between Muslims and Christians in 2008, while some 1,000 died in a riot in 2001.

The current violence has forced at least 3,000 people from their homes. Balarabe Dawud, head of the Central Mosque in Jos, told AFP news agency he had counted 192 bodies since Sunday. Muhammad Tanko Shittu, a mosque worker who was helping to prepare mass burials, told Reuters he had counted 149 bodies. "On Sunday evening we buried 19 corpses, and 52 yesterday. As of right now, there are 78 at the mosque yet to be buried," he said.

Alain Joyandet admitted he had been involved in a scuffle with a US commander in the airport's control tower over the flight plan for a French evacuation flight. "This is about helping Haiti, not about occupying Haiti," Mr Joyandet said. Geneva-based charity Medecins Sans Frontieres backed his calls saying hundreds of lives were being put at risk as planes carrying vital medical supplies were being turned away by American air traffic controllers.

But US commanders insisted their forces' focus was on humanitarian work and last night agreed to prioritise aid arrivals to the airport over military flights, after the intervention of the UN. The diplomatic row came amid heightened frustrations that hundreds of tons of aid was still not getting through. Charities reported violence was also worsening as desperate Haitians took matters into their own hands. The death toll is now estimated at up to 200,000 lives. Around three million Haitians - a third of the country's population - have been affected by Tuesday's earthquake and two million require food assistance.

Haiti was occupied by the US between 1915 and 1935, and historical sensitivities together with friction with other countries over the relief effort has made the Americans cautious about their role in the operation. American military commanders have repeatedly stressed that they are not entering the country as an occupying force. A paratrooper sergeant said they were authorised to use "deadly force" if they see anyone's life in danger but only as a "last resort".

Skies were expected to clear Tuesday, giving Californians a brief respite before the next of three back-to-back storms was expected to sweep into the region later in the day. Rainfall totals ranged from 1 to 3 inches along the coast and in the valleys, and from 3 to 6 inches in the mountain areas, said Bill Hoffer, spokesman for the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Forecasters said storms lasting through Friday could drop a total of 20 inches of rain on Southern California.

Rainfall rates hit nearly an inch per hour in portions of the recent burn areas in Los Angeles County and 1.2 inches per hour in part of the burn areas in Santa Barbara County, said Dave Gomberg, a weather service meteorologist. The storm also broke a 1993 rainfall record at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, where 1.55 inches of rain were recorded.

Authorities ordered nearly 200 homes evacuated or put on alert in foothill communities just below areas devastated by the massive Station wildfire, which charred more than 250 square miles of the Angeles National Forest in August. More than 20,000 customers in Southern California were without power for part of the day as flooding and high winds toppled power lines or sent drivers careening into electric poles. In Orange County, the downpour forced Disneyland to close its gates three hours early and caused a roof to collapse on employees at a medical lab in Santa Ana. No one was injured.

He notes that the overarching impression is that Brussels "decrees over people's heads, over traditions and cultures, and regulates things that could be regulated far more effectively on a national level".

He criticises EU over-regulation and calls for the 27 member states to emphatically reject Brussels' interference in national jurisdiction. Amongst his examples of "grotesque" EU over-regulation, he cites the Commission's decision to make benefits available to single women in Germany, a regulation that was heavily contested by the German government but ultimately overruled. Herzog suggests that this flouts the subsidiarity principle, which states that the EU can only interfere in national jurisdiction during an irresolvable cross border issue. Herzog argues, "National governments must establish a culture of categorically saying 'no' to EU legislation which jars with the subsidiarity principle."

Meanwhile, the Economist's Charlemagne blog argues: "I think much closer [EU] integration will not work, and after five years in Brussels, talking endlessly to politicians, officials, diplomats, think-tankers and the like, I am convinced I sense no mood out there for much deeper integration. And when I say the current system is not working well, it is not Brussels-bashing for the sake of it. I am a European, it pains me to see my continent falling behind. But there it is. I cannot pretend the emperor is wearing lovely robes. I cannot say I think the European Parliament can be fixed with lots of new powers, because I go there, and see a place that has gained huge amounts of new power in recent years, but remains dominated by mediocrities, and just as obsessed with gaining new powers as ever."

The French centre-right nominee for the internal market post, and currently a European deputy himself, appeared to have judged the mood of his interviewers well, with repeated references to a 'social agenda' to protect citizens drawing solid applause. On financial services he quoted the classical liberal economist Adam Smith, noting that even he had said: "The markets cannot work without rules, and they cannot work without ethics."

At the same time, Mr Barnier was quick to emphasise his intention to drive ahead with the completion of Europe's currently fragmented internal market. "To me it all goes together, development of the internal market and social progress," he insisted. Mr Barnier's nomination in November was followed by a media storm that saw some UK voices express concern that the Frenchman would usher in a new era of excessive financial regulation that could strangle the City of London.

"Let's not pretend we are not going to reform. We are going to reform," he told MEPs, adding that he aimed to put "transparency, responsibility and ethics at the heart of the financial system" and would not shy away from the difficult questions posed by derivatives and short-selling. The experienced politician also sought to allay fears over his independence following controversial remarks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that the UK would be the "big loser" following his appointment.

"I won't take orders from Paris, London or anywhere else," he said, denying that he had been forced to take on a British director-general to ease UK concerns.

Medical teams pouring in to set up mobile hospitals say they are already overwhelmed by the casualties and fear the worst is yet to come as infection and disease take hold. "The number one risk is always bacterial infections where they have open wounds," said Josh Ruxin, a Columbia University public health expert living and working in Rwanda.

Haitian government officials said the death toll from Tuesday's magnitude 7 quake was likely to be between 100,000 and 200,000, and no one has even begun to get a count of injuries, which include crushed or amputated limbs, compound fractures and lacerations. Without quick treatment, these wounds will become infected. "Things are going to get much much worse before they are going to get better," Ruxin said.

Water is at a premium and diarrhea is likely. Children, the weak and elderly will die unnecessarily from diarrheal disease that would be easily treated with water and rehydration salts under more normal conditions, doctors said. "This could turn into a children's disaster of unprecedented proportions," said Dr Irwin Redlener of Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness. He said 40 percent of Haiti's population is made up of children under the age of 14, far more than in most countries.

Mehmet Ali Agca, 52, waved to journalists as he left the prison in a convoy of several vehicles. Turkish authorities plan to monitor him closely because of long-standing questions about his mental health. Agca shot John Paul on May 13, 1981, as the pope rode in an open car in St Peter's Square. The pontiff was hit in the abdomen, left hand and right arm, but the bullets missed vital organs. John Paul met with Agca in Italy's Rebibbia prison in 1983 and forgave him for the shooting.

Following his release, he sat calmly between two plainclothes policemen in the backseat of a sedan that took him to a military hospital. There, doctors concluded that he was unfit for compulsory military service because of "severe anti-social personality disorder," said his lawyer, Yilmaz Abosoglu.

In the statement distributed by Abosoglu outside the prison in Sincan on the outskirts of Ankara, the Turkish capital, Agca declared: "I proclaim the end of the world. All the world will be destroyed in this century. Every human being will die in this century. I am not God, I am not son of God, I am Christ eternal."

It said the quake, 64.2 miles (103.3 km) deep, was centered 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Guatemala City.

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the southern coast of Argentina on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said. The quake was centered about 220 miles (355 km) southeast of Ushuaia, Argentina, at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 km), USGS said. It struck at 8am local time (1200 GMT). No tsunami warnings were issued by the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center or the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Fighting erupted near the Serena Hotel and the presidential palace, although Afghan President Hamid Karzai says security has now been restored. The Taliban said 20 of its fighters had taken part in the attack on Kabul. Two civilians and three security personnel have been killed plus 71 others wounded, officials say.

The attacks began at about 0950 (0520 GMT) when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in front of the Central Bank, next to the presidential palace, Afghan security officials said. Minutes later, two or three suicide bombers plus armed militants took over a multi-storey shopping centre overlooking the presidential palace, and attacked other government buildings and the five-star Serena Hotel.

While security forces lay siege to the shopping centre, a suicide bomber driving a van painted as an ambulance stopped outside another shopping centre nearby and detonated his explosives, officials said. Taliban militants have launched a number of recent attacks on Kabul. In October, five UN staff were killed in a raid on a UN guesthouse. The Serena Hotel was also targeted in the attack.

Wall Street's big payouts come as the remuneration committee at Royal Bank of Scotland prepares to meet this week to determine the size of its bonus pot. RBS - 84%-owned by British taxpayers - has indicated it wants to pay its investment bankers about 1.5 billion pounds in bonuses, even though it will make a loss this year at group level. The figure could creep higher if it attempts to shelter its bankers from the impact of Alistair Darling's 50% tax on bonuses.

America's bonus payouts come days after President Barack Obama revealed plans for a windfall tax on banks in an effort to curb the "obscene" bonus culture. Anger over the huge payments will be heightened by the fact that many of the banks are not profitable. Of the four due to report figures this week only Goldman is expected to post a profit at the net income level, according to a consensus of analyst forecasts. The losses blow a hole in the argument that the bonuses represent pay for performance.

Minhaj-ul-Quran, a Sufi organisation based in East London which advises the Government on how to combat radicalisation of Muslim youth, will launch the 600-page religious verdict tomorrow. It condemns the perpetrators of terrorist explosions and suicide bombings.

The document, written by Dr Muhammed Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former minister of Pakistan and friend of Benazir Bhutto, declares suicide bombings and terrorism as "totally un-Islamic". It is one of the most detailed and comprehensive documents of its kind to be published in Britain. The fatwa, which was released in Pakistan last month, uses texts from the Koran and other Islamic writings to argue that attacks against innocent citizens are "absolutely against the teachings of Islam and that Islam does not permit such acts on any excuse, reason or pretext".

Inayat Bunglawala, former spokesman of the Muslim Council of Britain and founder of the new group Muslims4UK, set up to counter the radical message of the newly banned Islam4UK and other extremist groups, welcomed the fatwa. "This adds to the view of many Islamic scholars internationally that terrorism and suicide bombings are unacceptable in Islam," he said. "It is a positive initiative. Anything that helps move young people away from violence and from those who promote violence must be welcomed."