The hearing is to last two days, an exceptionally long time, seen as an indication of how seriously the court is taking the challenge. The judges will look at whether the Lisbon Treaty - designed to improve decision-making in the EU - is not democratic, and therefore anti-constitutional, BECAUSE IT TAKES AWAY POWER FROM GERMANY'S PARLIAMENT. The case was brought by conservative MP Peter Gauweiler as well as left-wing deputies from Die Linke political party.

If Mr Gauweiler's case is upheld by the court, it would be a big blow to both the chancellor and the treaty's ratification process. So far, the treaty has been through most of the process - it has been approved by both houses of parliament and signed by Germany's president. But the final step of ratification, handing the papers over in Rome, has been postponed pending the court decision.

"I won," read the front-page headline of Israel's biggest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, next to photos of Livni and Netanyahu. Nearly final results gave Livni's Kadima party 28 seats to 27 for Netanyahu's right-wing Likud in the 120-member parliament. She said she would become prime minister and invited him to join a "unity government".

Netanyahu, pointing to what he called a large "nationalist camp" in parliament, said he would head a coalition government, comprised of rightist parties. "With God's help I will lead the next government," Mr Netanyahu, 59, told Likud supporters after exit polls on Tuesday gave Kadima a slim lead and right-wing parties 64 seats, enough for a parliamentary majority.

Addressing cheering Kadima activists, Ms Livni, 50, said: "The Israeli public can smile again when we form the government." She would become Israel's first woman prime minister since Golda Meir governed in the 1970s. It will be up to President Shimon Peres to decide, after hearing recommendations from political parties, whether to ask Livni, a relative newcomer to politics, or Netanyahu, a former prime minister, to try to put together an administration.

The overall rightward shift in the Knesset will, in any case, dent hopes in US President Barack Obama's administration for an Israeli coalition that can move towards peace with the Palestinians and other Arab neighbours after last month's war in the Gaza Strip. "Tzipi Livni has only the slightest chance, or none at all, of forming a government under her leadership," Abraham Diskin, a political scientist at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, told Israel Radio.

In the cabinet of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, there was talk of a "Black Thursday," and from Sarkozy's perspective, that was exactly what January 29, 2009 turned out to be. Schools were closed, and so were railroads, banks and stock markets. Theaters, radio stations and even ski lifts were shut down temporarily. Trash receptacles were set on fire in Paris once again, and a crowd gathered on the city's famed Place de l'Opéra to sing the "Internationale," the anthem of revolution.

The global financial crisis has already reached France, bringing business failures, mass layoffs for some workers and reduced working hours for others. On that infamous Thursday, it drove up to 2.5 million people into the streets, in cities from Marseilles to Brest and Bordeaux. The situation was not like in May 1968, when France was in a state of emergency. Nevertheless, the country's unions called the demonstrations "historic," characterizing them as the most important protest movement to date against the current French president.

Paris is not the only place plagued by unrest. Across the English Channel in Britain, workers protested at a refinery near Immingham in Lincolnshire, triggering solidarity strikes in 19 other locations in the United Kingdom. The demonstrations became a symbol for the fears of the British lower classes, because the country - according to the International Monetary Fund - faces the worst downturn among all highly developed economies. Prime Minister Gordon Brown's approval rating is following the decline of the British pound.

Former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin told MPs on the Treasury Committee he "could not be more sorry" for what had happened. The former bank chiefs also said the bonus culture had contributed to the crisis and needed to be reviewed. But Sir Fred said if bankers felt they were not paid enough, they would leave. Sir Tom McKillop, former RBS chairman, also admitted that his bank's much-criticised purchase of Dutch rival ABN Amro had been a "big mistake".

The former bosses, along with other bankers, have been criticised for taking huge bonuses from banks that later had to rely on taxpayer money to survive. The MPs began by asking the former bosses about the bonuses they received in 2008. Sir Fred Goodwin said he had taken no bonus that year, but that he had taken home a salary of £1.46m. Sir Fred Goodwin added he had lost around £5m on the value of his shares in 2007, although he stressed that he was not complaining.

Mr Hornby conceded that the culture, where bankers can receive many times their salary in cash bonuses, did need to be looked at. Sir Tom McKillop agreed that a fundamental review of remuneration was needed. But when asked whether the bonus culture encouraged excessive risk taking and had exacerbated the banking crisis, Sir Fred Goodwin argued that traders had been trading within set limits, and had simply been doing "what they were authorised to do".

Like the Latin Mass and meatless Fridays, the indulgence was one of the traditions decoupled from mainstream Catholic practice in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council, the gathering of bishops that set a new tone of simplicity and informality for the church. Its revival has been viewed as part of a conservative resurgence that has brought some quiet changes and some highly controversial ones, like Pope Benedict XVI's recent decision to lift the excommunications of four schismatic bishops who reject the council's reforms.

The indulgence is among the less noticed and less disputed traditions to be restored. But with a thousand-year history and volumes of church law devoted to its intricacies, it is one of the most complicated to explain. According to church teaching, even after sinners are absolved in the confessional and say their Our Fathers or Hail Marys as penance, they still face punishment after death, in Purgatory, before they can enter heaven. In exchange for certain prayers, devotions or pilgrimages in special years, a Catholic can receive an indulgence, which reduces or erases that punishment instantly, with no formal ceremony or sacrament.

There are partial indulgences, which reduce purgatorial time by a certain number of days or years, and plenary indulgences, which eliminate all of it, until another sin is committed. You can get one for yourself, or for someone who is dead. You cannot buy one — the church outlawed the sale of indulgences in 1567 — but charitable contributions, combined with other acts, can help you earn one. There is a limit of one plenary indulgence per sinner per day.

Under the proposals all animals facing slaughter would have to be electrically stunned beforehand. The move could threaten production of both halal and kosher meat, rules for which often forbid pre-stunning. The EU plans contain an opt-out for countries wanting to continue to allow so-called religious slaughter, but ­animal welfare groups are pressing the Government not to adopt it. Any move to change the exemption for religious slaughter would prompt an outcry from both the Muslim and Jewish communities.

The RSPCA has asked Environment Secretary Hilary Benn to take the opportunity to ban the practice. A spokeswoman said: "The RSPCA recognises that religious practices should be respected, but we consider that scientific research has clearly demonstrated that slaughter of an animal without stunning can cause unnecessary suffering. This is not about religion, it's about animal welfare."

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs launched a consultation last month on the best way to implement the EU rules in Britain.

The US Mint sold 92,000 ounces of its popular American Eagle coin last month, almost four times that which it sold a year ago and more than it shipped during the whole of the first half of 2007. Other countries' mints have also reported strong sales. "Large purchases of coins are perhaps the ultimate sign of safe-haven gold buying," said John Reade, a precious metals strategist at UBS.

Inflows into gold-backed exchange traded funds surged in January, pushing their bullion holdings to an all-time high of 1,317 tonnes. Last month's flows of 105 tonnes were above September's previous record of 104 tonnes, and absorbed about half the world's gold mine output for January, said Barclays Capital.

"We estimate that investment demand [into gold] could double in 2009 compared to 2007," said Mr Reade. "Purchases of physical gold have jumped over the past six months as investors' fears about the current financial crisis... have intensified." The move into gold is being driven by the very rich, with bankers saying that some clients are hoarding gold in their vaults. UBS and Goldman Sachs said last week that investor hoarding would drive prices back above $1,000 an ounce. On Monday gold was trading at $892 an ounce.

It said smaller companies have been particularly affected as banks focus on lending to bigger rivals. Bankruptcies have been especially prominent in the manufacturing sector. It was the eighth consecutive month that the number of bankruptcies increased.

Japanese firms are also being hit by the strong yen - which with electronic firms particularly affected. A stronger yen makes Japanese products less competitive and cuts into the value of overseas earnings. Tokyo Shoko Research said the number of bankruptcies was not likely to decelerate in the near future as a range of manufacturers - from car and electronics manufacturers to semiconductor makers - continue to see profits hit by economic conditions.

The reason, analysts say, is that the slump in sales in China has been less severe than the slump in the US - not exactly a cause for celebration for carmakers here. But the truth is there are worse places to be in the car business than in China at the moment. It's one of the few places in the world where if you visit a car showroom you'll meet a steady stream of customers.

The streets of Shanghai are crammed with cars. The markets for cars in the bigger cities are well developed. There are fourteen showrooms selling the same model in Shanghai alone. But across the country, in the smaller cities and in the countryside, it is very different. Car industry analyst Yale Zhang points out that in the US there are on average 800 cars for every 1000 people. Here in China the figure's a tiny fraction of that - just 20 per 1000 Chinese.

"Certainly I am very well aware that at the end of the road we will have women bishops," says the Reverend Angus MacLeay, "But the real question is - what sort of a church will we have?" Mr MacLeay is rector of the ancient parish church of St Nicholas, a General Synod member, and a trustee of Reform, the main evangelical group opposed to women bishops.

"People like myself, our position hasn't changed - IT WOULD BE VERY SAD IF SUDDENLY WE'RE BEING REDEFINED AS NO LONGER BEING LOYAL ANGLICANS WHEN WE'VE SIMPLY BEEN FAITHFUL TO THE SCRIPTURES," he says. Evangelicals - like the big enthusiastic congregations at St Nicholas - place little stress on ceremony, but are deeply sincere in seeking guidance from the Bible. THOSE WHO OPPOSE WOMEN'S ORDINATION POINT TO I TIMOTHY 2, 12: "I DO NOT ALLOW A WOMAN TO HAVE AUTHORITY OVER A MAN."

The Anglo-Catholics within the Church of England have a different emphasis. They profoundly revere the sacraments - the ceremonies of the Church - and the blessings imparted by them. Many cannot accept that it is possible for a woman to be a priest or perform the sacraments. A man ordained by a woman bishop would not be a priest either, in their eyes.

The Cardinal said there was a need for unity when both Churches were facing the challenge of a secular society. Later this week the synod is to discuss the divisive issue of women bishops. In his first-ever address to synod members, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said: "Your struggles with issues on Communion which deeply affect the unity of the Anglican Communion, affect us all. Divisions within any Church or ecclesial community impoverish the communion of the whole Church."

"WE ROMAN CATHOLICS CANNOT BE INDIFFERENT TO WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR FRIENDS IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION and, in particular, in the Church of England." The cardinal called for greater unity in the Church of England, adding: "Unity is a prerequisite to truth and you should not settle for less - even if it takes time." On Wednesday, the synod will discuss draft legislation on allowing the consecration of women as bishops - which has divided the church. It follows an agreement in principle last year to consecrate women bishops.

Invented by Boeing, the laser is fitted to a Humvee off-road vehicle, allowing it to be moved into the most remote locations to shoot down enemy planes. It is hoped that the Laser Avenger will be used to help US forces tackle small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which often carry explosives or surveillance equipment. Such devices are difficult for conventional air defence systems to shoot down.

The complex testing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, required the laser to track three UAVs against a backdrop of mountains and desert. When the targets were sighted, the Laser Avenger successfully shot down three UAVs with its high-powered directed energy beam. Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Directed Energy Systems, said: "Small UAVs armed with explosives or equipped with surveillance sensors are a growing threat on the battlefield."

"Laser Avenger, unlike a conventional weapon, can fire its laser beam without creating missile exhaust or gun flashes that would reveal its position. As a result, Laser Avenger can neutralize these UAV threats while keeping our troops safe."

His warning, in a speech to activists at the weekend, came after a trade union baron warned that far right parties were trying to hijack the campaign for "British jobs for British workers". The row over foreign workers has gathered momentum in recent weeks and Mr Balls seemed to suggest the recession could TRIGGER A RETURN TO THE FAR RIGHT POLITICS that prospered in the Great Depression of the 1930s.

He told Labour's Yorkshire conference: "The economy is going to define our politics in this region and in Britain in the next year, the next five years, the next 10 and even the next 15 years. I think that this is a financial crisis more extreme and more serious than that of the 1930s and we all remember how the politics of that era were shaped by the economy."

The remarks are significant because Mr Balls was a key adviser to Mr Brown during his decade at the Treasury as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr Balls said that he believed this to be "the most serious global recession for over 100 years".

The Army said 24 soldiers are believed to have committed suicide in January alone - six times as many as killed themselves in January 2008, according to statistics released Thursday. The Army said it already has confirmed seven suicides, with 17 additional cases pending that it believes investigators will confirm as suicides for January. If those prove true, MORE SOLDIERS WILL HAVE KILLED THEMSELVES THAN DIED IN COMBAT LAST MONTH. According to Pentagon statistics, there were 16 US combat deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq in January.

"This is terrifying," an Army official said. "We do not know what is going on." Colonel Kathy Platoni, chief clinical psychologist for the Army Reserve and National Guard, said that the long, cold months of winter could be a major contributor to the January spike. "There is more hopelessness and helplessness because everything is so dreary and cold," she said.

Platoni also said that while the military has made a lot of headway in training leaders on how to deal with soldiers who may be suffering from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, "there is still a huge problem with leadership who shame them when they seek treatment." THE ANTI-DEPRESSANTS PRESCRIBED TO SOLDIERS CAN HAVE SIDE EFFECTS THAT INCLUDE SUICIDAL THOUGHTS. Those side effects reportedly are more common in people 18 to 24.

Ralph Surman, a national executive member of the Association of Teacher and Lecturers, said a significant number of young people who were BROUGHT UP BY SINGLE MOTHERS IN THE 1980S ARE NOW DOING NOTHING WITH THEIR LIVES, HAVE NO WORK ETHIC, FEW SOCIAL SKILLS AND CAUSE HIGHER CRIME RATES. Mr Surman, a deputy head of Cantrell Primary and Nursery School in Bulwell, Nottingham, said: "We must talk about a class of uber-chavs. They are not doing anything productive and are costing taxpayers a fortune."

"It is very difficult, almost impossible, to take these people now and provide basic social and work ethic skills. The offspring of the first big generation of single mothers were children in the 1980s. NOW THEY ARE ADULTS WITH THEIR OWN CHILDREN and the problems are leading to higher crime rates and low participation in the labour force." Unemployment rates among 20-year-olds alone has rocketed by almost 50 per cent since 2003.