The new legal action, running to over 200 pages, is concerned with economic as well as political issues, which the complainants say are not addressed by the Lisbon Treaty. The Lisbon Treaty was signed by EU leaders in late 2007. They argue that a prognosis on European integration given by the country's constitutional court in a 1993 judgement on the Maastricht Treaty - WHICH PAVED THE WAY TO THE EURO - HAS TURNED OUT TO BE FALSE.

Instead, EU integration has been characterised by "continuous breaches of the stability pact, a presumptuous over-stepping of power by the European Commission, unaccountable leadership and dissolution of the separation of powers," say the authors in a statement on Monday (26 January), according to German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

They say that the constitutional court cannot approve the Lisbon treaty because it "strengthens the current practice of dismembering the division of powers and mixing of competences." The complaint is being brought by Markus Kerber, a commercial lawyer, Dieter Spethmann, a former chief executive of Thyssen, former MEP Franz Ludwig Graf Stauffenberg and economist Joachim Starbatty.

Germany's highest court is already dealing with a separate complaint on the Lisbon treaty by conservative MP Peter Gauweiler. It is due to have a two-day hearing on his complaint - which says the treaty undermines freedoms guaranteed in the German constitution - on 10 and 11 February. The court now has to decide whether it will accept to proof their case. If it does, it is likely to take several months to come to a decision. This could delay the German government's timetable for the treaty, which it would like in place across the bloc by the end of the year.

The controller's office estimates that the delay in tax refunds will free up $1.99 billion over the next month to pay for education, debt service, and other payments that legally have first claim to state funds. CALIFORNIA HAS HAD NO MONEY IN ITS GENERAL FUND FOR THE PAST 17 MONTHS, and has been paying its bills by borrowing from Wall Street and special internal funds.

If the state's legislators and governor do not reach a budget agreement that brings immediate funds into the state's coffers, THE STATE'S BORROWED FUNDS WILL BE ENTIRELY EXHAUSTED AT THE END OF FEBRUARY, according to the controller's office.

Michael Dukes, of weather forecasters MeteoGroup, said the "reasonably average" temperatures over the last fortnight would come to an end on Sunday night (February 1st) when weather from Russia is expected to move across the UK.

Mr Dukes said: "Chill winds from the continent will start to be felt across the south and east in the next couple of days, before a blast of bitterly cold air from western Russia sends the mercury plunging during Sunday night and the early part of next week.

"Although still far from certain at this stage, there are growing signs that heavy snow showers will accompany this frigid air during Monday and Tuesday, more especially across southern and eastern parts of England, with the north and west probably staying mainly fine and frosty. Temperatures in the first half of next week are unlikely to be as low as they were in the early January 'freeze' but will struggle to rise above freezing by day and will drop several degrees below at night with a significant wind-chill adding to the cold."

A dispute has emerged among NATO High Command in Afghanistan regarding the conditions under which alliance troops can use deadly violence against those identified as insurgents. In a classified document, which Spiegel has obtained, NATO's top commander, US General John Craddock, has issued a "guidance" providing NATO troops with the authority "to attack directly drug producers and facilities throughout Afghanistan."

According to the document, deadly force is to be used even in those cases where there is no proof that suspects are actively engaged in the armed resistance against the Afghanistan government or against Western troops. It is "no longer necessary to produce intelligence or other evidence that each particular drug trafficker or narcotics facility in Afghanistan meets the criteria of being a military objective," Craddock writes.

The directive was sent on Jan. 5 to Egon Ramms, the German leader at NATO Command in Brunssum, Netherlands, which is currently in charge of the NATO ISAF mission, as well as David McKiernan, the commander of the ISAF peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. Neither want to follow it. Both consider the order to be illegitimate and believe it violates both ISAF rules of engagement and international law, the "Law of Armed Conflict."

Gore, a former Tennessee senator and Nobel Peace Prize winner, spoke on the dangers of global warming, urging senators to pursue a treaty to lower carbon emissions at a United Nations conference in Copenhagen in December.

Inhofe called Gore's message "desperate," and noted the irony of it being delivered on such an icy day in D.C. "They almost had to cancel it because of freezing weather, and last year they did cancel it because of cold weather," Inhofe said. "I'd say he has a real serious problem. But he's already made his $100 million, so I don't think he needs to worry too much about it. But the science and logic are on our side, and we are winning."

More than 35 years after it was first conceived by Klaus Schwab in 1971, the World Economic Forum's annual meeting at the small Swiss mountain town of Davos remains the biggest and most covered event of its kind. It is often dismissed as a mere talking shop in which nothing ever gets done. This has been heard more often since President Bill Clinton and his Clinton Global Initiative have explicitly challenged the World Economic Forum to become more relevant.

But talk and conversation will always matter, and the idea of a talking shop will never completely go out of fashion - certainly not as long as Davos continues to draw the A-list participants that it does. This year's co-chairmen, for example, are former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Henry Kissinger, and China Mobile Communications CEO Wang Jianzhou.

There are world leaders, such as Gordon Brown of Britain and Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan; Nobel laureates by the dozen; and many scores of CEO's who happily spend up to $50,000 apiece for the privilege of being able to mingle for five days with other power brokers and learn a little more about how the world works. It is, for them, money well spent. Many can fit in more high-level meetings in the five days of Davos than they normally hold in five months of jet-setting. This is the one time each year that the world's most important men and women make every effort to be in the same place at the same time.

But the party-line vote of 244 to 188 in the Democratic-controlled Congress was a hollow victory for Mr Obama because not a single minority Republican voted for it. Mr Obama had lobbied Republicans, who were intensely sceptical about increased spending without major tax cuts, trying to make good on his campaign pledge to bring a new bipartisan tone to Washington, intensively.

Welcoming the vote, Mr Obama said: "Last year, America lost 2.6 million jobs. On Monday alone, we learned that some of our biggest employers plan to cut another 55,000. This is a wakeup call to Washington that the American people need us to act and act immediately." He added: "It [the bill] will double our capacity to generate renewable energy. It will lower the cost of health care by billions and improve its quality. It will modernise thousands of classrooms and send more kids to college."

"And it will put billions of dollars in immediate tax relief into the pockets of working families. But out of all these numbers, there is one that matters most to me: this recovery plan will save or create more than three million new jobs over the next few years."

Cyril, 62, the Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, was elected overwhelmingly on Tuesday as the new head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He arrives at the top job in Moscow with a very long and public resume. He served for nearly two decades as head of the Church's office of external affairs, a kind of roaming secretary of state, the Russian church's ambassador on the world's religious chessboard.

Cyril, who'd been serving as interim head of the Church since the Dec. 5 death of Patriarch Alexy II, was particularly adept at keeping warm relations with both Kremlin insiders and religious counterparts outside of Russia. His many contacts with the West, including a meeting in 2007 with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, helped earn Cyril a reputation as A PRAGMATIC REFORMER WHO FAVORED MOVING HIS CHURCH CLOSER TO CATHOLICISM AFTER A MILLENNIUM-LONG SCHISM.

Other Catholic leaders hailed the choice of Cyril, who received 508 of the 700 votes cast at Tuesday's balloting among a commission of lay and clergy leaders in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. He defeated a conservative rival, Metropolitan Kliment. "This was the best result we could have hoped for," said one Rome-based Catholic priest involved in ecumenical dialogue. "He's always been a moderate, and open minded, and now that he's reached the top, HE'S FREE TO PURSUE CLOSER TIES WITH THE VATICAN."

The paper said the Barack Obama administration could announce its plans within days but has not yet determined the final shape of its new proposal, and the exact details could change. The administration is also seeking more effective ways to pump money into banks, and is considering buying common shares in the banks, according to the paper.

A Treasury spokeswoman told the paper that "while lots of options are on the table, there are no final decisions" on what she described as a "comprehensive plan. The president has made it clear that he'll do whatever it takes to stabilize our financial system so that we can get credit flowing again to families and businesses," she told the paper.

The U.S. Treasury has already disbursed nearly $294 billion from the government $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP to shore up the banking system and faltering U.S. automakers. Billions more have been pledged for particular uses.

Long queues at metro stations, cancelled trains and disrupted flights, understaffed schools and hospitals, closed shutters at post offices and banks, and on top of everything cuts to radio and TV schedules. France is bracing itself for "Black Thursday" after a broad alliance of labor unions and opposition parties called for a massive general strike. The planned stoppages in both the public and private sectors are aimed at protesting President Nicolas Sarkozy's style of crisis management.

The strikes are planned for 77 towns and cities and will start late on Wednesday night and end early on Friday morning. Rail traffic will be particularly badly effected - only 60 percent of the high-speed TGV trains will be in operation, while 30 percent of domestic and up to 10 percent of European flights will also be cancelled. Employees in the private sector are also taking part: The labor unions in supermarket chains like Carrefour or Auchan have called a strike, as have workers in companies like Renault and Peugot-Citroen, who have been particularly hard hit by job losses and cuts to working hours.

The Jewish state's highest religious authority sent a letter to the Holy See expressing "sorrow and pain" at the papal decision. "It will be very difficult for the chief rabbinate of Israel to continue its dialogue with the Vatican as before," the letter said. Chief rabbis of both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews were parties to the letter.

The rabbinate, which faxed a copy of the letter to The Associated Press, also cancelled a meeting with the Vatican set for March. The rabbinate and the state of Israel have separate ties with the Vatican, and Wednesday's move does not affect state relations.

Pope Benedict XVI, faced with an uproar over the bishop, said Wednesday he feels "full and indisputable solidarity" with Jews and warned against any denial of the full horror of the Nazi genocide. The remarks were his first public comments on the issue since the controversy erupted Saturday. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the Vatican hoped that in light of the pope's words, "the difficulties expressed by the Israeli Rabbinate can be subjected to further and deeper reflection." Lombardi expressed hope that dialogue between the two parties can continue "fruitfully and serenely."

It now projects the UK, which recently entered recession, will see its economy shrink by 2.8% next year, the worst contraction among advanced nations. The IMF says financial markets remain under stress and THE GLOBAL ECONOMY HAS TAKEN A "SHARP TURN FOR THE WORSE". In another gloomy view of the UK economy, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said Britain would be saddled with government debt for more than 20 years.

IFS director Robert Chote warned that spending would have to be cut or taxes raised by more than planned to allow public finances to recover. The predictions came as Pascal Lamy, the director general of the World Trade Organization, urged COUNTRIES NOT TO REACT TO THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS BY RESORTING TO PROTECTIONISM. Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Lamy said such a move would be "a big mistake".

The couple, who cannot be named, wanted to give the five-year-old boy and his four-year-old sister a loving home themselves. But they were ruled to be too old - at 46 and 59. For two years they fought for their rights to care for the children, whose 26-year- old mother is a recovering heroin addict. They agreed to an adoption ONLY AFTER THEY FACED BEING FINANCIALLY CRIPPLED BY LEGAL BILLS.

THE FINAL BLOW CAME WHEN THEY WERE TOLD THE CHILDREN WERE GOING TO A GAY HOUSEHOLD, EVEN THOUGH SEVERAL HETEROSEXUAL COUPLES WANTED THEM. When the grandfather protested, he was told: 'You can either accept it, and there's a chance you'll see the children twice a year, or you can take that stance and never see them again.'

The man said last night: 'It breaks my heart to think that our grandchildren are being forced to grow up in an environment without a mother figure. We are not prejudiced, but I defy anyone to explain to us how this can be in their best interests.' Social workers themselves have admitted that the little girl is 'more wary' of men than women.

A spokesman for THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH CONDEMNED THE COUNCIL'S DECISION LAST NIGHT, warning that the children's welfare could be jeopardised. Peter Kearney said: 'This is a devastating decision which will have a serious impact on the welfare of the children involved. There is an overwhelming body of evidence showing that SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS ARE INHERENTLY UNSTABLE and reduce the life expectancy of those involved. With this in mind, the social work department has deliberately ignored evidence which undermines their decision and OPTED FOR POLITICALLY CORRECT POSTURING RATHER THAN PROVIDING STABILITY AND PROTECTION.'

Asked by The Daily Telegraph whether he agreed with his erstwhile investor colleague Jim Rogers that the pound was heading further down in the coming months, he said: "I did foresee the fall in sterling this year. I did actually have a short position in sterling and it was one of the trades I carried out. But sterling did fall from around $2 to about $1.40 and at that level the risk-reward balance is no longer compelling. I'm not saying won't fall any more though - it will continue to fluctuate"

MR SOROS ALSO SUGGESTED THAT THE IMF SHOULD USE ITS OWN INTERNATIONAL CURRENCY - special drawing rights - to pump more cash into the global economy. It would be analogous to printing money - quantitative easing - on a global scale.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Soros also said he would be happy to start investing in the financial sector again provided governments created "good" and "bad" banks by isolating their bad assets.

The IFS suggests the government may have to freeze public spending in 2010. And it says that taxes are likely to go up more than planned, with possible increases in VAT in the future. The grim arithmetic facing the government is laid out in their report.

Even if everything goes according to plan, the IFS points out that it will be "THE EARLY 2030'S BEFORE DEBT RETURNS BELOW THE CEILING OF 40% OF NATIONAL INCOME" that Gordon Brown set as one of his key fiscal rules in 1997. Of course, a number of other EU countries may still have a higher government debt-to-GDP ratio than the UK.

In the longer term, a bigger problem for the government could be the rising cost of servicing (paying the interest) on the huge government debt. These costs are currently relatively low, because investors - such as banks - are seeking to buy Treasury bills (gilts) as a safe haven in uncertain times. "BUT THERE CLEARLY IS A DANGER INVESTORS WILL TAKE FRIGHT AT THE STATE OF THE UK PUBLIC FINANCES," which would push up interest rates, the IFS says.