The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera quoted Gazans claiming that less than 600 people had died in the 22-day attack, far fewer than the 1,300 reported by Palestinian health officials. "It's possible that the death toll in Gaza was 500 or 600 at the most, mainly youths aged 17 to 23 who were enlisted by Hamas – who sent them to their deaths," the newspaper quoted a doctor at the main Shifa hospital as stating.

Other residents told the newspaper Hamas gunmen had used medical facilities to organise and co-ordinate attacks. Israeli officials emailed the report around the world and a military officer condemned Hamas as "monstrous" in its use of civilians to cover its armed activities. "Entire families in Gaza lived on top of a barrel of explosives for months without knowing," said Brigadier Eyal Eisenberg.

He also ordered a review of military trials for terror suspects and a ban on harsh interrogation methods. Continuing a flurry of announcements, he named his envoys to the Middle East, and to Afghanistan and Pakistan. At Mr Obama's request, military judges have suspended several of the trials of suspects at Guantanamo so that the legal process can be reviewed.

"The United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism," he said. "We are going to do so vigilantly, we are going to do so effectively, and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals." Mr Obama believed Americans will be safer with the prison closed, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in his first media briefing.

Mr Obama has repeatedly promised to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, where some 250 inmates accused of having links to terrorism remain and 21 cases are pending. The legal process for these prisoners has been widely criticised because the US military acts as jailer, judge and jury, the BBC's Jonathan Beale reports from Guantanamo. However, closing the prison will not be easy, he says. Questions remain over where those charged will be tried and where those freed can be safely sent.

One year ago, Iceland was named the most desirable country in the world. Today, its economy has been devastated by the catastrophic collapse of its three largest banks. Unemployment rose 45% between November and December, and a recent survey indicated that 40% of households and 70% of businesses were technically bankrupt. Since the fall of the banks in October, there have been no resignations from the government, the boards of the now nationalized banks have remained substantially the same, and weekly gatherings calling for new elections have been ignored.

Americans will certainly recognize strong parallels between Iceland's current situation and their own. After years of tight state regulation, the conservative government of David Oddsson privatized Iceland's banks, and in exchange the newly-rich owners of these banks ensured that Oddson's party remained in power. Even after he stepped down, he had himself appointed as head of Iceland's Central Bank and continued to ensure that regulatory oversight was kept to a minimum.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in the American Declaration of Independence that "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed [and] whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government." As the protesters fight to enforce that right, in this county that has known no war for generations, that has not seen violent conflict among its citizens for centuries, we must ponder what could be.

The American measures were taken as part of a trade dispute, now known as "cheese wars", in which the Bush administration took action against the European Union's ban on imports of US hormone-treated beef. The EU banned growth hormones on European farms more than two decades ago on health grounds, but their use was continued in the United States.

Last week, America imposed a 100 per cent import duty on a long list of EU products, but singled Roquefort out for a 300 per cent tariff. "Symbol versus symbol," said Philippe Folliot, a French member of parliament whose Tarn constituency contains many Roquefort producers. "Since the United States has decided to surtax one of the most ancient (cheese) appellations, I think that the French government, with the European Union, must think about a heavy specific tax on imports of Coca-Cola concentrates produced in the US."

In a letter to George W Bush's successor, Barack Obama, Mr Folliot called on the newly inaugurated US president to remove the "shocking" Roquefort duty, which, he said "uselessly stigmatises an already fragile sector." Producers of what the French hail as the "king of cheeses" from the Massif Central, southern France, say the rise is tantamount to an "embargo" on Roquefort exports to their third biggest market. Roquefort makers export about 420 tons a year, or 2.5 percent of their total production, to the US.

The latest action has been slammed as a parting shot by Mr Bush, who is still thought to be piqued by France's opposition to the 2003 Iraq war.

Commenting on whether the Euro was a mistake, economist Barry Eichengreen writes on the Vox website, "The euro area will hang together, in other words, because the decision to enter is essentially irreversible. Getting out is impossible without precipitating the most serious imaginable financial crisis - something that no government is prepared to risk."

EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Joaquin Almunia has rejected any suggestion of a split of the eurozone. Le Monde notes that the current economic crisis is however putting the monetary union under severe strain and that certain states are asking for lower rates of borrowing than those currently in place. THE PAPER HIGHLIGHTS THAT THIS GROWING AND PERSISTENT PRESSURE COULD BRING ABOUT THE EVENTUAL DEMISE OF THE MONETARY UNION.

Speaking in a Commons debate on financial management of the EU budget, Mr Pearson said: "It is simply not good enough that the majority of the EU budget suffers from a level of error that is material." He added, "I want to be clear from the outset that the Government considers the situation to be entirely unacceptable."

Conservative MP Phillip Davies said, "Surely the problem is that the UK Government, each year that the accounts aren't signed off, the following year gives even more money to the EU... the answer is for the UK Government to say 'we won't give you any more money until you get your accounts signed off properly'."

Mr Pearson responded, saying that although the management of the budget had improved, "I certainly agree EU taxpayers deserve better." Mr Pearson said it was "not realistic" for Britain to stop making payments to the EU as some had suggested, but he told MPs "We do need to be relentlessly dissatisfied with the progress that has been made on these issues."

Speaking at a joint press conference they held in Kuwait, the two said that THE ARAB WORLD FACES ANARCHY AND AN INNER SPLIT, which they attribute to two factors: The inter-Palestinian struggle, and the "Israeli aggression and occupation."

Several recent incidents portray the weakness of Arab unity, correspondent Haggai Huberman reports. Last Friday, a gathering of representatives of more than a dozen Arab and Muslim nations was held in Doha. Among the participants were Damascus-based Khaled Meshaal of Hamas and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad – but the others were not informed of the participation of these two until after they had already arrived in Doha. Apparently, it was feared that the participation of Meshaal and Ahmedinajad might keep others away.

In addition, a high-ranking French diplomat has been quoted as saying that Syria was more interested in weakening Egypt over the past three weeks than in helping solve the crisis in Gaza. Syria and others accused Egypt of conspiring with Israel in order to attack Gazan Arabs. The diplomat further said that the Syrian branch of Hamas is more extremist than the Gazan, and that this is related to Syria's influence over Meshaal.

On Friday (16 January), demonstrators attacked the Lithuanian parliament building in Vilnius calling on the government to resign. Organised by the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation, the protest denounced public sector wage cuts and increases in taxes aimed at aiding the country's battered economy. The violent protests come two days after similar events shook Sofia, the capital of BULGARIA, and follows on from riots protesting International Monetary Fund (IMF)-agreed austerity measures in LATVIA earlier in the week.

In HUNGARY, as in GREECE - where a police shooting sparked violent protests in December - the riots have unique domestic political reasons that combine with the wider economic background, Ms Bohle - a political scientist at the Central European University in Budapest - explained. "In Hungary's case, it was the prime minister's being caught lying that social supports could continue and then delivering an austerity package," she said. "There is a mistrust and lack of legitimacy in the government. On top of this is THE EXISTENCE OF THE FAR RIGHT, which may make it into parliament. HUNGARY IS DEEPLY POLITICALLY UNSTABLE."

"If we have a single currency there are obligations and responsibilities on both sides. The idea that Germany and France can just hang us out to dry, as has been the talk in the last couple of days should not be taken lying down," he said. Mr McWilliams said the EMU was preventing Irish economic recovery. "We are paying twice for the euro: once on the exchange rate and once more on the interest rate," he said.

In the FT Wolfgang Münchau looks at what would happen if one of the member states of the eurozone were to default on its debt. He argues that default would not lead to the break-up of the eurozone: "if a default were to happen, it would almost certainly happen within a eurozone that remained intact." He suggests instead that "Europeans would bail out one of their own, but it would not be fun for anyone, especially not for the defaulter."

He adds that "you could conceive of a scenario under which the bail-out had to be so large that it would bring down the entire system. This could then provide the non-defaulters with an economic incentive to leave. But dream on. If Germany, for example, had such an incentive to leave, it would almost certainly forgo that perceived economic benefit and stay for political reasons."

The spokesman for President Abbas revealed that Mr Obama had told the Palestinian leader that their conversation was his first with a foreign leader since taking office. The new President had promised to "deploy every possible effort to achieve peace", the spokesman said.

Mr Obama also spoke to President Mubarak of Egypt, Ehud Olmert, the Prime Minister of Israel, and King Abdullah of Jordan. He was also due to hold talks about Iraq with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his national security team. In the White House situation room, he planned to issue new orders for a redeployment of military forces from Iraq to Afghanistan, fulfilling another campaign promise.

Robert Gibbs, the new President's press secretary, said that Mr Obama had used his talks with Middle East leaders to underline a "commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term. We'll be making a series of announcements both on domestic and foreign policy that I think will be critical for us to act swiftly on, we're not going to be able to delay," Mr Obama had said on Tuesday night.

GERMANY'S ECONOMY ACCOUNTS FOR ABOUT A THIRD OF EUROZONE OUTPUT. "There is no precedent in post-war history for this economic decline that we unfortunately have to forecast," said economy minister Michael Glos. "The German economy is facing this year the greatest challenges since unification [in 1990]. Germany is integrated into the global economy like hardly any other industrialised country," added Mr Glos. The economy slipped into recession in the third quarter of 2008.

Northern Rock was nationalised in February 2008 after a run on the bank in 2007. Once Britain's fifth-biggest home loan provider, it was taken into public ownership after it failed to find a suitable buyer from the private sector. A Northern Rock spokesman refused to be drawn on how much money was being paid out, but pointed out that the staff-wide bonus scheme had been announced in October. He also stressed that no executives or senior management would benefit. The reward comes after staff met targets on repaying the bank's £26bn loan from the government.

Mr Cable said: "This is an extraordinary action from a state-owned bank which still owes billions to taxpayers. WHEN MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE FACING PAY CUTS OR EVEN UNEMPLOYMENT, THIS IS INDEFENSIBLE. The government should step in to stop this now."

Asked whether Mr Brown approved of the bonuses, the prime minister's spokesman said: "Northern Rock, as I think is well known, has repaid its debts to the government at a rate faster than originally planned for. Operational decisions such as this are a matter for Northern Rock."

As one bail-out succeeds another at ever more inflated price tags, RESCUE FATIGUE IS BECOMING PALPABLE. People are bewildered, fearing that good money is being thrown after bad. "It is easy to conclude that none of the Government's policies are working," said Professor Peter Spencer from York University. "We must not lose sight of the fact that they have prevented the collapse of the monetary system."

This is not does mean that recovery is imminent. Nothing can prevent a long purge as years of credit leverage give way to debt deflation. It means only that the downward spiral – the "adverse feedback loop" feared by central banks – has been arrested. The $3 trillion (£2 trillion) fiscal blitz by the US, China, Japan and Europe plugs an emergency gap. With luck, it will keep the world economy on life-support just long enough to stop recession and banking crises from feeding on each other with lethal effect, as they did in 1931.

There is no guarantee that the measures will succeed. The vast scale of government borrowing may exhaust the stock of global capital. Markets are already beginning to question the credit-worthiness of sovereign states. The Fed may find it harder than it thinks to disengage from colossal intervention in the bond markets. IN THE END, THE ONLY WAY OUT OF ALL THIS GLOBAL DEBT MAY PROVE TO BE A BIBLICAL DEBT JUBILEE. Creditors are not going to like that.

Lord Myners, the banking minister, said the Government's toxic debt scheme will run for at least five years and may last for "eight or nine years". The value of sterling also fell to its lowest level against the dollar in more than seven years after a well-known investor said THE BRITISH CURRENCY WAS "FINISHED". Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, said on Tuesday that the Bank was preparing to print extra money in a desperate attempt to kick-start the beleaguered British economy.

Shares in Lloyds Banking Group, Britain's biggest bank following the takeover of HBOS, fell by 47 percent at one point - wiping billions off the bank's value. Shares in the bank have now fallen by more than 85 percent over the past year. Shares in Barclays also fell sharply, closing the day more than 20 percent lower. There is growing speculation that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is set to be nationalised after its shares fell in value by more than two-thirds on Monday. Shares in RBS fell by more than 12 per cent yesterday.

As the pound plunged, Jim Rogers, a former partner of George Soros, the man renowned for his attack on sterling on Black Wednesday in 1992, told fellow investors: "I WOULD URGE YOU TO SELL ANY STERLING YOU MIGHT HAVE. IT'S FINISHED. I hate to say it, but I would not put any money in the UK."

THE EXPECTATIONS ON ELECTION DAY WERE HIGH - AND THEY HAVE NOW RISEN EVEN HIGHER. On the domestic front, Obama is expected to overcome the financial crisis, stem the rising tide of unemployment, reduce social inequality and achieve nothing less than raising the country to new heights of greatness.

On the foreign policy front, the wish list of the international community has grown even longer over the past eight years with every single disappointment with George W. Bush. Obama is expected to achieve peace in the Middle East, prevent Iran from building the bomb without resorting to bombing the country, integrate the Chinese into the world community, tame the Russians, unite the Europeans and - in his spare time - also achieve reconciliation with communist Cuba.

Obama's new pragmatism is well-founded. No president since the 1930s has faced problems as serious as those Obama must address. "Nothing will be easy," Obama told Americans last Friday in Ohio, "because the extent of the challenges that we face is so enormous."

The economic situation is becoming increasingly gloomy. The measures taken to combat the financial crisis have not yet worked. NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING ECONOMIST PAUL KRUGMAN PREDICTS "HORRENDOUS TIMES" FOR THE COUNTRY.