Mastercard users were today facing problems with payments after WikiLeaks supporters hacked into the site in revenge for the card company's decision to stop processing donations. Online activists calling themselves Anonymous have launched 'Operation: Payback' following the move yesterday to cut off donations to the whistleblowing website.

They appear to have staged a 'distributed denial of service' attack and brought down the site, which was unavailable this lunchtime.

There were reports today that Mastercard users have been unable to make payments. Mastercard this afternoon confirmed a 'service disruption'.

A message on Twitter from @Anon_Operation, read: 'WE ARE GLAD TO TELL YOU THAT http://www.mastercard.com/ is DOWN AND IT'S CONFIRMED! '#ddos #wikileaks Operation:Payback(is a b****!) #PAYBACK'

Another, from AnonyWatcher, added - in a play on MasterCard's advertising: 'There are some things Wikileaks can't do. For everything else, there's Operation Payback.'

There were also unconfirmed reports that the group would also target Twitter over claims the #wikileaks tag was not being updated properly. WikiLeaks Europe - also on Twitter - declared it was 'cyberwar'. The organisation said: 'Group That Took Down Swiss Bank Site Have Now Taken Down Mastercard.com.' This type of attack, which is illegal, involves flooding a website with so many requests that it becomes overloaded and stops working.

The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes:

"The reputation of the United States has been damaged by the WikiLeaks-controlled release of secret documents. That is true... but the United States' reputation is being damaged much more right now as they attempt - with all of their means - to muzzle WikiLeaks and its head, Julian Assange. By doing so, the US is betraying one of its founding myths: Freedom of information. And they are doing so now, because for the first time since the end of the Cold War, they are threatened with losing worldwide control of information."

"'The first real information war has begun,' writes US civil rights activist John-Perry Barlow. 'The battlefield is WikiLeaks.' He is right. With the doctrine 'Free Flow of Information' the US has dominated the flow of information and most of its content for decades. They said that every person had the right, everywhere, and without limitations, to collect information and to broadcast and disseminate it. That was a tremendous doctrine, as long as only American companies had the power, the means, and the logisitical capabilities, to make use of this freedom."

"That changed somewhat with the Internet, but companies like Apple, Windows, Google, Facebook and Amazon advance US-domination in the supposedly democratic Internet. Julian Assange and WikiLeaks are the first who have used the power of the Internet against the United States. That is why they are being mercilessly pursued. That is why the government is betraying one of the principles of democracy."

The conservative daily Die Welt writes:

"The Swedish public prosecutor's office merely wants to question the Australian Assange about the serious accusations that have been made about him. So far, Assange has balked at this explanation of the facts. His supporters sense that the fix is in, and that the rape charges have been faked to harm the WikiLeaks project."

The Financial Times Deutschland writes:

"The arrest is as potentially scandalous and it is superfluous. The operation has produced a martyr, and he has asked if it is all really about the legally offered explanation of the rape charges. Or, if instead it is more about getting a man out of the way, who, in the opinion of numerous US politicians, is Public Enemy No1."

Some 42.9 million people collected food stamps last month, up 1.2% from the prior month and 16.2% higher than the same time a year ago, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Nationwide 14% of the population relied on food stamps as of September but in some states the percentage was much higher. In Washington DC, Mississippi and Tennessee - the states with the largest share of citizens receiving benefits - more than a fifth of the population in each was collecting food stamps.

"You could argue that we are at a new stage where the global cost of capital goes higher and higher," said Steven Major, global head of fixed income research at HSBC.

The yield on 10-year US Treasuries hit a six-month high of 3.33 per cent on Wednesday, up 0.39 percentage points from Monday and 1 percentage point higher than its October low. Japanese five-year yields also rose the most in two years, while Germany's benchmark borrowing costs hit 3 per cent. Germany has suffered from fears it could bear a high cost for bailing out troubled eurozone countries. Stock markets in Germany, the UK and Hong Kong all fell on Wednesday. "People are getting out of the market and moving to the sidelines, feeling shellshocked at the speed of the rise in yields," said David Ader, strategist at CRT Capital.

US 10-year yields have risen by about 0.76 percentage points since November 8, those of Germany by 0.62 percentage points, the UK by 0.53 percentage points and Japan by 0.29 percentage points as the prices of the bonds has fallen. Yields are still relatively low compared with long-term trends but investors are starting to fret that they could continue to move sharply higher. "YIELDS AT THIS LEVEL ARE CLEARLY UNSUSTAINABLE," said Paul Marson, chief investment officer at Lombard Odier, the Swiss private bank.

Europe must also solve the euro's structural rigidities and the enormous debts of its banks, he warned. Europe's banks - including the UK's - faced massive liabilities and had inadequate capital to absorb losses, he said, creating the risk of a Europe-wide banking crisis. The warning echoed complaints by Irish opposition politicians that their country had been strong-armed by Brussels into footing the bill for rescuing the Irish banks, because failing to do so could have sparked a wider European banking crisis.

Mr Brown also said that the structural reforms needed to make the euro work as a single currency area had not been carried out, or even agreed. Many economists warned at the euro's inception that weaker economies would need to have much more flexible labour markets in order to cut wage costs and maintain competitiveness, because they were giving up the option of devaluing their currency. The former prime minister said that European politicians risked their countries being picked off one-by-one by the financial markets.

Robert Peston, Business editor, BBC News comments:- "Mr Brown's intervention matters, partly because he remains in contact with other European leaders - and partly because he is saying what members of the British government also believe but cannot say."

Florida growers endured a freeze and difficult spell of weather in January, "but now, the timing is more unfortunate because we are gearing up to put vegetables out for peoples' holiday meals," said Lisa Lochridge, spokeswoman for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association. The association was still determining total loss on Tuesday.

In Palm Beach County, the nation's top producer of winter vegetables, the price of a bushel of green beans soared 62% Tuesday to between $24 and $26, compared to $14 to $16 over the weekend, said JD Poole, vice president of Pioneer Growers Cooperative in Belle Glade, Florida. Frigid air from Canada pushed into the southeast Monday, bringing snow to mountains in Tennessee and West Virginia, cancelling schools in parts of North Carolina, and ushering in temperatures 15 to 20 degrees below normal in some places. The National Weather Service issued a freeze warning through Wednesday morning for most of Florida, the southeast corner of Alabama and southern Georgia.

In Loxahatchee, Florida, workers at Hundley Farms were up all night into Tuesday, running warm water between crops of sweet corn and green beans to fend off frost. Starting at 3:40 am, six helicopters flew at varying levels back and forth over Hundley's fields an in attempt to push the layer of warm air down on the crops, said Tom Perryman, crop supervisor. Still, Tuesday morning revealed that about 30% of the crops were hurt by freeze, with delicate green beans the worse off, he said, adding, "And still have to get through tonight. I can't remember a time when we had a freeze by December 7," he said.

If you were overdrawn by 1,000 pounds for a year, the cost would be nearly 200 pounds, before any other charges or fees are taken into account. Lloyds, which was bailed out by the taxpayer two years ago, charges 19.3% - with customers required to pay 5 pounds a month on top for the privilege of having an overdraft facility.

Last night Andrew Hagger, of financial information website Moneynet, said: 'When an overdraft is unauthorised, you can understand the idea that you are charged when you go further into the red. But to ask to borrow money and then be charged these exorbitant rates is just very difficult to swallow.' He said that the record authorised overdraft rates revealed by the Bank of England were particularly galling when they were compared to the average interest rate paid to those whose current accounts are not overdrawn.

An average customer in credit is paid interest at an insulting 0.19%. If you were to have a 1,000 pounds in your account for a year, a basic rate taxpayer would get interest worth a paltry 1.50 pounds after tax. Banks say these daily charges are easier for customers to understand. The average unauthorised overdraft rate is now around 3%, with some of the worst offenders charging up to 30%, according to Moneyfacts.

He said: 'Greece is insolvent, Portugal has a liquidity problem, Spain has a liquidity problem, Belgium has been cooking the books for a long time, Italy has been cooking the books for a long time and the UK is totally insolvent.'

Rogers has been criticised for making attention-grabbing remarks. But his views are not entirely without basis. While debt owed by the British government is less, relatively, than the amounts faced by Ireland, Greece or Japan, the UK's debts in total are 466% of annual economic output once consumer debt is included. That's second only to Japan.

The markets are, understandably, nervous. The prices paid for Portuguese government bonds say the country needs a rescue - but their finance minister hotly denies it. Which is reminiscent of Ireland's Taoiseach pooh-poohing the idea three weeks ago that any rescue was needed for Ireland. The IMF says the reserve fund the eurozone nations have cobbled together after the Greek troubles is too small. The zone's finance ministers insist that it is ample.

With so many in or near the firing line - even the names of Belgium and Italy are whispered - the call goes out for the European Central Bank to prop up the weak nations by taking over their bond issues. Not on your life, says Germany's Angela Merkel. Her voters would not stand for taking over other nations' borrowing.

For the British view of a euro break-up we have Professor Stephen Nickell, from the Office for Budget Responsibility, saying that it is possible, but he thinks it highly unlikely. It would have created a storm if he'd said anything stronger. When it comes to the timing of the end-game, Britain has its own experience of currency crises. It reminds us that they can come to a head at almost bewildering speed.

The figure includes the carbon generated by flights, transport, hotels and food - and means the conference is polluting at the same rate as Somalia or Mali. The organisers of the UN talks say they will plant trees and pay farmers to protect forests to offset the emissions. The Mexicans are also recycling rubbish from the conference, which spans two venues connected by shuttle buses running on biodiesel. However, the rubbish has to be driven 800 miles to the nearest recycling plant in Mexico City.

Last year's summit in Copenhagen generated an estimated 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide - a figure that was lower because many delegates did not need to fly. More than 15,000 delegates and campaigners have flown to Cancun to work toward a treaty that cuts greenhouse gas emissions and prevents temperatures rising by more than 2c.

Delegates are also trying to set up a 60 billion pounds fund to help poor nations cope with global warming as well as creating a financing scheme to protect forests. The talks last until the weekend.

"I expect interest rates in the US to go much, much, much higher over the next few years," he said, adding that he is betting against US Treasuries. The core personal consumption expenditure index, which strips out food and energy costs, is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation. This was flat in October for the second straight month.

"Everybody in this room knows prices are going up for everything," Mr Rogers told the Reuters Summit. The investor remains bullish on commodities given the debt crises facing many countries across the world. "If the world economy gets better, commodities are going to go up in price because there are shortages. If the world economy does not get better, you should own commodities, because [central banks] are going to print more money," he said. "Real assets are the way to protect yourself.

Attacking the EU's "bad economics" for "corroding the value of the euro", Rogers painted a stark picture of the single currency's future. "I don't expect the euro to be around within 10 to 15 years," he said, adding that the Chinese yuan is the most attractive currency today.

Instead, European Union finance ministers confirmed that a second, more stringent round of stress tests on the banks would be carried out in February and that the details of a permanent crisis resolution mechanism for troubled euro members would be outlined next week. Weaker nations had been pushing for the 440 billion euros euro-area rescue package to be increased to calm tremulous bond markets.

Facing resistance from Germany, the strongest nation in the single currency bloc, the plans were dropped. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said: "Up to now there is no need to increase the means available for the facility. If needed, we will consider, but there is no question today." In the meantime, the European Central Bank continues to prop up Greece, Ireland and Portugal by buying their sovereign debt from banks to provide liquidity. Last week, it bought nearly 2 billion euros - its most concerted action in five months.

Attention is now switching to Portugal, which is considered the next weak link in the chain, after Greece's 110 billion euros bail-out and Ireland's 85 billion euros rescue. Speaking after a two-day meeting of EU finance ministers, Olli Rehn, European Economic Affairs Commissioner said: "Currently the Portuguese government is preparing its next steps and in our view, it is important that the Portuguese government will shortly substantiate the consolidation measures for next year."

The euro has never been popular with Germans. But now that they might have to atone for the financial sins of other EU countries, the number of euroskeptics has been swelling dramatically.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel would warmly welcome a chance to provide a bit of relief on the domestic front. The way to do so is through something the experts call "creditor liability." In layman's terms, it means that the scoundrels from the banks that lent all the money to the severely cash-strapped EU member states should bear some of the pain resulting from any defaults. Merkel has publicly stated that the euro zone should no longer be a "land of milk and honey" for the financial institutions that cashed in on high interest rates from their loans without being held responsible when things collapse.

But, as we all know, that won't happen. Once again, Berlin has gone to Brussels and failed to push anything through, not against the alleged friends from France and not against the rest of the Europeans. The banks are apparently now only going to have to help bear the costs in "extreme cases," involving downright insolvency. If it is simply a matter of the countries having problems servicing their debts, the banks are supposed to be "encouraged" to hold on to the government bonds of high-debt nations a little longer.

With this decision, Europe is continuing to pile new debt on top of old, is letting itself sink deeper into a mire of debt, and is just putting off steps that will be unavoidable in the future. The end result will be that when the crash finally does come, it will be all the more devastating.

The group of about 25 neo-Nazis marched through the district until they reached Turmstrasse underground station where they extinguished their torches, according to a report in Sunday's Berliner Morgenpost.

They then ran off in different directions, but by that time a number of plain-clothes police officers had arrived at the scene and arrested four suspects, confiscating leaflets. The four men aged between 20 and 26 years old are being investigated on suspicion of incitement. It seems the group were members of the 'National Liberation Front', a particularly radical group of neo-Nazis.

The leaks actually benefit the establishment by providing a myriad of distraction news stories and ammunition for the corporate media to have more false debates surrounding Iran and the bogus terror war. Supposedly, this recent batch of documents released by Wikileaks is only a small portion of the entire Cablegate archive which raises a number of questions. Why would Julian Assange the public face behind Wikileaks not release a vast majority of the documents all at once?

It is understandable that he would want an insurance policy by keeping a cache of documents that they could release in case he or other people affiliated with Wikileaks get arrested but what is not understandable is why he would not release as many documents as possible. It certainly appears as if Wikileaks wants to turn this whole Cablegate scandal into a long drawn out affair by releasing all of these documents over a long period of time.

The bottom line is that if Wikileaks was a real operation, almost all of these documents in the Cablegate archive would have been immediately released. They want this to be a long drawn out affair to provide an unlimited amount of distraction news stories and discussions in the corporate media. It will also be used to provide a justification to establish more controls over the alternative media and the Internet.