The number of banks on the FDIC's list of problem institutions leaped to 305 in the first quarter - the HIGHEST NUMBER SINCE 1994 DURING THE SAVINGS AND LOAN CRISIS - from 252 in the fourth quarter. The FDIC expects US bank failures to cost the insurance fund around $70 billion through 2013.

The May closing of struggling Florida thrift BankUnited FSB is expected to cost the insurance fund $4.9 billion, the second-largest hit since the financial crisis began. The costliest was the July 2008 seizure of big California lender IndyMac Bank, on which the insurance fund is estimated to have lost $10.7 billion.

The largest US bank failure ever also came last year: Seattle-based thrift Washington Mutual Inc fell in September, with about $307 billion in assets. It was acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co for $1.9 billion in a deal brokered by the FDIC.

The world is on the verge of new manned exploration of the solar system – and, this time, environmentalists are backing it. Yesterday, the International Space Station, now as large as a four-storey house, yet speeding at 17,239mph, took on board the crew of the shuttle Endeavour: 12 men, one woman – seven Americans, two Russians, two Canadians, one Japanese and a Belgian. During a two-man space-walk, the crew added a four-ton porch – an outdoor shelf for experiments – to the station.

It is yet another small step in space exploration. But next month, a far bigger one could be taken. A panel of specialists will advise President Barack Obama on whether the US should embark on an ambitious 21st-century space programme that could see Americans return to the Moon, and eventually venture further to near-Earth asteroids and Mars. It is an issue that rouses not just space enthusiasts but those who think the world should have other, greener priorities.

Next year, China's first Mars probe will go into orbit around the planet after a 10-month, 236 million mile journey. There are also the lunar ambitions of India and Japan, plus the rivalry among companies for primitive commercial space flights.

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and XCOR Aerospace are vying with each other to make the first suborbital flights. Sir Richard has said that Virgin Galactic spaceships will be completed by December 2009 and are "on track to be carbon neutral", with paying passengers by 2011.

In a devastating attack on the regime, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a leading cleric and former President, told a crowd at Tehran University that the Government had lost the people's trust. Referring to the handling of last month's disputed election, which President Ahmadinejad claims to have won, he said that the custodians of the Islamic Revolution had undermined its basic principles.

Hojatoleslam Rafsanjani condemned the brutal suppression of protests and called for the release of those detained during the post-election crackdown. The crowd acclaimed his address by chanting: "Death to the dictator" and "Leaders, give us arms". Police and pro-government Basij militiamen responded by firing teargas and using truncheons to break up the crowd, the largest street gathering in weeks. Mehdi Karoubi, one of the presidential candidates who claims that his votes were stolen last month, was assaulted by plainclothes militia.

Only a month ago, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, declared that the election debate was over and warned of consequences for those who questioned the victory of Mr Ahmadinejad, the conservative incumbent. MANY WITHIN THE CLERICAL ESTABLISHMENT SAW HIS BACKING OF ONE CANDIDATE AS A BETRAYAL OF HIS POSITION.

The Neturei Karta believe that A JEWISH STATE CAN ONLY BE ESTABLISHED BY THE MESSIAH and thus denounce Israel as heretic and embrace its enemies. Mr Haniya welcomed them, saying Hamas rejects Zionist ideology, not Jews. "We feel your suffering, we cry your cry," the Associated Press quoted Rabbi Yisroel Weiss as saying.

"It is your land, it is occupied, illegitimately and unjustly by people who stole it, kidnapped the name of Judaism and our identity." The representatives entered Gaza, which is under a strict Israeli embargo, with a convoy of activists who travelled through Egypt.

Once it stood simply for Police Constable. But now PC could equally mean Pagan Cop. Witches, druids and followers of the Norse gods in police forces throughout the country have persuaded the Home Office to let them set up a support group.

THE PAGAN POLICE ASSOCIATION WILL HELP OFFICERS WHO CAST SPELLS AND JOIN MIDNIGHT RITUALS TO FIT THEIR BELIEFS AROUND THEIR POLICE WORK.

In a surprise act of reconciliation with the playwright, the Holy See's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, praised the poet as a "LUCID ANALYST OF THE MODERN WORLD". Wilde, who was sent to prison for acts of gross indecency with Lord Alfred Douglas and later CONVERTED TO CATHOLICISM, has been regarded by the Roman Catholic Church in the century since his death as a dangerous degenerate and dissolute nonconformist.

But in an article published on Thursday, L'Osservatore declared that the author of The Importance of Being Earnest was more than "an aesthete and a lover of the ephemeral". The playwright was, instead, "one of the personalities of the 19th century who most lucidly analysed the modern world in its disturbing as well as its positive aspects", the Vatican newspaper said in a review of a new book about Wilde by an Italian author.

While acknowledging that Wilde, who died in 1900, was a rebel who delighted in shocking Victorian England, L'Osservatore said he was a profound thinker WHO SPENT HIS PROFESSIONAL LIFE ASKING "WHAT WAS TRUE AND WHAT WAS FALSE". In April 1895, Wilde sued Douglas's father, the Marquis of Queensberry, for libel, after the Marquis had accused him of being homosexual. Wilde lost and, after salacious details of his private life were revealed during the trial, was arrested and tried for gross indecency. He was sentenced to two years of hard labour in Reading Gaol.

"And folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today know, the president knows, and I know, that the status quo is simply not acceptable," Biden said at the event on Thursday in Alexandria, Virginia "It's totally unacceptable. And it's completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it now. It can't do it financially. WE'RE GOING TO GO BANKRUPT AS A NATION," Biden said.

"Now, people when I say that look at me and say, 'What are you talking about, Joe? You're telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?'" Biden said. "The answer is yes, that's what I'm telling you." The event, sponsored by the AARP – which supports the Obama administration's plan – was attended by mostly AARP members who were bussed in for the meeting.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.4 percent yesterday, sending the value of China's domestic stock market to $3.21trillion, compared with Japan's $3.20trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Shanghai index has gained 75 percent this year, the best-performing major market, against a 5.5 percent advance in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average. The US has the biggest equities market worth $10.8trillion.

"China is just entering its stride and is still very much in a growth phase, while Japan is already a developed economy," said Daphne Roth, Singapore-based head of Asian equity research at ABN Amro Private Banking, which oversees about $14billion.

China last surpassed Japan in stock-market capitalization from January 4 to January 24, 2008, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Shanghai Composite tripled in the two years leading to its record on October 16, 2007, before tumbling 72 percent to its trough the following November.

New York's top income bracket could reach as high as 57 percent - rates not seen in three decades - to pay for the massive health coverage proposed by House Democrats this week. The top rate in New York City, home to many of the state's wealthiest people, would be 58.68 percent, the Washington-based Tax Foundation said in a report yesterday.

That means New York's top earners, small-business owners and most dynamic entrepreneurs will be facing new fees and penalties. The $544 billion tax hike would violate one of President Obama's ironclad campaign promises: No family will pay higher tax rates than they would have paid in the 1990s.

Under the bill, three new tax brackets would be created for high earners, with a top rate of 45 percent for families making more than $1 million. That would be the highest income-tax rate since 1986, when the top rate was 50 percent. The legislation is especially onerous for business owners, in part because it penalizes employers with a payroll bigger than $400,000 some 8 percent of wages if they don't offer health care. But the cost of the buy-in to the program may be so prohibitive that it will dissuade owners from growing their businesses - a scary prospect in the midst of a recession.

The review also recommends more transparent pay and bonus structures. The comprehensive review by the ex-City regulator Sir David Walker may pave the way for boardroom practices to be overhauled. Sir David spoke to banks, institutional investors and experts in remuneration and corporate governance in preparing the report.

"IT IS CLEAR THAT GOVERNANCE FAILURES CONTRIBUTED MATERIALLY TO EXCESSIVE RISK- TAKING IN THE LEAD UP TO THE FINANCIAL CRISIS. Weaknesses in risk management, board quality and practice and control of remuneration need to be addressed," he concluded. After many people, including MPs, questioned the level of banking experience of some directors, Sir David has set out plans for non-executive directors to receive formal training.

Non-executive directors are those who do not have responsibility for the day-to-day management of the business and who are, therefore, expected to keep a close eye on the overall risks being taken by banks. Some feel that they failed in this responsibility in the run up to the financial crisis. THERE WAS CONCERN THAT TOO MANY PEOPLE WORKING AT BOARD LEVEL WITHIN BANKS DID NOT HAVE ANY FORMAL TRAINING AS BANKERS.

Hosting the Jewish delegates in the White House on Monday, Obama said that Israel needs "to engage in serious self-reflection" if it is to succeed in reaching a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The American president repeatedly made it clear that in his view this can only mean the creation of an Arab state within Israel's current borders. HE PRESENTED THE "TWO-STATE SOLUTION" AS A SOLUTION HE WISHES TO PROMOTE TO DEAL WITH ISRAEL'S PURPORTEDLY PRECARIOUS DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION.

President Obama also said that he will continue to press his administration's demands on Israel urgently and publicly, regardless of opposition from the Netanyahu government. Keeping American disputes with Israel from the public eye, as he claimed was done in the past, has not served the interests of peace, Obama informed his guests. He likened this decision to the open and honest conversation needed among close friends.

At the same time, Obama stated, his administration would not adopt a foreign policy inimical to Israel's security needs. Some of those present suggested that a visit by President Obama to Israel would go a long way to assuring the Israeli people of that commitment. Obama expressed approval of the idea.

Several months ago a fundraising campaign was conducted in Greece, with a star-studded telethon for THE HOSPITALS THAT ISRAEL ALLEGEDLY "DESTROYED WITH THEIR BOMBS" during the Operation Cast Lead counter terrorist campaign from last December through mid-January.

THE JTA REVEALED THAT THE SUPPOSED HOSPITAL WAS NOT ON UNITED NATIONS AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETY LISTS OF DAMAGED STRUCTURES. OFFICIALS OF NON-GOVERNMENT GROUPS (NGOS) IN GAZA TOLD THE AMERICAN JEWISH NEWS NETWORK THAT ONLY ONE CHRISTIAN HOSPITAL WAS USED DURING THE CAMPAIGN AND THAT IT DID NOT SUSTAIN ANY DAMAGE.

When questioned, the Greek television station that broadcast the telethon said it was only responsible for providing the air time and that the government and a trade union were behind the campaign. The union referred the JTA to the government. After the investigation began, a financial newspaper in Greece published a small article that "a project is being sought in Gaza to be financed by the money" that was raised in the February telethon.

The judgement was initially greeted with relief by the pro-integration camp as it did not say the EU treaty was incompatible with the German constitution. But the 147-page ruling, now scoured by legal and constitutional experts, IS CAUSING STRONG DISCUSSION IN POLITICAL CIRCLES, just weeks before a new draft law incorporating the court's points is to be published.

CSU chief Horst Seehofer on Saturday (11 July) said his party wants parliament to have veto power on EU decisions. He said the parliament should be allowed to take a stance on certain issues and the government should be bound by it, but that parliament does not have to be asked for its opinion on every single EU decision. "We want the EU to be able to function BUT IT MUST ALSO BE DEMOCRATICALLY LEGITIMISED," said Mr Seehofer.

Wolfgang Reinhart, head of the Europe committee in the senate and leader of a working group on the regions, told the Sueddeutsche newspaper: "We do not want the government to carry on doing what it wants in those areas where, according to the constitution, we have core competences."

Like most developments in the area of European military co-operation, THE WORK OF THE EDA IS HAPPENING COMPLETELY OUTSIDE THE VIEW OF THE WIDER GENERAL PUBLIC. The lack of public involvement in an area that is still highly controversial, undermines its legitimacy and risks further erosion of public support for the wider European project.

The statement in the Constitution that "Member States shall undertake progressively to improve their military capabilities" is directly linked to the establishment of the EDA. IT HAS LED MANY TO DOUBT WHETHER EUROPE INTENDS TO BE A FRIENDLY MILITARY POWER. Such suspicions have been further fuelled by the EDA mantra that "we need to spend more and to spend better". Its claims that military co-operation would lead to rationalised forces and thus save money, have not proved credible.

Along the same lines, French President Sarkozy has argued that, "EUROPE CANNOT BE A DWARF IN TERMS OF DEFENCE AND A GIANT IN ECONOMIC MATTERS." Then Greek Defence Minister Papantoniou said in 2003: "We [Europe] must strengthen our presence, especially in the defence field, in order for the United States to view us seriously."

THE FACT THAT THE EDA HAS REMAINED LARGELY INVISIBLE TO MOST PEOPLE IS DEEPLY PROBLEMATIC. The referenda rejecting the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty showed the ambiguity and widely diverging, often negative, views of European citizens on the current state and proposed future of Europe - including its rapidly developing security and defence policies. Continuing on the road to further EU military integration, including the special role for the EDA, without broad public consultation and a serious public debate, risks further undermining trust in the wider European project.

You have recently received an Open Letter from the Woods Hole Research Centre, exhorting you to act quickly to avoid global disaster. THE LETTER PURPORTS TO BE FROM INDEPENDENT SCIENTISTS, BUT THAT CENTRE IS THE FORMER DEN OF THE PRESIDENT'S SCIENCE ADVISOR, JOHN HOLDREN, AND IS FAR FROM INDEPENDENT. This is the same science advisor who has given us predictions of "almost certain" thermonuclear war or eco-catastrophe by the year 2000, and many other forecasts of doom that somehow never seem to arrive on time.

The facts are: The sky is not falling; the Earth has been cooling for ten years, without help. The present cooling was NOT predicted by the alarmists' computer models, and has come as an embarrassment to them. The finest meteorologists in the world cannot predict the weather two weeks in advance, let alone the climate for the rest of the century. Can Al Gore? Can John Holdren? We are flooded with claims that the evidence is clear, that the debate is closed, that we must act immediately, etc, but in fact THERE IS NO SUCH EVIDENCE; IT DOESN'T EXIST.

The proposed legislation would cripple the US economy, putting us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors. For such drastic action, it is only prudent to demand genuine proof that it is needed, not just computer projections, and not false claims about the state of the science. SCIENCE IS GUIDED BY PROOF, NOT CONSENSUS.

Finally, climate alarmism pays well. Alarmists are rolling in wealth from the billions of dollars floating around for the taking, and being taken. It is always instructive to follow the money.

ROBERT H AUSTIN - Professor of Physics - Princeton University - Fellow APS, AAAS - American Association of Arts and Science Member National Academy of Sciences

WILLIAM HAPPER - Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics - Princeton University - Fellow APS, AAAS - Member National Academy of Sciences

S FRED SINGER - Professor of Environmental Sciences Emeritus, University of Virginia - First Director of the National Weather Satellite Service - Fellow APS, AAAS, AGU

ROGER W COHEN - Manager, Strategic Planning and Programmes, ExxonMobil Corporation (retired) - Fellow APS

HAROLD W LEWIS - Professor of Physics Emeritus - University of California at Santa Barbara - Fellow APS, AAAS; Chairman, APS Reactor Safety Study

LAURENCE I GOULD - Professor of Physics - University of Hartford - Chairman (2004), New England Section of APS

RICHARD LINDZEN - Alfred P Sloan Professor of Meteorology - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Fellow American Academy of Arts and Sciences, AGU, AAAS, and AMS - Member Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters - Member National Academy of Sciences