The state-run unemployment insurance programs are normally financed with payroll taxes paid by employers on each worker. BUT THE FUNDS' TAX REVENUES ARE FALLING AT THE SAME TIME AS BENEFIT DEMANDS ARE RISING. Nine million Americans are receiving jobless benefits, triple the number who got checks at the beginning of the year.

Experts predict the number of recipients will peak sometime this summer as long-term unemployed run out of benefits, which were recently extended and last for 59 weeks in most cases. "I believe I have two months of benefits left," said Czernicki, 44, who was laid off from her Eau Claire, Wisconsin, newspaper editing job last year.

Forty-six states have collective budget deficits totaling at least $130 billion, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and lawmakers are having to make unpalatable choices between tax increases and spending cuts.

But of these, a quarter are drinking more than 20 units a week - equivalent to about 10 pints of beer. One in 20 of these drinkers also drink alone, and A QUARTER OF DRINKERS CLAIMED TO REGULARLY BINGE DRINK, the research found. The most popular drinks remained vodka-based alcopops, but cider is also making a comeback - increasing significantly in popularity since 2005.

Trading Standards North West, which carried out the poll, said it intended to write to the firms behind these drinks to "seek clarification of the plans for action to reduce their appeal to young people". The majority of young people said they obtained their alcohol from relatives and friends over the age of 18.

Dr Ruth Hussey, regional director of Public Health, said: "The amount of alcohol consumed by some teenagers is of great concern. Not only does it pose a significant threat to their health, it puts them at greater risk of violence and unplanned pregnancy."

In addition, the percentage of obese and overweight children is at or above 30% in 30 states. The report warns WIDESPREAD OBESITY IS FUELLING RATES OF CHRONIC DISEASE, and is responsible for a large, and growing chunk of domestic healthcare costs. Obesity is linked to a range of health problems, including heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

Dr Jeff Levi, TFAH executive director, said: "OUR HEALTH CARE COSTS HAVE GROWN ALONG WITH OUR WAIST LINES. The obesity epidemic is a big contributor to the skyrocketing health care costs in the US. How are we going to compete with the rest of the world if our economy and workforce are weighed down by bad health?" The US government has set a target of cutting obesity rates in all 50 states to 15% by next year. However, the report said this target was certain to be missed.

For the fifth year in a row, Mississippi had the highest rate of adult obesity at 32.5%. Three other states - West Virginia, Alabama and Tennessee - also had adult obesity rates in excess of 30%. In just one state - Colorado - was the adult obesity rate below 20%. IN 1991, NO STATE HAD AN ADULT OBESITY RATE ABOVE 20%, AND IN 1980 THE NATIONAL AVERAGE FOR ADULT OBESITY WAS 15%.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that the German Constitutional Court has ruled that the Lisbon Treaty is compatible with the German Constitution, BUT has withheld approval for immediate ratification, demanding a law to guarantee the rights of the German Parliament in the EU decision-making process.

The press release of the Constitutional Court notes that the German ratification act should be modified because the German Lower House and Upper House "have not been accorded sufficient rights of participation in European lawmaking procedures and treaty amendment procedures." It continues: "the Federal Republic of Germany's instrument of ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon may not be deposited as long as the constitutionally required legal elaboration of the parliamentary rights of participation has not entered into force."

FT Deutschland notes that "THE JUDGES HAVE CONSIDERED THE EU TO HAVE A DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT. Therefore sovereign rights such as decisions on budgetary matters or on penal law, cannot be transferred to the EU without the consent of the German Lower and Upper House". The newspaper reports that this means the German Parliament will in future need to consent to any changes to the EU treaties, with Frankfurter Rundschau reporting that military operations, "which could be possible after Lisbon", will have to be approved by the German Parliament.

Deutsche Welle quotes the Court saying: "If one wanted to summarise this result, one could say: the Constitutional Court says 'yes' to the Lisbon Treaty but demands that parliament's right to participation be strengthened at the national level." Die Welt notes that the German law giving the Parliament more say could pass soon, with a first reading to be held on 26 August. The leader of the Christian Democrat faction leader in the German Parliament Norbert Röttgen has announced that the second and third reading are planned for 8 September. German elections are to be held on 27 September.

The disease it carries, dengue fever — debilitating and sometimes lethal — is spreading fast. More than 100 million people in 100 countries are afflicted every year. Fatality rates can top 20 percent. There is no vaccine, no cure and no solution — none, at least, that conventional medicine can offer.

A new strategy involves a subtle reconfiguring of the bug's DNA. Scientists working in labs near Oxford have devised a genetic modification that sterilizes the male Aedes, transforming the critter into his own worst enemy. He can still mate — but he can't breed. Any offspring dies before becoming fully developed. The idea is to release a huge, all-conquering swarm of the doctored insects into the wild, let them find partners among the native females and wait for the mosquito population to decline. Preliminary trials, looking at both safety and effectiveness, have already taken place in Malaysia. WITHIN A FEW YEARS, THE FRANKEN-INSECTS COULD BE AIRBORNE.

The idea of GM mosquitoes was first floated 20 years ago. But it's only recently gained the support of mainstream health officials. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested $38 million into the research. In May, experts from around the world gathered in Geneva for a meeting sponsored by the World Health Organization to discuss progress and develop global guidelines for testing. Some environmental groups are alarmed at the development, and a confrontation looks certain. This is one they may lose. Unlike GM crops, whose benefits have more often gone to farmers, GM insects address a global health problem that causes great human suffering and death.

To an eco-aware generation, already fearful of genetically modified food, any tinkering with the world's delicately balanced ecosystems is unacceptable. "The inherent arrogance of believing that you can control the outcome is outrageous," says Gillian Madill, a genetic-technologies campaigner at Friends of the Earth in Washington.

"A healthy cooperation between the Church and the political community is possible," the [Pontiff] said. He also noted that "RELIGIONS DO NOT REPRESENT A THREAT TO THE UNITY OF THE NATION." The Church "invites all her members," he continued, "to commit themselves loyally to the building of a just, solidary and equitable society."

The Pontiff insisted that the Church "absolutely does not wish to replace government authorities," but wants merely "to be able to play a just part, in a spirit of dialogue and respectful cooperation, in the life of the nation, at the service of the whole people."

The two drugs combine a narcotic with acetaminophen, the ingredient found in popular over-the-counter products like Tylenol and Excedrin. High doses of acetaminophen are a leading cause of liver damage, and the panel noted that patients who take Percocet and Vicodin for long periods often need higher and higher doses to achieve the same effect.

Acetaminophen is combined with different narcotics in at least seven other prescription drugs, and all of these combination pills will be banned if the Food and Drug Administration heeds the advice of its experts. Vicodin and its generic equivalents alone are prescribed more than 100 million times a year in the United States.

In 2005, AMERICAN CONSUMERS BOUGHT 28 BILLION DOSES OF PRODUCTS CONTAINING THE INGREDIENT. While the medicine is effective in treating headaches and reducing fevers, even recommended doses can cause liver damage in some people. And more than 400 people die and 42,000 are hospitalized every year in the United States from overdoses.

Earlier this month, President Nicolas Sarkozy said the burka, which covers the whole face, was not welcome in the strictly secular country. "Yesterday was the hijab (the Islamic headscarf long banned in French schools) and today, it is the niqab (the full veil)," Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, head of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was quoted as saying.

"We will take revenge for the honour of our daughters and sisters against France and against its interests by every means at our disposal." The group also called on Muslims to retaliate for what it called French "hostility" against the community and its attempt to obstruct Islam's practice on its territory.

France is home to Europe's largest Muslim community and faces a dilemma between accommodating Islam and maintaining secularism. In 2004, it passed a law banning headscarves or any other "conspicuous" religious symbols in schools to uphold a separation between church and state. THE MAJORITY OF MUSLIM CLERICS AROUND THE WORLD DO NOT REGARD WEARING THE BURKA, UNLIKE THE HEAD COVER, AS A RELIGIOUS OBLIGATION UNDER ISLAM.

But on Monday, as lawmakers raced to hammer out an agreement over school funding, state agencies began preparing 31,000 workers to be temporarily out of a job. Republican Governor Mitch Daniels has warned residents that most of the state's services - including its parks, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and state-regulated casinos - would be shuttered unless a budget is passed today.

Indiana is one of five states - along with Arizona, California, Mississippi and Pennsylvania - bracing for possible shutdowns this week as time runs out for lawmakers to close billion-dollar gaps in their fiscal 2010 budgets. Of the 46 states whose fiscal year ends today, 32 did not have budgets passed and approved by their governors as of Monday afternoon, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"It's a lot of states that are coming down to the wire," Haggerty said. "It's far more than we've seen in the past, and it's because of the state of the economy." Since 2002, only five states have been forced to shut down their governments. Some of the closures were brief: In 2007, Michigan's doors were closed for four hours before lawmakers passed emergency measures that bought them time to close a $1.75-billion deficit. "What's different now is that the recession has eroded tax revenues across the country," Haggerty said. Collectively, he said, states are wrestling with budget deficits totaling $121 billion.

It is facing a budget deficit of $24bn (€17bn, £14.5bn) yet Arnold Schwarzenegger, its governor, and the state assembly cannot agree on a budget that would address the shortfall. California's fiscal year ends on Wednesday but as the state's cash reserves are empty, IOUs will be issued to a range of creditors, including contractors, such as information technology companies and the food service groups that cater for prisons. "On Wednesday we start a fiscal year with a ­massively unbalanced spending plan and a cash shortfall not seen since the Great Depression," said John Chiang, the state ­controller. "Unfortunately, the state's inability to balance its chequebook will now mean short-changing taxpayers, local governments and small businesses."

Mr Schwarzenegger said he would veto any bills that raised taxes without reforming the state's government. "I will veto any majority vote tax increase bill that punishes taxpayers for Sacramento's failure to live within its means," he said. "The legislature will have a difficult time explaining to Californians why they are running floor drills the day before our budget deadline. We do not have time for any more floor drills or partial solutions. It's time for the legislature to send me a budget that solves our entire deficit without raising taxes."

(California is home to the largest manufacturing belt in the United States and to Silicon Valley, the nation's largest high-tech center. California is America's most populous state with 38 million people. Its GDP of $1.8 trillion is the largest in the US. ITS ECONOMY IS BIGGER THAN THOSE OF RUSSIA, BRAZIL, CANADA, OR INDIA.)

Russia, whose foreign policy is traditionally fixated on America, is buzzing with anticipation that the visit might improve ties between the former Cold War enemies. US ambassador Beyrle, ever the diplomat, has been at pains to play down all the issues of conflict. Russia and America, he says "have more common interests than disagreements."

The majority opinion in Moscow is that the more conciliatory tone of the Obama team stems solely from the current weakness of the US economy. "Of course Obama hasn't given up the ambition that America remains the leading power," says Evgeny Bazhanov of the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow.

Nuclear disarmament offers the best chances of quick progress. Obama wants to reduce the number of nuclear warheads for long-range missiles to around 1,000 in an initial step. Medvedev is talking about having less than 1,700 in a continuation of the Start I treaty, which expires in December. In the best-case scenario, Russian diplomats see OBAMA'S VISION OF A WORLD FREE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AS A "BEAUTIFUL DREAM," as Yuli Kvitsinsky, a former Soviet ambassador to West Germany and an experienced disarmament expert, puts it. IF ANYTHING, IT'S SEEN AS A TRAP TO FURTHER WEAKEN RUSSIA'S INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD.

Mr Cameron accused Mr Brown of "deceit, dishonesty and deception" after Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, admitted that the Government would not publish a spending review before the next election. In what was the Tory leader's strongest attack yet on Mr Brown's integrity, he all but called him a liar. The cancelling of the spending review was "a blatant attempt to cover up the truth of Labour cuts", he said.

Mr Cameron admitted that an incoming Tory administration would have to cut spending because of the dire state of the public finances. Mr Brown has made no such admission, and Mr Cameron said that if Labour were to win the next election and then start to implement the inevitable measures required to rebalance the public finances, the public would react with anger.

"THE CUPBOARD IS BARE. TOUGH DECISIONS HAVE TO BE MADE. CUTS CAN'T BE AVOIDED. IT DOESN'T SOUND EASY ON THE EAR BUT THE PUBLIC MUST HAVE THE TRUTH," said Mr Cameron. "That would be the worst of it: you go into an election pretending you are not going to have to make spending reductions, then you have to make them, and THEN YOU REALLY DO HAVE RIOTS ON THE STREETS because people do not have faith in their politicians."

Gary Taylor, president and owner of MJJcommunity.com, said he understood the tragedies had mostly taken place outside of the UK but he believed one may have been British. "I know there has been an increase, I now believe the figure is 12. I believe there may have been one Briton who has taken their life," he said.

"It is a serious situation that these people are going through but Michael Jackson would never want this. He would want them to live." Jesse Jackson, a friend of the singer, has recorded a YouTube film on the site urging fans not to "self destruct".

Its authors include former defence secretary Lord Robertson and the ex-Lib Dem leader, Lord Ashdown. It comes after news of a £1bn cost overrun on two new aircraft carriers. The original budget for the two carriers for the Royal Navy was £3.9bn but the BBC has seen a memorandum revealing the programme will come under "severe pressure" because of the cost escalation. The head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, has previously defended the new carriers from accusations they were outdated "Cold War relics".

His counterpart in the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, had earlier suggested many of the Ministry of Defence's new equipment programmes were "irrelevant" to modern warfare. Similarly, the IPPR report suggests there ought to be a radical rethink of the way the UK budgets for defence. Spending on the aircraft carriers, along with the fighters which would fly from them and the destroyers protecting them, should be in the frame for cuts, its report says. THE AUTHORS SAY THE AIM SHOULD BE TO ERADICATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS, AND THERE SHOULD BE RENEWED DEBATE ABOUT THE TRIDENT SUBMARINE-BASED MISSILE SYSTEM.

The government is committed to renewing TRIDENT AT AN ESTIMATED COST OF £20BN. The policy is backed by the Tories but opposed by the Liberal Democrats and many Labour backbenchers. The report's authors also claim that the mission in Afghanistan is on course for possible failure unless it is changed to include a joint civilian-military stabilisation and reconstruction taskforce. It also draws lessons from the Mumbai attack in India, appealing for new preventative measures in case the UK has to face a terrorist attack at multiple locations in one of its major cities.

That would be a job for strengthened special forces, not the police, the report argues. There is also a broader appeal for Britain to do more to co-operate with Europe and stop relying on the Americans when it comes to security. THE REPORT SAYS BRITAIN WOULD BE DELUDED TO THINK THE US WOULD ALWAYS HELP BRITAIN OUT.

US-led combat operations are due to end by September 2010, with all troops gone from Iraq by the end of 2011. Iraqi troops are on the alert for insurgent attacks during the handover. Despite the pullback from cities and towns, due to be completed on Tuesday, US troops will still be embedded with Iraqi forces.

BBC defence and security correspondent Rob Watson says that while the pullback is significant, the actual withdrawal of US combat troops next year will pose a greater challenge. The success of that depends on Iraq's political leaders and their ability to tackle the country's many outstanding problems and tensions, he says.

Some 131,000 US troops remain in Iraq, including 12 combat brigades, and the total is not expected to drop below 128,000 until after the Iraqi national election next January. Iraqi soldiers paraded through Baghdad's streets on Monday in vehicles decorated with flowers and Iraqi flags, while patriotic songs were played through loudspeakers at checkpoints. US commanders have said security and stability is improving, and that Iraqi forces are now ready to take over security operations.