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31st over: Pakistan 69-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 22, Younis 19) Two spinners are on, the OBOers' Kryptonite. That and Saturday mornings. I can't really keep up, but rest assured that little is happening. The odd single here and there but, ominously for England, no oohs, aaahs or false strokes. "There must be a picture somewhere of Bearded Boycott," says John Starbuck. "In the late 70s-early 80s, especially under Brearley, you stood out as a freak if you didn't grow a set. The Aussies, even more so." A set of beards? Brearley's Ayatollah phase was wonderful. You can even get a T-shirt of it. "I'd actually quite like that..." mutters Bull.

30th over: Pakistan 67-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 21, Younis 18) Panesar. Maiden. You know the drill. "If Pakistan declared now, England would still lose, right?" says Sara Torvalds, proving that being Finnish is no barrier to a deep awareness of the essential nature of English cricket.

29th over: Pakistan 67-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 21, Younis 18) England are in trouble here. Nothing is happening. You'd have got long odds on Pakistan 3-0 England before this series. "Morning Rob, morning everybody," says Guy Hornsby. "I have just finished the magnificent A Confederacy Of Dunces, which surely should be an apt title for the batsmen in this series, with Pakistan's recklessness and England's cluelessness. Any other literary titles that the OBO faithful would advocate for these two fine teams? To be honest, I'd be happy with anything to keep out the cold today." It sure wouldn't be 766 And All That, unless you're talking about the number of stiff brandies that were necked in disgust around England in the 15 minutes after last Saturday's collapse.

28th over: Pakistan 65-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 18, Younis 17) "Matter of time here Pan, matter of time," says Matt Prior during another Panesar maiden, but the issue here is not the tick of the clock so much as the tick of the scoreboard. Pakistan are 23 ahead; it feels quite absurd to say that if they get another 150 they will probably be favourites. "The Beard Liberation Front reviewing the third day of the third Test note an intriguing battle between ball, bald and beard," says Keith Flett. "Strauss lacked the follicles to detect the flight of a ball in the first session and was stumped. However Panesar's beard is not fully aligned in the second session. BLF Organiser Keith Flett said 'despite discussion about whethe Geoffrey Boycott may stand for Parliament on TMS we can confirm that he is not eligible to be a BLF candidate'."

27th over: Pakistan 65-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 18, Younis 17) The Sky chaps point out that Swann is bowling a DRS line – much straighter – rather than his usual line. Mind you, the moment I typed that he tossed two up outside off stump, the second of which was driven for a single by Azhar Ali. "Re His Selveness' point, I understand it depends if you are struck in line or not," says Andy Moore. "Nonetheless I haven't seen this aspect of the review laws taken into consideration since the World Cup, and I think Broad could have been 3m forward in any case." In happier news, have a look at this.

26th over: Pakistan 62-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 17, Younis 17) A couple of runs in that Panesar over. There have been no centuries in this series. If it ends that way, it'll be the first instance in a series of three Tests or more since the rain-affected India v NZ series in 1995-96, when Lee Germon did a Tony Lewis and made his Test debut as captain. "The UDRS is writing cheques that Test cricket can't cash," writes Tom Marlow. "Maybe to balance the odds of getting out the next thing will be to make the wickets smaller."

25th over: Pakistan 60-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 16, Younis 16) Pakistan were 39 for six in this game as well. They look ominously comfortable just now, relative to the rest of the match/series at least. Younis touches Swann to fine leg for a single. "It has got to be worth a quid of anyone's money to have a bit of locker fun in the gym changing room," says Mike Selvey. You can have your beefcake and eat it. Honk.

24th over: Pakistan 59-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 16, Younis 15) "When Lara broke Sobers' record, Sir Garfield said he was the only batsman who played with his bat," says Gary Naylor. "Though an overstatement, his point was substantiated a few years later in that SL series when Lara was a one-man batting unit. If DRS makes more batsmen play like Lara, that'll be fantastic." True. But imagine having to change your entire game mid-career.

23rd over: Pakistan 58-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 16, Younis 14) Cook is still struggling a little with his knee. England are struggling a little with their bowling; Azhar Ali takes a half step forward and then rocks back to cut Swann for four. The mood of the match has changed in the last 10 minutes.

22nd over: Pakistan 53-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 12, Younis 13) Azhar Ali, having scored six from his first 51 balls, scores six from his 52nd ball with a lovely on-the-run drive over long-off off the bowling of Panesar. I was half-joking at this point yesterday when I said that England were going to lose. I'm not joking now. England are up a notorious creek, and they don't got no paddle. "I have recently admitted defeat and joined the gym," apologises Duncan Haskell. "Is it generally accepted that people are allowed to fill up the lockers with their stuff but not put their (refundable) pound in? It drives me Larry David insane, I am tempted to start locking the offending units myself and charging a hefty ransom/getting beat up." You're asking me about gym etiquette. You'd be better off asking Kojak about shampoo.

21st over: Pakistan 47-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 6, Younis 13) Here's Swann, to bowl only his second over of the match. Younus tickles him very fine for four. Pakistan are in the lead now, and Misbah-ul-Haq declares safe in the knowledge that England's batsmen have the yips and the only thing they can chase is their own tail. "Just so as we are clear," says Mike Selvey. "ICC have increased the 2.5 m limit in UDRS to 3m. So rather than address the more fundamental issue of ridiculously anomalous reviewed decisions according to whether or not the batsman was given out, they have actually increased the way a batsman can be out." It's a problem, for sure. Yesterday you had one batsman (KP) given out after a review when 0.00001 per cent of the ball was hitting stumps, and another (Umar Gul) given not out after a review when 30th over: Pakistan 67-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 21, Younis 18)99999 per cent of the ball was hitting the stumps.

20th over: Pakistan 41-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 5, Younis 8) "So," says Ken Danbury, "is Monty our number one spinner now? Swanny doesn't seem to be getting much of a look in on a spin friendly wicket. Pakistan seemed to have done alright with their spin twins. Or is that spin triplets?" Monty is bowling better at the moment, but Swann is definitely still No1. Swann's form is a slight worry, though. He has lost a little of his joie de vivre in the last 12 months.

19th over: Pakistan 41-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 5, Younis 8) Younis Khan eases Broad through mid-on for four, a gorgeous stroke. He has been struggling like an Englishman all series but he could take the game away from England with 70 or 80 here. Azhar Ali completes a good over for Pakistan – 10 from it – with a flowing cover drive for three. Cook saved four with a brilliant dive on the boundary, although he is now feeling his knee as a result. "I am not sure what all the commotion is about regarding the number of LBW decisions in this series," says Brian Rafferty. "Padding a ball away is now risky business, no matter where it pitches or how big the batsman's stride. Perhaps, just perhaps, it might be an idea to learn how to consistently get bat on ball." I know what you mean, but that feels like a glib thing to say: it is bloody hard if you have been a brilliant batsman for years and suddenly you find that everything you know is wrong. Pietersen's ongoing radge on the balcony yesterday felt much more significant than a batsman whinging about a dismissal.

18th over: Pakistan 31-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 2, Younis 1) Panesar has a lovely rhythm here, and is working on Azhar Ali. Another maiden. "I am a bit confused about some of these reviews," says Andy Moore. "I thought that if a batsmen is struck more than 2.5m from the stumps then a not out decision should not be overturned, yet in all the reviews in this series I haven't seen this looked at once. Stuart Broad's dismissal this morning was clearly a case in point. I'm all for DRS but the anomalies in the system are undermining it, and this seems to be another. Surprised it's been forgotten about really." You won't be surprised to hear me say that I don't know. I thought the 2.5m rule was simply another thing for the on-field umpires to consider and reject if they wish. But I'm not sure. Certainly Broad's dismissal left a feeling of unease, and for the first time yesterday there was a sense that maybe DRS has created a monster. I don't know.

17th over: Pakistan 31-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 2, Younis 1) Stuart Broad's second ball brings a huge shout for LBW against Azhar Ali. I said 'out' instinctively, but Simon Taufel said not out and he is a marginally better umpire than I am. Replays show the thinnest of inside edges, and that's an exceptional piece of umpiring. "Though there are few unplayable deliveries, the bowlers have found the way to get wickets and have stuck to their plans with great discipline," says Gary Naylor. "I don't know if it's great cricket, but it is great bowling, and an example of how shorter Tests offer so much more than Tests that go the distance on shirtfronts." Can't argue with that, although scarcity is a significant factor in the joy of these Tests. We'd not want them to become the norm.

16th over: Pakistan 30-2 (trailed by 42 on first innings; Azhar 1, Younis 1) It would be interesting to know the mindset of the Pakistan batsmen just now Logically in this situation you'd think, bat carefully and get to around 300. But lurking deep in their subconscious, just alongside the bit about wanting to sexually possess their mothers, must be the thought, we can set any target against this lot and win; we could declare now FFS. Maybe not the FFS bit. Anyway, it's Monty Panesar to bowl the first over after lunch. "Fun in the sun here lads!" says Matt Prior. It's a maiden to Younis Khan. "So, Rob," says John Starbuck, "if you had a hatful of money would you have bought anyone for an IPL side from The Best Test Team In The World?" I could barely care less, although it seems a bit surprising. Isn't it simply because they are only available for a small window?

Morning. The Decision Review Series hurtles towards its conclusion. There were six more wickets in the morning session, with Pakistan tucking into their innocent smoothies on 30 for two, 12 runs behind England. This match will probably be over before grandma's put the roast in the crock pot. The ghost of India v England 1981-82 is weeping at this crazy series. I've given up trying to explain it, so will settle purely for description in this session. This will, if the rest of this match is anything to go by, largely entail use of a six-letter word beginning with W.

LUNCH

So, at lunch Pakistan still trail by 12 runs. Rob Smyth will be here from 8.30am or so for the afternoon session. Send your emails to him now, please, on rob.smythl@guardian.co.uk.

15th over: Pakistan 30-2 (Ali 1 Younus 1) The last over of the morning is, perhaps unsurprisingly, another quiet one. Azhar Ali has played a dogged little innings here, blocking out another maiden.

14th over: Pakistan 30-2 (Ali 1 Younus 1) Another maiden, the third in the last four overs as these two try to draw the sting from England's bowling.

13th over: Pakistan 30-2 (Ali 1 Younus 1) Stuart Broad replaces Anderson, for a final little spell before the break. Ali continues to bat with admirable circumspection, and it is another maiden. He now has one run off 23 balls.

12th over: Pakistan 30-2 (Ali 1 Younus 1) Two singles off Monty's latest over, but I'm lagging behind the over-rate, so if you'll excuse me we'll move swiftly on.

11th over: Pakistan 28-2 (Ali 0 Younus 0) Azhar Ali plays out a maiden against Anderson. "They just used Ian Forth's stat on the telly and gave no credit! Shameful plagiarism! "They just used Ian Forth's stat on the telly and gave no credit!" points out Andrew Hulbert. "Shameful plagiarism!" They did indeed. But then, to be fair, we crib an awful lot off them in return here on the OBO. Including, you know, the footage of the cricket.

WICKET! Hafeez 21 LBW (Pakistan 28-2) But Monty wins in the end, landing the killer blow with a faster, flatter delivery that broke off the pitch just enough to slide past Hafeez's attempted sweep shot and hit him on the pad in front of off-stump. Touché. That was an enthralling little spell of cricket.

10th over: Pakistan 24-1 (Mohammad Hafeez 21, Azhar Ali 0) "That stroke excited you, didn't it?" says Aamer Sohail to his viewers, in a way that makes it sound very much like an order rather than a question. And he's right, it did. What a duel this is between Hafeez and Monty. Monty lunges out and lands a glancing blow, as Hafeez survives an LBW appeal. He then counters, stepping out and slashing a six down the ground over Monty's head. Having won the advantage, Hafeez makes another thrust, steering four through third man.

9th over: Pakistan 18-1 (Mohammad Hafeez 10, Azhar Ali 0) "What's wrong Andy? Dreaming of bed at 6:30 on a lovely sunny Saturday evening," asks Peter Kunzli, who is seemingly oblivious to the fact that it is 7.30am on Saturday morning, but still... "I thought you OBO'ers went to bed at 8pm ready for the off next day." Indeed we do, Peter, that's exactly right. And then when we get there we lie awake all night torturing ourselves with thoughts of the little typos and miscalculations in the scores we made during that day's play. After all these years Smyth and myself are still searching of the perfect OBO, a little like Patrick Swayze with his wave in Point Break. Of course we'll never find it, but the pursuit of the ideal is what keeps us sharp, on the edge, where we need to be, if you'll excuse me mixing my movie references.

8th over: Pakistan 17-1 (Mohammad Hafeez 10, Azhar Ali 0) Strauss brings Monty into the attack, and he hurries through six balls for the cost of just a single.

WICKET! Taufeeq 6 c Strauss b Anderson (Pakistan 16-1) That's not a no ball though, it's a brilliant piece of bowling by Anderson, who has been using the width of the crease to cause the batsmen different, difficult problems. This ball, as Bumble points out, was delivered from a little closer in, and Taufeeq edged the ball through to first slip.

7th over: Pakistan 11-0 (Mohammad Hafeez 9, Taufeeq Umar 6) trail England by 42 on the first innings Another terrific shot, as Taufeeq latches on to a similarly loose delivery to the one that Broad gifted to Hafeez in the last over. Anderson's bad ball was a little shorter and a little wider, and Tauffeq cut it away for four off the back foot. England appeal for off the next ball, but Anderson has drifted so wide on the crease that it is a no ball.

6th over: Pakistan 11-0 (Mohammad Hafeez 9, Taufeeq Umar 2) trail England by 42 on the first innings An lbw appeal from England, lead by Broad. Of course he thinks it is out, but Strauss decides not to refer it, rightly pointing out that the ball hit Hafeez so high up on the pads that it would have gone over the top. Broad's line drifts out well wide of off-stump, and Hafeez pounces on the rare opportunity to score some easy run. He creams a drive away square for four so thunderous that the sound should reach me here in the office any second now.

5th over: Pakistan 7-0 (Mohammad Hafeez 5, Taufeeq Umar 2) trail England by 42 on the first innings "No wickets so far," harrumphs Bumble. "Why not?"

4th over: Pakistan 5-0 (Mohammad Hafeez 4, Taufeeq Umar 1) trail England by 42 on the first innings At last, a run. Five of them, in fact. Taufeeq pushes a single to the on side, and Hafeez flicks four to fine leg. Compared to the slapdash approach of the opening overs of the first innings, the openers are looking altogether more resolute here. As Rameez Raja has just said, only half in jest, "even a partnership of six looks pretty substantial." If Pakistan can muster 200 between them, they will be well on their way to a whitewash.

3rd over: Pakistan 0-0 (Mohammad Hafeez 0, Taufeeq Umar 0) trail England by 42 on the first innings A little swing for Anderson, whos is bowling quite beautifully. "Tough old game this cricket," sasy Ken Danbury. "Strauss is top scorer in the match so far. If you listen to Boycott you would think he had cost England the game." Did you mean to say "Tough old game this cricket," Ken? Or would "miserable old bugger this Boycott," have been more accurate?

2nd over: Pakistan 0-0 (Mohammad Hafeez 0, Taufeeq Umar 0) trail England by 42 Taufeeq takes strike, knowing he's one good ball or bad shot away from bagging a pair. There's plenty of carry off the pitch for England's opening pair, and Baroad rips a short ball past Taufeeq's dangling bat, but you still wonder whether Bumble has a point when he says "there's nothing at all in this surface". A batsman who can master this pitch and score the first hundred of the series would win his team the match.

1st over: Pakistan 0-0 (Mohammad Hafeez 0, Taufeeq Umar 0) Goodness me this is all starting to feel a little familiar. Hafeez is taking strike, and Anderson has the ball. "So once again, England's bowlers have to drag the team out of a batsmen-induced mire," writes Chris Langmead. "I wonder, despite all the bland clichés about team spirit in press conferences, whether Messrs Broad, Anderson, Swann and Panesar aren't getting just a bit ticked off that the batting line up isn't pulling its weight, especially as it's the bowlers who seem to get ultimately dropped as a result? I'm sure Matthew Hoggard would agree." I suspect you are right. There were some rather pointed comments about the apparent innocuousness of the pitch made by both Broad and Anderson yesterday. (Note: Somebody needs to silence the folk singing Jerusalem. Silence them permanently.)

The game, as they say, is afoot. I'll be back in five minutes for the start of the penultimate chapter.

WICKET! Swann 16 c Rehman b Ajmal (England 141 all out) Well, it only costs them four runs. Swann sweeps one more four, and then lofts a catch out to the deep. England are all out with a lead of 42.

REFERRAL! Swann 11 LBW Ajmal Steve Davis shakes his head, and though Hawkeye shows the ball would have knocked over off-stump, it's not so very sure of itself that the third umpire thinks he can overturn the on-field decision. So it is not out and Swann bats on.

55th over: England 137-9 (Swann 11, Panesar 0) Swann sweeps four more away to fine leg, and then...

WICKET! Strauss 56 st Akmal b Rehman (England 133-9) Strauss goes! He was trying to slog away towards the leg side, but missed the ball and was stumped by Akmal. It was good 'keeping from him, and a rather embarrassing end to a fantastic innings by England's skipper. And Rehman has his fifth wicket. He'd never had a five-wicket haul in Test cricket before this series, now he has two in two matches. Well, scratch what I said about Swann trying to play sensibly, he has to hit out now.

54th over: England 129-8 (Strauss 55, Swann 7) Swann flicks four runs away to fine leg. It's going to be interesting to see how he plays this - and as I type this he has just executed a dapper forward defensive. It has irritated me for years that he squanders his batting talent by giving himself licence to play shots and then brushing his dismissals off as "just the way I play."

53rd over: England 125-8 (Strauss 55, Swann 3) I have to say I find it a little hard to reason my way through all the permutations and complications of the DRS when I've had so little sleep, and the decisions come so thick and fast. It irritates me though that in this Test it has become such a regular feature of the play. Every other over seems to include a review of one sort or another, and, at the risk of sounding very fogeyish, it rather disruptes the rhythm of the play. "Watching proceedings this morning it's looking good - England looking likely to build a healthy first innings lead of at least 35," says Luke Ballard. "With that sort of monster to overhaul, what sort of target could pakistan conceivably set that would be out of England's reach? Do you think they would need to reach triple figures in their second innings?" After their performances in the last two innings, who could say? Anything more than 150 would be intimidating.

52nd over: England 122-8 (Strauss 53, Swann 0) Swann has come out to bat in a baseball cap. His choice of headgear is, I'd guess, a portent of how he intends to play. Mike Selvey is gobsmacked by that decision against Broad. "How can that be out? It's hit him outside the line. And I would hazard beyond the 2.5 m mark too." Hawkeye says otherwise, but other than that I'm not sure you'll find many people who'll disagree with you about how wicket that looked.

WICKET! Broad 4 LBW Ajmal (England 121-8) Oh dear, England. Broad has to go, though he's not all that happy about it. The delivery that did for him was a doosra, and despite what most people who saw it seemed to think when they saw the size of the stride he took down the pitch, Hawkeye shows it hit him in line, and would have gone on to hit the middle of middle stump.

REFERRAL! Broad 4 LBW Ajmal Pakistan have one review left, and they have decided to spend it on this LBW appeal. The on-field decision was not out.

50th over: England 121-7 (Strauss 53, Broad 4) Four! And, more important still, fifty! Well played Andrew Strauss. It has taken all of 141 balls, ands has been quite the ugliest half-ton he has scored in Test cricket, if also one of the most useful. It is only his second fifty in his last 15 Test innings, a run stretching back over 12 months.

49th over: England 116-7 (Strauss 46, Broad 4) England's lead grows a little more, up to 17, as Strauss cuts two runs to deep point. Here's Ian Forth, who I can't help but notice seems to be emailing from his wife's account, with a Smyth-esque piece of statgazzary: "Had a quick fossick through statsguru today. A side batting first and scoring less than 100 has only gone on to win in 4 test matches. The last time it happened was 1907. So there really is almost nothing whatsoever to worry about." A quick fossick? What a delightful turn of phrase. As for your conclusions, well, I'm sure Disraeli would have something to say about lies, damned lies, and emails from optimistic OBO readers.

48th over: England 114-7 (Strauss 46, Broad 4) "I've got a Mexican, cricket-hating wife," says James Gordon. "You're safe with her Andy. Not a cat in hell's chance." Somehow this riff seems to be stumbling blindly into territory I have no desire to go near. I'm not sure the world is ready for an OBO Readers' Spouses special just yet, hard as times are at the grauniad. Here's Gary Naylor, steering us in an altogether more wholesome direction: Waqar seems as classy with mic in hand as he was with ball in hand. "I"m still ill though, so I could be hallucinating all this."

47th over: England 112-7 (Strauss 44, Broad 3) The score is on Nelson, and the old curse almost strikes as Broad is forced to dive full-length into the crease, bat stretched out in front of him, to beat a throw from the outfield and complete a quick single.

46th over: England 110-7 (Strauss 44, Broad 2) "My american cricket-loving girlfriend who will be keeping YOU company while I go to bed in a few overs, has just asked me: "is this how it feels to be an England fan, cherishing every run without a wi... oh - damn, Jimmy'." You're leaving me alone with your cricket-loving girlfriend, Simon Bereton? Oh, mercy. It's a good thing you've got the married OBO writer doing the first shift, rather than the single (and devastatingly seductive) Mr Robert Smyth. Hack-hack-hack, ahem. Excuse me, I've something tickling the back of my throat. Just a single from Rehman's second over.

45th over: England 109-7 (Strauss 43, Broad 2) This is the key partnership of the morning. Ajmal is on now, bowling around the wicket to Broadm and Strauss immediately gives him the strike by taking a single off the first ball. Broad paddle-sweeps two runs away fine, surviving an optimistic LBW appeal as he does so.

WICKET! Anderson 4 b Rehman (England 106-7) Well, I guess you good say he did his job in that he got through the night, but so far as night watches go, Anderson's effort here was no Rembrandt. He rashly decided to drive against the spin, but the ball landed in the footmarks and span back through the gate into the stumps.

44th over: England 106-6 (Strauss 41, Anderson 3) Rehman will bowl the first delivery of the day, to Jimmy Anderson. He promised earlier this week that today's IPL auction "would not be a distraction for the team". Little did he know how right he was - Jimmy attracted no bids, and has not been bought. He has though been bowled...

And that, it seems is all the preamble we are going to have time for, because here come the players.

Good morning, good morning. Seconds out, round 25, and this fight is as fascinating now as it was way back on January 17 when the series started. England, we can assume, are going to come out swinging. They have five wickets in hand, but only three batsmen among them. As Jimmy Anderson has just said "hopefully Straussy and I will set a platform and then Broady and Swanny will come out and be at their destructive best." This, ladies and gents, is going to entertaining to watch.

• Pakistan v England 2011-12
• England cricket team
• Pakistan cricket team
• Cricket

Andy BullRob Smyth
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Embassies attacked over killing of more than 200 people ahead of vote calling for President Bashar al-Assad to resign

More than 200 people have been killed in shelling by Syrian forces in the city of Homs, according to activists, as the UN security council prepares to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for President Bashar al-Assad to resign.

As news of the violence spread, a crowd of Syrians stormed their country's embassy in Cairo and protests broke out outside Syrian missions in Britain, Germany and the United States.

Death tolls cited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 217 to 260, making the Homs attack the deadliest so far in Assad's crackdown on protests that erupted 11 months ago inspired by uprisings that overthrew three Arab leaders.

Residents said Syrian forces began shelling the Khalidiya neighbourhood at around 8pm on Friday using artillery and mortars. They said at least 36 houses were destroyed with families inside.

"We were sitting inside our house when we started hearing the shelling. We felt shells were falling on our heads," said Waleed, a resident of Khalidiya.

It was not immediately clear what had prompted Syrian forces to launch such an intense bombardment, just as diplomats at the security council were discussing the draft resolution supporting the Arab League demand for Assad to step aside.

Some activists said the violence was triggered by a wave of army defections in Homs, a stronghold of protests and armed insurgents whom Assad has vowed to crush.

"The death toll is now at least 217 people killed in Homs, 138 of them killed in the Khalidiya district," Rami Abdulrahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters, citing witnesses.

"Syrian forces are shelling the district with mortars from several locations, some buildings are on fire. There are also buildings which got destroyed."

A Syrian activist said Assad forces bombarded Khalidiya, a key anti-Assad district, to scare other rebel neighbourhoods. "It does not seem that they get it. Even if they kill 10 million of us, the people will not stop until we topple him."

The opposition Syrian National Council said 260 civilians were killed, describing it as "one of the most horrific massacres since the beginning of the uprising in Syria". It added that it believed Assad's forces were preparing for similar attacks around Damascus and in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour.
Another group, the Local Co-ordination Committees, gave a death toll of more than 200. It is not possible to verify activist or state media reports as Syria restricts independent media access.

Video footage on the Internet showed at least eight bodies assembled in a room, one of them with the top half of its head blown off. A voice on the video said the bombardment was continuing as the footage was filmed.

One activist said residents were using primitive tools to rescue people. They feared many were buried under rubble.

"We are not getting any help, there are no ambulances or anything. We are removing the people with our own hands," he said, adding there were only two field hospitals treating the wounded. Each one had a capacity to deal with 30 people, but he estimated the total number of wounded at 500.

"We have dug out at least 100 bodies so far, they are placed in the two mosques."

At the UN, the Security Council is due to vote on Saturday on a draft resolution endorsing an Arab League plan calling for Assad to resign.

It is unclear if Russia will abstain or use its veto. Moscow has opposed significant security council action on Syria.

Western diplomats in New York said the latest violence might make it more difficult for Russia to block it. "Would they dare, with what is happening in Homs?" one told Reuters.

Russia has balked at any language that would open to door to "regime change" in Syria, its crucial Middle East ally where Moscow operates a naval base.

In Cairo a crowd stormed the Syrian embassy, smashing furniture and setting fire to parts of the building in protest over the Homs bloodshed, an embassy official and a witness said.

The gate of the embassy was broken and furniture was smashed on the second floor of the building, a Reuters witness said. It was the second attack on the mission in a week.

In London more than 100 Syrians hurled stones at the Syrian embassy overnight, smashing windows and shouting slogans, and five people were arrested after trying to break in, according to reports.

At a rally in Washington people shouted "Syria soon will be free" outside the mission, according to TV footage.

In the Syrian cities of Hama and Idlib activists said hundreds of people took to the streets in solidarity. "Homs is bombarded and you are still sleeping?" they chanted in Idlib.

In Hama armed forces shot dead one person on Friday as they moved to break up a protest marking the anniversary of a 1982 massacre by troops loyal to Assad's father, activists said.

The Observatory said forces dispersed protests in the Janoub al-Malaab district of Hama where people had planned to release 1,000 red balloons to mark the killing of more than 10,000 people when Hafez al-Assad's forces crushed an Islamist uprising.

Violence also returned to the commercial hub Aleppo, which had largely remained on the sidelines of the uprising.

• Syria
• Bashar al-Assad
• Protest
• Middle East and North Africa
• United Nations

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Soldier charged with biggest leak of classified information in US history to face 22 counts, including aiding the enemy

A US army officer has ordered a court martial for Bradley Manning, the soldier charged in the biggest leak of classified information in American history.

Military district of Washington commander Major General Michael Linnington referred all charges against Manning to a general court martial on Friday, the army said in a statement.

The referral means Manning, 24, will stand trial for allegedly giving more than 700,000 secret US documents and a classified combat video to WikiLeaks for publication. He faces 22 counts, including aiding the enemy, and could be imprisoned for life if convicted of that charge.

A judge yet to be appointed will set the trial date.

Defence lawyers say Manning was clearly a troubled young soldier whom the army should never have deployed to Iraq or given access to classified material while he was stationed there from late 2009 to mid-2010.

At a preliminary hearing in December, military prosecutors produced evidence that Manning downloaded and electronically transferred to WikiLeaks nearly half a million sensitive battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables, and video of a 2007 army helicopter attack that WikiLeaks dubbed "Collateral Murder".

Manning's lawyers countered that others had access to his workplace's computers. They say he was in emotional turmoil, partly because he was a gay soldier at a time when homosexuals were barred from serving openly in the US armed forces. The defence also claims Manning's apparent disregard for security rules during training in the US and his increasingly violent outbursts after deployment were red flags that should have prevented him from having been given access to classified material. Manning's lawyers also contend that the material WikiLeaks published did little or no harm to national security.

In the December hearing at Fort Meade, Maryland, prosecutors also presented excerpts of online chats found on Manning's personal computer that allegedly document collaboration between him and the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange.

Federal prosecutors in northern Virginia are investigating Assange and others for allegedly facilitating the disclosures.

• Bradley Manning
• United States
• US military
• WikiLeaks

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Observers claim deaths came after shelling by security forces on eve of UN vote on removal of Bashar al-Assad

More than 200 people were reported to have been killed yesterday in the Syrian city of Homs as security forces continued their efforts to take back opposition-held areas on the eve of a vote by the UN security council on a much-disputed resolution on the country.

Hundreds more were killed in shelling of the city, according to the the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which cited witnesses.

Rami Abdulrahman, the head of the campaign group, said that women and children were among 217 people killed, many of them in the Khalidya district of the city.

"Syrian forces are shelling the district with mortars from several locations, some buildings are on fire. There are also buildings which got destroyed," Abdulrahman told Reuters.

The UN Security Council is expected to meet on Saturday morning to vote on a European-Arab draft resolution endorsing an Arab League plan calling for Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, to give up power, council members announced.

Britain's UN mission announced on Twitter that the meeting would take place at 9am, although diplomats told Reuters that it was unclear if Russia, which has opposed significant council action on Syria since an uprising started there 11 months ago, would vote in favour of, abstain from or veto the resolution.

Russia, which threatened on Thursday to veto the text, had promised to submit suggestions for revising the draft on Friday. Diplomats said the drafters had received no proposals from the Russian delegation so far.

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, spoke on Friday by telephone with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, in an effort to overcome Russian opposition to any statement that explicitly calls for regime change or military intervention in Syria.

A spokesperson for Clinton said that she and Lavrov agreed to have US and Russian diplomats continue to work on a Syria resolution and were planning to meet for more talks in the German city of Munich, where both figures are attending a security conference.

Russia's deputy foreign minister, Gennady Gatilov, also said on Friday that Moscow could not support the resolution in its current form but he expressed optimism that an agreement could be reached, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.

The latest draft includes changes made by Arab and European negotiators to meet some of Russia's concerns. It calls for a "Syrian-led political transition," does not criticise arms sales to Syria and leaves out some of the details of what the Arab plan entails, such as Assad transferring power to a deputy. But the draft still says the council "fully supports" the Arab plan, language Moscow has said it dislikes.

Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, meanwhile predicted on Friday that Assad will fall from power eventually but the process could be "long and bloody".

"Assad has no real challenge unfortunately from the international community as his case is being barred from discussion in the security council because of some members of the security council, and because he continues to get material, financial and military help from the ayatollahs in Iran and Hezbollah," he said.

• Syria
• Middle East and North Africa
• Arab and Middle East unrest
• Bashar al-Assad
• United Nations
• Russia

Ben Quinn
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US and Mexican coastguards search for 30-year-old seen falling from deck of world's largest cruise ship

A British passenger on the world's biggest cruise ship has apparently gone overboard in waters near Mexico.

The 30-year-old man was seen falling over the railings by another passenger on the Allure of the Seas, the Royal Caribbean International cruise firm said. He could also be seen falling over in CCTV footage.

The man went overboard as the ship was sailing to Cozumel, Mexico, and the Mexican navy and coastguard are assisting in the search.The company added: "The ship made multiple public announcements and began a complete search of the ship, in efforts to locate the guest.

"When the guest did not respond and was not found on board, the captain alerted the local authorities.

"The location of the ship at the time the guest went overboard was marked on the ship's GPS and the US and Mexican coastguard were alerted.

"Our care team is providing support to the guest's family and our thoughts and prayers are with them," the statement said.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "We are aware of the reports and are looking into them."

• Mexico
• Americas

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When Richard Handl was arrested for attempting to split the atom on his stove, he joined a growing band of home experimenters cooking up all kinds of trouble behind the kitchen door

Ängelholm is a pretty southern Swedish town, famed for its clay cuckoo manufacturing, a clay cuckoo being a kind of ocarina, which is a kind of flute. The crime rate here is practically zero. Except one of its residents was last year arrested for trying to split the atom in his kitchen. His name is Richard Handl and he buzzes me into his first-floor flat.

I wanted to meet Richard because I keep seeing reports of home science experimenters clashing with the authorities. There's been a spate of them this past year or two.

I glance into Richard's kitchen and recognise his cooker from the news. It was horrendously, alarmingly blackened then, but it's clean now.

"So, you aren't currently doing any experiments?" I ask him.

"I'm banned," he says.

"By whom?" I ask.

"My landlord," he says. "And the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority."

Then we sit on the sofa and he tells me his story.

When Richard was a teenager, everything, he says, was fine. "I had friends. We'd go partying. I have Asperger's, so I was a bit of a nerd, a geek. My interests were chemical experiments. I'd make solutions that changed colour. When I was 13, I made some explosives in the garden, using gunpowder, stuff I got from a paint store and from my father's pharmacy. He had sulphuric acid, nitric acid. Visiting my father in his pharmacy was very exciting."

His father assumed Richard would grow up to be a pharmacist, too. He was, Richard says, happy and proud of his son, as it was his dream to raise a boy to follow in his footsteps. But something unexpected happened to Richard 14 years ago, when he was 17: "I became very aggressive to people," he says.

"In what way?" I ask.

"It was towards my father," Richard says. "Sometimes I hit him."

"In response to what?"

"Very small things. Like if he was late and didn't call."

"Was he worried about you?"

"Yes, he was quite worried about me. He took me to the hospital, so I could talk to psychiatrists. They said I was depressed. And I had some paranoid disorder."

"And all this just came from nowhere?"

"It just happened," he shrugs.

Richard worked in a factory for four years, but his disorder meant he spent most of his time in his flat. His love of chemistry continued undimmed, but the possibility of him becoming a pharmacist had practically gone. So, instead, he decided one day to start a collection – he would scour the internet and buy an ampoule of every chemical element. He quickly realised he had to downgrade his ambition. "There are some very unstable radioactive elements, like polonium and francium, that last just a couple of minutes and then decay. They're impossible to get."

But he persevered with the others.

"Do you have any of them still here?" I ask.

"Sure," he says. "Would you like to see them?"

He disappears into his bedroom and returns holding a basket filled with ampoules of gold and silver and platinum and thallium and beryllium. Some are solid blocks, some glittering shards, others shining slivers. The basket looks like a treasure chest.

"This is the most amazing one," Richard says, picking up an ampoule marked "Cesium". It looks like solid gold. "Watch," he says. "If you warm it up…"

He closes his fist around it for 30 seconds. Then he shows it to me again. It has melted. We both look at it, amazed, as if we've just witnessed a magic trick.

"And then," Richard says, "I began to collect radioactive elements like radium and uranium and americium."

Richard was Googling "americium" one day when he found a story, in Harper's magazine, chronicling the life of a Michigan boy named David Hahn who grew up in the 1990s. There was something about Hahn with which Richard identified. Both boys spent their childhoods blowing things up in the garden. Hahn once turned up at a Boy Scouts meeting in Golf Manor, Michigan, with a bright orange face due to an accidental overdose of canthaxanthin. Hahn got expelled from camp for dismantling a smoke detector (he was trying to extract the americium – pretty much everything you need to split the atom you can find on eBay or in smoke detectors and antique luminous dial clocks).

Those were the days before the internet, so getting hold of information about how to build a nuclear reactor was more complicated for Hahn than it would turn out to be for Richard. He learned how to do it by writing to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and pretending to be a physics teacher. Did they have any pamphlets on how to split the atom?

"Nothing produces neutrons as well as beryllium, Professor Hahn," they wrote back.

And that's how David Hahn managed to turn his potting shed into a nuclear reactor.

It wasn't long before the Michigan police cottoned on, and in June 1995, 11 men in protective suits descended on the dangerously irradiated shed. He was shut down.

Sixteen years later, in Ängelholm, Richard read the Hahn story and felt inspired to try it out himself. This is how Richard went about trying to split the atom. First, he got a saucepan. Into it he put his radioactive elements – the americium and radium. He mixed them up with sulphuric acid and beryllium, and turned on the stove. The mixture bubbled up crazily, splashing all over the cooker and the floor. He quickly turned off the hob and posted a picture of the carnage on his blog, with the caption "The Meltdown!".

His plan, he says, was to repeat the experiment, but this time collect into a test tube the neutrons that were emanating from the concoction. Then he'd have fired the "neutron ray" at a chunk of uranium sealed in a glass marble.

"What does the neutron ray look like?" I ask.

"It doesn't look like anything," Richard says. "You can't see it."

"How do you know it's there?"

"You have to measure it with a Geiger counter," he says.

"So what you're saying is, you'd point the test tube filled with neutrons at the uranium marble, and that's what would split the atom?"

"Yes," Richard says.

Richard never did collect the neutrons into a test tube. After the meltdown, he decided to email the Swedish Radiation Authority to double-check that what he was doing was above board.

"Hello!" read his email of 18 July 2011. "I'm very interested in nuclear physics and radiation. I have planned a project to build a primitive nuclear reactor. Now I'm wondering if I'm violating any laws doing so?"

They emailed him back on 11 August: "Hi. The short answer to your question is that if you build a nuclear reactor without permission, you are violating strict laws. It is a criminal offence and can lead to fines or imprisonment for up to two years."

Richard was surprised. "The amount I had was very small," he says, "so far away from the amount needed to make a dirty bomb or something like that. To get it to explode, you must have something called a critical mass, which is 50kg of radium or 6kg of plutonium. I had 5g. The worst that could have happened was I might have got radiation in me."

"And got cancer years later?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Yes."

Even though it took the radiation authority three weeks to respond to Richard's email, everything moved very quickly after that. Within days, they'd turned up at his flat with the police.

"They told me to get out with my hands up. They scanned me with Geiger counters. There was nothing. They measured the whole apartment. They said I was arrested for a crime against the radiation safety law."

And that's it, so far. Sixteen weeks have passed and nothing has happened to him, besides making headlines all over the world.

"I don't regret it," he says, "because it was exciting. I'm sad I can't do it any more."

We glance at his basket of elements. "There are no other experiments you could do with these?" I ask.

"I can," he says, "but I don't want to."

"What could you do?" I ask.

"I could…" Richard pauses. "This thallium is very, very poisonous. If you break the ampoule, it would start to react with the air and oxidise. Thallium oxide. Very poisonous. If you get it on your fingers, you can die."

"But you would never consider…"

"No, no," Richard says. He pauses. "Actually, I'm thinking of trying again to become a pharmacist. I'm going to read up some courses from the high school and begin to study in the university."

Back home, I remember the moment Richard shrugged, unconcerned, at the possibility of developing cancer from his experiments. This happens a lot with home experimenters. Something clicks in them and their science becomes more important to them than their safety. It happened to the Brazilian priest Father Adelir de Carli, who in April 2008 strapped 1,000 helium party balloons to a chair and lifted off from the port city of Paranagua.

He'd been inspired by a truck driver named Larry Walters who in 1982 had attached 45 weather balloons to a chair and soared to 16,000ft, waving at passing Delta and TWA pilots before landing 20 miles away in Long Beach. "The more I look at it, the more I'm glad I did it," Walters told the New York Times at the time. "It's  something for when I'm an old man. So many people have dreams and they never follow through on them.''

Twenty-six years later, Father de Carli was so captivated by the experiment, he reportedly forgot to check the weather forecast, and to learn how his GPS worked. He was blown off course and drowned.

Then there were the two racing car drivers who, in the summer of 2010, poured four gallons of methanol into a barrel in a parking lot in Washington State, sat on top and lit the fuse. They were envisaging a "barrel ride". It was supposed to slide across the parking lot. Instead it exploded. One of them, a former American Sprint Car Series national champion called Travis Rilet, suffered 70% burns. The other, an Australian crew member called Tyson Perez, died.

In Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, a man named Paul Moran was jailed for three months last October for accidentally setting fire to his block of flats while trying to turn his faeces into gold. He had left the stuff on an electric heater and it caught light.

"It was an interesting experiment to fulfil the alchemist's dream, but wasn't going to succeed," the judge said when sentencing him.

But no home experiment has gone wrong quite so heartbreakingly as that of the Pambakian family. The Pambakians live in a cottage very close to my own house, so one day I stop on my way home to have a look. There's a Volvo parked in the driveway. In the boot is a bag filled with medical supplies, bandages, some Brasso, some old wellies, a duvet, all jumbled up. The wing mirror is stuck together with tape. There's stuff here that would save your life if administered by a medical professional, but it's all quite haphazard.

Dr Yvonne Pambakian won't talk to me about the tragedy that occurred inside the cottage. So instead I sit on the press bench of her General Medical Council fitness to practice hearing and listen to her testimony and cross-examination.

Five years ago, on 20 June 2007, she made an emergency call from the cottage. Her 22-year-old sister, Yolanda Cox, had gone into anaphylactic shock. When the paramedics arrived, they asked Pambakian what had happened.

"I gave her a drug for her asthma," she told them.

Yolanda was rushed to the Royal Free hospital where a doctor, Alexander Mackay, asked her and her mother to explain exactly what they'd injected into her.

"They wouldn't say," he later told the coroner. "They said I didn't need to know anything and the drug was extremely safe." It seemed they were trying to protect some secret ingredient they'd been developing. "Some time later," Mackay told the coroner, "they brought in paper information in two files." The family were, in fact, injecting each other in their kitchen with an experimental drug of their invention, which they'd called B71.

Yolanda died a week later, on 27 June 2007.

Pambakian and her mother, she tells the hearing, began their experiments back in the mid-90s, pooling their areas of expertise (she's a GP, her mother an immunologist). One day, they had a kind of eureka moment. To summarise it: some diabetes sufferers have an autoantibody that's responsible for their resistance to insulin, and the Pambakians supposed that, as insulin resistance is so uniquely destructive, if they could derive a peptide from the autoantibody, it would be uniquely curative. So they did, and they called it B71. They began posting patent applications. B71 would treat – and this is just a small sample – asthma, diabetes, psoriasis, eczema, Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's, migraines, multiple sclerosis, premature baldness in men, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, cystic fibrosis, insomnia, cancer and HIV.

They managed to persuade some Dutch money people to bankroll the business and embarked on two clinical trials in the Netherlands. That was in 2005. For two years after that, nothing happened. The whole thing seemed stuck in limbo.

And then one day in April 2007, they got an email. A woman called Caroline, a friend of one of the Dutch backers, had just been told she was dying of cancer. She was 33, with four children and – according to doctors at the Royal Marsden hospital – had only three months to live. "If there's the remotest chance the drug might prove beneficial…" the backer emailed.

So on Good Friday 2007, Pambakian travelled to Caroline's home, with a vial of B71 in her bag.

"You wanted to try out a theory," GMC prosecutor Stephen Brassington says at the hearing.

"I wanted to offer her a treatment," Pambakian snaps back.

So she prayed, and then she injected Caroline with a mammoth 6mg of the drug – a dose four times higher than they had given the Dutch trial volunteers. Caroline survived the injection, but later died of her cancer.

Brassington is incredulous. This is not how science works, he says. Science is all about assiduously gathering data, about treading gently, about conducting delicate clinical trials.

"I didn't have safety data in thousands of people, that is true," Pambakian admits. The way she says "thousands" is fierce, irritated, superior, as if the GMC panel live so far inside the box, they can never understand the kind of maverick thinking that changes the medical world.

When Pambakian arrived back at the cottage, they decided to make themselves test subjects. Of course, they were far from the first doctors to self-inject at home. For centuries, scientists have been deliberately infecting themselves with gonorrhoea and yellow fever; they've become morphine addicts and cocaine addicts in their hunt for new anaesthetics. The doctor who discovered in 2003 that stomach ulcers came from a bug and not from stress did so by drinking a potion containing the bug. So the Pambakians mixed up some more gigantic 6mg doses. And they injected themselves. And that's when Yolanda said she didn't feel well, and she slumped on the sofa.

"When the ambulance crew arrived, you told them that it was a treatment for asthma," Brassington says.

"When the ambulance crew came, there was no time to sit and discuss the workings of the drug," Pambakian replies. "I just wanted them to concentrate on getting the tube down her lungs. On giving her a chance to live. I'd have told them anything." She pauses. "Anaphylactic shock is extremely rare. We're talking about a few people a year in the whole country. It was not in my mind. Perhaps it should have been, but it wasn't." She falls silent for a moment. "Now it's on my mind all the time. Now I don't take a Nurofen without thinking about it. Now it's on my mind all the time."

And at that she seems to diminish, like a balloon losing its air.

"Your judgment entirely deserted you," the prosecutor says.

"I think 'entirely' is a bit…" She trails off.

"Doctors who ignore the proper, ethical process of clinical research expose their patients to unnecessary risk," he says.

"I suppose so, yes," she says, quietly.

"You fell seriously short of the standards expected from a registered medical practitioner," the prosecutor says.

There's a short silence. "Yes," she says.

A few days later, the GMC gives its judgment: "Your name will be erased from the Medical Register." And she leaves the hearing, no longer Dr Yvonne Pambakian, but Yvonne Pambakian.

Soon after I watch her hearing and meet Richard Handl, I receive a slightly alarmed email from Jason Bobe, who runs DIYbio.org, an online community for home science experimenters. I'd emailed him as part of my research. He says he's worried my article may discourage home science. Maybe, he suggests, I should talk to Victor Deeb, whose experiments in his basement went disastrously wrong in a very different way and whose story might offer a counterbalance.

Deeb lives in a small Massachusetts town called Marlborough. He's retired, in his mid-70s, and although he's lived in the US almost all his life, he still has a strong Syrian accent, which gets stronger as he becomes more incensed down the phone.

Three years ago, on 5 August 2008, a policeman happened to be driving past Deeb's house. "He saw smoke billowing from the air conditioner in an upstairs room, so he called the fire department." Deeb speaks in short, exact phrases, as if he considers our conversation to be like a chemical experiment, requiring complete precision.

A plug had shorted in the bedroom. The fire department put out the fire, glanced into the basement and immediately called for emergency reinforcements.

"The whole fire department came," Victor says. "The FBI. Even the CIA was here. It couldn't have been any more crazy. They went into the sewer system to see if I was dumping anything down the toilet."

What they had found in the basement was 100 bottles of chemicals. None was hazardous. There was nothing poisonous. "I was working on a coating for the inside of beverage cans containing no Bisphenol A," Deeb says.

BPA, he explains, is standard in beverage can coatings. The problem is that it can seep into the drink and play havoc with our hormones, causing men to grow breasts and girls as young as seven to have periods. Back in 2008, he says, "there were few references in the media to the negative effect of BPA. Currently, there is a deluge of articles. So my desire to eliminate BPA was ahead of its time." He pauses. "I spent an enormous amount of time with the authorities, trying to explain what I was working on, but they had no perception. No concept."

And so he watched as they hauled away all the chemicals and test tubes in a truck. "I had a box full of files and notes and comments," he says. "Twenty years' work. They hired two PhD chemists to go through the box, looking for confirmation that there were hazardous materials in the basement. When they couldn't find anything, they left the box out in the rain. It destroyed all my notes. Twenty years of my life and work and efforts to help others down the drain."

"When they realised their mistake, I presume they apologised and paid you a settlement," I say.

"The opposite!" he says. "They're suing me for the cost of emptying my basement."

For America's online community of home science experimenters, the most outrageous moment of all came when the enforcement officer, Pamela Wilderman, explained her decision-making process to the local paper: "I think Mr Deeb has crossed a line somewhere," she said. "This is not what we would consider to be a customary home occupation."

"Allow me to translate Ms Wilderman's words into plain English," wrote Robert Bruce Thompson, the author of Illustrated Guide To Home Chemistry Experiments. "'Mr Deeb hasn't actually violated any law or regulation that I can find, but I don't like what he's doing because I'm ignorant and irrationally afraid of chemicals, so I'll abuse my power to steal his property and shut him down.' There's a word for what just happened in Massachusetts. Tyranny."

Before I hang up, Victor Deeb says he wants to remind me of something. He says that for every David Hahn and Richard Handl, there's a Steve Jobs and a Charles Goodyear. "They started at home. Goodyear developed the vulcanisation process by mixing sulphur with virgin rubber on his wife's stove in their kitchen."

And then he is gone, to do – he says – what he spends every day doing. He's going to try to remember what he'd written on the pages in the box that was left out in the rain.

• Physics
• Chemistry
• Health
• Health & wellbeing

Jon Ronson
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In a world abuzz with Facebook, Twitter and live TV, what is it about radio that keeps us tuning in?

A couple of weeks ago I was messing about on Twitter at home on a Friday night when a tweet from the Conservative blogger, publisher and talkshow host Iain Dale brought me up short. He was on the train on his way home to Kent, and posted a picture with the caption: "This is the drunk woman opposite me. I think she's about to puke. Disgusting slapper."

I didn't look at the photo and clicked on "unfollow" straightaway so I wouldn't see any more of Dale's tweets. Holding this woman up to ridicule in front of the 26,000 people who follow him was abusing his position, I thought.

The chorus of outrage now commonly known as a "Twitter storm" followed. Within about five minutes angry voices were calling for Dale to be sacked and I switched my computer off.

The next day Dale posted a blog defending his use of the word "slapper" and explained how, as a non-drinker, he is horrified by public drunkenness. But when I rang him up this week he agreed his comment had been "rude and unchivalrous" and suggested there is something about the spontaneous nature of microblogging sites such as Twitter that brings this out.

"Twitter and blogs are full of bile. A lot of people say things on these sites they would never say to your face or on the phone. I think on a blog, people think you have to be quite aggressive or abrasive," he told me.

This idea is not new. For years commentators, and particularly women, have complained about the personal abuse that often passes for debate on the internet. This style seemed to suit Dale, who launched his blog 10 years ago after failing to win selection as a Tory parliamentary candidate.

But more recently he has switched his focus to radio, where he adopts quite a different persona on his LBC evening talkshow. I asked him whether he thinks the gentler and more polite style of radio (with some exceptions) explains why its audience continues to hold up in the face of new media's continuing onslaught.

"I think people who have only ever known me from my blog and then listen to my radio show think, is this the same person? I cover a lot of subjects that traditionally would have been covered by female presenters – how men react to miscarriage, living with an alcoholic. I've built up this audience of people who are prepared to ring me up and tell me these amazingly personal things. I think people have always regarded radio as a quasi-friend."

With an audience of around a million in the London area, LBC remains small compared with the national BBC and commercial stations. This week's quarterly figures, which showed a small drop-off overall from the previous quarter, but still more than 700,000 more radio listeners than at the same time two years ago, again showcased radio's remarkable resilience, a story that has become familiar over the past few years. Nine out of 10 of us listen to radio every week, with the three biggest BBC stations (1, 2 and 4) holding on to audiences above 10 million.

Overall, the BBC retains well over half the total market, with commercial stations including Talksport and Capital also performing well in a difficult advertising market. In the mornings, Radio 4's flagship Today programme is snapping at the heels of Radio 1's Chris Moyles in the same slot.

What is it about radio that has made it so durable, and able to coexist not only through the age of television, but the age of new media too? As social networking giant Facebook prepares to float itself and raise an astonishing £5bn, what has enabled radio to stand its ground?

The licence fee is the obvious first answer. Former Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer, now master of an Oxford college, says that ever since a crisis of confidence at the BBC in the 1990s, when people wondered whether the Radio 4 spectrum should be given over to rolling news and current affairs, backing for the station and for radio more broadly has been solid, and continued throughout the last decade in spite of predictions that its audience would shrink.

"When 5 Live was launched in 1994, Radio 4 was anxious, it looked like a challenge, but what happened was the reverse. It liberated Radio 4, which then didn't have to worry about breaking a story every five minutes."

Audiences may be booming, but the freezing of the licence fee is still a headache for BBC radio. Recent cuts have left many producers complaining of impossible workloads, and following the reprieve granted 6 Music after a public campaign in 2010 (the station has just recorded its largest audience, of 1.5m), a big row over proposed cuts to local stations is in the offing. But while commercial stations believe the BBC exploits an unfair advantage and is overly dominant, the security of the licence fee has undoubtedly enabled the BBC's radio stations to build and retain an enormous and loyal audience.

Another explanation for radio's staying-power is its cheapness. Radio can be made at a fraction of the cost of television, meaning that programme-makers, DJs and entrepreneurs can all have a crack at it. Commercial broadcasters as well as the BBC value it as an incubator for future TV talent. Added to which, radios themselves are cheap, and all over the place: by people's beds, in the bathroom, in the car.

"Despite the fact you think we're a visually saturated culture, there are all sorts of places where you get radio and nothing else. The technology of radio is cheap, simple and idiot-proof, and older listeners in particular are going to be very reluctant to let it go," says Damazer.

But this attachment on the part of consumers to low technology is also problematic. The switch to digital radio is proving much slower and messier than anyone expected. Digital listening stands at just under 30% and the analogue switch-off looks like being postponed for several more years, meaning more expense and inconvenience for broadcasters who must cater to different signals.

Is radio old or new media? The Wikipedia "new media" definition doesn't mention radio at all, perhaps uncertain whether to lump it in with printing presses or mobile apps. Radio has affinities with the current age of mobile gadgets. The wireless beaming broadcasts into the family living room in the 1920s was a forerunner of the wi-fi box streaming internet signals into the 21st-century home.

Podcasts, downloadable audio and websites such as Radioplayer have enabled radio to make a smooth transition to the computer age. It hasn't suffered the existential threat experienced by the music industry. But plenty of challenges remain, chief among them attracting younger listeners and persuading them to choose DJs rather than making their own playlists on their iPods, or streaming music through Spotify.

Journalists working in talk radio proudly point out that they were talking and listening to members of the public via on-air phone-ins long before newspapers and television began worrying about "mutualisation" and "open-sourcing" of content. James O'Brien, host of another LBC talkshow, says that while he would welcome a change to the broadcasting rules so that opinionated news shows such as his were allowed on TV, he would miss the intimacy of radio. "Television is more declamatory. It's as if you're addressing an audience rather than an individual, and it's the same with a newspaper column, which I think is the closest print equivalent to what I do.

"The image I always have in my head before my show is that I'm getting into the passenger seat of your car, and ideally I'm not going to get on your nerves enough in the next three hours for you to throw me out."

There is a confidence among many of those who work in radio that what they do will carry on. We remain attached to radio and its rhythms, to the hum and the sound of it. And we get attached to the people who present it, when we don't violently take against them. Radio is personal.

Media historian David Hendy says: "The thing about radio is that it's very clever at popping up in new spaces. In America there are groups of people who get together to listen to a programme, like a book group."

Hendy suggests that radio's sense of its own past will serve it well. Last weekend's opening up of the archive of 70 years of Desert Island Discs is a good example. But more than the richness of its back catalogue, or the new technologies that will make it ever more accessible, he believes that what is unique about radio is the place it accords to the human voice. "I think there is a deep, natural, human desire to be accompanied by sound, whether music or voices. It stops us from feeling alone. Radio has intrinsic qualities that give it a good chance of surviving."

• Radio
• BBC
• TalkSport
• Radio 4
• Radio 1
• Radio 2
• Radio 3
• Radio 5 Live
• Chris Moyles
• John Humphrys
• Internet

Susanna Rustin
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Mitt Romney has a big lead ahead of the Nevada caucuses while sharp fall in joblessness is good news for Obama - live

4.28pm: Newt Gingrich keeps throwing everything he can think of at Mitt Romney in the hope that some of it sticks.

But today Gingrich did make one sophisticated point against Romney's claims to understand how the economy works – specifically the difference between finance and economics:

The truth is he doesn't understand the free market. He understands a lot about finance, but finance is not the free market, and Wall Street is not Main Street, and giant businesses are not small businesses.

Peter Hamby of CNN notes this strange point by Gingrich today:

He attacked out-of-touch news media "elites" who reside in Manhattan high rises and "ride the subway" (perhaps unaware of who rides public transportation in New York City).

Elites traveling on public transport? Cue that quote attributed to Gingrich's hero Margaret Thatcher: "A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure."

4pm: The Nevada caucuses are tomorrow – and it's clear that Mitt Romney is going to romp home.

In 2008 Nevada was one of the few bright spots for Romney's failed presidential bid, when he won 51% of the caucus. And presumably he'll repeat that tomorrow, given the weaker field against him.

There has been little polling done of the state – and caucuses are notoriously difficult to poll because of the tricky turnout calculation. But the last two show big leads for Romney.

Will Ron Paul manage a second place finish over Newt Gingrich? And for how long can Rick Santorum stomach coming in fourth?

The Nevada caucuses themselves will be a long, drawn out process, since each of the state's 17 counties can set their own rules and times. The latest is a caucus in Las Vegas that starts at 7pm PT (10pm ET), so expect a result sometime after that.

And then on 7 February it's on to Maine, Minnesota and Colorado – more caucuses, all of them in the bag for Romney. We'll have to wait until the Arizona primary on 28 February for anything resembling a real contest.

3.11pm: Here's that new Newt Gingrich web-ad mentioned earlier. As usual, it's a brutal attack on Mitt Romney.

Ha ha ha: "I'm George Soros and I approve this candidate"

2.33pm: Oh dear, poor Rick Santorum. According to Buzzfeed Politics, Santorum couldn't raise the 500 signatures needed on a petition to get on the Indiana primary ballot:

The Marion County chief deputy of voter registration on the Democratic side, Scott Carr, confirmed that Santorum had not submitted 500 valid signatures. An Indiana Republican source said Santorum is "a couple dozen" signatures short, but that Newt Gingrich will be on the ballot.

The Indiana Primary won't be held until May 8, and is unlikely to be decisive in any event, but Santorum's shortfall cuts against some of his supporters hopes that he will rise as Newt Gingrich falls to provide a final challenger to Mitt Romney.

2.04pm: Newt Gingrich is in Nevada, appearing at Stoney's Rockin' Cafe in Las Vegas. It looks like the sort of place in keeping with Newt Gingrich's dignity and gravitas.

Gingrich is trailing Mitt Romney by a long way ahead of tomorrow's caucus but today he's back on the warpath against Romney, and kick off by reciting a new web-ad he's running with a clip of George Soros saying there is no difference between Romney and Obama.

Naturally, Gingrich also challenges Romney to one of his fabled Lincoln-Douglas debates. Which I would gladly buy on pay-per-view.

But the real zinger comes when Gingrich uses a strange comparison: "Obama is big food stamp, [Romney] is little food stamp." Quite what that means I don't know precisely but it's not nice.

Apparently Gingrich is getting a good crowd at Stoney's Rockin' Cafe.

1.26pm: Now Lance Armstrong, the well-known cyclist and cancer survivor, wades into the Komen v Planned Parenthood fracas, with a $100,000 donation to Planned Parenthood and this statement:

For 15 years, the Lance Armstrong Foundation has served people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities. We join Mayor Bloomberg and our partners in the philanthropic community today in their efforts to preserve access to cancer screening for women throughout the US. The Lance Armstrong Foundation will add an additional $100,000 to Mayor Bloomberg's matching challenge for Planned Parenthood's cancer services fund.

As Dr King said, "there is no greater injustice than inequality in health care." Cancer, on the other hand, respects no boundaries. It's a big, vicious disease that has no regard for race, gender, income or which side of the aisle we call home. Its survivors – 12 million of us throughout the US – deserve every bit of support we can muster. The Lance Armstrong Foundation will continue working to expand access to healthcare as we always have.

(Side thought: if the US had a single-payer, national health service then would neither Planned Parenthood nor the Komen foundation need to exist?)

1.04pm: The Susan G Komen foundation versus Planned Parenthood isn't going away, despite the Komen board's apology.

The Washington Post's Greg Sargent talks to a Komen board member about the Komen's future funding for Planned Parenthood:

I asked Komen board member John Raffaelli to respond to those who are now saying that the announcement doesn't necessarily constitute a reversal until Planned Parenthood actually sees more funding. He insisted it would be unfair to expect the group to commit to future grants.

"It would be highly unfair to ask us to commit to any organization that doesn't go through a grant process that shows that the money we raise is used to carry out our mission," Raffaelli told me. "We're a humaniatrian organization. We have a mission. Tell me you can help carry out our mission and we will sit down at the table.

For background, here's an earlier piece: Five myths about Planned Parenthood

12.47pm: The New York Times's Nate Silver explains in detail why the US unemployment figures are a big deal during a presidential election year:

No economic indicator is the holy grail. The American economy is a hard thing to measure, and initial estimates of economic performance are subject to significant revisions.... But if you want to focus a single economic indicator, job growth during the presidential election year — especially as measured by the series called nonfarm payrolls — has a lot going for it.

Warning: article contains the phrase: "if you run a regression analysis..."

12.21pm: Mitt Romney is up on his hind legs in Las Vegas, campaigning befopre the foregone conclusion that is Saturday's Nevada caucus.

He's trying to retool his message somewhat in the face of the latest unemployment figures, so that it is now basically: "It should have been more."

But then it's back to the Romney stump speech that we have come to know and loath from New Hampshire onwards – including a brief tour through the lyrics of America the Beautiful.

12 noon: Donald Trump's endorsement of Mitt Romney made a few people queasy – and the Obama campaign was quick to capitalise with a fundraising email to supporters:

Yesterday, Mitt Romney said he was 'humbled' to accept Donald Trump's endorsement. Seriously. Yes, Donald Trump – birth certificate conspiracy leader – has decided that Mitt Romney's his guy, and Romney has embraced him without reservation. He made a speech and even sent out a press release welcoming him.

11.46am: After the latest jaunty jobs figures, President Obama appears at a fire station in Arlington, Virginia.

In brief remarks before urging Congress to pass a bill helping US military veterans find work, Obama said the US economy is going strong and that the recovery was speeding up – although he cautioned: "These numbers will go up and down in the coming months."

Obama then called on Congress to extend the payroll tax cut:

I want to send a message to Congress: do not slow down the recovery we are on. Don't muck it up. Keep it moving in the right direction.

11.22am: After three days of controversy over its decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood's breast cancer screening programme, the Susan G Komen foundation backs down.

Here's the statement from Susan G Komen board of directors and chief executive Nancy Brinker:

We want to apologise to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives. The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.

Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.

Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.

That about-turn is met with dismay by anti-abortion activists who had been quick to support the decision by Komen, seeing it as further isolating Planned Parenthood:

The net outcome for Komen is the worst of all possible world: they have now managed to outrage both sides.

This one, as they say, will run and run.

10.50am: While Mitt Romney continues to reap his financial and organisational advantages in Nevada, some conservatives are unhappy to discover another position Romney took while governor of Massachusetts.

The Boston Globe reports:

Mitt Romney accused President Obama this week of ordering "religious organizations to violate their conscience,'' referring to a White House decision that requires all health plans - even those covering employees at Catholic hospitals, charities, and colleges - to provide free birth control. But a review of Romney's tenure as Massachusetts governor shows that he once took a similar step.

In December 2005, Romney required all Massachusetts hospitals, including Catholic ones, to provide emergency contraception to rape victims, even though some Catholics view the morning-after pill as a form of abortion.

Cue much grumbling among religious conservatives, who are ramping up attacks on the Obama administration over just this issue.

If the economy recovers, exactly what is Mitt Romney left to complain about the Obama administration?

10.22am: Video has surfaced of Rick Santorum telling the mother of sick child she shouldn't have a problem paying $1m to keep her son alive.

Speaking in Woodland Park, Colorado, Santorum told the mother of a child with a rare genetic disorder, "People have no problem paying $900 for an iPad but paying $900 for a drug they have a problem with — it keeps you alive. Why? Because you've been conditioned to think health care is something you can get without having to pay for it." The mother's son is prescribed Abilify, which can cost up to $1m a year without health insurance. Santorum argued that demand should set the price for drugs:

He's alive today because drug companies provide care. And if they didn't think they could make money providing that drug, that drug wouldn't be here.... Fact is, we need companies to have incentives to make drugs. If they don't have incentives, they won't make those drugs.

10am: While Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich squabble in Nevada on the final day of campaigning before Saturday's GOP presidential caucus, the big story of the day is the surprisingly good national job figures.

The US unemployment rate dipped to 8.3% in January – where it was when Barack Obama took office in 2009 – thanks to a buoyant 240,000 growth in jobs during the month, suggesting that a recovery is finally gathering steam.

The White House was exultant about the figures, while Republicans were dismayed since the fall in unemployment tends to undermine its central case against Obama's re-election, especially if Mitt Romney wins the GOP nomination.

Here's a round-up of the latest news on the campaign trail, from Ryan Devereaux:

• Mitt Romney continues to dominate the polls heading into the upcoming Nevada caucuses. Public Policy Polling has the former Massachusetts governor on 50% while Newt Gingrich has 25%. In a reversal of yesterday's Las Vegas Review-Journal poll, PPP has Ron Paul ahead of Rick Santorum with 15% for the Texas congressman and 8% for Santorum.

• Romney is understandably winning the large Mormon vote, leading Paul 78-14. PPP projects Mormons will account for 20% of the vote in Nevada. Romney's support from his fellow Mormons is not without some controversy, however. The New York Times notes that his hardline views on immigration have conflicted the church's accepting approach to the issue.

• While PPP reports that Gingrich is decidedly disliked in Nevada – only 41% of respondents said they had a favorable opinion of him – multi-millionaire Mitt Romney has received the support of fellow super-rich guy, Donald Trump. Yesterday Trump announced his official endorsement of Romney: "He's not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country that we all love."

• Minnesota's house speaker and majority leader have also climbed on to the Romney bandwagon before Minnesota's caucuses next Tuesday. The AP reports speaker Kurt Zellers will make his announcement later today. Romney wasn't Zellers' first choice for the Republican nomination: he originally backed Tim Pawlenty and then endorsed Michele Bachmann.

• Romney has condemned President Obama's plan to pull US troops out of Afghanistan next year as "naive" and "misguided." Speaking at a warehouse in Las Vegas, Romney said that he didn't understand why the president would announce his time table for withdrawal.

• US elections 2012
• US unemployment and employment data
• Nevada
• US economy
• Mitt Romney
• Republican presidential nomination 2012
• Newt Gingrich
• Rick Santorum
• Ron Paul
• Obama administration
• US politics
• United States

Richard Adams
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Elections in Nevada are usually colourful, but the result this time is not in doubt: Mitt Romney has this one sewn up

Nevada will be an easy win for Mitt Romney on Saturday, based on his performance in the 2008 Republican presidential race. Even with Romney coming off second best to John McCain in many states elsewhere, Romney easily won the Nevada caucuses, with 51.1% to Ron Paul's 13.7% and John McCain's 12.75%. The reason: Mormons.

Although they only make up about 5% of the adult population in Nevada, they accounted for an estimated 25% of Republican caucus-goers four years ago. Does it follow that a Mormon will automatically vote for a candidate of the same faith? Well, in 2008, 5% voted for someone else. But the staggering statistic is the other 95% voted for Romney.

A PPP poll suggests that Saturday's caucuses will not be significantly different; Romney on 50%, Newt Gingrich 25%, Ron Paul 15% and Rick Santorum 8%.

Nevada elections have a reputation for being colourful, with scenes of casino workers and hotel staff from Las Vegas voting in their workplaces. These tend to take place during the Democratic caucuses, but the Republican ones can be colourful too. Outside of Las Vegas, the empty desert areas tend to attract fiercely independent, eccentric personalities that make for good television.

Although the Las Vegas area accounts for about two-thirds of Nevada's population, about half of the Republican caucus-goers are from Reno and the rural areas.

These areas are where Romney's rivals – Gingrich, Santorum and Paul – will be looking for a share of the votes. Even if they do not expect to win, they will be hoping for a share of the delegates to the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida, in August. Nevada has 34 delegates.

As a caucus rather than primary, good organisation is essential. Romney has had an organisation in place since 2010 and Paul, too, has a large, well-established ground team. Gingrich and Santorum only established teams there recently, too late to make a real difference.

Analysing the results as carefully as the Republicans will be the Democrats.

Holding Nevada is a key part of what Barack Obama's re-election campaign refer to as the western strategy. Nevada is a swing state, won by Bill Clinton and then by George Bush, and Obama won it by a whopping 12.5% in the 2008 general election. There is a strong trade union presence that will help Obama, as will the big Latino population. On the negative side, Nevada is one of the states that has been worst hit by recession, with unemployment of 12.6%. Many blame Obama.

That unemployment rate, combined with a collapse in the housing market worse than most other states, led to the rise of a strong Tea Party movement. It was discredited in the 2010 congressional mid-terms when they secured the Republican nomination for Sharron Angle to take on the Democratic Senate leader, Harry Reid. Angle fought a cack-handed campaign, Reid survived and the Tea Party movement fell into disarray. Gingrich, Santorum and Paul are fighting for the remnants. Angle has endorsed Gingrich: it is difficult to judge whether that is a help or a hindrance.

• Nevada
• Mitt Romney
• Newt Gingrich
• Republican presidential nomination 2012
• US elections 2012
• Ron Paul
• Rick Santorum
• United States
• US politics

Ewen MacAskill
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Greece's economy will be crippled if lenders' demands for pay cuts and tax rises are implemented, claim coalition's critics

Greek unions and employers' associations have blocked a critical element of a rescue deal put forward by the European Union, accusing negotiators of crippling the economy with wage cuts and tax rises that will undermine growth.

In a joint letter to the Greek prime minister, Lucas Papademos, the employers and unions said a cut in the minimum wage was non-negotiable and the focus of talks should switch to the tax system, the complexity of regulation and corruption.

Athens is under pressure to wrap up talks on a bond swap and a €130bn (£108bn) bailout to avert a chaotic default. But hopes of an imminent deal faded after eurozone finance ministers put off a meeting expected on Monday to finalise the rescue. The ministers may meet later next week instead, said its head, Jean-Claude Juncker.

The unions' and employers' statement undermined efforts by the coalition government to agree a package of reforms as demanded by the country's international lenders if Athens is to receive the crucial €130bn second rescue package.

The three main parties in the coalition will meet on Saturday to discuss the situation, though sources close to the talks said a quick resolution was unlikely.

The refusal of unions to accept further wage cuts and the discovery earlier in the week of an extra €15bn hole in Athens's accounts are expected to force negotiators to rethink their tactics over the weekend.

The troika of officials from the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and EU want Greece to agree a package of spending cuts and reforms before they release the fresh €130bn of funds.

Splits have opened up inside the Greek coalition, which includes right- and leftwing parties, as leaders jockey for position in the runup to the elections scheduled for March.

Antonis Samaras, the leader of the conservative New Democracy (ND) party, which is leading in opinion polls, opposes cuts to pensions and to wages in the private sector, which he argues would deepen the current recession. The ND leader joined employers in proposing a salary freeze, though even this plan is rejected by unions, which have already accepted 14% wage cuts.

Disagreements within the ranks of the troika have also undermined the talks. The IMF's lead negotiator said earlier this week that the deepening crisis in Greece should persuade negotiators to relent on some cuts in favour of more far-reaching reforms.

The EU, with the backing of the German government, has made it clear that Greece must accept severe austerity measures as the price of a bailout.

The coalition is ready to agree a framework deal struck last week with banks that hold around €206bn of the country's debt. The banks are ready to accept a near-70% writedown in their loans to Greece in exchange for new 30-year bonds.

Weeks of negotiations with a team of bankers led by Charles Dallara, head of creditors group the International Institute of Finance, were close to being finalised last weekend before the talks became dependent on an agreement with the troika.

The government must conclude negotiations on its second rescue package "that will ensure debt sustainability of the country in the long run, and that will bring remedies to a number of serious problems that the Greek economy has had even before this crisis," said Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, spokesman for the EU's monetary affairs commissioner, Olli Rehn.

"And one of the main problems of the Greek economy, as we have said time and again here, is the chronic loss of competitiveness over the past decade," Tardio said. "Therefore all the elements, including elements linked to the labour market, wage formation, are part of these discussions."

Without the new bailout deal and agreement with lenders, Greece would go bankrupt in March, when it faces a €14.5bn bond redemption it cannot afford.

Government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis said the bond swap deal – known as the private sector involvement, or PSI – and the parallel negotiations with the troika were almost complete.

"The PSI, I think, in its basic elements is ready," he told Real FM radio, adding that talks with the debt inspectors were "in the final stage".

He added: "Within the day, we will have to finalise a series of alternative proposals which will be put before the political [party] leaders so we can take the final decisions."

A meeting between Papademos and the heads of the three parties in his interim coalition government was expected to be moved from Friday to Saturday, according to government officials.

Asked whether there was any alternative plan, Kapsis said that "there will necessarily be a Plan B" but that he did not want to discuss what it might be.

"Clearly, if we don't close the deal and we let go and say we will default on our own, we would be heading to an open bankruptcy. But I don't think anyone supports that."

Speaking from Brussels, Tardio said that while negotiations were "extremely complex," he believed an agreement was within reach "in the days to come".

Greece has been surviving since May 2010 on rescue loans from a €110bn bailout package from other eurozone countries and the IMF. In return, it has pushed through tough austerity measures, including public sector salary and pension cuts and repeated rounds of tax hikes.

Despite the measures, however, the country has failed to meet the targets set out in its bailout agreement, and now needs a combination of the bond deal and a second bailout to prevent a default that would send shockwaves through the single currency.

The Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, warned parliament that while the situation was difficult now, the alternative the country faced was catastrophic.

"We are not playing with fire when we are dealing with the fate of our people," he said. "Yes, the people have become poorer. Yes, we are living a drama. Yes, our standard of living has gone down. Yes, it is dramatic to be obliged to cut wages and pensions. But what we could live through, and we are trying to avoid, is indescribable."

• Eurozone crisis
• European Union
• Economics
• Banking
• Financial crisis
• Financial sector
• Greece
• Europe

Phillip Inman
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Angus Deayton on sex, scandals and why everybody gets paid too much on TV

The problem with interviewing Angus Deayton is neatly summed up in a one-line email from the PR before we meet. "Angus would like to keep the interview current, so he doesn't wish to talk about Have I Got News For You." What this really means, of course, is that he doesn't want to talk about why he got sacked from the show nine years ago. And who could blame him?

When 2002 drew to a close, Deayton recalls thinking to himself "that the words annus horribilis didn't really cover half of it". That summer, the News Of The World had splashed with a classic cocaine-and-hookers kiss'n'tell, involving the presenter and a woman he'd met in a bar. For Deayton, it came as news that she was a call girl; for the rest of us, that he wasn't quite the pillar of moral rectitude many had supposed. Only a solemn promise of no further revelations – and a pay cut from £50,000 to £25,000 a show – saved his job. But that autumn another woman told the tabloids she'd had an affair with him for two and a half years, during which time his partner was pregnant, and his 12-year reign in the HIGNFY chair was over.

As Deayton observes more than once when we meet, "It all feels like a very long time ago now." And if we have learned anything from the Leveson inquiry by now, it's that tabloid scoops are not always reliable. But the fact remains that we probably wouldn't be talking to each other if he were merely an actor in a new BBC3 series, or the presenter of a new series of a Radio 4 panel game. It was HIGNFY that made Deayton famous – and the scandal amplified fame into infamy – thus leaving quite an elephant in the room between us.

To anyone with access to Wikipedia, let alone a television set, it can be no secret that Deayton has worked pretty consistently for the past nine years. He has, among other things, starred in the award-winning dark BBC comedy Nighty Night, presented Hell's Kitchen and a quiz show for ITV, anchored and starred in several Comic Reliefs, hosted the BBC panel show Would I Lie To You?, presented the British Comedy Awards and appeared in two feature films. "As wildernesses go," he points out, "it's been quite populated, really." And yet every new show he's made has been described by one or other critic as a "comeback vehicle" and almost every press interview presented as a watershed moment, signifying – at last! – the disgraced star's rehabilitation.

"Yes," he agrees drily, "I appear to have had more comebacks than Status Quo. And been 'welcomed back by the BBC', too. And you think, well, I was working at the BBC about two months after Have I Got News For You. I never even left." The observation is delivered in the same ironic tone of detachment with which he used to read out his old show's more bizarre news items – but doesn't it annoy him? "Er, yes. Yeah. I've never quite understood it, other than it makes an interesting story to maintain there's been some great redemption. It's not like audiences suddenly stopped laughing, or – like it was made out in the tabloids – that I was walking down the street and people would shun me as I passed. Actually, it was the opposite. And I never stopped working."

His latest project is Pramface, a comedy drama in which he plays the father of a well-heeled 18-year-old girl who gets pregnant from a rebelliously drunken one-night stand with a less well-heeled 16-year-old virgin. I've seen the first episode and it is very funny – sharply written, quite rude and ideal for Deayton, a master of the urbane middle-class British husband role, whose disappointment and anger is betrayed with subtle economy. He hasn't yet seen it himself and admits, "You just hope, when it goes out, you don't think, 'Oh God, I wish I'd done it completely differently.' There's no audience feedback, so you're kind of in the hands of the director."

Which does he finds more exposing, acting or presenting? "Presenting, I think, definitely. If you mess up, everyone sees you messing up and it's your fault. Acting, you're hiding behind a character, and I've always thought if it isn't any good, then there are all sorts of other people you can blame." He laughs. "You can offload responsibility."

When I ask how close he thinks his presenting persona approximates to his own character, he says, "It's probably easier for you to tell, because I feel as if I'm the same person." I've had limited exposure to the material, I point out, whereas he's had decades to analyse it, so isn't he better qualified to answer?

"Yes," he confesses, laughing, "desperately trying to pass the buck. OK. So, is the persona of the guy behind the desk the same as me? Um, no, I don't think it is. I fell into presenting after doing about a decade of parody shows of presenter-based shows, and a lot of it was me parodying a presenter, so when I started doing Have I Got News For You, I carried on that persona. So in some ways it's a sort of pastiche of my own pastiche – if that doesn't sound too arseholic. Er, which I think it does, actually."

He is a presenter in his other current project – a new series of the Radio 4 panel game It's Your Round, in which every week four guests each devise their own comic round. It didn't sound to me like an idea that would work, until I heard it. Deayton agrees. "You never really know if any show's going to work within the series, depending on which rounds the guests turn up with. But in a way that's built into the format, so if something isn't working, it's quite fun to be able to talk about the fact that it's not really working – and that it's not really," he adds with a laugh, "your fault. It does help if I can turn to the person on my left and say, 'Well, I'm sorry, the reason this is crap' " – and he starts to laugh again – " 'is because you brought it along, and you maintained that it was going to be good.' So it's nice to be able to offload any kind of responsibility – again."

Deayton has a comedian's instinct for a running gag, and this motif of endless buck-passing sounds to me just like that. Further into the conversation, however, I begin to realise it can be read in one of two ways – depending on what you think about the scandal that cost him his old job. "The great British public," he claims at one point, "can tell when someone's being victimised." But that's not how everyone saw it. If you believe Deayton had only himself to blame, then the running gag will probably sound less like a joke than further evidence of an arrogant refusal to accept responsibility. If, on the other hand, you think the scandal was either largely tabloid lies, or none of our business, you'll think he is simply being funny.

Before we met, I'd wondered if he would turn out to be nothing like the Deayton we know from our screens – bone dry, understated, impenetrably poised, with a surgical wit that can be cutting to the point of cruel, but rarely if ever unfunny. I would say now that he's warmer than you might expect, less intimidating, and perhaps more sensitive, but otherwise any distinction between performer and person is barely discernible. His laugh sounds like an unusually grown-up giggle, and he has a gift for injecting it into a word, mid-syllable, making almost everything he says sound amusing. When I ask about his domestic life, which he shares with his long-term partner Lise Mayer, a comedy writer, and their son Isaac, 10, he comes across as the rather droll headmaster of north London's comedy set.

"I bumped into Julia Davis's husband the other day – they live near us in Islington – and he had one of their twins with him. I said, 'Which one's this?' " – Deayton mimes the father peering into the pushchair, looking back up and spreading his hands in a baffled shrug. Laughing, Deayton adds with a sly grin, "A lot of our friends are drifting west now, though. They've passed away to Notting Hill. We do use Notting Hill as an adjective, in a slightly derogatory way. 'It's a bit Notting Hill' means a bit, 'We'll wait and see what else is happening before we commit.' They'll always be the last people to reply to any invites, while they wait to see all their different invitations come in." He affects to check himself with a brisk cough. "I'm being terribly rude about most of my friends."

Some of his former friends have been quite rude about him. Paul Merton and Ian Hislop, HIGNFY's team captains, were widely reported to resent their chairman's pay packet and to have been influential in his dismissal, with Merton describing him as "arrogant". It's Deayton who brings this up, when I remark that it's funny how presenters' salaries make scandalised headlines, whereas no one ever seems to mention how much actors earn.

"Or team captains, interestingly, I've noted over the years. This is, er, yeah, something that I've noted quite a lot in the many years I've been behind a desk," he quips. Why does he think that is? "I genuinely don't know. I find it baffling that for years and years I got tremendous stick for the amount of money I earned. I was often tempted to say" – and he starts to laugh again – " 'If you just cast your gaze to either side of me, there are some other people earning exactly the same as I am. We are on parity.' "

Hislop and Merton were on the same as him? "Yes. And some of them wander in at four in the afternoon of that recording, and other people have been working on it for four days." Again, the clipped dry laugh. "And he's the one who's getting the stick for earning all the money. So it did seem curious – and still does."

Why didn't he get on with them, then? "We always got on terribly well." That's not what I'd heard. "Yes, well, that's another urban myth," he laughs. "Bizarrely perpetrated by them. Which is odd. Certainly Paul has rewritten history a bit in terms of our relationship. We were always the last ones out of the bar on a Thursday night. We were clapping each other on the back, saying how wonderful the show was. 'A phenomenon – it's a phenomenon,' Paul always used to say. So, yeah, we always got on very well."

Urban myths are a recurring theme, because Deayton maintains that most of what's been written about him isn't true. "The Sun once did 20 things you never knew about Angus Deayton – and I didn't know 16 of them. The Daily Mail wrote something about me a few years ago and it had 36 sentences in it, and 33 of them were lies. The only three that weren't were quotes. Everything else you could put a 'not' in the sentence and you'd be closer to the truth." Almost the only much-quoted fact he will confirm was that at the age of five he decided he wanted to be either "a funny man or an advert".

That ambition was quickly forgotten, though. Born in 1956 into a traditional middle-class home counties family – with an ex-naval father and a teacher mother – he attended minor public schools, was good at sport and studied languages at Oxford. But though a big comedy fan, he'd never thought of having a go at it until an Oxford contemporary, Richard Curtis, asked him to stand in for a last-minute drop-out in an Edinburgh festival revue. Deayton enjoyed it, toured Australia with a spoof Bee Gees band, and began writing for comedy sketch shows.

He spent the 80s writing scripts, doing radio voiceovers and commercials, playing the straight man in bigger stars' shows – Rowan Atkinson, Alexei Sayle – and making the Radio 4 comedy series Radio Active, which transferred to BBC2 as KYTV in 1989. But he was basically unknown until 1990, when a part in One Foot In The Grave and the chair of HIGNFY turned him into a household name more or less overnight.

Looking back at his career in the 90s, certain ironies are inescapable. He fronted a programme called The Lying Game, and another called The Temptation Game, and when asked by one interviewer if fame had brought temptations his way, replied, "Actually, there are plenty of reasons why you should not give in. Someone could sell their story to the Daily Mail." So when I now ask if fame had brought with it concerns about his privacy, what I really mean is how did he think he could get away with cocaine trysts with strangers – or a long-running affair – without the papers finding out? But he interprets the question quite differently.

"Well, towards the late 80s, I started working quite closely with Rowan [Atkinson] and I think I learned from him how to deal with fame. He's intensely thoughtful about the whole thing, and private, and quite aloof. I think I probably learned from him how to conduct myself." This is a surprise, given how disastrously public Deayton's private life became.

"Yes, but sadly not anything I could do anything about. You have to kind of put your trust in someone – you can't be mistrustful of everyone you meet and everyone you come across. And sometimes that trust is ill-founded, and what can you do, short of actually never, ever putting your faith in anyone again?"

Some would say the answer's easy – you stay faithful to your partner. "Ye-e-e-es. Yes. Hmm. Well, I think that's kind of being wise after the event. There are definitely people I wish I'd never met, and I wish I'd never placed any trust in. But as I say, unless you go through life expecting everyone to behave in the worst way that you could ever imagine, then, er, there's only so much you can do about it."

A tabloid reader might think Deayton has some nerve to complain about betrayal of trust. The story his former mistress sold in 2002 wasn't pretty: she said she joined him and Mayer on holiday at their Italian villa, where they would sneak off for sex, leaving an unsuspecting six-months-pregnant Mayer lying by the pool. She claimed he enjoyed a threesome with her and a friend the night before his son was born, and would often hire prostitutes to join them in bed when she was unable to satisfy his Olympian sexual appetite.

Deayton says that so many outrageous lies were printed, "it would take an entire book the length of War And Peace to actually unravel it all". But he declines to identify any – "I think it's too little too late, and I don't feel as if I really want to start unpicking it all" – so there's no way to judge his indignation, or to tell if his reticence really might be a rare celebrity example of wisdom and self-control. "I always kind of expected that at some stage someone would explode the myths, but no one really has. And I don't think it should be me who does it."

He did consider giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry, but didn't want to "regurgitate everything again". When I ask if he's been following the hearings, though, his face lights up. "The gift that keeps on giving? Yes, every day." He laughs. "It is extraordinary, reading Hugh Grant's witness statement, I just thought, that's what life was like for me for six months. And, to be honest, it's the tip of the iceberg, because phone hacking is horrendous and ghastly, but what about hacking into bank accounts and medical records, entrapment, blackmail, blagging your way into someone's house or making threatening phone calls to elderly relatives?" He experienced all of that? "Yes."

Deayton tried to stop his ex-mistress selling her story by taking out an injunction, and says criticism of gagging orders "is always dressed up as being about a woman's right to – but to what, though?"

To do with the story of her own life as she chooses, is usually the answer. "Ye-e-e-e-es, but on the whole what they're doing is simply revealing details of a private relationship. I suppose it's technically anyone's right to do that, but you can't divorce the fact that they're making shedloads of money by doing it. And why would anyone," he adds with an expression of utter distaste, "want to do that?"

It's impossible to know if Deayton was more sinned against than sinning. What comes across very clearly, however, is his assumption that most people believe he was. His reluctance to reopen the whole saga is entirely understandable, and probably very sensible. But in the absence of any actual rebuttal, I suspect many readers may infer from all his complaints about betrayal and intrusion not bad luck or injustice, but self-pity.

He looks taken aback, thinks for a moment and for once the air of ironic amusement gives way to a flash of real feeling. "Right. Well, OK. I would say that I've suffered a fair amount of punishment over the years, one way or another. Yes, I would plead guilty to having had an affair which I shouldn't have had. But it's not really anyone else's business than mine. No one is in my relationship, so they can't make judgments about my relationship. There was one two-night stand, and there was an affair. Well, I don't think that's completely unheard of, either in the realms of relationships, or indeed television presenters. There are many who have done as much, if not worse."

I wonder if he was ever tempted to retaliate by identifying some of them. "Certainly on the drug front, yes. It would be like looking at the Manchester United team and pointing at Bobby Charlton as being the alcoholic because he had a glass of beer. I know a lot of people within the business find it quite amusing that I, of all people… well, I'm not necessarily talking about the current crop of presenters, but certainly 10 years ago, it was slightly odd to pick me out. With the exception of Clive Anderson." He pauses to think. "I can't actually think of anyone else. I've never said so before, but now I have. He's the only one."

• Pramface starts on BBC3, on 23 February, at 9pm

• Angus Deayton
• Television
• BBC3
• BBC
• Television industry

Decca Aitkenhead
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Chris Huhne's divorce spiralled into political crisis after claims by his former wife that she took speeding points on his behalf

The acrimonious divorce of Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce spiralled into a political as well as personal crisis when they were both charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, prompting Huhne's resignation as energy secretary and a call by Pryce for the case to be resolved quickly.

Huhne described the director of public prosecutions' decision to charge him as deeply regrettable and vowed to prove his innocence in front of a jury.

Pryce, in a brief statement from her lawyer, did not declare her innocence or guilt, saying she would now spend some time with her family and adding: "Obviously I hope for a quick resolution of the case." It is not known what plea she will submit to the charges.

In a day of personal turmoil and suspense for Huhne and Pryce, Keir Starmer, the DPP, announced he judged that sufficient evidence existed to charge the former couple. It is alleged that Pryce has admitted taking speeding points on behalf of her former husband in March 2003, an allegation she initially made in the Sunday Times during their separation.

It is the first time a serving cabinet minister has been charged with an imprisonable criminal offence in modern times, and represents a devastating blow to one of politics' most resilient figures, as well as potentially weakening the Liberal Democrats at a time when the party is hoping to stage a recovery. Huhne has been described as "the grit in the oyster", self-confident enough to challenge his coalition partners across the policy range.

Lawyers for the former couple will be summoned to appear at Westminster magistrates' court on 16 February, with a full trial at the Old Bailey possibly in September, on the assumption that neither side pleads guilty or manages to get the case dismissed. There is a prospect that other Liberal Democrats could be summoned to give evidence.

In a letter accepting Huhne's resignation, Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister, said: "I fully understand your decision to stand down from government in order to clear your name, but I hope you will be able to do so rapidly so that you can return to play a key role in government as soon as possible."

David Cameron, however, made no mention of a possible return in his own letter accepting Huhne's resignation, saying only: "Like the deputy prime minister, I am sorry to see you leave the government under these circumstances and wish you well for the future." He added that Huhne had made the right decision to stand down in the circumstances, and praised his work on climate change.

In a typically robust response, Huhne said: "The Crown Prosecution Service's decision today is deeply regrettable. I'm innocent of these charges and I intend to fight this in the courts and I'm confident that a jury will agree.

"So as to avoid any distraction to either my official duties or my trial defence, I am standing down and resigning as energy and climate change secretary. I will of course continue to serve my constituents in Eastleigh."

Clegg spoke to Huhne on Thursday night and Friday morning. Clegg's wife, Miriam, spoke to Pryce to express her sadness and offer her support. It was being stressed by Lib Dem aides that the Cleggs were not taking sides, but making a human gesture to two people who as a couple had been the only Liberal Democrats to attend their wedding.

Pryce is said to be disappointed at the decision of the Sunday Times to succumb to a police court demand to hand over emails between herself and a journalist on the paper. The Sunday Times had initially resisted the release of the emails, but changed tack, prompting some of Pryce's friends to claim that it had not protected its sources as newspapers are expected to do. News International sources said it had a written agreement with Pryce that it would protect her but if the court demanded material, the Sunday Times could hand that material to the police.

Cameron was informed at 9.10am of Starmer's decision and spoke to Huhne by phone at 10.40am, little more than half hour an hour after Starmer's announcement.

In a rapid, long-prepared response to the resignation, Cameron appointed the Lib Dem business minister Ed Davey to succeed Huhne. Norman Lamb, Clegg's parliamentary aide, has taken on Davey's former brief.

Lib Dem officials praised Davey's quick grasp of policy and ability to get on with officials and said he would be his own man putting forward a strong green case. He said his three chief challenges were climate change, energy security and securing a better deal for energy consumers, a field in which he specialised while at the business department.

The prime minister's spokesman said he did not expect to see any substantial change in policy as a result.

But some environmentalists voiced dismay at the loss of Huhne, described by Greenpeace as "a vocal advocate for the green agenda in a government whose green credentials are looking more than a little tarnished".

Other government changes resulting from the resignation saw the Lib Dem MP Jenny Willott appointed an assistant government whip and Jo Swinson take Lamb's old post as parliamentary private secretary to Clegg. Despite speculation, there was no return for David Laws, who quit as Treasury chief secretary in May 2010 and was later suspended from the Commons for seven days after an expenses scandal.

• Chris Huhne
• Liberal-Conservative coalition
• Liberal Democrats

Patrick Wintour
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As Al Ahly supporters in Cairo lament 74 deaths many seek revenge while others call for sense of calm and responsibility

Hundreds of supporters of the Cairo football club, which lost 74 fans in Wednesday's riot, have rallied outside the club's premises to mourn the dead and call for revenge against fans of their rival team.

As the rally took place, fans of Al Ahly club in central Cairo were still burying those killed in the northern city of Port Said during the clashes with supporters of their bitter rivals, Al Masri. The violence was Egypt's worst football riot in 15 years.

Yet, among the outrage of the crowd of about 400 people, a sense of responsibility was stirring. "Take that sign down," said one leader of Al Ahly ultras, the militant fans at the centre of Wednesday's disturbances. "We don't want to blame Scaf (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) today. Politics can wait."

Another group argued about whether to chant political slogans on a march to Tahrir Square planned for late afternoon. "I'll chant what I want, when I want it," shouted one man, but those arguing against political statements won.

The ultras, who have been on the frontline of clashes with riot police in Cairo for the past year have had an uneasy relationship with Egypt's liberals. As well as battling riot police at football fixtures, the ultras have led a series of reinvigorated protests in recent months against Egypt's military rulers, which has renewed focus on the waning liberal push for influence in the evolving post-Mubarak society.

The country's silent majority, many of whom backed the status quo and looked disdainfully on the liberals as naive utopians, has – until now – been even more scathing of the ultras, who they see as reckless anarchists.

But the manner of the 74 deaths – and where they died – has resonated with many Egyptians, much more than clashes in Tahrir Square or the killing of 27 Coptic Christians outside the government broadcasting headquarters last year. Football strikes an emotional chord that crosses sectarian and social structures in Egypt.

"They shouldn't have been killed like that, no matter who they are," said Ali Abbas, who supports the military leadership and believes it will deliver on a promise to see Egypt through the transition to civilian leadership. "The violence does not appear normal. It seems like punishment."

Mohammed Salama, 23, an Al Ahly ultra whose leg was broken in the stadium riot, said it became clear at half-time in the match between the two historical foes that trouble was brewing.

Leaning on a red walking cane he said Al Masri supporters had stormed through open gates after full time and trapped him and other fans against locked gates at the back of the stadium.

"They threw me off," he said, pointing at his leg in a full plastercast. "They were saying: 'You should have brought (burial) shrouds to the game.'" Another Al Ahly fan said the same words were displayed on a sign outside the grounds before kickoff. "It became clear that they were planning an ambush," he said. "It had to have been backed. The gates [to the pitch] are never open like that."

Tahrir Square was again heaving with demonstrators, many of whom buy into the Al Ahly view that militant Al Masri fans were given a green light by some elements of the security forces to attack their rivals.

The streets near the interior ministry building were again a battleground between riot police, several hundred of whom held a frontline near their headquarters on Friday, and mostly young Egyptians who ran the gauntlet, throwing rocks, molotov cocktails and, according to the security forces, sometimes shooting weapons. Four people died on Friday clashes, two in Suez, near Port Said, and two in Cairo. Medical authorities in the capital said around 1,500 people had been treated for injuries in the past 48 hours. Most appeared to have suffered from teargas inhalation. The Al Ahly ultras say they will rejoin the fray when the time is right. "When we do, everybody will know we are there," said one ultra Mahmoud Saleh. "These fans did not die for nothing."

• Egypt
• Middle East and North Africa
• Africa
• Arab and Middle East unrest

Martin Chulov
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Much of central Britain facing deep freeze with poor weather set to remain for much of next week

Drivers and pedestrians have been warned there could be significant snow and ice over much of central and eastern Britain over the weekend, with some snow falls leaving up to 10cm (4in) on the ground over Saturday night.

While coastal areas of Kent and East Anglia were threatened with a light snow covering, other parts of the country were facing greater disruption, with rain coming from the Atlantic set to run into high pressure and cold weather from continental Europe.

North Dartmoor recorded a temperature of minus 2.6C at midday , while High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire recorded a temperature of minus 0.7C afternoon.

It might be some days before the icy temperatures disappeared in the east, said Paul Gunderson, deputy chief forecaster at the Met Office. The cold weather there was "very stubborn" and likely to remain for much of next week, while it would be wetter and milder to the west.

The deep freeze has seen daytime temperatures plummet four or five degrees lower than average for February - traditionally the coldest month of the year.

The AA, which expected 19,000 emergency call-outs from motorists across Britain over Friday – double its usual number, appealed to drivers to be better prepared.

Darron Burness, head of special operations, said: "Unfortunately, we're still seeing people venturing out ill-prepared for the conditions, partly because it doesn't look particularly wintry at the moment. However, with more freezing conditions and possible snow on the way, you can't take any chances.

"Check the weather and traffic reports before heading out and pack plenty of warm clothing, food, water, de-icer, ice scraper and a fully-charged mobile. Take it easy and, if conditions deteriorate, try sticking to main routes and maintain a larger gap between you and the vehicle in front."

The London mayor, Boris Johnson, said: "Across all our roads and rails, hundreds of workers are on standby to ensure that, should we receive a mega-deposit of snow, we are in a position to keep the capital moving.

"With more than 100,000 tonnes of salt and an army of gritters, de-icers and specially adapted Tube carriages, together we will ensure that co-ordinated and swift action is taken to keep Londoners on the move."Health chiefs reminded older people and those with chronic health problems to wrap up warm and take plenty of hot drinks, and local authorities appealed to people to check on older neighbours.

The charity Living Streets appealed to councils to give the same attention to clearing ice from pavements as they did from the roads.

Tony Armstrong, its chief executive, said there must be no repeat of previous years where "people have felt vulnerable and in some cases completely isolated by ice on our pavements. With nearly four in five short journeys made on foot, it's time that the needs of people on foot are taken seriously."

A leading pet charity, the Blue Cross, warned families to keep their animals free of gritter salt and antifreeze. It said cats could die from salt toxicity while one had also died in London recently from suspected antifreeze poisoning.

Mark Bossley, its chief vet, said it was wise to keep pets indoors. Salt could easily get on their paws or fur and be swallowed when they groomed themselves. Cats also seemed to like the taste of antifreeze, but it is highly toxic to them.

However, the generally mild weather this winter has helped create a UK-first – an all-year-round tea harvest. The Tregothnan estate near Truro, Cornwall, reported that pickers were out earlier this week for the 12th successive month.

Its garden director, Jonathon Jones, said: "It is quite a novelty to be able to pick outside the normal season and the first time in history in this country. The frost isn't bad news for tea but it tastes a bit better without it – it has been a really unusual set of weather conditions."

A spokesman for the Local Government Association said an army of council staff and volunteers would be braving the elements to make sure vulnerable people were cared for, and residents were also being encouraged to call in on elderly neighbours. British Gas said its fleet of all-weather 4x4s was on stand-by to get engineers out to customers and keep Britain warm during the cold snap. A spokesman said the company had received more than 200,000 calls in the last five days, compared with 120,000 to 140,000 during a normal winter week, and was expecting a further 50,000 this weekend, compared with 20,000 normally in the winter.

The Department for Transport said it was now better prepared than ever for severe winter weather. It said salt stocks across the country stood at more than 2.4 million tonnes – a million more than last year.

• Weather

James Meikle
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Sir Philip Hampton admits taxpayer-owned bank might look for ways to halt awards of annual bonuses altogether to avoid annual row over pay

Royal Bank of Scotland's chairman admitted today that bankers' pay was too high – even as he defended the near-£1m bonus for its chief executive, Stephen Hester. He conceded the bank might look for ways to halt awards of bonuses altogether to avoid the row over pay every January.

Sir Philip Hampton admitted the bank, 82% owned by the taxpayer, had underestimated the scale of the reaction to the award of 3.6m shares to Hester – which he later waived – but said the decision had been made earlier than usual in an effort to avert speculation about the size of the payout.

As he revealed that the government, contrary to claims by ministers, had not tried to intervene to keep the bonus below £1m, Hampton acknowledged that the pay system may need to be changed to make it more acceptable.

"Clearly there's a challenge around the annual bonus," he said, indicating that one way might be to put more emphasis on the three-year long-term incentive plan. He stressed no decisions had been made and no particular plan was being worked on. He also quashed speculation that the board had threatened to resign over any intervention.

With the focus poised to turn next week to Barclays, which on Friday is expected to report 2011 profits of just under £6bn, the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, called on all banks to "show restraint" on payouts.

"This bonus culture has ultimately been corrosive," Miliband said, amid speculation that the Barclays boss, Bob Diamond, could be handed £11m in shares and cash. Barclays profits are expected to be down only slightly on last year and the bonus pool in Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm, is thought to be stand at about £1.8bn.

"People who did not cause the financial crisis are paying the price. And many feel that those who did cause the financial crisis are not," Miliband said.

The RBS chairman, who has also waived a payout of shares potentially worth £1.5m, acknowledged that the gap between top pay and that outside the boardroom was a "cause for concern" – a view he said was shared with other chairmen he talked to.

While the debate about bankers' pay rages in the UK, in Spain, it was announced today, bankers working at bailed-out banks are to have their pay capped at €600,000 (£500,000) with no bonuses.

Hampton insisted that Hester was not overpaid. "He is doing one of the hardest jobs in the world. He is being paid at the low end of the range," he said, adding that Hester was not likely to quit as a result of the row. "I think and hope he will continue to see it through."

Hester was parachuted in to run RBS after its taxpayer bailout – which eventually amounted to £45bn – in October 2008, a year in which it reported the biggest loss in British corporate history, of £24bn.

Hampton also said it was important to "watch some of the rhetoric around business … bashing people up who are actually there to help doesn't in itself help."

It was the move by Miliband on Sunday to call a parliamentary vote on the payment to Hester – described by Hampton as a "tough character … extremely able chap" – that ultimately forced the RBS chief executive to waive his award of shares. Even so, in coming weeks Hester could still be awarded shares worth up to four times his £1.2m salary, some £4.8m, in a three-year long-term incentive plan.

The bank also faces the prospect of paying out annual bonuses to its investment bankers, from an estimated bonus pool of £500m, just as bonus deals set up in 2009 fall due. The head of the investment bank, John Hourican, is in line for as many as 21.3m shares worth about £6m and, with every rise in the share price, options that give him the right to buy shares at 28.2p also become more valuable. The share price was 28.69p last night.

Hampton would not reveal the size of the bonus pool but said it would be "a lot down" on 2011 – when it stood at £1bn – and that this would reduce the number of millionaires employed by the bank.

He insisted that a banker could not be found to work for the same rate as Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King, who receives £305,000, and that Hester would be difficult to replace if he decided to go.

Hampton also admitted that the new management team had expected that they would be selling off shares in the bank by 2012 but this now looks unlikely as taxpayers are currently nursing a £20bn loss on their 82% stake.

He had earlier told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "Pay has been high for too long … particularly in the banks, particularly in the investment banks, shareholders have done pretty badly and employees have done pretty well certainly over the last 10 years.

"That needs to be corrected. It actually isn't a society or fairness issue, it's a straightforward business issue. Too much of the money has not been going to the right place," he said.

"I recognise absolutely that some of the pay levels are very high, very difficult for people to understand, but by the standards of this market they are not high."

• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Stephen Hester
• Banking
• Executive pay and bonuses

Jill Treanor
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Supreme leader affirms Iran has helped militant groups attack Israel before and will continue nuclear programme

Iran will help any nation or group that confronts the "cancer" Israel, the Islamic republic's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said.

In remarks delivered to worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran and broadcast on state TV, he said the country would continue its controversial nuclear programme, and warned that any military strike by the US would only make Iran stronger.

Khamenei warned that Tehran would reveal a letter sent by the US president, Barack Obama, to the Iranian leadership in an attempt to end the nuclear standoff. Khamenei said it showed the US could not be trusted. The White House denied that such a letter exists.

Iranian officials have consistently reacted defiantly to indications by the US and Israel that they might at some point take military action against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Any statement by Iran's supreme leader, who has the final say on all matters of state, makes it all the more unlikely that Tehran will switch tack.

Khamenei affirmed that Iran had assisted militant groups like the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas – a well-known policy, but one that Iranian leaders rarely acknowledge explicitly.

"We have intervened in anti-Israel matters, and it brought victory in the 33-day war by Hezbollah against Israel in 2006, and in the 22-day war" between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, he said.

Israel's large-scale military incursion against Hamas in 2008-09 in Gaza ended in a ceasefire, with Israel claiming to have inflicted heavy damage on the militant organisation. The war in Lebanon ended with a UN-brokered truce that sent thousands of Lebanese troops and international peacekeepers into southern Lebanon to prevent another outbreak.

"From now on, in any place, if any nation or any group confronts the Zionist regime, we will endorse and we will help. We have no fear expressing this," said Khamenei.

He said Israel was a "cancerous tumour that should be cut and will be cut".

An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said he wasn't surprised by Khamenei's remarks. "It's the same kind of hate speech that we've been seeing from Iran for many years now," Yigal Palmor said.

Khamenei said the US would suffer defeat and lose standing in the region if Washington decided to use military force to stop the country's nuclear programme.

"Iran will not withdraw. Then what happens?" asked Khamenei. "In conclusion, the west's hegemony and threats will be discredited" in the Middle East. "The hegemony of Iran will be promoted. In fact, this will be in our service."

Both the US and Israel have not ruled out a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, which the west suspects are aimed at developing weapons technology.

Iran says its nuclear activities are geared towards peaceful purposes such as power generation and medical isotopes.

Another potential military flashpoint is the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Iran has threatened to close the strait in response to US and EU sanctions targeting the country's oil exports.

Khamenei warned that Iran might reveal a letter that it claims to have received from President Obama, which he implied contained promises that Washington had not offered.

"The US president sent a letter to us and we replied. Then they showed reaction and took action. The letters one day will be revealed to the public and people will find what their words are. One of our essential jobs is to be aware about their deceptions in their promises and smiles," he said.

Khamenei did not say when the letters had supposedly been exchanged.

An Iranian politician claimed in January that Obama had asked for direct talks with Iran in a secret letter, which also warned Tehran against closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Obama administration officials have denied there was such a letter. Tehran and Washington cut diplomatic relations after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

Half of Khamenei's nearly two-hour speech was delivered in Arabic, an apparent nod to the Arab world. Iran has applauded the victory of Islamist groups in elections in 2011 and 2012 following the toppling of authoritarian regimes in Egypt and Tunisia.

The supreme leader said the Islamist electoral victories would weaken and isolate Israel, and that they represented the failure of what he said was US policy based on "anti-Islam" propaganda.

• Iran
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• Three killed in Cairo and Suez after police fire at protests
• Crowds gather in Tahrir Square after tear gas used
• Russia 'will not accept' redrafted UN resolution on Syria
• Read a summary of today's key events

5.49pm: Abdelrahman Hussein says the Mena state news agency has denied the previous report (see 5.40pm).

5.40pm: Abdelrahman Hussein has just sent me this from Egypt:

CBC channel has just reported a statement by Ismail Etman, an adviser to Field Marshall Tantawi, that the military will deploy forces now to secure the Ministry of the Interior.

5.35pm: Here is the full Associated Press report on the freeing of the American tourists kidnapped by gunmen in Egypt.

4.49pm: Here is a summary of today's key events.

Egypt

• Clashes continued in Cairo as police fired tear gas at protesters demonstrating against the deaths of 74 people at Wednesday's football match in Port Said. Three people were killed as police used tear gas, rubber bullets and birdshot to disperse the demonstrators. One man died of birdshot wounds near the interior ministry, the focus for protests in Cairo. Two others were killed in Suez. The health ministry said almost 1,500 people were injured in the violence. Protesters gathered in Tahrir Square chanting against Egypt's military rulers, who they claimed were complicit in the Port Said deaths. Earlier activists dismantled a concrete security barrier near the interior ministry.

• Egypt's Ministry of the Interior claims shotguns were used against the police and a security source reported 138 police officers injured, according to al-Masry al-Youm/Egypt Independent (see 4.17pm).

• Anger at the political class in Egypt was evident when presidential hopeful Amr Moussa was jostled at the funeral in Cairo for some of the Al Ahly fans killed in Wednesday's match. Moussa, who portrays himself as a reformer despite a 10-year stint as foreign minister, was accused of being a remnant of the regime of Hosni Mubarak.

• A senior security official says kidnappers have agreed to free two female American tourists and their Egyptian guide hours after they were abducted at gunpoint near St Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula (see 4.28pm).

Syria

• The deputy foreign minister of Russia, Gennady Gatilov, was quoted as saying that Moscow would not support a new draft of a resolution on Syria (see 4.10pm). It had been expected that the new wording of the resolution meant Russia would not veto it. The latest version includes changes made by Arab and European negotiators to meet some of Russia's concerns. It calls for a "Syrian-led political transition", does not criticise arms sales to Syria (Russia is a big supplier) and leaves out some of the details of what the Arab plan entails, such as Assad giving up power, although it still "fully supports" the Arab League plan, according to reports.

• There were protests against the government across Syria today, partly in remembrance of the thousands killed by government forces in a massacre in Hama 30 years ago. At least 18 people were killed, according to activists, as security forces fired on demonstrators and the Syrian army battled the rebel Free Syrian Army in towns such as Jassem, in the southern province of Deraa (see 12.37pm). Yezid Sayigh of the Carnegie Endowment's Middle East Center, wrote that there was no longer any serious doubt that "the government's days are numbered" but it was an open question how long it could hang on. "The regime cannot win, but it certainly can resist and prolong the conflict."

• In Homs, in the west of the country, an al-Jazeera report showed a desolate, war-damaged town with residents short of food and under constant threat of sniper fire (see 11.10am). Other footage from Homs purporting to show members of the Free Syrian Army standing on top of tanks is also suggestive of a civil war. Video purported to announce the defection of a senior army officer, Colonel Qasem Saaddine, in Homs (see 2.10pm).

• Schoolchildren are being detained and tortured with impunity by the Syrian army, according to Human Rights Watch. It has documented at least 12 cases of children detained under inhumane conditions and tortured, as well as children shot while in their homes or on the street.

4.28pm: A senior security official says kidnappers have agreed to free two female American tourists and their Egyptian guide hours after they were abducted at gunpoint near St Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula, the Associated Press reports.

South Sinai police chief Mohammed Naguib says he has sent a car to pick up the kidnapping victims after the deal was made following negotiations with Bedouin tribesmen.

4.25pm: Egypt: Abdelrahman Hussein has sent this from Cairo:

The clashes continue in Mansour Street and Central Security forces have just fired an extended volley of tear gas that has had many protesters scurrying back up the road. Eyewitnesses also claimed security forces are now firing rubber bullets.

Surreally customers are sitting at a cafe at beginning of the road smoking shisha pipes, some with the effects of tear gas evident on their faces. After the intense volley they moved their seats into the cafe rather than on the pavement.

The injuries have increased exponentially. The wounded are being treated on the pavement on Tahrir Street which has become a makeshift field hospital.

4.17pm: Egypt's Ministry of the Interior claims shotguns were used against the police in today's clashes in Cairo, al-Masry al-Youm/Egypt Independent reports.

A security source told the paper that the Interior Ministry has reported 138 police officers were also injured Friday. Sixteen soldiers were also injured by shotgun blasts, the source added in a statement read on Egyptian state TV. Images posted on the Interior Ministry's Facebook page showed some soldiers injured by shotgun pellets in their necks and legs. The page said that the pellets were shot by protesters at the soldiers on Friday.

The site also reported that a protester lost his right eye after being shot by police in Mansour street.

The Guardian's Martin Chulov is in Tahrir Square.

Frontline between masses of police & protesters holding near #Cairo's Int Ministry. Gas mist drifting to #Tahrir - a mile away

— Martin Chulov (@martinchulov) February 3, 2012

Night now falling in #Cairo. #Tahrir heaving. Approaches to square full- many looking for a fight #MOI

— Martin Chulov (@martinchulov) February 3, 2012

4.13pm: Egypt: Here is a video of the violence in Cairo today.

4.10pm: Reuters has more details on Russia's emerging reaction to the current UN security council draft resolution on Syria.

The Interfax news agency is quoting Gennady Gatilov, the deputy foreign minister of Russia, as saying that Moscow cannot support the new draft. Gatilov was quoted as saying:

We have received the text. Some of our concerns and the concerns of those with like minds have been taken into account in it, but nonetheless, this is not enough for us to be able to support it in this form.

He did not specify whether Russia would veto the resolution, which supports an Arab League plan that calls for Bashar al-Assad to stand down as Syrian president, or merely abstain if it came to a vote of the security council.

3.58pm: Cairo-based journalist Bel Trew described the scene as the security forces used teargas tried to disperse around a thousand protesters near the Ministry of Interior.

About two minutes ago there was a big teargas attack with birdshot, from the Central Security Forces, and we got pushed down Mohammed Mahmood Street. The teargas attacks have been going on since yesterday afternoon.

There was another teargas attack just then. People are shouting: "Stay, stay, stay."

We've seen [people with] injuries coming off, with head injuries. [There's] a lot of blood. And people with leg injuries from teargas canisters.

Where I'm standing right now is next to a field hospital to deal with people, mostly with gas inhalation. The major head injuries from the birdshot tend to be taken to the make shift field hospital on Tahrir.

Some of the injured have concussion and can't see, she said. The teargas being used is stronger than previously deployed, she said. Bel said she found US-made teargas canisters this morning.

The crowds are coming off Mohammed Mahmood Street, which is just off Mansour Street, because the teargas is very strong. It is almost impossible to breath here.

I was speaking to a field hospital and they said at 3 o'clock [this morning] the central security forces were firing live ammunition at protesters. At the moment it is just birdshot, and rubber bullets and very strong attacks of teargas.

3.35pm: Two boys have been killed by a roadside bomb in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, according to activists and state media, the Associated Press reports.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, which report on protests in Syria, said at least 18 people had been killed across the country today, later reporting that four defected soldiers were killed by security forces in Daraya, a suburb of Damascus. One was named as ohammad Mounir Al-Abdullah. Also in Daraya a 17-year-old named as Aboudi Falaha, and four more named as Mohammad Hassan Dabbas, Ezz elDin Toun, Sayyah Kouz and Mohammad Bilal Ahmar, were also reported killed.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES. The LCCs posted this video of wounded people being carried into the back of a pick-up truck. The video was uploaded today and was purportedly from the Marjah neighbourhood of Aleppo.

The LCCs also continued to post videos of protests today from around the country.

We cannot verify these videos or reports because of the Syrian government's restrictions on reporting from the country.

3.24pm: Egypt: The crackdown on Cairo's Mansour street and surrounding areas appears to be getting more intense.

Journalist Bel Trew tweets:

A lot of injuries coming off mansour street right now. Heavy teargassing #tahrir #Egypt

— Bel Trew (@Beltrew) February 3, 2012

Citizen journalist Mostafa Sheshtawy says:

6 tear gas bombs together in #Mansour st and 3 in Fahmy st. Paralel to it. Shit the whole place is filled with gas

— Mostafa Sheshtawy (@msheshtawy) February 3, 2012

AP's Hadeel al-Shalchi has series of compelling updates from the area:

Top of Mansour st at Falaky is chaos. Field hospital drs screaming for help as ambulance stops to take unconscious man. #Egypt

— Hadeel Al-Shalchi (@hadeelalsh) February 3, 2012

Crowd on Mansour st has doubled since this morning. Ppl cordoning the street to make way for ambulances and motos carrying wounded #Egypt

— Hadeel Al-Shalchi (@hadeelalsh) February 3, 2012

Security at Mansour st is pushing fwd and standing in middle of mansour st. Lobbing tear gas. Stampedes. #Egypt #Tahrir

— Hadeel Al-Shalchi (@hadeelalsh) February 3, 2012

3.21pm: Russia still cannot support the draft UN resolution on Syria in its current form, Interfax reports, citing the deputy foreign minister. It had been expected that the new wording of the resolution meant Russia would not veto it. The latest version includes changes made by Arab and European negotiators to meet some of Russia's concerns. It calls for a "Syrian-led political transition", does not criticise arms sales to Syria (Russia is a big supplier) and leaves out some of the details of what the Arab plan entails, such as Assad giving up power, although it still "fully supports" the Arab League plan, Reuters reports.

Western envoys said they and the Arabs had been trying to assure the Russians the resolution is not aimed at regime change in Syria or that it would lead to a Libyan-style foreign military intervention. The new draft says explicitly that "nothing in this resolution authorises measures under Article 42 of the [UN] Charter".

Article 42 is in Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which covers sanctions and authorisation for the use of military force.

3.00pm: Chants at a demonstration in Cairo today give an idea of what the protesters are demanding.

According to a translation by our colleague Mona Mahmood the protesters in this clip start by repeatedly chanting "Down with army rule".

After about three minutes they have a message for Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the ruling military council:

Tantawi, the revolution will be back to Tahrir Square.

Later they chant: "Who is the army ruling us. It is it monarchy?"

2.57pm: According to the Associated Press news agency, a senior official at the US state department said today that Washington is "cautiously optimistic" of strong support for a new UN security council resolution condemning the violence in Syria and calling for political transition there.

The official said a draft resolution proposed late yesterday by Morocco was likely to pass a security council vote either later today or over the weekend; it appeared to assuage Russian concerns.

The official said Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, was due to speak to Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, on the phone from her plane as she flew to Germany for a security conference today.

"From our perspective, this resolution fully supports the Syrian people and the Arab League," the official said.

The new draft repeats all the conditions the Arab League had set and fully supports its call for a Syrian-led political transition, the official told AP. It also sets a deadline of 21 days to make progress on the resolution; if there is no progress, the issue returns to the security council.

The draft does not contain any new sanctions, the official said, but it does "give the council an opportunity to revisit the situation", according to AP.

2.30pm: Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN, has taken a break from discussing watered down resolutions on Syria to pay tribute to those killed in the Hama massacre in in 1982.

#30YearsLater, we are called to stand together against the murder & torture of #Syria's sons & daughters.

— Ambassador Rice (@AmbassadorRice) February 3, 2012

In Hama today, Syrian security forces shot dead one person in the city as they broke up an anniversary protest, according to Reuters.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces dispersed the demonstrations in the Janoub al-Malaab district of Hama, where residents planned to release 1,000 red balloons to mark the killing of more than 10,000 people when Hafez al-Assad's forces crushed an Islamist uprising.

2.10pm: Another senior army officer has announced his defection in Syria, according to video from activists.

The clip is reported show Colonel Qasem Saadeddine flanked by fellow officers, in Rastan in Homs.

The clip cannot be independently verified, but it is one of many purporting to show the activities of the Free Syrian Army in Homs.

Meanwhile, large protests have taken place in nearby Hama to mark the 30th anniversary of an infamous massacre in the city.

2.03pm: An army officer was also killed in Thursday's clashes in Cairo, taking the death toll to four, according to state-owned Ahram Online.

It also has this account of today's clashes.

As soon as the prayers ended, security forces fired tear gas cannisters at the protesters in Mansour Street and Mohamed Mahmoud Street.

In Mostafa Mahmoud Square in the Cairo district of Mohandiseen, where several thousand protesters have gathered to march to Tahrir, chants for an end to military rule erupted as soon as prayers ended.

"Seventy-five youths dead, the military council are thugs," chant the protesters in unison.

The march started making its way to Tahrir at 1.30pm. One of thsoe taking part is Dr. Ranya El-Sobhy, an ophthalmologist at Qasr El-Aini Hospital in downtown Cairo and part of Eye Doctors for the Revolution group.

According to Dr. El-Sobhy, her department received 14 cases of ruptured globes Thursday night caused by rubber bullets. Another four cases were admitted to the International Eye Hospital in Cairo.

"They have to stop using these bullets," she said, adding that she was up all night treating patients.

To highlight that the Port Said disaster was not a football riot, one large banner reads: "This is not a football fight but a massacre of the Ultras."

Ahly and Zamalek's Ultra groups played a prominent role in defending Tahrir Square during the 18-day uprising against the Mubarak regime. Since then they have been regular presences on the frontlines whenever security forces have attacked protesters. Many attribute the deaths of so many Ahly Ultras Wednesday night to their prominence in protecting and fighting for the revolution.

Other marches are planned to Tahrir from the Ahly Sporting Club in Zamalek and the Shubra district, which was organised by the April 6 Youth Movement, Revolution Youth Coalition and Maspero Youth group, among other forces.

1.49pm: Journalist Eric Knecht live tweeted last night's clashes in Suez.

He emails through this account of what happened.

About a thousand people were protesting. It was peaceful for the first two hours. It seemed to get more aggressive when the friends of those killed in Port Said Suez joined the demonstration.

After about 11pm and when the demonstration had been pushed away from the security headquarters with teargas, it got more violent.

Police fired rubber bullets as well as pellets, according to a medic I spoke to. He had treated a guy with pellet wounds on his face. I saw several people carried into ambulances suffering from teargas exposure. They needed oxygen masks to recover.

I didn't see anyone injured from live round, though doctors at the hospital later confirmed live bullets were used, according to local press reports.

I saw protester throwing small fire bombs. The whole street between the protesters and police was on fire.

In a sick ironic twist, this area of Suez is called "Paradise".

1.41pm: Cairo's Mansour Street has been the centre of today's clashes. There have been numerous accounts and photographs of teargas being fired on the street but also reports of protesters responding with petrol bombs.

AP's Hadeel Al-Shalchi tweets from the scene:

Molotov cocktail thrown from protesters flies thru sky #Egypt #Tahrir Mansour st

— Hadeel Al-Shalchi (@hadeelalsh) February 3, 2012

Journalist Sarah Carr confirms petrol bombs were thrown.

Earlier citizen journalist Lilian Wagdy tweeted this image from the street:

standing up to tear gas in mansour st. twitter.com/lilianwagdy/st…

— Lilian Wagdyليليان (@lilianwagdy) February 3, 2012

1.27pm: Here's a summary of events so far today:

Egypt

• Three people were killed in Cairo and Suez after police used teargas, rubber bullets and birdshot to disperse protesters angered at the deaths of 74 people at Wednesday's football match in Port Said. One man died of birdshot wounds near the Interior ministry the focus for protests in Cairo. Two others were killed in Suez. The health ministry said almost 1,500 people were injured in the violence.

• The security forces continued to use teargas after Friday prayers in Cairo, as protesters gathered in Tahrir Square chanting against Egypt's military rulers who they claim were complicit in the Port Said deaths. Earlier activists dismantled a concrete security barrier near the Ministry of the Interior.

• Anger at the political class in Egypt was evident when presidential hopeful Amr Moussa was jostled at the funeral in Cairo for some of the Al Ahly fans killed in Wednesday's match. Moussa, who portrays himself as a reformer despite a 10-year stint as foreign minister, was accused of being a remnant of the regime of Hosni Mubarak.

• Two American tourists and their guide have been kidnapped by gunmen in south Sinai.

Syria

• There were protests against the government across Syria today, partly in remembrance of the thousands killed by government forces in a massacre in Hama 30 years ago. At least six people were killed, according to activists, as security forces fired on demonstrators and the Syrian army battled the rebel Free Syrian Army in towns such as Jassem, in the southern province of Deraa (see 12.37pm). Yezid Sayigh of the Carnegie Endowment's Middle East Center, wrote that there was no longer any serious doubt that "the government's days are numbered" but it was an open question how long it could hang on. "The regime cannot win, but it certainly can resist and prolong the conflict."

• In Homs, in the west of the country, an al-Jazeera report showed a desolate, war-damaged town with residents short of food and under constant threat of sniper fire (see 11.10am). Other footage from Homs purporting to show members of the Free Syrian Army standing on top of tanks is also suggestive of a civil war.

• At the UN, reports claim a watered-down resolution on Syria is being circulated, a version which would not call for Bashar al-Assad to stand down as president, as was originally envisaged (see 12.43pm). Russia is blocking western attempts to pass a security council resolution backing an Arab League plan for Assad to step down and be replaced by his deputy, with free and fair elections to follow. The draft resolution is unlikely to be put to the vote today. Yesterday diplomats failed to reach agreement, leaving discussions in limbo pending consultations with their home governments.

• Schoolchildren are being detained and tortured with impunity by the Syrian army, according to Human Rights Watch. It has documented at least 12 cases of children detained under inhumane conditions and tortured, as well as children shot while in their homes or on the street.

12.43pm: An even more watered down draft resolution on Syria is circulating at the UN, according to specialist UN blogger Matthew Russell Lee at Inner City Press.

The new version makes it clearer that Bashar al-Assad would not need to stand down, he says.

12.42pm: Gunmen have kidnapped two American and their tour guide in Egypt's Sinai province.

The military and police officials say the abductors sped away in a sedan and a pickup truck, leaving behind three other people who had been in the minivan. The officials did not know the nationalities of those left behind. Authorities say a search is under way.

12.37pm: At least six people have been killed in Syria so far today, according to activists, as protests across the country are fired upon by security forces and battles between the Syrian army and the rebel Free Syrian Army continue.

One person was killed in fighting between Syrian regime forces and defectors in Jassem, in the southern province of Deraa, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, another Syrian activist group, report that three people in Hama - named as Rajab Manfoof, Hussien Mohammed, and Abdo Kharfan Alysh - have been killed today by security forces' gunfire.

This video purports to show shooting in Hama today.

In the Damascus suburb of Rankoos two young men, one of them named as Bassem Hassan, were killed by the security forces' gunfire, the LCCs report.

In Daraya, in the suburbs of Damascus, five people were injured by heavy gunfire intended to disperse a demonstration.

In the Damascus area of Kefar Souseh, security forces have completely encircled Hady mosque following intense gunfire at a demonstration, the LCCs report, with dozens detained and reports of "critical injuries". This video purports to show gunfire against a large group of protesters there.

This video purports to show a regime tank in Douma, a suburb of Damascus.

In Rastan, Homs, Abdel Mou'in Ayoub was shot dead by security forces, the LCCs report.

This video purports to show the Free Syrian Army controlling a branch of military security in Anadan, Aleppo.

(This video uploaded yesterday purported to show the announcement of the formation of a new brigade of the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo province.)

The LCCs also post videos of and report on demonstrations purported to be taking place across the country today, including many in Damascus. The groups says many of these were attacked with gunfire by the security forces. Many are demonstrating as part of the "Friday of Sorry, Hama" marking the 30th anniversary of the Hama massacre.

Again, we cannot independently verify these claims or videos because of the Syrian government's restrictions on reporting from Syria.

12.36pm: Following electoral gains in Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt, Islamist parties have polled well in another election, this time in Kuwait.

The BBC reports:

Kuwait's Islamist-led opposition has made significant gains in the Gulf state's fourth parliamentary election in six years, official results show.

Opposition candidates won 34 of the 50 seats in the National Assembly, with 23 of them going to Sunni Islamists.

Liberals won nine seats, while woman did not win any. There were four women in the last parliament.

11.54am: The continuing clashes in Cairo are a key test for Egypt's new parliament, Abdel-Rahman Hussein reports from the Egyptian capital.

Protesters are likely to tear down three other security barriers in city, after the destruction of a wall in Muhammad Mahmood Street, Abdo reports. And there were angry sermons at Friday prayers, he said.

They have been praying against "the corrupt" and "the oppressive" in this country. There is a lot of visible anger. I think the clashes will continue for the next few days.

There is a "Groundhog Day" feeling to the violent protests, but the outcome could be different this time, Abdo explains.

The difference this time is that we have a functioning parliament. Yesterday parliament held an emergency session where they called in the minister of interior. They held him accountable for the events. They have requested plans within a week to restructure the Ministry of Interior, which was a demand of the revolution. Possibly pressure from the street and pressure from the legislative body might make things different this time. This is the first real test for the parliament, how they react and what they do will have a strong bearing on the perception of them. Are they an effective legislative body or are they just there to warm their feet?

11.47am: My colleague Mona Mahmood has translated the statement made in this video by Free Syrian Army captain Youssef Hamoud.

Hamoud says he has a message for "honest, free officers" who are still working for the Syrian army because they are afraid if they defect their children and families will be detained by the regime.

We tell them by God Bashar al-Assad is finished, finished inevitably. Honest officers in the army should stand with the people. Bashar is over.

He says he is not expecting anything from the UN security council, or other Arab or non-Arab countries. "They are giving Bashar al-Assad space to kill civilians," he says. "We the Syrian people will decide our future."

He adds that Iran will be "over" along with Assad.

Hamoud is asked if he has a message for those guarding checkpoints in Homs, where some have been taken over by the FSA.

They want to stand with the people but they are scared. If they want to stay safe, they have to believe and go with their families. Stay like women at home - that's better than killing children. We are going to liberate all the checkpoints in Homs.

11.35am: Egyptian presidential hopeful Amr Moussa was jostled and cheered at when he tried to attend the funeral in Cairo of Al Ahly fans killed in Port Said, according to US journalist Betsy Hiel.

She posted footage showing Moussa, a former secretary general of the Arab League and Egyptian foreign minister, being called a felool - or remnant of the Mubarak regime.

11.10am: On his blog Syria Revolution Digest, US-based Syrian activist Ammar Abdulhamid reports that 17 people were killed across Syria yesterday.

He says the Free Syrian Army claims to have destroyed a number of armoured vehicles near Kafar Ouaid in Idlib province, in the north-west. There were also "clashes between loyalists and defectors" in Sarjah, Idlib province, and Jizah, Deraa province, in the south.

Three of those killed yesterday were in Homs, Abdulhamid reports. This video, purportedly from Homs, shows men and boys - some of the men armed - standing on a tank amid a noisy crowd. The Arabic caption says it shows members of the Free Syrian Army.

The video is reminiscent of those from Libya as the Libyan rebels began to fight Muammar Gaddafi's forces in earnest and seems to give credence to reports that in many parts of Syria the country is falling into civil war.

Al Jazeera's Jane Ferguson has visited Homs and has filed this video report.

It shows a desolate, semi-deserted city, with buildings damaged by weaponry and destroyed vehicles and rubbish in the streets. Gunfire can be heard during the report. "The international community may not yet be calling this a warzone, but it feels like one," she says.

One resident tells her:

Actually we're living in starvation. No bread, no food, no drink, no electricity, no water, not anything. There is nothing. Everything is fighting and bombs and war.

The resident talks about the danger of going to the next street or standing at the balcony of his home.

Ferguson says a sniper killed two civilians half an hour before her report in what was supposed to be one of the rebels' main strongholds. "Crossing streets, it's almost impossible to avoid sniper fire," she says.

She visits a makeshift hospital, where a doctor talks about treating gunshot and shrapnel wounds.

Another video from Homs purports to show rebel Captain Youssef Hamoud "sending a message" to the Assad regime. Again armed men are shown standing on a tank.

Another video from Homs also purports to show a captured tank.

Another video purports to show a large explosion in a street in Homs. The Arabic caption describes it as a mortar shell.

In Hama, residents marked the 30th anniversary of the massacre there that killed an estimated 10,000 to 40,000 people by pouring red paint into the city's water wheels and in the streets.

Because of the Syrian government's restrictions on reporting from Syria, we cannot independently verify these YouTube videos.

10.43am: Powerful timelapse footage from Cairo captures the events of the last 24 hours.

It starts with thousands of football fans marching through the streets during the day and ends with protesters scaling that dismantled concrete wall on Muhammad Mahmoud Street in the earlier hours of this morning.

After two minutes the footage shows teargas shells being fired. It also shows protesters burning rubbish - a tactic used to alleviate the effects of teargas.

10.23am: Egypt's health ministry says 1,482 people were injured in the protests following the deaths in Port Said, al Jazeera's Adam Makary reports on Twitter.

Citizen journalist Mostafa Sheshtawy has uploaded a collection photographs on Flickr that features some of those injured as well as images of last night's violence.

10.14am: Egypt: Video has emerged showing an incident reported by Reuters when demonstrators in Cairo removed part of a concrete barrier near the Ministry of the Interior.

The Middle East Institute's blog said the clip was filmed on Muhammad Mahmoud Street.

The blog also features a video by the state-owned Ahram Online which showed the moment protesters protected police as they were moved from a police van into an ambulance.

9.29am: A third person has been killed in protests in Egypt in the aftermath of the Port Said football disaster, Reuters reports.

One person died in Cairo from a shotgun pellet wound and two were killed in the city of Suez as police used live rounds to hold back crowds trying to break into a police station, witnesses and the ambulance authority said.

The demonstrations erupted following the deaths at a football stadium in Port Said. Most of those killed were crushed to death in a stampede but protesters hold the military-led authorities responsible.

Several thousand protesters threw rocks towards the ministry building in central Cairo through the night. Security forces fired tear gas but the protesters continually regrouped.

Of the few vehicles in the usually congested downtown area, most were ambulances that ferried casualties from the clashes.

By Friday morning, a hard core of demonstrators had heaved aside a concrete barrier blocking a main road near the ministry to take closer aim at the building. A Reuters witness heard firing and found gun pellets on the ground.

"We will stay until we get our rights. Did you see what happened in Port Said?" said 22-year-old Abu Hanafy, who arrived from work on Thursday evening and decided to join the protest.

Revolutionary youth groups were calling for a mass weekend protest named the "Friday of Anger". By late morning, a few hundred people had joined protesters who slept overnight in Cairo's central Tahrir Square.

Activist Ahmad Aggour claims he was wounded in the leg in Cairo's Mansour Street.

We pushed forward a little bit. Now they are showering up with rubber bullets.

— Ahmad H. Aggour (@Psypherize) February 3, 2012

Got shot in the leg. Bleeding. Can't walk.

— Ahmad H. Aggour (@Psypherize) February 3, 2012

8.30am: Welcome to Middle East Live. The aftermath of the Port Said football disaster continues to be the main focus as violent protests at the deaths enter their second day.

Here's a round-up of the latest developments:

Egypt

• A day of rage following Egypt's worst football violence in decades spilled over into clashes between police and hardcore fans determined to avenge the deaths of 74 people in Wednesday's disaster. Angry crowds converged at sunset on the northern end of Cairo's Tahrir Square, to attack riot police and the Interior Ministry, which they accuse of being complicit in the violence at the stadium in the Mediterranean city of Port Said that besides the dead left at least 500 people wounded. Some of the victims and Port Said residents claiming that the violence was started by provocateurs in some way connected with the state.

• Two people were killed by police trying to disperse angry crowds in the city of Suez, medical officials said. A witness quoted by Reuters said: "Protesters are trying to break into the Suez police station and police are now firing live ammunition."

• Eyewitnesses at Wednesday's game said there was more to the violence than pure football hooliganism, the reason put forward by the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces. Mohamed Hamouda, a supporter of the local team Al-Masry said:

When the match was over supporters rushed on to the pitch and then the lights went off. People didn't know who was with who. I then saw people throwing the Al Ahly supporters from the stands. The gate at the exit was also closed by someone on purpose. I saw people yesterday with knives and swords. I don't know them, they were not from Port Said.

• Activists tried to disperse the protests in Cairo, according to blogger Zeinobia. She said the April 6 movement urged protesters to leave the Ministry of the Interior after last night's violence. The militant ultra fans of the Al Ahly club insisted they were not responsible for the violence because they were mourning those killed at the Port Said game.

• Unproven speculation about the tragedy is distracting from the reality that Egypt needs an operational, authoritative (but not authoritarian) police force, as any state does, writes Issandr El Amrani for the National.

The question of police reform, and the rebuilding of its self-confidence, has yet to be tackled seriously, with the past year wasted on superficial changes. The new parliament needs to work with the government so that civilians finally get an understanding of what is behind all this violence - the old regime "remnants", "foreign hands" or perhaps more simply a state and a society that still has to forge a new, hopefully more humane, relationship.

Syria

• In an attempt to get Russian backing the latest draft of a resolution being submitted to the UN security council has dropped an explicit demand that president Bashar al-Assad bows out but still fully supports the "political transition" sought by the Arab League. The change is triggering concerns that the resolution could be drastically watered down to secure agreement. Diplomatic sources said the main problem was Russian concern that the league plan constituted regime change by another name. "Moscow is looking to fudge this issue of political transition," said one western official.

• Security council ambassadors have reached a "wobbly consensus", according to the New York Times.

Emerging grimly from four hours of negotiations, the ambassadors all repeated the same line, which some acknowledged they had agreed to tell the news media. They avoided saying they had reached an agreement, instead emphasising that there was a consensus document that they were sending to their governments for approval. "There are some still-complicated issues that our capitals will have to deliberate on and provide each of us with instructions on," said Susan Rice, the American ambassador.

• The Free Syrian Army continues to fight street battles with the regular army in Homs with captured tanks, according to the latest footage from activists.

Activist Khaled Abu Salah, who has featured in a number of videos from Homs, appears in another clip (on the right) with a tank said to have been captured by the Free Syrian Army.

• Schoolchildren are being detained and tortured with impunity by the Syrian army, according to Human Rights Watch. It has documented at least 12 cases of children detained under inhumane conditions and tortured, as well as children shot while in their homes or on the street. "Hossam", aged 13, recounted his treatment:

They interrogated me by myself. They asked, "Who is your god?" And I said, "Allah." Then they electrocuted me on my stomach, with a prod. I fell unconscious. When they interrogated me the second time, they beat me and electrocuted me again. The third time they had some pliers, and they pulled out my toenail. They said, "Remember this saying, always keep it in mind: we take both kids and adults, and we kill them both." I started to cry, and they returned me to the cell.

Libya

• Former diplomat Omar Brebesh, Muammar Gaddafi's ambassador to France, has been found dead 24 hours after he was detained by a Tripoli-based militia from the town of Zintan. Human Rights Watch said he appeared to have died from torture.

• Egypt
• Syria
• Protest
• Middle East and North Africa
• Arab and Middle East unrest
• Al Ahly
• Bashar al-Assad
• Libya
• United Nations

Matthew WeaverPaul Owen
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• US unemployment at lowest level since February 2009
• Better than expected UK services data eases fears
• Summit of Greek party leaders postponed until tomorrow
• Eurozone services grow again, while retail sales fell 0.4%
• Today's agenda

5.40pm: At the end of another busy week, it seems investors have turned the optimism switch up to 11.

The catalyst for today's rally was the much better than expected US employment number, which showed 243,000 jobs created in January against predictions of a 150,000 gain. This has distracted from the continuing eurozone crisis, with the Greek talks seemingly dragging on for at least another weekend.

So the FTSE 100 has finished 105 points higher at 5901.07. Some £27.2bn has been added to the value of Britain's top companies today, £43.5bn over the week (data courtesy of FTSE Group). So far this year the index has gained 334.30 points and £86.7bn. More on the UK market here.

Elsewhere Germany's Dax has closed 1.67% higher while the French Cac is up 1.52%.

The euro fell to $1.3094 in the wake of dollar strength after the US jobs numbers, before making a slight recovery to £1.311 at the moment.

Next week sees the Bank of England's latest monetary policy committee meeting, not to mention the European Central Bank's monthly gathering. The latter could be more interesting in the light of the current crisis, especially given the continuing saga of Greece's bondholder discussions.

Finally, with Portugal seen by many as next in the firing line, a report here suggests the country is sounding out advisors to look at ways of restructuring its debt, if the Greek talks succeed.

So with that, it's time to shut up shop, apart from saying thanks for all the comments and have a good weekend. Back on Monday.

4.30pm: Ahead of a meeting between Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos and leaders of the other political party officials - due to take place tomorrow - finance minister Evangelos Venizelos has been defending the proposed austerity measures. Our correspondent Helena Smith writes:

Venizelos has outlined what the future would be like if Athens went the route of deciding to default on its debt and proclaim bankruptcy. Greeks may have become poorer, their standard of living may have dropped with wages and pensions poised to be axed still further, but the alternative would be by far worse, he told the Greek parliament.

"The hour of truth has come," he said. "Yes, these policies are very unpleasant, but not enforcing them would be much more unpleasant. Before us lies the dramatic dilemma of having to choose between the unpleasant and even more unpleasant and we have to take very difficult decisions … but what we could live through, and are trying to avoid, is indescribable."

And he also spelled out how much cash had flooded out of the country - some €65bn had been transferred abroad since the outbreak of the crisis in December 2009. Only €16bn of this was done legally, he said. Of this €16bn, at least 30% had been deposited in bank accounts in the UK.

With the Greek economy in unprecedented recession, the return of the capital should be a priority, he said. "It will help business and households, real estate and the fight against unemployment."

3.41pm: And here's some good news for Italian prime minister Mario Monti - Silvio Berlusconi is going to step aside from front-line politics.

He also has no intention of running again for prime minister, he said in an interview with the Financial Times (£) published today.

When he left office, there were plenty of people who wondered if the colourful Berlusconi would really step back or whether he would attempt to be an eminence grise, prior to staging a comeback. And despite playing down the latter prospect he did seem to indicate he wanted to play a role behind the scenes.

And he could not resist boasting how much support he still had in the country:

I still have strong popular backing, almost twice as much as my colleagues [Angela] Merkel and [Nicolas] Sarkozy. In opinion polls, I personally have 36 per cent support. If I walk out in the street I stop the traffic. I am a public danger and I cannot go out to do the shopping!

3.29pm: The flow of upbeat news on the health of the US economy shows no sign of abating, says Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

A better than expected non-manufacturing survey from the ISM added to a buoyant sister survey of manufacturing earlier in the week. The combined message from the two surveys is that the US economy grew at the fastest rate for ten months in January. The surveys are broadly consistent with gross domestic product rising at an annualised rate of approximately 3.0% at the start of the year, setting the scene for a robust first quarter.
....

The data from the US need to be treated with caution, as there is some evidence that seasonal trends were disrupted so severely during the height of the financial crisis in 2008-09 that recent data may be overstating the strength of the upturn. The ISM survey has also been an imperfect indicator of economic growth since the recession. However, both of today's reports nevertheless add to a growing batch of upbeat economic data from around the World (not affected by the seasonal issues to the same extent as the US numbers) which have beaten expectations and suggest than business conditions have improved considerably since late last year.

Composite PMI measures rose in January in the UK, Eurozone and Japan as well as the US. However, with the exception of Germany, the US is the only major developed economy to have seen a marked improvement in its labour market in recent months.

3.07pm: More good news on the American economy: its service industries grew at the fastest pace in nearly a year in January, according to a survey. The Institute for Supply Management's services index rose to 56.8 last month from a revised 53 in December, surprising economists and marking the highest level since February 2011.

The markets are lapping it all up: the Dow is 155 points ahead at 12859, a 1.2% gain, while the FTSE is up more than 90 points now at 5889, a 1.6% rise.

2.42pm: Wall Street has got off to a strong start on the back of the job figures: the Dow Jones has climbed more than 100 points to 12810, a 0.8% gain. In London, the FTSE is up 73 points, or 1.26%, at 5869, while Germany's Dax has added 1.37% and France's CAC is up 0.8%.

2.25pm: Back with Greece, officials are apparently playing down the idea that prime minister Lucas Papademos could resign if his austerity measures are not agreed by the other political parties in his coalition.

Earlier a Greek newspaper said Papademos might decide to go on Monday but our correspondent Helena Smith says:

"This has not come up. It hasn't been discussed," said Pandelis Kapsis, the government spokesman. "We are all working towards finding a solution."

Another official said while ongoing negotiations were "incredibly difficult" - with unions and employers' associations being the latest to reject the most difficult demand of all, wage cuts in the private sector - it was "most probable" that agreement would be reached among party leaders when they hold talks with Papademos tomorrow afternoon. "If they decide to do it another way and opt for the alternative which is bankruptcy, a decision will be taken there and then on how everyone will proceed."

1.48pm: Markets have moved sharply higher following the better than expected US employment figures.

The FTSE 100 - around 25 points better ahead of the news - is now up 71 points while US futures, which were predicting a 10 point increase, are now up 96 points. David Miller, a partner at Cheviot Asset Management, said:

Historically January numbers have been hard to predict because of seasonal effects. The figures today confirm that a steady recovery is underway in the US and this will be well received by the markets.

The drop in the unemployment rate to 8.3% means it is at the lower end of the Federal Reserve's forecast range - which could provide fuel to those in the Fed who want to hold back from further measures to boost the economy. Joshua Raymond, chief market strategist at City Index, said:

This is a really stellar set of numbers and has surprised many who had expected a slowing of jobs growth after the December holiday period.

The jobs figures paint quite a different picture to the tone of voice used by the Federal Reserve last week, which applied a somewhat dovish tone towards US growth expectations. This naturally poses the question what are the Fed seeing further down the path that the market isn't right now?

And what's more, a stronger than expected labour market goes directly against the rational to increase asset purchases through quantitative easing, and this may pose a somewhat negative impact in the medium term for those investors that had factored this into their trading.

Within the figures private sector jobs rose 257,000 while government jobs fell by 14,000, compared to expectations of a 20,000 drop. The increase in non-farm payrolls is the biggest since April 2011.

1.35pm: Away from the eurozone crisis, the economic news the market has been waiting for is the US non farm payroll number.

And now it's here and it's a big beat. Some 243,000 jobs were created in January, compared to expectations of a 150,000 rise. December's number was revised upwards from 200,000 to 203,000.

With the unemployment rate falling from 8.5% to 8.3%, the lowest since February 2009, this news will give a boost to President Obama in election year. The performance of the US economy is crucial to his chances of re-election.

1.22pm: Greek newspaper Ekathimerini has reported that prime minister Lucas Papademos might resign on Monday if he can't get his austerity measures through.

Meetings with the other political parties to thrash out details of the measures to satisfy its creditors are now expected to take place tomorrow.

12.34pm: More news on Greece. Eurozone governments may have to provide up to €145bn to Athens in a second emergency loan package - €15bn more than previously expected. The extra funds are mainly needed to recapitalise the Greek banking sector once a deal is struck to write down the value of the debt owned by private-sector creditors, Reuters reported, citing EU sources.

12.28pm: As mentioned earlier, the January jobs figures for the US expected at 1.30pm GMT will be keenly awaited in the White House. Some 200,000 jobs were created in December which seems a lot until you consider that the US has to create 125,000 jobs every month just to keep pace with population growth.

That's a scary statistic if you're a president trying to reduce the unemployment rate of 8.5%. Forecasts estimate that today's number could be around 140-150,000 jobs added - a large number against the backdrop of sharply decreasing government employment but not large enough to start making a big hole in the overall total.

11.47am: Greece just annnounced it would auction €625m of 6-month T-bills next Tuesday, to help fund the rollover of a €1bn issue that matures next Friday. Monthly T-bill sales are Greece's only remaining source of market funding at the moment. Most of the short-term bonds are usually bought by Greek banks.

11.38am: Back in the UK, JP Morgan economist Malcolm Barr is scaling back his forecasts for more quantitative easing after the strong PMI surveys.

Our forecast had anticipated extensions of QE by the MPC [monetary policy committee] of £75bn both next week and at the meeting in May. With the January PMI data printing much firmer than expected, we are scaling these forecasts back to expect a £50bn extension at each meeting, taking the total of QE up to £375 before the MPC stops.

Economists said the chances of the UK avoiding another recession had risen "significantly".

Andrew Goodwin, senior economic advisor to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club, explained:

The PMI services figures are very encouraging, particularly as they follow the more robust manufacturing numbers from earlier in the week. The chances of avoiding a technical recession have risen significantly with this week's data, particularly given that we're also seeing the orders pipeline starting to strengthen, suggesting that the recovery may have some sustainability.

However, short-term prospects remain on a knife-edge given the ongoing policy paralysis in the Eurozone. If the crisis deepens, it would most likely reverse all of the pickup seen in the last couple of months. The heightened level of uncertainty means that business sentiment is very fragile, so it's difficult to envisage activity remaining this firm in future months unless there are more tangible signs of a positive resolution to the crisis.

With this in mind, it would be a surprise if the MPC didn't extend its QE programme when it meets next week. The last inflation report showed a substantial inflation undershoot at the two year horizon and even the more upbeat data of the last couple of months is unlikely to be sufficient to bridge that gap. The MPC is likely to see further QE as a good insurance policy against further Eurozone-related weakness, and as good support to the recent pickup.

11.35am: Over in Ireland, our man in Dublin Henry McDonald reports that there are optimistic soundings from one of Ireland's main economic forecasters, NCB Stockbrokers who reiterate that the Republic remains the "poster child" of the EU, the EUC and the IMF as an example on how to manage a national debt crisis. While NCB predicts the Republic might need further financial assistance from Europe and the IMF after 2013, the country's attempt to drive down its debt is "well respected" internationally.

Our long held view has been that Ireland would require further assistance post 2013 and that it would not be able to fund itself entirely on its own two feet. If the momentum continues in Ireland this may not be necessary, but we still think there is a high probability that Ireland will need further assistance in the future. The details of the European Stability Mechanism ("ESM") were officially released yesterday and this mechanism provides an important backstop for current bond investors and a future source of funds for Ireland if needed. We reiterate what we said over the last couple of weeks, momentum and sentiment towards Ireland are extremely positive and we don't want to step in the way of that, but the fundamentals still worry us.

11.27am: Doubt has been cast on whether there will be a eurogroup meeting to agree a financing package for Greece in Brussels on Monday.

A German finance ministry spokesman told Reuters:

So far there is no invitation, nor has [the extraordinary eurogroup meeting] been announced, nor has there been advance notice that such a meeting will take place.

A meeting of this kind only makes sense - if it is to be about Greece - if we have all the elements sorted... All of those elements have not been met, so it's speculative to talk about such a meeting.

The comments came as it emerged that Greece expects its 2011 budget deficit to be smaller than expected, at between 9.1% and 9.4% of GDP, thanks to an emergency property tax. That's what a Greek finance ministry official told Reuters.

10.39am: A quick look at the markets reveals that the FTSE is now up nearly 30 points at 5825, a 0.5% gain, after a lacklustre start to the day. It received a boost from strong UK services data. Service sector firms in the eurozone returned to growth last month, a welcome fillip to European stock markets. Germany's Dax climbed 23 points, or 0.35%, while France's CAC was up 15 points, or 0.46%.

Gold prices have hit 11-week highs as expectations that US monetary policy will remain ultra-loose boosted investor appetite for bullion. And Brent crude climbed above $112 a barrel after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Tehran would retaliate over an oil embargo "at the right time".

10.10am: We never go very long without something important happening in Greece, the ground zero of the eurozone crisis, and Helena Smith in Athens has news of a development there today.

It now seems that the long-awaited meeting between prime minister Lucas Papademos and the three party leaders backing his interim government has been pushed back to tomorrow.

That's not good news and suggests that political heads are less than pleased with the outcome of talks, so far, between govenrment officials and visiting debt inspectors attached to the EU and IMF. The Greek media is billing the meeting as Papademos' toughest challenge since being appointed to the post last November. The technocrat economist has made it clear that if he doesn't come out with carte blanche backing for the hard-hitting austerity measures Athens' foreign lenders are demanding in exchange for aid, the country will not get the money it so badly needs to repay the 14.5 bn euro in bond repayments that mature on March 20, thus plunging it into a far from orderly default. The support has to be unanimous: if one leader balks "there will be a problem," said the government spokesman Pandelis Kapsis.

"Everything hangs on that meeting .... we will all be waiting to see whether it is white smoke that emerges from the chimney when the leaders emerge," said one TV commentator.

There is much talk this morning that with Greece's debt swap negotiations looking no nearer to being concluded than they were a month ago, the EU and IMF may be forced to give Greece a "bridging loan" to cover the bonds in March. "We are at the limits of official bankruptcy," said Kapsis hightlighting the gravity of the moment.

10.07am: Retail sales dropped 0.4% in the eurozone in December despite Christmas trading, disappointing economists who had pencilled in a 0.3% rise.

9.52am: Looks like Britain may just escape a double dip. The surprise improvement in services came after manufacturing unexpectedly returned to growth last month, while construction firms became more upbeat despite slowing activity.

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, which compiles the PMI surveys, said:

The pace of UK economic growth picked up momentum at the start of 2012, with businesses reporting the largest increase in activity for ten months. The data fuel hopes that the UK economy may avoid a slide back into recession – defined as two consecutive quarters of economic decline – following a 0.2% contraction of gross domestic product (GDP) in the final quarter of last year.

The three PMI surveys for the UK collectively indicated the fastest rate of economic growth at the start of 2012 since last March, with the combined Output Index rising for the third month running from 53.2 in December to 55.5. As such, the surveys suggest that the pace of GDP growth may have picked up to approximately 0.5% in January.

9.28am: Over to the UK. The services PMI has climbed to 56 from 54 in December, the highest since last March, easing recession fears. Optimism in particular improved among firms.

9.20am: The European PMIs are out. The situation has improved in the eurozone, where service industries returned to growth in January with a PMI reading of 50.4, compared with 48.8 in December.

The composite PMI, which also includes manufacturing, rose to 50.4 from 48.3 in December. Markit, which compiles the surveys, talked of stabilisation, with the readings the highest in five months.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said:

The overall return to modest growth in the eurozone services sector in January indicated by the purchasing managers' survey boosts hopes that eurozone economic activity is stabilising after GDP contraction that we estimate around 0.4% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Among the individual eurozone countries, it was encouraging to see a marked pick up in services activity in December in Germany and, to a lesser extent, France. Services activity also saw significantly reduced contraction in Spain in January, but there was little reduction in Italy's decline. Ireland also saw further modest contraction in services activity in January.

Nevertheless, a number of elements are still soft in the purchasing managers' surveys and it is very possible that the eurozone will suffer further overall contraction in the first quarter of 2012. Significantly, the purchasing managers survey showed that overall incoming new business still contracted in January as did outstanding business, albeit at reduced rates. In addition, overall employment edged down in the services and manufacturing sectors for the first time since April 2010.

The region is still facing major headwinds, notably including increased fiscal tightening in many countries, rising unemployment and ongoing major concerns and uncertainties over the sovereign debt crisis which are likely to constrain businesses' investment decisions. Meanwhile, relatively muted global growth is limiting export orders.

9.04am: With the bankers still universally blamed for the current crisis, it seems relevant to mention that Sir Phillip Hampton, chairman of RBS, has gone on the Today programme to defend the decision to give Stephen Hester a £1m bonus.

Jill Treanor, our city editor, was listening in and reports that although he conceded that bankers' pay has become too high, Hester deserved his bonus and that he was paid less than his peers. Hampton said that Hester had 'one of the most challenging demanding jobs in the world of business".

Pay has been high for too long ... particularly in the banks, particularly in the investment banks, shareholders have done pretty badly and employees have done pretty well certainly over the last 10 years.

That needs to be corrected. It actually isn't a society or fairness issue, it's a straightforward business issue. Too much of the money has not been going to the right place.

8.54am: The Hungarian airline Malev has gone bust, it has been announced this morning, in the latest symptom of the country's economic crisis. Malev, which has debts of £180m, says its has ceased operations and grounded all its flights to "minimize damage" after its financial situation became unsustainable.

It is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance which also includes American Airlines and British Airways, but made a loss of £75m in 2010.

It stopped all its flights as of 0500 GMT today, Reuters reports. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on state radio that two Malev planes are still abroad – one in Tel Aviv, the other in Ireland.

8.25am: The market has opened pretty flat this morning with the FTSE100 currently down 1.7 points. Asian markets were similarly subdued overnight with the consensus being that traders are waiting for the US jobs figures at 1.30pm. Some 200,000 jobs were added in December so the January figures are unlikely to be repeated with forecasts in the 150,000 region and the overall unemployment rate expected to remain at 8.5%.

Even so, if Alex Ferguson was a US political commentator he would undoubtedly be saying that it's squeaky bum time for President Obama. Or maybe squeaky ass time, if we're talking American. (Wouldn't sound right from Ferguson though would it?)

Anyway, let's say it will be closely watched by the White House where Obama's re-election hopes rest squarely with the performance of the economy.

8.05am: We're all set for another day in the life of the eurozone crisis and here are the main events in and around that today:

• First we're expecting numbers on the services sector in Italy, Germany and others with the latest PMI surveys out shortly before 9am
• Eurozone retail sales due at 10am and expected to be poor.
• UK services PMI out at 9.30am.
• And the markets will be waiting keenly for US jobs data in the form of non-farm payrolls at 1.30pm.
• Finally we'll still be waiting for any news on what haircut Greece's private creditors will have to take.

• Eurozone crisis
• Euro
• Europe
• Economics

Martin FarrerJulia KolleweNick Fletcher
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European commission puts its gas co-ordination committee on alert as Russian supplies to some states dwindle

At least 221 people have died during a cold snap in which temperatures have plummeted to -30C and below across eastern Europe, with Ukraine the hardest hit country.

The cold has killed 101 people in Ukraine, many of whom lived on the streets. Health officials have ordered hospitals to stop discharging homeless patients after they are treated for hypothermia and frostbite, while authorities have set up nearly 3,000 heating and food shelters to help people survive.

The week-long cold snap, eastern Europe's worst in decades, is causing power cuts, frozen water pipes and the widespread closure of schools, nurseries, airports and bus routes.

An energy crisis is looming as Russian gas supplies to some states dwindle by up to 30%. Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Italy are those worst affected.

On Thursday the Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said it was sending as much gas as it could spare to Europe, and that Ukraine, whose pipelines carry Russian gas to the EU, must be taking more than its contracted share. Kiev has flatly denied doing so.

The European commission put its gas co-ordination committee on alert, but said it was not yet an emergency.

The cold spell has killed 24 people in Romania, 17 in Poland, 11 in the Czech Republic, at least two in Slovakia and one each in France and Germany. In Russia, officials said more than 64 people died of hypothermia in January.

In Moscow, the mercury remained below -15C for a third week running. The coldest temperatures were recorded in the isolated region of Kamchatka, where -48C lows are forecast for the weekend.

Although long used to harsh conditions, Russians have been enduring temperatures 7C to 12C below average. Desperate to keep warm, many have turned to space heaters, which have been blamed for a 30% rise in house fires since the harsh weather set in last month.

Activists preparing for an anti-Kremlin demonstration on Saturday, urged protesters to stay warm by donning thermal underwear and thick mittens instead of gloves as they prepared to brave -18C weather. Russia's chief health official, Gennady Onischenko, went further, saying: "If the weather report turns out to be true, then I categorically suggest not taking part in these protests.

"No tea or warm drinks will save you - and can even play a negative role."

Rome experienced a rare snowfall on Friday, prompting officials to close the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, the former home of Rome's ancient emperors, to prevent tourists from slipping and falling. Northern Italy has been gripped by snow and ice that is disrupting train travel. Temperatures in the Italian Alps have fallen as low as -22C.

In Poland, the interior ministry recorded eight more deaths on Friday and said two other people died of asphyxiation from carbon monoxide-spewing charcoal heaters.

An 82-year-old man was found dead in woods in north-east France on Friday. Paramedics said he was found in his pyjamas and that he suffered from Alzheimer's.

In Serbia, blizzards gripped Belgrade, the capital, and Novi, the country's second largest city, complicating efforts to rescue people trapped in their homes. In northern Serbia, hundreds of tonnes of fish in the Ecka lakes were in danger because the water was icing over. Dozens of people have been working non-stop to break the ice, sometimes falling into the freezing water.

In Croatia, some roads were closed and the waters of the Adriatic Sea froze in some areas. Buses that travel from Zagreb, the capital, towards the coast were cancelled. In Montenegro, the airport in the capital, Podgorica, was closed due to heavy snow.

• Natural disasters and extreme weather
• Ukraine
• Russia
• European commission
• Europe
• Gas

Helen PiddMiriam Elder
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Roman Polanski's comedy of manners about two sets of parents that come to war over their sons' playground fight is awkward, but compulsive viewing, says Henry Barnes

Henry Barnes