German officials said reaching a deal would be "difficult" as US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pressed Europe for decisive action to tackle the crisis and US President Barack Obama spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Europe is not out of the crisis. The risk of an explosion abounds as long as the decisions taken with Angela Merkel are not implemented," Sarkozy told lawmakers from his ruling UMP party, according to a participant in the meeting. US stocks erased losses in the last hour of trade Wednesday to end mostly higher, but European stocks and the euro slid as pessimism set in.

On Monday, Sarkozy and the German chancellor announced comprehensive reform plans for the eurozone, having called for changes to the 27-member EU treaty to improve a eurozone framework generally seen as defective almost 10 years after the common currency was introduced. Merkel and Sarkozy sent a letter to EU president Herman Van Rompuy on Wednesday to outline their plans for "reinforced governance" of the eurozone "to ensure budget discipline as well as stronger growth and increased competitiveness."

They proposed a "new, common legal framework" to boost financial and labour market regulation, the harmonisation of the corporate tax base and the imposition of a tax on financial transactions. In London, Prime Minister David Cameron said in parliament Wednesday that if Britain is asked to back a new EU treaty to breathe new life into the euro, he intended to exact a high price in return. "The more that countries in the eurozone ask for, the more we will ask for in return," he said.

Cameron also repeated his threat to veto any treaty change if Britain fails to receive "safeguards" from its European partners, particularly for the City of London financial services hub.

This week's summit, where leaders will consider ways to improve budget discipline and tighten economic union, is seen as crucial to efforts to stop the debt contagion threatening the eurozone and to salvage the embattled single currency.

The remains of hundreds of Los Angeles County residents whose bodies were never claimed by family or friends were buried in a mass burial Wednesday. He said the 1,639 people designated for the mass interment at the Los Angeles County Crematory and Cemetery "are individuals that, for one reason or another, have no one but the county to provide them with a respectful and dignified burial."

Knabe described some of the deceased as homeless or poor, many of whom with "no families to grieve for them". "Regardless of what their status in life was, each one of their lives matters," he said. "It matters to us, their county family."

Two years on, Van Rompuy is still a conundrum to many. But as the continent gropes this week for a solution to its worst economic crisis since World War Two, the unassuming Belgian has been thrust into one of the most demanding diplomatic missions of recent decades. While many expected his office to be largely ceremonial, he has been charged with brokering a grand bargain among those who hold the bloc's fate in their hands: the 27 countries of the European Union and in particular the 17 that share the single currency.

To his critics, Van Rompuy is a grey intellectual, lacking in the kind of take-charge dynamism the moment demands, a symbol of all that is wrong with Europe. To his admirers, he is reason to hope: a smart and thoughtful leader who grasps the gravity of the crisis and is perfectly placed to smooth egos and negotiate a solution.

Van Rompuy, 64, said he sees his role as "neither a spectator, nor a dictator, but a facilitator". To some ears, that may sound like a parody of eurospeak. But in an institution whose very existence was built on compromise, his role is crucial. Van Rompuy faces what is probably his most challenging test this Thursday and Friday, December 8-9, when EU leaders gather for a summit on the sovereign debt crisis that in the past two years has consumed Greece, Ireland and Portugal, cast a shadow over far larger economies and now threatens the very survival of the currency union.

For many years, until his workload became too heavy, Van Rompuy spent a day or two every year on retreat at Affligem Abbey, an 11th-century Benedictine monastery northwest of Brussels. There he would read, write and pray with the monks, 17 of whom still reside inside its imposing red-brick walls. Brother George, the monk in charge of visitors and the nearby gift shop, describes Van Rompuy as someone who fit naturally into the pastoral surroundings, enjoying the calm of the monastery's library and eating in silence in the austere, vaulted-ceiling refectory. "He's almost a monk," said Brother George with a shrug. "It's special to have him, but he is himself. He's a very calm, down-to-earth man."

Cameron writes that: "Clearly, we will need to look at the right safeguards for Britain in the light of what is proposed. Our colleagues in the EU need to know that we will not agree to a treaty change that fails to protect our interests". He adds that "Our requirements will be practical and focused. But eurozone countries should not mistake this for any lack of steel."

Cameron acknowledges that the result might be that the 17 eurozone countries may opt for a separate agreement, adding that: "Some have argued that a treaty of the 17 would be more effective if it were applied through the various institutions of the EU such as the European Court of Justice and the Commission. But these institutions belong to all EU states and their use outside the treaty of the 27 would clearly require safeguards." He concludes by arguing that: "I have spoken about a Europe that has the flexibility of a network, not the rigidity of a bloc... A Europe that cherishes its national identities as a source of strength."

FTD notes that Cameron's stance means that tomorrow's summit could be marked by a "violent dispute" over the issue, given that the German government considers such demands to be "unaccomplishable", quoting a member of the negotiating team as saying that: "If the British were to find an exit clause from the regulation of financial markets, then proper regulation in Europe would no longer be possible". Le Monde reports that in case it is not possible to reach an agreement at 27, Merkel and Sarkozy will push for an inter-governmental agreement among the 17 eurozone states to be ratified by mid-March.

The federal government, the state governments and local governments are cramming thousands upon thousands of new ridiculous regulations down our throats each year. It would take a full team of lawyers just to even try to stay informed about all of these new regulations. Small business in the United States is literally being suffocated by red tape. We like to think that we live in "the land of the free", but the truth is that our lives and our businesses are actually tightly constrained by millions of rules and regulations. Today there is a "license" for just about every business activity. In fact, in some areas of the country today you need a "degree" and multiple "licenses" before you can even submit an application for permission to start certain businesses. And if you want to actually hire some people for your business, the paperwork nightmare gets far worse.

It is a wonder that anyone in America is still willing to start a business from scratch and hire employees. The truth is that the business environment in the United States is now so incredibly toxic that millions of Americans have simply given up and don't even try to work within the system anymore. Today, the US government has an "alphabet agency" for just about everything. The nanny state feels like it has to watch, track and tightly control virtually everything that we do. The Federal Register is the main source of regulations for US government agencies. In 1936, the number of pages in the Federal Register was about 2,600. Today, the Federal Register is over 80,000 pages long. That is just one example of how bad things have gotten.

But it is not just the federal government that is ramming thousands of ridiculous regulations down our throats. The truth is that in many cases state and local governments are far worse. We have become a nation that is run and dominated by bureaucrats. Yes, there always must be rules in a society, but we have gotten to the point where there are so many millions of rules that the game has become unplayable.

The following are 12 examples of ridiculous regulations that are almost too bizarre to believe....

http://www.businessinsider.com/ridiculous-regulations-big-government-2010-11?slop=1#1-private-investigators-license-1

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, on a whistle-stop tour of Europe to lobby for action, voiced confidence in a Franco-German plan to overhaul the European Union's treaty to tighten budget discipline. "I have a lot of confidence in what the president of France and the minister are doing, working with Germany to build a stronger Europe," Geithner told reporters after talks with French Finance Minister Francois Baroin.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will lay out their plan at Friday's EU summit to impose mandatory penalties on euro states that exceed deficit targets, with the aim of restoring market trust and preventing the region's debt crisis spiraling out of control. Figures released on Wednesday showed just how urgently some European banks need help.

Italian banks had to borrow 153.2 billion euros in emergency liquidity from the ECB in November, up from 111.3 billion euros at the end of October, Bank of Italy data showed, another big leap in reliance on the central bank which has almost quadrupled since June, when Italian lenders took 41.3 billion euros. Euro zone banks took more than $50 billion in the ECB's first dollar funding operation since the world's leading central banks agreed last week to cut their cost, five times the $10 billion forecast in a Reuters poll of money market traders.

Insiders say Mr Cameron will be isolated and walk away with "nothing".

EU leaders will refuse even to discuss British objections to a proposed financial tax that would hammer the City of London and cost hundreds of thousands of British jobs. News of the plot came as a blow to Mr Cameron, who is already facing a backlash from some Tory MPs after ruling out a referendum on the EU shake-up.

He insists a referendum is not necessary because the proposed changes to the EU's constitutional treaty will only affect the 17 nations in the euro zone, yet Brussels sources said the treaty change will apply to all 27 members of the EU, including Britain.

"By 2am on Friday there will be a limited treaty change on a very precise aspect of European monetary union," said a European Commission source. It also emerged yesterday that bailed-out euro zone nations such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal could be stripped of their voting rights in the EU.

Extraordinary proposals circulated by EU Council president Herman Van Rompuy include sweeping powers for Brussels to impose austerity measures on debt-hit members of the euro zone. His document, to be debated at tomorrow's summit, included calls for "more intrusive control of national budgetary policies by the EU." In a further development that is spreading alarm among Euro sceptics, Mr Van Rompuy indicated that treaty changes giving the EU these new controls could be rushed through without votes in the parliaments of member states - or any referendums. His document, Towards A Stronger Economic Union, said: "This decision does not require ratification at national level. THIS PROCEDURE COULD THEREFORE LEAD TO RAPID AND SIGNIFICANT CHANGES."

"If the euro zone were to collapse IT COULD QUICKLY LEAD TO a political renationalization in Europe," Steinbrueck said in a speech to delegates at a party congress of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). Steinbrueck, one of three SPD contenders to carry the party banner into an election due in two years, attacked Chancellor Angela Merkel for stirring anti-European sentiments in Germany by using terms like "transfer union" to refer to the euro zone.

"European integration is the answer for 1945 and it is the answer for the 21st century," Steinbrueck said in a speech broadcast live on several national television networks. His speech followed a warning from Standard & Poor's that it may carry out an unprecedented mass downgrade of euro zone countries if EU leaders fail to deliver a convincing agreement on how to solve the region's debt crisis in a summit on Friday.

Georgios Provopoulos, the governor of the central bank of Greece, is a man of statistics, and they speak a clear language. "In September and October, savings and time deposits fell by a further 13 to 14 billion euros. In the first 10 days of November the decline continued on a large scale," he recently told the economic affairs committee of the Greek parliament. With disarming honesty, the central banker explained to the lawmakers why the Greek economy isn't managing to recover from a recession that has gone on for three years now: "Our banking system lacks the scope to finance growth."

He means that the outflow of funds from Greek bank accounts has been accelerating rapidly. At the start of 2010, savings and time deposits held by private households in Greece totalled 237.7 billion euros - by the end of 2011, they had fallen by 49 billion euros. Since then, the decline has been gaining momentum. Savings fell by a further 5.4 billion euros in September and by an estimated 8.5 billion euros in October - the biggest monthly outflow of funds since the start of the debt crisis in late 2009.

The raid on bank accounts stems from deep uncertainty in Greek households which culminated in early November during the political turmoil that followed the announcement by then-Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou of a referendum on the second Greek bailout package. Papandreou withdrew the plan and stepped down following an outcry among other European leaders against the referendum, and a new government was formed on November 11 under former central banker Loukas Papademos. That appears to have slowed the drop in bank savings, at least for the time being. Nevertheless, the Greeks today only have 170 billion euros in savings - almost 30 percent less than at the start of 2010.

A French tricolor fluttering on a video screen provides the grand backdrop for Nicolas Sarkozy, who is about to take to the stage to talk sabout the euro crisis. The flag is huge, almost as if the organizers were attempting to allay any doubts that the speaker really is the French president rather than a mere emissary of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. When Sarkozy appeared in front of his supporters in Toulon last Thursday, he spoke of the "fear that France could lose control of its own destiny." His dramatic words were an appeal to French national pride, but his response to those fears was anything other than nationalist: "France and Germany have decided to unite their fate," he announced.

So-called "convergence" - greater alignment of the two countries - was the only way out of the crisis. There is no doubt which country wants to align itself with which. Later that day, one of his advisers said Sarkozy wanted "supply-oriented economic policies and debt reduction modeled on those of Gerhard Schroder," Merkel's predecessor. In his speech, the president even announced a "jobs summit" between employers and unions just like the one initiated by then Chancellor Schroder six years ago. The very next day the French daily newspaper Liberation ran an article under the headline "A President Modeled on the Germans," which claimed "If you closed your eyes, you could hear Merkel speaking" during Sarkozy's speech.

During a televised interview back in early November, Sarkozy uttered almost unimaginable words for a French president: "All my efforts are directed towards adapting France to a system that works. The German system." Speaking in Toulon, Sarkozy condemned the long-established French policy of buying economic growth by simply borrowing more. He said France could only overcome the current crisis through "work, effort, and controlled spending," objectives that sounded eerily German. Fortunately the tricolor was still fluttering, and the event closed with a rendition of the Marseillaise. In these days of crisis in Europe, the "German model" has become something of a magic formula. Like it or not, the dusty, dry Germans now seem to hold the key to European salvation.

Addressing the powerful Central Military Commission, Hu said: "Our work must closely encircle the main theme of national defence and military building." His comments, which were posted in a statement on a government website, come as the United States and Beijing's neighbours have expressed concerns over its naval ambitions, particularly in the South China Sea.

Several Asian nations have competing claims over parts of the South China Sea, believed to encompass huge oil and gas reserves, while China claims it all. One-third of global seaborne trade passes through the region. Vietnam and the Philippines have accused Chinese forces of increasing aggression there. In a translation of Hu's comments, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the president as saying China's navy should "make extended preparations for warfare."

The intelligence was revealed in a classified Capitol Hill briefing last month. Its existence was made public in a letter to Defense Secretary Leon E Panetta from five House Republicans. "As members of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces, we write out of concerns about new intelligence concerning foreign developments in long-range ballistic missile development, specifically ballistic missiles capable of attacking the United States," the November 17 letter said.

"We believe this new intelligence reiterates the need for the administration to correct its priorities regarding missile defenses, which should have, first and foremost, the missile defense of the homeland." Officials familiar with the intelligence said government analysts believe the missile could be a variant of North Korea's new Musudan intermediate-range missile, first disclosed publicly in October 2010. Other intelligence indicates that the new ICBM may be under development at a huge missile testing facility on North Korea's western coast. Prior to its mobile ICBM, North Korea's long-range missiles were the pad-launched Taepodong-1 prototype, and the Taepodong-2 (TD-2) dual-use ICBM and space launcher. The TD-2 was test-launched in April 2009.

Mobile missiles are difficult for tracking radar to locate, making them easier to hide. They also can be set up and launched much more quickly than missiles fired from silos or launchpads. China's military recently deployed two new mobile ICBMs, the DF-31 and DF-31A. It is not known whether North Korea's new mobile missile is based on Chinese technology. China in the past has provided missile technology to North Korea, a fraternal communist ally.

They claimed some were wounded, and were ferried away from the battle by Turkish military vehicles to Turkish army aid stations. "The border guards forces suffered no injuries or losses," the state news agency said. "They warned they would stop anyone who even thinks of touching Syria's security or its citizens." Turkey has provided a base and diplomatic cover to the Free Syrian Army, a growing band of defectors, and it is unlikely that an open attack with such a large group of men could have been planned without their awareness.

That alone is enough to draw the two former allies closer to open war, though both are likely to try to avoid it. Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, has already admitted he considers that a buffer zone inside Syria for refugees from the fighting might have to be considered, with outside military intervention if necessary. A widening and increasingly dangerous rift is forming between the main strategic alliances in the region. Iran and its allied militia in Lebanon, Hizbollah, are remaining loyal to Mr Assad but Hamas, another Damascus-based militant group, is making its unease clear.

Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbollah's leader, made his first public appearance in three years, at a rally to mark the Shia Muslim festival of Ashura in Beirut. He said he stood by Mr Assad as a fellow struggler in the "resistance" and said that America, the Satan, was trying to overthrow him to make up for defeat in Iraq. "A message to all those who are conspiring against the resistance and banking on change: we will never let go of our arms," he said. "We are tens of thousands of trained fighters, who are all ready to die."

"There were huge net capital outflows," said Eric Dor from the IESEG School of Management in Lille. The effects of this capital flight are surfacing on the Bank of France's books under the European Central Bank's so-called "Target2" scheme, an ECB payment network that lets funds move automatically where needed. Liabilities jumped suddenly in late July, rising from 10 billion euros to 98 billion euros by September. Ireland's central bank owes 118 billion euros, Spain's 108 billion euros and Italy's 89 billion euros.

The triple-trigger appears to have been a sudden drop in Club Med manufacturing orders, an ECB rate rise, and the EU's July summit - which led to haircuts on Greek bondholders and battered faith in EMU sovereign debt. Mr Dor said there had been an exodus from distressed states into German, Dutch and Luxembourg banks. This shows up in the Target2 data.

While the liabilities can in theory keep rising for ever within EMU, they signal grave imbalances, such as the North-South trade gap so long ignored until it proved fatal. They ultimately leave debtor central banks deep under water if the eurozone breaks up. "We are in unknown territory in terms of monetary theory," said Mr Dor. On the creditor side, the Bundesbank is left holding 465 billion euros in IOUs, and the Dutch central bank 89 billion euros, stoking fears that these countries could suffer a big loss if EU leaders fail to contain the crisis. The national central banks are also on the hook for the ECB's other operations.

The EU treaty may be rewritten to achieve greater fiscal integration within the eurozone. But that would require the agreement of all 27 members, including the UK. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has told BBC Radio 5 Live that the "hand on the clock is moving to the 59th minute" in the eurozone crisis. Germany and France are developing a plan for greater fiscal integration among the eurozone's 17 members ahead of a crucial meeting on Friday.

Mr Cameron said he would be there "to defend and promote British interests", but stressed that the most important thing for Britain right now was to resolve the eurozone crisis. "If they choose to use the European treaty to do that then obviously there will be British safeguards and British interests that I will want to insist on, and I won't sign a treaty that doesn't have those safeguards in it." He added: "As long as we get those then that treaty will go ahead. If we can't get those, it won't."