The number of recipients in the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), may continue to rise in coming months as families continue to struggle with high unemployment and September's data will likely include disaster assistance tied to the destruction and flooding caused by Hurricane Irene.

Mississippi reported the largest share of its population relying on food stamps, more than 21%. One in five residents in New Mexico, Tennessee, Oregon and Louisiana also were food stamp recipients. Food stamp rolls exploded during the downturn, which began in late 2007. Even after the recession came to its official end in June 2009, families continued to tap into food assistance as unemployment remained high and those lucky enough to find jobs were often met with lower wages.

The noon launch near Tel Aviv, which had not been announced in advance, coincided with a week-long surge of speculation in local media that Netanyahu was working to secure cabinet consensus for an attack on Israel's arch-foe. Netanyahu's office declined comment on the reports, which were unsourced and unconfirmed, and which some commentators suggested might be disinformation designed to jolt war-wary foreign powers into stepping up sanctions against Tehran.

The Defense Ministry described the launch from Palmachim base as the test of the propulsion system of a missile on which it declined to elaborate. "This is an impressive technological achievement and an important step in Israel's advances in the realms of missiles and space, which has been a long time in the planning," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement.

Israel Radio's military affairs correspondent, who is regularly briefed by top officials on Defense matters, said a "ballistic missile" had been launched. The term generally applies to long-range missiles for delivering warheads. Israel is widely assumed to have such weapons, known as Jerichos, as well as Shavit rockets for putting satellites into orbit. It has also, with US help, been upgrading its Arrow aerial shield, which uses interceptor missiles to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles above the atmosphere.

Iran, which denies wanting to make nuclear bombs, wants Israel's demise, prompting Netanyahu to liken it to the Nazis - potent rhetoric for a Jewish state born of the Holocaust. "A nuclear Iran will pose a serious threat to the Middle East and the entire world, and it of course poses a direct and heavy threat to us," Netanyahu said in a parliamentary address on Monday, echoing comments he has made in the past. Netanyahu gave no hint of what action Israel might take. He has said that all options are on the table in trying to stop Iran from building nuclear arms.

"China continues to provide Iran with what could be considered advanced conventional weapons," the report of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission says. According to the report, which will be made public November 16, China sold $312 million worth of arms to Iran, second only to Russia, after Congress passed the Iran Freedom Support Act in 2006 that allows the US government to sanction foreign companies that provide advanced arms to Iran. The report also noted that, after Russia began cutting back arms transfers to Iran in 2008, China became the largest arms supplier to the Iranian military.

Most of the weapons transfers involved sales of Chinese anti-ship cruise missiles, including C-802 missiles that China promised the United States in 1997 would not be exported to Iran. China also built an entire missile plant in Iran last year to produce the Nasr-1 anti-ship cruise missile. "Because of the relatively short range of these missiles, China's provision of them to Iran does not violate the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act of 2006, which seeks to prevent the transfer of only those missiles that can carry a 500-kilogram warhead more than 300 kilometers," the report says.

The plausibility of a bankruptcy scenario for Greece didn't disappear for very long at all. This time around, European leaders only managed to quiet things down in the debt crisis for four days before all hell broke loose again. Before the markets began to shudder, even banking executives whose companies are being asked to pay up as part of the bailout had been supportive of the euro rescue package. Now, however, with the announcement Tuesday by the Greek prime minister that his country may hold a referendum on the bailout, everything has been thrown on its head again. Prime Minister Giorgios Papandreou defended the step, saying it would be "democratic and highly patriotic."

But what could really happen if Greek voters reject the bailout? And why is Papandreou turning to this extremely risky measure?

One should look at the Greek prime minister's move as a stroke of genius, or at least as appropriate. It was essentially overdue that the Greek people finally be asked what they want. The burdens being placed on their shoulders are too heavy to be legitimated solely by parliamentary decision. At issue is the question as to whether Greece should remain a member of the euro zone at all.

What would a Greek "no" mean? If the result of the referendum is negative, it would be more than doubtful that Greece retains the euro. At the very least, there would be new negotiations about aid measures - but what government among Greece's benefactors would impose such a thing on itself or its voters? In the end, one would probably see a Greek insolvency with all of the dramatic consequences for both Greece and for the rest of the euro zone.

The Ministry of Defence believes the US may decide to fast-forward plans for targeted missile strikes at some key Iranian facilities. British officials say that if Washington presses ahead it will seek, and receive, UK military help for any mission, despite some deep reservations within the coalition government. In anticipation of a potential attack, British military planners are examining where best to deploy Royal Navy ships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles over the coming months as part of what would be an air and sea campaign.

They also believe the US would ask permission to launch attacks from Diego Garcia, the British Indian ocean territory, which the Americans have used previously for conflicts in the Middle East. The Guardian has spoken to a number of Whitehall and defence officials over recent weeks who said Iran was once again becoming the focus of diplomatic concern after the revolution in Libya.

Hawks in the US are likely to seize on next week's report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is expected to provide fresh evidence of a possible nuclear weapons programme in Iran. The Guardian has been told that the IAEA's bulletin could be "a game changer" which will provide unprecedented details of the research and experiments being undertaken by the regime.

But a narrow majority of ministers currently oppose the move, which could trigger a wave of regional retaliation. The debate over possible Israeli military action has reached fever pitch in recent days with newspaper leader columns discussing the benefits and dangers of hitting Iran. Mr Lieberman responded to the reports of a push to gain cabinet approval by saying that "Iran poses the most dangerous threat to world order."

But he said Israel's military options should not be a matter for public discussion. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is due to report on the state of Iran's nuclear capabilities on November 8, and that assessment is likely to influence Israel's decision. Western intelligence officials estimate that Iran is still at least two to three years away from obtaining a nuclear bomb.

Israel has long made it clear that it will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear capability that could threaten the Jewish State. Publicly it is pushing for a diplomatic offensive against Iran - including the imposition of sanctions - rather than a military strike. But prime minister Netanyahu has repeatedly warned that all options are on the table.

Israel's former defence minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told Haraatez newspaper that he feared a "horror scenario" if Israel attacked Iran. Washington is also strongly opposed to Israel taking unilateral action. Any strike on Iran could trigger retaliation from Iran and across the region. Syria, a close ally of Tehran, could also launch attacks, along with the Iranian-backed Hizbollah militia in Lebanon.

Yukiya Amano, the organisation's director-general, is unlikely to draw a definitive conclusion that Iran is making nuclear weapons, but according to Western diplomats the facts will make any other conclusion implausible. They believe the IAEA has substantiated evidence from intelligence reports, interviews with Iranian scientists and on-the-ground inspections that Iran is carrying out a nuclear weapons programme in parallel to its civilian energy goals. The agency will sound the alarm over Iranian scientists' work to develop a ballistic missile warhead capable of carrying a nuclear device. It has already uncovered evidence that Iran has been carrying out research into triggers for nuclear weapons.

Inspectors have also questioned Iranian scientists on simulation programmes that they believe are designed to design and test a potential weapon. "This is the product of a vast amount of work by the IAEA which will show the level of evidence they've accumulated and make clear a number of supplementary indications they have uncovered," said a Western diplomat. "It makes an inescapable case that Iran has ambitions to militarise the uranium it has been enriching at its production facilities."

Another official said: "The Iranians have been very evasive, and quite clever about it at times. It's been difficult to discover the smoking gun. But this will be more detailed than before. The director-general will point to black holes in the Iranians' explanations. It will undoubtedly increase the pressure." The Armed forces are conducting contingency planning for a potential attack on Iran's nuclear facilities amid concerns of a resurgent nuclear programme, sources have said.

It also emerged that Israel's air force simulated a long-range attack at a Nato base in Sardinia last week. The exercise, which was not initially disclosed in Israel, included an air-to-air refuelling component. Potential targets in Iran lie between 950 and 1,400 miles from Israel's borders. Any mission to destroy them would would require aerial refuelling.

French PM Francois Fillon said Greece had to say "without ambiguity" whether it wanted to stay in the eurozone. Greek PM George Papandreou is to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Mrs Merkel later on Thursday. Mr Papandreou announced a referendum on the eurozone rescue plan on Tuesday. Overnight, Greece's cabinet gave unanimous backing to the vote, which could take place in December.

He told an emergency cabinet meeting a referendum would offer "a clear mandate" for austerity measures demanded by eurozone partners. Earlier, stock markets recorded big drops amid shocked reactions in eurozone capitals to the referendum announcement. BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins, in Cannes for the G20, says both Germany and France are raising pressure on Greece to drop a referendum on the bailout plan, and ministers in both countries are ramping up calls for Mr Papandreou to change course.

Now China has added its voice to those calling for swift action to protect the rescue plan, he adds.

Despite its location on France's glamorous Cote d'Azur, Wednesday evening's meeting likely won't be a pleasant one for Giorgios Papandreou. The Greek prime minister is set to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. None of them, one presumes, will be in the mood to enjoy their enchanting surroundings.

Leaders of the world's most powerful economies begin arriving on France's south coast on Wednesday night for the Thursday kick-off of this year's G-20 summit. Host Sarkozy had been hoping the gathering would focus on raising funds to boost the effectiveness of the euro backstop fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), but the success of the meeting is now in doubt. Papandreou's announcement on Monday evening that he was planning to hold a referendum on the EU bailout package for his country has shocked and infuriated his would-be benefactors - and sent global markets into yet another tailspin.

The news came less than a week after an all-night bargaining session in Brussels that resulted in an agreement to slash Greek debt by 50 percent, make a further 130 billion euros in loans available to the country and leverage the EFSF to 1 trillion euros. Markets immediately calmed and the euro began climbing against the dollar. The Greek prime minister's announcement, however, quickly transformed the budding optimism into deep pessimism about the future of the common currency. Should Greek voters, frustrated by round after round of deep austerity measures, reject the bailout deal, it could result in an uncontrolled national bankruptcy. Markets will likely remain nervous until the results of the ballot are in - meanwhile the euro will move even closer to the abyss.

The center-left Suddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"As tough as it sounds, Greek politics is no longer just the business of the Greeks alone... Greece's fate also determines that of the other 16 euro-zone members. And if it's true that the future of the European Union hangs on the euro, then the entire project is in jeopardy. The summits in Brussels last week were an expression of the responsibility that Europe is willing to take on for Greece. But where then is Greece's responsibility for Europe?"

European leaders made no secret of their displeasure. "This announcement surprised all of Europe," said a clearly annoyed French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been scrambling to save face for Europe before he hosts leaders of the Group of 20 major world economies later this week. "Giving the people a say is always legitimate, but the solidarity of all countries of the eurozone cannot work unless each one consents to the necessary efforts," he said. French lawmaker Christian Estrosi was even more direct. He told France-Info radio that the move was "totally irresponsible" and reflected "a wind of panic" blowing on Papandreou and his party. "I want to tell the Greek government that when you are in a situation of crisis, and others want to help you, it is insulting to try to save your skin instead of assuming your responsibilities," Estrosi said.

In New York, the stocks of major banks like Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase were hit hard. The value of the dollar rose, and bond prices jumped so dramatically that analysts said they were stunned. Analysts said the bond action reflected fears that the turmoil in Greece would tear at the fabric of Europe's financial system and create a crisis that could engulf the entire European Union, which together forms the world's largest economy. "This brings all of the concerns about Europe back to the front burner," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James. "If this ends up turning into a financial catastrophe in Europe, then no one will escape it."

The Israeli government decision stopped well short of ordering tanks to roll into Gaza, and it appeared unlikely that would happen, as rocket fire all but stopped over the past day. The official said the decision authorized the military to act in accordance with the severity of Palestinian attacks, meaning that a ground offensive would be ordered only after massive rocket fire. The Israeli official spoke on condition of anonymity because no statement was made.

Egypt's ambassador to the Palestinian Authority said Tuesday that Egypt obtained an Israeli pledge to hold its fire while efforts were under way to persuade Palestinian militants to stop the rocket barrages. This is the third case of Egyptian diplomatic involvement with Israel over the last month, after two prisoner exchanges. Israel has been concerned that Egypt's new rulers might toughen their line on Israel in accordance with widespread public dislike of the Jewish state despite a 1979 peace treaty. Egypt's diplomatic activity might calm those concerns.

The rocket attacks have disrupted life in southern Israel, forcing schools to close. About 1 million Israelis live within range of rockets from Gaza.

As the leaders of the G20 countries prepare for emergency talks on averting a return to worldwide recession, the United Nations' International Labour Organisation (ILO) issued a grim forecast of the social effects of the continuing economic crisis. The UN agency warned that it could take until 2016 for global employment to return to the levels of three years ago - and that anger could erupt on the streets of Europe and other continents as a result.

The economic gloom was exacerbated yesterday by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's surprise announcement that his country would hold a referendum on the European debt deal that was struck last week. The vote could put the tortuously conceived package in jeopardy. The Greek Finance Minister, Evangelos Venizelos, said the announcement was prompted by popular discontent at the terms of the deal. If anger at the austerity forced on the country translates into a 'No' vote, European leaders who spent months haggling over the terms of the deal could be forced back to the drawing board and the terms of the deal renegotiated.

Stock markets recorded big drops amid shocked reactions in eurozone capitals to the referendum announcement. Mr Papandreou is due to meet European leaders in France on Wednesday. In a cabinet meeting lasting late into Tuesday night, Mr Papandreou told ministers the government needed the consent of the Greek people. In a statement released by his office, he said: "The referendum will be a clear mandate and a clear message in and outside Greece on our European course and participation in the euro."

Mr Papandreou also said a possible alternative of snap elections would risk Greece defaulting on its debt. The Greek government faces a crucial confidence vote in parliament on Friday. One MP from the governing Pasok party has resigned, cutting Mr Papandreou's parliamentary majority to two - and six other leading party members have called on him to resign.

Mark Lowen, BBC News, Athens, writes: There is opposition within Mr Papandreou's Pasok party to his decision to hold a referendum, even though the cabinet expressed unanimous support. So there are fears that if Friday's confidence vote does not go as planned, then potentially this government could fall even before a referendum is held.

This was an apparently personal decision to call it. What seems to be the case is Mr Papandreou wants to take the responsibility for the austerity measures away from his shoulders and put it on the shoulders of the Greek people, to say: I need the support of the Greek people to push through this austerity drive, to continue to receive bailout money.

But he is facing a massive hurdle in trying to win support for this. He is playing a very dangerous game, and so, he has now thrown Greece into a political crisis to add to its financial woes.

• Chiefs of staff at Greek National Defence, Army, Navy and Air Force get marching orders for no clear reason

• Sarkozy and Merkel call emergency meeting over referendum call

• Huge losses for French banks exposed to Greek debt

• 'More important than ever' to push ahead with bailout, says Sarkozy

• FTSE 100 falls 3.4 per cent after opening

• Germany's Dax falls and French CAC-40 plummet by more than 5 per cent

• 59 per cent of Greeks think deal is 'negative'

• 'No' vote could prompt country's exit from the Euro

• 228-year-old US brokerage MF Global goes bankrupt due to euro bonds

• Chinese warn hopes of 'red knight' riding to slay euro debt dragon are 'misplaced'

Greece's defence minister, Panos Beglitis, said last month that he wanted to select his own people for the posts because the powerful Greek military was a 'state within the state', according to The Guardian. However, no official reason has yet been given. In a frantic phone call, the leaders of the eurozone's two largest economies agreed that the Greek decision has made it more necessary than ever to push forward with plans thrashed out during last week's EU summit.

They will meet with the Greek government, the IMF and their European partners tomorrow in Cannes, ahead of a G20 summit, to advance their view and urge fellow leaders not to wobble. Chancellor Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said that she and the French president 'agreed, together with their European partners, to guarantee the full and swift implementation of the summit decisions.'

He added: 'Germany and France are convinced that this agreement will enable Greece to return to sustainable growth.' A statement issued by President Sarkozy's office read: 'France and Germany are determined to ensure, with their European partners, the full implementation in the quickest time frame, the decisions adopted at the summit, which are today more important than ever.'

However, slashed Defence budgets and the war in Libya has meant there hasn't been a vessel available since the start of October. The last ship to fill the role, called the FRE, was HMS Portland but that left for war games off the coast of Scotland in October, and it is now having a rest period in Plymouth on the south coast.

Former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord Alan West said: "I would hardly say it is a luxury. If there was a terrorism incident in UK waters, this would historically be the ship sent in to deal with it. It's a big problem. If we haven't got a ship ready to do this role then it's worrying. It's a very unsatisfactory position to be in."