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Need someone to play a zealot or a crackpot plagued by apocalyptic visions? Call Michael Shannon. He talks about his latest role 'If I were God," says Michael Shannon , "I would just be up there scratching my head, thinking: what the hell am Isupposed to do with this? For everyone helping an old lady across the street, there's someone else bludgeoning a person to death. And sometimes they're the same. How can He separate us all out?" He stares at his latte, confounded. The plight of the Almighty does not trouble everyone. But Shannon's sense of empathy extends even to those whose existence he doubts. Or loathes. The day we meet, heis shaken by shots of the dying Gaddafi. "It's just amazing how destructive we're capable of being." He believes vehemently in the capacity for kindness. It is this sensitivity that makes him such a singular actor. Soon he will be a superstar when he plays the baddie General Zod in Man of Steel , the revamped

Families with children will be worse off in 2016 than 14 years earlier, analysis of George Osborne's autumn statement finds High inflation, cuts and the longest period of wage stagnation on record will see the spending power of the average British family plummet over the next five years, a leading thinktank warned on Wednesday. An Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis predicted that average incomes, adjusted for inflation, will fall by 3% this year and further in 2012. IFS director, Paul Johnson, said: "In the period 2009-10 to 2012-13m, real median household incomes will drop by a whopping 7.4% a record matched only by the falls seen between 1974 and 1977." As up to two million public sector workers walked out in protest against changes to their pensions, and signs emerged of a potentially damaging rift within the Liberal Democrats in the wake of George Osborne's autumn statement, the thinktank warned that families with children will be worse off in 2016 than they

Stock markets surge as fears for the euro force concerted emergency action to aid cash-strapped banks The world's major central banks announced concerted emergency measures to underpin fragile eurozone banks and prevent the global financial system from freezing up. In a clear sign that policymakers fear the downturn in the eurozone risks spiralling into a fresh credit crunch where banks stop lending they announced "co-ordinated central bank action to address pressures in global money markets". Stock markets around the world surged after policymakers said they would cut the interest rate on emergency dollar loans to cash-strapped banks by 0.5 percentage points and extend the scheme until February 2013. They will also establish "temporary bilateral liquidity swap arrangements" between one central bank and another, allowing liquidity to be provided at short notice in any currency "should market conditions so warrant". "At least they've got the

Inquiry criticises decision by London School of Economics to accept donation from Libyan dictator's son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi The London School of Economics accepted a 1.5m donation from a charity run by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, which may have been money paid to the dictator's son as bribes, an official inquiry has found. The report by Lord Woolf finds a "disconcerting number of failures in communication and governance" in the LSE's relations with the Libyan regime. The report said: "It is a matter of real regret that the question of the Libyan gift proceeded to council [the LSE's governing body] when due diligence remained, at best, embryonic." The inquiry report says it was an LSE academic, Professor David Held, who "first approached Saif about the possibility of funding his centre for Global Governance in December 2008". This was after the dictator's son had been awarded his PhD by the LSE but before the formal graduation ceremony. T

West warned against punitive measure for Unesco vote to admit Palestinian Territories as a member Israel is to release millions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenues it had frozen as a punitive sanction for the past month, a move that threatened the Palestinian Authority's ability to pay public sector salaries this week. Despite the vigorous opposition of hardline foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's inner cabinet agreed to pay the $100m (63.56m) due for November, plus a similar amount that had been withheld for October. Israel had faced calls from the international community to hand over the money, which amounts to about two-thirds of the authority's self-generated revenue. The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, and Middle East envoy Tony Blair were among those demanding release of the funds. The Israeli measure was taken a month ago after Unesco, the UN educational and cultural agency, decided to admit Palestine as a member.

London force may spend 4m on equipment as part of change in approach to public order policing, says report on August riots The Metropolitan police is considering the purchase of three water cannon at a cost of nearly 4m to cover London and the south east as part of a new approach to public order policing in the aftermath of the summer riots. If the Met decides to go ahead it will be the first time that water cannon will be a routine option for police outside of Northern Ireland. The development comes as the Met also reveals that more officers are being trained to support its baton round teams, so that plastic bullets can be deployed more "spontaneously" when necessary in fast moving public order situations. In what appears to be a toughening up of its tactics in the aftermath of the August riots, the force is examining whether further legislation is required to give officers more powers when dealing with large scale disorder as well. Last week the Met commissioner was challen

Northern Ireland MP says he met police from Operation Weeting who are investigating whether he and his father were hacked One of Northern Ireland's best-known political families believes they were a victim of phone hacking, after meeting detectives from Metropolitan police investigating the illegal interception of voicemails. Ian Paisley Jr, the MP for North Antrim, confirmed on Wednesday that he had met officers from Operation Weeting, who are investigating whether he and his father, the former Northern Ireland first minister, were targeted by phone hackers working for news organisations. The Democratic Unionist MP said: "I believe that hacking was used to gather stories and garner intelligence in order to ask questions to stand up stories. And I believe that my phones and those of my father were hacked." Paisley said that he believed that the extent of hacking within Northern Ireland may have been widespread raising the possibility that sensitive security information

Live coverage of today's mass union strike action by teachers, border control staff, health workers and others over public sector pensions. UK transport network suffers little disruption despite biggest strike in 30 years Only 58% of schools closed, despite predictions of 90% Government denies union claims that talks are over Cabinet Office minister brands 2m-strong strike "inappropriate, untimely and irresponsible" Francis Maude to update Commons at 12.30pm 2.49pm: A statement from the Met on those east London arrests earlier today: [We] can confirm that 37 protestors detained in Dalston Lane, E8, this morning have now been arrested on suspicion of breach of the peace. All 37 protestors are adults and a dog unit attended to support officers." 2.35pm: John Harris has been chatting to some more strikers in Gloucester, this time teachers at Milestone special school Pam McGough, Steve Whittaker and Ann Marsden. Their placard reads "Pay more + work longer +