Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace Hotel became the first place outside Germany to install "gold to go, the world's first gold vending machine," said a statement from Ex Oriente Lux AG, the German company behind the vending machine. "In addition to one-gram, five-gram and 10-gram bars of gold, the machine also dispenses gold coins," it added.

Gold rates are constantly updated inside the shiny machine - itself gold-plated - in the hotel's lobby, courtesy of a built-in computer connected to a dealer which sells gold online. "This eliminates the risk premiums usually associated with precious metal trading," the German company said.

Hotel general manager Hans Olbertz said they wanted the hotel to be the first in the world to offer guests what he called "this golden service." The Emirates Palace is often used by visiting foreign dignitaries, and its top floor is reserved for the rulers of the UAE federation's seven emirates, each of whom has his own suite.

The law is aimed at so-called "birthers," who claim Obama is ineligible to be president. They contend the Democratic president was born outside the United States, and therefore doesn't meet a constitutional requirement for being president. Lingle didn't elaborate on her reasons for signing the bill, but state Health Director Dr Chiyome Fukino previously issued statements saying that she's seen vital records that prove Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen.

Both Fukino and the state registrar of vital statistics have verified that the Health Department holds Obama's original birth certificate. Health Department officials supported the law because the state still gets between 10 and 20 emails seeking verification of Obama's birth each week, most of them from outside Hawaii. Advocates for openness in government oppose the law because they fear it could be used to ignore legitimate requests for information.

But, as Jeremy Warner has written in today's paper, it was as if King had suddenly been unleashed. Bear in mind King is usually one of the most guarded policymakers in both British and central banking circles. Not yesterday. It isn't often one has the opportunity to get such a blunt and straightforward insight into the thoughts of one of the world's leading economic players. Most of this stuff usually stays behind closed doors, so it's worth taking note of. And I suspect that while George Osborne will have been happy to hear his endorsement of the new Government's policies, Barack Obama and the European leaders will have been far less pleased with his frank comments on their predicament.

America, and many other large economies including the UK, share some of the same problems as Greece with its public finances: Every country around the world is in a similar position, even the United States; the world's largest economy has a very large fiscal deficit. And one of the concerns in financial markets is clearly - how will this enormous stock of public debt be reduced over the next few years?

On why Europe will have to become a federalised fiscal union: I do not want to comment on a particular measure by a particular country, but I do want to suggest that within the Euro Area it's become very clear that there is a need for a fiscal union to make the Monetary Union work. But if that is to happen there needs to be also a mechanism to enable other countries that have lost competitiveness to regain competitiveness.

On the deficit: The most important thing now is for the new government to deal with the challenge of the fiscal deficit. It is the single most pressing problem facing the United Kingdom; it will take a full parliament to deal with, and it is very important that measures are taken straight away to demonstrate the seriousness and the credibility of the commitment to dealing with that deficit.

It is absolutely vital, absolutely vital, for governments to get on top of this problem. We cannot afford to allow concerns about sovereign debt to spread into a wider crisis dealing with sovereign debt. Dealing with a banking crisis was bad enough. This would be worse.

The two men joked together as they set out what they wanted to achieve with their unprecedented power sharing arrangement - which Mr Cameron said could mark a "seismic shift" in British politics. In Thursday's first meeting, Mr Clegg sat opposite Mr Cameron who was sat beside his Foreign Secretary William Hague.

In addition to Mr Clegg, four other Lib Dems were at the cabinet table. They were Vince Cable, who is business secretary; Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws; Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne; and Scottish Secretary Danny Alexander. There are expected to be 20 Liberal Democrat ministers at all levels across many departments, meaning nearly half of the parliamentary party will be members of the government.

The Labour Party has meanwhile started the process of choosing a new leader after the resignation of Gordon Brown, who stood down as prime minster on Tuesday when it became clear that the Lib Dems had decided to join the Tories in a coalition. Former Foreign Secretary David Miliband became the first potential candidate to announce plans to stand, saying he hoped others would follow suit. He has the backing of heavyweight figures including former home secretary Alan Johnson and acting Labour leader Harriet Harman, both of whom have ruled themselves out of the running.

"This shows me that there's faith and hope. There might be a domino effect, that's what I'm hoping for," said Joi-elle White, 35, a transgender member of Make the Road New York. The community group complained to Cuomo's office about what it called a pattern of discrimination against transgender job hunters. A probe confirmed the complaints, officials said. The retailer - which employs more than 2,000 people in its 61 New York stores - signed a settlement deal promising to change its policies and employee handbook.

"To avoid further expense and the distraction of a prolonged argument, we have agreed to a compromise settlement in this case, with the understanding that AEO is not admitting to the findings," a company spokeswoman said. "We wholeheartedly believe that transgender individuals should be treated equally," she added in a statement.

The chain store also has agreed to train its staff on transgender issues - like which pronouns to use when referring to workers and customers. The April settlement is the first crackdown against a retailer under the section of the state's Human Rights Law that bars employers from discriminating against applicants because of their gender identity.

But amid fears for the impact on the American economy, behind closed doors the US has been taking a far more active role. Mr Obama and his aides have privately pressured European leaders to take bold action to calm the storm in financial markets. Yesterday he called Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to discuss the importance of 'resolute action' by Spain.

Spain's public finances, along with Portugal's, have caused the most concern after those of Greece, which secured a European bailout. The White House said Mr Obama was actively engaged in ensuring that Europe's debt crisis did not hurt the global economy. There are fears that the state of the economies in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Ireland - who all currently have high levels of debt - could stall the US economy just as it was beginning to improve.

Mr Obama has held phone calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy about the European crisis in recent days. The message was clear: Act boldly. American officials urged that Mr Sarkozy and Mrs Merkel recall the US lesson of 2008-2009 when the Bush administration persuaded a reluctant Congress to approve a massive $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. While politically unpopular, the US rescue plan convinced markets that authorities were serious about keeping banks afloat.

Mr Obama's call yesterday to Mr Zapatero added an American voice to European pressure on Spain. Mr Zapatero has so far shied away from structural reforms opposed by trade unions but is now facing new calls from EU leaders to slash spending again and tackle his country's economic crisis.

Labelling the European debt crisis a 'wake-up call' for Americans, lawmakers also said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had helped explain why the US central bank was going to be using special 'swap lines' to aid its European counterparts. The swap lines ease pressure on European banks by letting them swap euros for dollars, if necessary, on short notice to handle emergency situations. Following a closed-door briefing by the Federal Reserve chief, Senator Richard Shelby of Tennessee said: 'Chairman Bernanke explained what was going on in Europe, it was basically a European problem but with ramifications, probably, on a lot of our banks and our banking system if there was no intervention.'

Department officials said that in prior years, there was a surplus during April in 43 out of the past 56 years. The government has now posted 19 consecutive monthly budget deficits, the longest string of shortfalls on record. For the first seven months of fiscal 2010, which ends September 30, the cumulative budget deficit totals $799.68 billion, down slightly from $802.3 billion in the comparable period of fiscal 2009. Outlays during April rose to $327.96 billion from $218.75 billion in March and were up from $287.11 billion in April 2009. It was a record level of outlays for an April.

Department officials noted there were five Fridays in April this year, which helped account for higher outlays since most tax refunds are issued on that day.

The US full-year deficit this year is projected at $1.5 trillion on top of a $1.4 trillion shortfall last year. White House budget director Peter Orszag told Reuters Insider in an interview on Wednesday that the United States must tackle its deficits quickly to avoid the kind of debt crisis that hit Greece.

French, Swedish and many Brussels officials have predicted that it is only a matter of time before Sterling is hit by the same market turbulence that came close to destroying the euro at the weekend. Jean-Pierre Jouyet, a former French Europe minister and the current chairman of France's financial services authority, yesterday predicted only "God would help" a rudderless Britain after it snubbed its euro zone neighbours.

"There is not a two speed Europe but a three speed Europe. You have Europe of the euro, Europe of the countries that understand the euro ... and you have the English," he said. "The English are very certainly going to be targeted given the political difficulties they have. Help yourself and heaven will help you. If you don't want to show solidarity to the euro zone, then let's see what happens to the United Kingdom."

French bank BNP Paribas yesterday warned that the post-election fallout could lead to Britain losing its high creditworthiness market rating, a move that could lead to a run on the pound. The UK is running an annual debt rate even higher than Greece. The German press has reacted with fury after Mrs Merkel cancelled popular tax cuts in order to pay for the new EU bail-out burden on German taxpayers. "Europe's jerks once again!," declared the headline on yesterday's front page of Bild, Germany's biggest-selling newspaper.

Meanwhile world stocks and the euro dropped sharply today as the massive relief rally triggered by the plan to contain Europe's debt crisis fizzled out. All the world's major indexes enjoyed one of their best days in months yesterday after the European Union unveiled the massive 750 billion euro financial support package to defend the euro and prevent the debt crisis that started in Greece from spreading to other big debtor countries like Portugal and Spain.

'Markets are giving up a portion of yesterday's sharp gains as some of the bailout-fuelled euphoria in Europe has died away,' said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index. Though the package has helped ease near-term concerns about a wave of defaults across Europe, concerns about the solvency of the indebted countries remain - whether governments, which are still running sky-high deficits, will be able to push through massive austerity measures for years to come.'

'Unless measures are taken to deal with the underlying structural problems affecting the most indebted of eurozone nations, then the bailout package merely kicks the can down the road,' said Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets. In Germany, the uncertainties were having a far more immediate effect. Hard-pressed taxpayers - led by a flailing coalition government that could be the template for one soon to be assembled in the UK - are being asked for more sacrifices to save a currency they never wanted at a time when the country has record postwar debt. Now German citizens have also been told that a tax cut is shelved for at least two years, and will probably never materialise in the life of this administration.

Voters already delivered their verdict on Mrs Merkel's handling of the Greece crisis by punishing her in a regional election on Sunday which saw her party kicked out of power in North Rhine-Westphalia. The loss means she loses a majority in the upper-house of parliament in Berlin and will not be able to deliver reforming legislation without the consent of squabbling rivals - an almost impossible task. There are rumours that the right-wingers in her conservative CDU party are plotting a coup against her - rumours strengthened by the visceral distaste for her latest largesse in trying to prop up the common currency. Many observers see the measure as delaying the end of the euro, not preventing it.

The report includes familiar themes, emphasizing the importance of improved nutrition and physical activity. It also calls for some new and dramatic efforts to curtail marketing of unhealthy foods. "We have a roadmap for implementing our plan across our government and across the country," Michelle Obama told reporters today. But administration officials repeatedly emphasized the effort would rely on "bully pulpit" pressure and not any new federal mandates to push the changes.

Setting the tone for that pressure, the first lady said, "No one gets off the hook on this one from governments to schools, corporations to non-profits all the way down to families sitting around their dinner table." She said she would "focus my energy" to keep the issue at "the forefront of the discussion in society."

The task force wants junk food makers and marketers to go on what amounts to an advertising diet. It says media characters that are often popular with kids should only be used to promote healthy products. If voluntary efforts fail to limit marketing of less healthy products to young viewers, the task force suggests the FCC should consider new rules on commercials in children's programming. It also challenges food retailers to stop using in-store displays to sell unhealthy food items to children.

"We can't get through this deficit without very terrible cuts," Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear told reporters in Sacramento. "We don't believe that raising taxes right now is the right thing to do." California's revenue in April, when income-tax payments are due, trailed the governor's estimates by $3.6 billion, or 26 percent. The gap wiped out gains from the previous four months, leaving collections $1.3 billion behind projections for the budget year that ends in June.

Schwarzenegger's newest plan will revise the proposals introduced in January to account for the tax-collection shortages. In January, the governor said California may have to eliminate entire welfare programs, including the main one that provides cash and job assistance to families below the poverty line, without an influx of cash from the federal government.

The fiscal strains have left California with the lowest credit rating among US states. A taxable California bond maturing in 2039 traded for a yield of 7.08 percent today, up from an average of 6.87 percent on May 6, according to Municipal Security Rulemaking Board data.

US President Barack Obama has urged Mr Zapatero to take "resolute action". Mr Obama called the Spanish PM on Tuesday, with the White House saying he was actively engaged in lessening the global impact of Europe's debt crisis. The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Madrid says Spain approved an austerity package in January but that since then little has happened and Madrid is now under pressure from the European Commission to deliver, with new talk of penalties if it does not.

The European Union is anxious to see more fragile European economies including Spain, Portugal and Greece impose tougher austerity measures. On Sunday it agreed a massive 750 billion euros ($975 billion; 650 billion pounds) rescue package to prop up European economies struggling with large debts. Spain has come under pressure to act more quickly to cut borrowing. Its tougher measures are expected to include big cuts to spending, as well as higher taxes.

There is also expected to be a freeze on recruitment in the public sector, as outlined in the January measures. But the current socialist government could face stiff domestic opposition to tougher measures, with protests against cuts earlier in the year.

He discovered that on weekends, hospitals admit elderly people who require nursing care or are confused because their children bring them there so that they can take a few days of vacation. This, of course, drives up healthcare costs.

He also discusses an administrative office called Kopais, named after the lake of the same name near Thebes, which was established in 1957. The purpose of the office was to prepare for the draining of the lake so that roads could then be built in the lakebed. In that same year - which is now over half a century ago - the lake disappeared forever. But there are still 30 employees working at Kopais today. When employees retire or are let go, their positions are filled with new employees, who are paid monthly salaries of up to 2,500 euros ($3,175). They supposedly work on drainage issues, but no one knows exactly what those issues are or who benefits from their work.

Rakintzis has stories to tell that take place throughout Greece, and some are downright unbelievable. For example, the government agency that was created to manage a bid to make Greece's second-largest city, Thessaloniki, a European cultural capital in 1997 is still humming away. Its employees are supposedly working on winding down the major event and settling up the accounts - 13 years later. How many people work there? "I don't know. Not even the government knows that," says Rakintzis. He adds, in an almost threatening tone: "Not yet." Rakintzis and his staff are now in the process of investigating about 4,000 government offices and agencies in similar situations.

Greece has more than five times as many civil servants per capita than the United Kingdom. The country's inflated government apparatus consumes tens of billions of euros a year. It's money the Greek state doesn't have - and actually never did. The government has been borrowing fresh funds on the international capital markets for years, generously and cheerfully spreading the wealth among its citizens. The introduction of the euro made it even easier to incur debts because, by joining the common currency, Greece qualified for lower interest rates than anyone would ever have thought possible.

But now the bubble has burst. Greece threatens to turn into another Lehman Brothers - except on a whole new scale. The 300 billion euros in debt that the country has accumulated poses a threat to the entire European community.

Mr Brown is also stepping down as Labour leader and as an MP with immediate effect. His decision comes as the Tories and Liberal Democrats are poised to agree a deal to form a government. Mr Brown said he had taken the decision to resign after concluding he would not be able to form a government after days of talks between the parties.

Mr Brown also said he would stand down as Labour leader with immediate effect. Mr Brown succeeded Tony Blair as prime minister in June 2007 after spending ten years as chancellor of the exchequer. His resignation follows Thursday's general election in which no party won an overall majority but the Conservatives won the most seats and votes.

Both Labour and the Tories have since been trying to persuade the Lib Dems to join them in a coalition government to run the country. Mr Brown had previously said he would resign as Labour leader, but stay on as prime minister until September, if Labour could agree a deal with the Lib Dems. But after this possibility ended, the BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson said Mr Brown decided he could not form a government and should stand down.

On top of that came Sunday's drubbing at the ballot box in a regional vote which has undermined her domestic authority. That result, which her conservatives blamed on the Greek debt crisis, may make her even more reluctant to show leadership in the EU. "We cannot push through our culture of stability in Europe," wrote Die Welt, a centre-right daily. "The euro zone is dominated by countries for whom currency stability is not so important. And leading the opposition is President Nicolas Sarkozy, whom the weakened chancellor could little oppose." In the last few months, Merkel's stance on the debt crisis has zigzagged as she has sought to balance national interests - protecting German taxpayers from bailing out Greece - and saving the credibility of the euro.

First, she refused to consider a bailout, then she shifted to a half-hearted agreement. Then she went into reverse and played for time before eventually bowing to intense market pressure and the threat of contagion to take urgent action. At Friday's summit of EU leaders, Merkel arrived to a "fait accompli" rescue package trumpeted by Sarkozy, say EU diplomats. She resisted the package due to worries about the legal basis of aid and the role of the European Central Bank. Germany has always been adamant the ECB's independence is paramount.

One veteran CDU member, Willy Wimmer, has already called for her resignation and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung quoted one state premier as saying her lack of leadership would not be tolerated. This could bode ill for the EU as Merkel may feel she has to push even harder in Europe for budget consolidation. Yet Merkel's more defensive stance on the EU is consistent with a deeper shift in Germany's European politics, say experts.

"Germans no longer automatically assume their national interest coincides with that of the EU," Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, told Reuters.