The official government position has been that the contrail, which appears to have been made by a single source, was from a jet passing by. For weeks, experts have examined the billowing plume and the single-source white-hot exhaust which they contend was from a missile, not a jet. The experts who examined the video have had extensive experience working with missiles and computer security systems for various sensitive agencies of the US government. They even went so far as to suggest that the missile may have been shot from a submerged Chinese nuclear submarine, coinciding with an increasing level of confrontation between the United States and China and designed to send a message to Washington.

"The question that still must be answered is why NORAD's muted response was simply that North America was not threatened, and later our government approved the lame excuse that the picture recorded was simply an aircraft leaving a contrail," said retired US Air Force Brigadier General Jim Cash. A former US Air Force fighter pilot and commander of an F-15 squadron and an F-16 wing, Cash was assigned to NORAD as an assistant director of operations at the Cheyenne Mountain complex near Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is fully knowledgeable of NORAD procedures.

"There is absolutely no doubt that what was captured on video off the coast of California was a missile launch, was clearly observed by NORAD, assessed by a four-star general in minutes, and passed to the president immediately," he said. Even more ominously, cautioned Cash: "We must question the timing of this shot across our bow. The president was abroad being diplomatic, which means trying to placate China which is becoming overly concerned with our handling a totally out-of-control deficit in spending."

Also, Wayne Madsen, a former naval officer who has worked at the National Security Agency and the Naval Data Automation Command, said the inability to pick up what he described as a Chinese Jin-class submarine-launched ballistic missile isn't the first time US Navy anti-submarine warfare sensors have failed. Madsen, who today is an investigative journalist, said the Pentagon is working "overtime with the media and on the Internet to cover up the latest debacle. However, even some reporters who cover the Pentagon full-time are beginning to question the Pentagon's version of events... over the skies west of Los Angeles."

With each firm employing an average of four to five people, it means around 1.25 million people lost their jobs as a result of their employer's collapse. In a further blow, the ONS said it is the first time that the number of business deaths has overshadowed the number of new businesses. Only 236,000 started up last year, according to ONS statistician Andrew Allen.

Less than half the businesses set up in 2004 were still going by the end of the recession in 2009. Jane Bennett, head of campaigns at the Forum of Private Business, described the figures as 'quite shocking' following one of the worst recessions in living memory. She said: 'Many veteran business owners well into their 60s have told us that they have never known such difficult trading conditions.' She warned that the recession, which lasted for 18 months, may be over, but thousands of businesses are still on the brink of collapse.

Nearly half of girls say they want sex education to focus on the consequences of pregnancy, not the biology of sex. The survey of 13 to 16-year-olds also found that more than a third of boys want to know what 'being a parent' is all about and that no issue was deemed more important by so many. Experts from Hull University said they were surprised the majority of teenagers they surveyed support 'moral' ideas about having sex.

Most believe their first sexual relationship should be special and that sex should only take place in long-term serious relationships. The survey was carried out by Dr Julie Jomeen and Dr Clare Whitfield of the university's faculty of health and social care. The survey of sex and relationships among 2,036 teenagers from nine schools in both affluent and deprived areas found 46 per cent of girls and 38 per cent of boys rated being a parent as the most important topic to know more about.

In second place for girls was the morning after pill, with 41 per cent wanting to learn more, while 34 per cent of boys wanted more information about sexual intercourse. Ways in which HIV can be passed on was the third most important topic for 33 per cent of girls and 28 per cent of boys. The survey, commissioned by East Riding of Yorkshire Council and NHS East Riding of Yorkshire, also questioned attitudes about sex and relationships. Around three-quarters of boys and girls agreed 'you don't have to have sex to keep a partner' and a relationship doesn't have to include sex.

Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust, said: 'Young people are clearly tiring of the negative messages they are receiving about pregnancy and parenthood from sex educators obsessed with contraception. For too long, government policy has all too often been encouraging and facilitating casual sex.'

But the central bank risks disappointing markets if, as several analysts predict, it will only decide at its monthly meeting that its liquidity taps for euro zone banks will stay wide open and merely hint at more government bond purchases. "The price action... adds to risk that the market may be disappointed with today's outcome," Citigroup currency and markets strategists said in a note.

Even European powerhouse Germany struggled to sell its bonds on Wednesday and Portugal's borrowing costs soared in further signs that last weekend's 85 billion-euro ($110.7-billion) EU-IMF rescue of Ireland and leaders' pledges to defend the euro at any cost failed to impress investors.

European Union leaders appeared to pass the baton to the ECB.

The remarks foreshadow a visit to Europe this week by a US Treasury envoy who is expected to visit Berlin, Madrid and Paris to hold talks on the ramifications of the debt crisis. The developments have echoes of the pressure applied by Washington on European capitals last May to create the near $1 trillion EFSF safety net that was last week used to rescue Ireland after its banking crisis spiraled out of control. The IMF, whose biggest single shareholder is the United States, has committed 250 billion euros to the EFSF.

While reluctant to dictate to Europe how it should address the unfolding debt crisis, the US government is growing concerned about the global fallout of Europe's predicament. US Treasurys' prices fell and the euro strengthened against the dollar on Wednesday after the news that the United States would be prepared to support an enlarged EFSF.

Germany, whose leaders have expressed frustration at the market backlash against their plans to solve the euro zone's debt problems, does not want to make the stability fund larger.

Merrill Lynch was later acquired by Bank of America, while Bear Stearns collapsed and was sold to JPMorgan. Foreign banks also benefited from the Fed's aid. They included Swiss bank UBS, which borrowed more than $165 billion, Deutsche Bank ($97 billion) and the Royal Bank of Scotland ($92 billion). Many of the individual loans the banks took were worth billions and had short durations but were paid back and renewed many times.

Among the largest recipients were foreign central banks, such as the European Central Bank, Bank of England and the Bank of Japan. They borrowed huge amounts of dollars from the Fed to assist their own banks. The documents are a reminder of how crippled the financial system had become during the crisis and how much it's recovered since. Banks earned $14 billion from July through September this year. The Fed released the data in the form of more than 21,000 transactions. The disclosures are required under the financial overhaul law. The Fed's programs were credited with helping restore the health of individual banks and stabilize the financial system.

In addition, the Fed disclosed details of "swap" arrangements with foreign central banks. These occurred when the Fed traded much-in-demand dollars for foreign currencies to try to ease credit. The foreign central banks, in turn, lent the dollars to banks in their countries that needed dollar funding. The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan were involved in the exchanges.

"There's very much a sense from the data that the Federal Reserve was not just providing liquidity to US banks but was creating stability for the entire world's financial system," said Linus Wilson, assistant professor of finance at the University of Louisiana, who has studied the financial crisis.

In the Russian capital, Moscow, temperatures dropped to -23.6C (-10.5F), the lowest on record for 1 December since 1931. In Poland it was even colder, with the eastern city of Bialystok registering temperatures of -26C (-14.8F). Police in the country appealed to the public to get in touch if they found any homeless people living outdoors after eight homeless men were found frozen to death.

In Britain, thousands of schools were closed and police in the southern county of Surrey described conditions as the worst they had ever seen. The Met Office has issued heavy snow warnings for much of the eastern side of Britain and some central areas. Passengers faced delays of up to an hour on Eurostar services linking London with Paris and Brussels. One of Britain's busiest airports, Gatwick, was closed, as was Edinburgh airport. Geneva airport in Switzerland and Lyon-Bron airport in southern France were also closed as staff struggled to clear runways of snow.

There were severe flight delays reported in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Prague. In France, 12 regions in the frozen east and centre banned the use of lorries, forcing more than 7,000 of them to park overnight. Thick snow across Germany blocked roads, and caused flight cancellations and school closures. Bild newspaper said it was the coldest start to December for centuries, with some areas reporting temperatures as low as -18C (-0.4F).

While the north of the continent shivered, though, it was a different picture in parts of southern Europe, with Cyprus enjoying an unseasonably warm start to December and clocking temperatures close to 30C (86F).

The legislation, which passed by a vote of 73 to 25, would greatly strengthen the Food and Drug Administration, an agency that in recent decades focused more on policing medical products than ensuring the safety of food. The bill is intended to keep unsafe foods from reaching markets and restaurants, where they can make people sick - a change from the current practice, which mainly involves cracking down after outbreaks occur.

Among the Senate bill's last major sticking points was how it would affect small farmers and food producers. Some advocates for small farms and organic food producers said the legislation would destroy their industry under a mountain of paperwork. Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana, pushed for a recent addition to the bill that exempts producers with less than $500,000 in annual sales who sell most of their food locally.

The bill gives the agency more control over food imports, including increased inspection of foreign processing plants and the ability to set standards for how fruits and vegetables are grown abroad. As food suppliers grow in size, problems at one facility can sicken thousands of people all over the country. The bill would give the FDA the power to demand immediate food recalls.

Interpol placed Julian Assange on its most-wanted list after Sweden issued an arrest warrant against him as part of a drawn-out rape probe - involving allegations Assange has denied. The Interpol alert is likely to make international travel more difficult for Assange, whose whereabouts are publicly unknown. In Washington, the State Department severed its computer files from the government's classified network, officials said, as US and world leaders tried to clean up from the leak that sent America's sensitive documents onto computer screens around the globe.

By temporarily pulling the plug, the US significantly reduced the number of government employees who can read important diplomatic messages. It was an extraordinary hunkering down, prompted by the disclosure of hundreds of thousands of those messages this week by WikiLeaks, the self-styled whistleblower organization.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates played down the fallout from the leaks, calling them embarrassing and awkward but saying they would not significantly complicate US foreign policy. "The fact is governments deal with the United States because it's in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us and not because they think we can keep secrets," Gates said Monday.

Congress could take up the issue as early as Tuesday. Even if both houses of Congress move quickly, there will still be administrative odds and ends that will likely delay checks for at least a few weeks. "There aren't any jobs out here. People come out here everyday. Half of these people don't have any money to buy their kids any Christmas. They didn't even have Thanksgiving. It's pitiful," said Izile Leucas, who is unemployed.

"Going into the holiday season, they're all concerned. They're wondering how they're going to provide for their kids over Christmas and that's a sad story. It's a sad situation. We can just stress to them that we will do everything we can to help them find a job," said Gary Wise with the Office of Employment and training. A rushed effort to fund extended benefits failed in Congress earlier this month.

The National Secular Society said "zealots" were wrong to claim the faith was being deliberately undermined. The day, organised by Christian Concern, will kick off a campaign to urge Christians to "wear their faith with pride". Lord Carey will launch a leaflet that warns Britain's Christian culture is "under attack". Later in the day copies will be delivered to Downing Street and Buckingham Palace, followed by a lobbying event in Parliament. Lord Carey said hostility towards the religion came from a combination of "well-meaning" political correctness, multiculturalism and "overt opposition to Christianity".

Lord Carey said the attempt to "airbrush" the Christian faith "out of the picture" was more obvious as Christmas approaches. He cited cards bearing "season's greetings" messages, school nativity plays being "watered down" and local councils switching on "winter lights" in place of Christmas decorations. "Even Christmas has become something of which some are ashamed."

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said, " "Apparently 'multiculturalism' 'secularism' and 'political correctness' are seen as the culprits, but in reality people are walking away from Christianity because it has become unpleasant and authoritarian. Nobody is forcing them not to go to church, they simply don't see its relevance. The people behind this campaign are determined and well-financed, but that doesn't make what they say true,"

On Tuesday, traffic to the site went to Amazon.com's server-for-rent service, based in the US. The site, which distributed a trove of US diplomatic documents on Sunday, said in a Twitter message on Tuesday morning that it was under a "distributed denial of service attack," a method commonly used by hackers to slow down or bring down sites. WikiLeaks didn't identify the attackers. "We are currently under a DDOS attack," according to one tweet early Tuesday. Shortly after 9am, another tweet was sent, saying, "DDOS attack now exceeding 10 Gigabits a second."

The site, which is devoted to releasing anonymously submitted documents, also came under attack Sunday, but Tuesday's attack appeared to be more powerful.

Calls to Amazon.com were not immediately returned. Bahnhof, the Swedish Internet company that has been WikiLeaks' main host, had no immediate comment on Tuesday. In a typical denial-of-service attack, remote computers commandeered by rogue programs bombard a website with so many data packets that it becomes overwhelmed and unavailable to visitors. Pinpointing the culprits is difficult.

WikiLeaks said the malicious traffic was coming in at 10 gigabits per second on Tuesday, which would make it a relatively large effort. According to a study by Internet security company Arbor Networks, the average denial of service attack over the past year was 349 megabits per second, 28 times slower than the stream Wikileaks reported.

Two days after the bloc approved an 85 billion euro ($111.7 billion) emergency aid package for Ireland, worries about Portugal and Spain persisted and the borrowing costs of countries like Italy, BELGIUM AND FRANCE SHOT HIGHER. Markets are already discounting an eventual rescue of Portugal although, as Ireland did, it says it requires no outside help.

Should its much larger neighbor Spain require assistance, it would sorely test the resources of the bloc and raise questions about the integrity of the 12-year old single currency area. "Markets are very nervous and may even target situations that do not warrant such excessive worrying, hence no one can really predict," Tomasso Padoa-Schioppa, a former Italian finance minister and ECB member, told a Greek newspaper when asked whether the EU would be able to save Spain.

"In my opinion, conditions in Spain are such that there is absolutely no reason to expect that it will be targeted. I repeat, however, that markets are in a very nervous mood." Italy, which most analysts see as at lesser risk, is now being referred to as "TOO BIG TO FAIL" AND "TOO BIG TO BAIL."

The EU-IMF rescue for Ireland has failed to restore to confidence in the eurozone debt markets, leading instead to a dramatic surge in bond yields across half the currency bloc. The euro fell sharply to a two-month low of 1.3064 against the dollar, while bourses slid across the world. The FTSE 100 fell almost 118 points to 5,550, while the Dow was off 120 points in early trading.

"The crisis is intensifying and worsening," said Nick Matthews, a credit expert at RBS. "Bond purchases by the European Central Bank are the only anti-contagion weapon left. It needs to act much more aggressively." Yields on 10-year Italian bonds jumped 21 points to 4.61 per cent, threatening to shift the crisis to a new level. Italy's public debt is over 2 trillion euros, the world's third-largest after the US and Japan.

"The EU rescue fund cannot handle Spain, let alone Italy," said Charles Dumas, from Lombard Street Research. "We we may be nearing the point where Germany has to decide whether it is willing take on a burden six times the size of East Germany, or let some countries go."

But the cost to any country of leaving the euro zone would be so high, and the damage that an exit would inflict on the currency and the remaining members so great, that no government would rationally choose to secede, or to push another out. Argentina's 2001-2002 economic crisis and $100 billion bond default, which reduced millions of people to poverty, would pale in comparison with the likely chain reaction across Europe.

"There would be chain bankruptcies. A run on the banks would be certain. It would be far worse than Argentina," said Jean Pisani-Ferry, director of the Brussels economic think-tank Bruegel. The "costs of the non-euro," as they are sometimes called by Brussels insiders, would be multiple: political, economic, social, reputational and strategic.

It is hard to imagine the EU's single market in goods, services, capital and labor - the foundation stone of European prosperity - remaining intact if countries quit the euro, triggering disorderly devaluations and chaotic financial flows. The exit of a state such as Greece, Ireland or Portugal, or the imagined departure of economic giant Germany, would cause immense bitterness and could revive national conflicts that European unification was meant to bury forever.

Germany, which sells more than 50 percent of its exports to the euro zone, would lose vital markets and likely end up with a overvalued currency that would impede its international economic competitiveness. "The political consequences would be dreadful. There would be almighty recriminations. A country that left the euro would no longer be friends with the others," Pisani-Ferry said.