The frigate HMS Northumberland, which is armed with guided missiles, torpedoes and a Lynx helicopter, was due to be sent on patrol to the islands this month. But it will now be replaced by a Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessel NOT EQUIPPED FOR OFFENSIVE COMBAT OPERATIONS. The controversial decision was forced on senior naval commanders by the increasing problem of overstretch facing the Royal Navy.

Cuts to the size of the fleet over the last 10-years – the Royal Navy has just 22 frigates and destroyers compared to 65 in 1982 – has left the service with too few ships to meet its responsibilities. The Telegraph also understands that the Royal Navy is likely to face more cuts in the near future while major projects such as the £3.9bn new carrier programme could be delayed. Ageing vessels such as Type 23 frigates, which were commissioned in the late 1980s, will have their service life extended by up to 20-years.

One senior naval source said that successive cuts by the government had left the Royal Navy vulnerable and unable to properly defend its interests overseas. He said: "The Royal Navy has been pared to the bone. THE FLEET IS NOW SO SMALL THAT THE ROYAL NAVY CAN'T EVEN SEND A PROPER WARSHIP TO GUARD THE FALKLANDS. In any shooting war with a serious enemy the Royal Navy would cease to exist within a few weeks. Rock bottom is an appropriate description of where the Royal Navy now is."

THE LAST TIME THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT REDUCED ITS NAVAL PRESENCE IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC was in 1982 when the ice patrol vessel HMS Endurance was withdrawn from patrolling the area around the Falkland Islands. The move PROMPTED AN INVASION BY THE ARGENTINE MILITARY AND LED TO THE FALKLANDS WAR.

"AND IT JUST KEEPS GETTING A LITTLE BIT WORSE MONTH AFTER MONTH AFTER MONTH," said Hamlin, who owns the dealership. Nationwide, 750 dealerships have already closed this year and 150 more are expected to shut down by year's end, PUTTING NEARLY 40,000 EMPLOYEES OUT OF WORK. When a dealership closes its doors, it's not just about the jobs lost at the car lot. It's about everything else the community loses along with them.

NEW AND USED CAR SALES ARE THE SINGLE-LARGEST SOURCE OF SALES TAX REVENUE FOR ALMOST EVERY CITY, county and state government in the country. In Los Angeles for every $28,000 car sold, the city takes in about $560 in tax revenue - a total of $80 million each year. Now with auto sales dropping, so is the revenue and that means … "Less fire and police protection, less road maintenance, libraries closing. IT CAN BE EXTREMELY CATASTROPHIC," said Laura Chick, Los Angeles' city controller.

Car dealers are often the largest source of ad revenue for local TV stations, radios and newspapers. "Not only do they spend a lot of money, they spend it frequently and throughout the year," said media analyst John Rash. But this year, dealer ad spending could drop by $3 billion. "Every industry has peaks and valleys, but man, THIS VALLEY SEEMS TO BE ABOUT AS LOW AS YOU CAN GO," said Matthew Gunderson of the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association. And it could be a long drive back up the hill.

The troubled economy has even become part of the recruiters' arsenal. And the pitch may be paying off. The Army led all four branches of the military, exceeding recruiting goals. And it's not just new recruits. The Army also surpassed its goal for retaining men and women already serving by 14 percent.

Kevin Bonds signed his re-enlistment papers Friday. The Sgt. First Class could have retired tomorrow after 20 years in the Illinois National Guard. "Until the economy changes and turns turn around, I'm in for the long run," he said. Sgt. Mathew Steen has also re-signed. He says patriotism means more than a paycheck, but admits the Army is a great place to prepare for any career. "You've got good benefits, your medical, you've got your dental, and you're getting the skills to lead people," Steen said.

"What difficult economic times give us, I think, is an opening to make our case to people we might not otherwise have," said Undersecretary of Defense David Chu. "And if we make our case, I think we can be successful." That success comes at a critical time for a military stretched between two wars, and for soldiers hoping to protect their country - and their own economic futures.

Russians of all ages and classes are struggling to understand the crisis. "IT HAS SPREAD TO THE REGIONS MUCH FASTER THAN COULD BE EXPECTED," says Andrei Kuznetsov, a strategist at investment bank Troika Dialog. "Companies are complaining of low demand, payment arrears, and limited financing."

That's a sharp change from just a few weeks ago, when the Kremlin played down talk of a systemic problem and most Russians assumed the downturn was mainly an issue for Western economies. Then the freezing of international credit markets exposed THE HEAVY DEPENDENCE OF RUSSIAN BANKS AND COMPANIES ON WESTERN LOANS. Russia is also being hammered by the fall in commodity prices: Oil, gas, and metals account for some 80 percent of exports.

Now advertising banners and billboards offer "anti-crisis" discounts on everything from mattresses to Lada sedans. Nightclubs stage "anti-crisis" parties. Jokes about the crisis are legion: "Daddy, is it true we're facing a crisis?" "No, Son. It's the oligarchs who are facing a crisis. We are facing oblivion."

Iran launched six days of naval war games on Tuesday in the Sea of Oman and the Gulf region amid tension with the UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL, WHICH HAVE NOT RULED OUT MILITARY ACTION IF DIPLOMACY FAILS to end a row over Tehran's nuclear work. Iran has said that, if pushed, it could close the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf and through which about 40 percent of the world's traded oil passes.

"The Nasr-2 was fired from a warship and hit its target at a distance of 30 km (19 miles) and destroyed it," the official news agency IRNA said, adding it was the first test of the new, medium-range missile. The West accuses Iran of seeking to build nuclear warheads, a charge Tehran denies. It insists that it wants to master nuclear technology to generate electricity so that it can export more of its huge oil and gas reserves.

Washington, which has its navy Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain, has pledged to keep shipping lanes open. EXPERTS SAY IRAN'S NAVY WOULD BE NO MATCH FOR U.S. TECHNOLOGY BUT COULD STILL CREATE HAVOC IN THE WATERWAY.

Outside UN-led talks in Poland aimed at pushing 187 countries toward stiffer targets to fight global warming, some 1,000 demonstrators said governments were risking the planet's future by delaying action to squabble over who was to blame. Several thousand more protesters took part in a march through London to demand "URGENT AND RADICAL ACTION" from the British government on climate change.

"So far I think it's going really slowly," Susann Scherbarth from Friends of the Earth in Germany said of the talks in the western city of Poznan. She and other protesters in Poznan waved a banner reading: "Stop clowning around, get serious about climate action."

Meanwhile, "The Guardian" reports - THIS YEAR IS SET TO BE THE COOLEST SINCE 2000, according to a preliminary estimate of global average temperature that is due to be released next week by the Met Office. The global average for 2008 should come in close to 14.3C, which is 0.14C below the average temperature for 2001-07. In March, a team of climate scientists at Kiel University predicted that global TEMPERATURES WOULD REMAIN CONSTANT UNTIL 2015 BUT WOULD THEN BEGIN TO ACCELERATE.

Farmers so far are turning their noses up at the notion, which is one of several put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that greenhouse gases emitted by belching and flatulence amounts to air pollution. "THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST RIDICULOUS THINGS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS TRIED TO DO," said Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, an outspoken opponent of the proposal.

It would require farms or ranches with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs to pay an annual fee of about $175 for each dairy cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and $20 for each hog. The executive vice president of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, Ken Hamilton, estimated the fee would cost owners of a modest-sized cattle ranch $30,000 to $40,000 a year. He said he has talked to a number of livestock owners about the proposals, and "ALL HAVE SAID IF THE FEES WERE CARRIED OUT, IT WOULD BANKRUPT THEM."

Sparks said Wednesday he's worried the fee could be extended to chickens and other farm animals and cause more meat to be imported. "WE'LL LET OTHER COUNTRIES PUT FOOD ON OUR TABLES LIKE THEY ARE PUTTING GAS IN OUR CARS. Other countries don't have the health standards we have," Sparks said. While farmers say it would drive them out of business, AN ORGANIZATION SUPPORTING THE PROPOSAL HOPES IT FORCES THE FARMS AND RANCHES TO SWITCH TO "HEALTHIER" CROPS.

Taleban militants are suspected of being behind several such attacks aimed at disrupting supplies, analysts say. The road is a major supply route for US and Western forces battling against the Taleban in neighbouring Afghanistan. HAULIERS SAY THAT OVER 350 TRUCKS DAILY CARRY AN AVERAGE OF 7,000 TONNES OF GOODS OVER THE KHYBER PASS TO KABUL.

The attack occurred around 0230 on Sunday (2130 GMT, Saturday) as up to 250 militants stormed the Portward Logistic Terminal. They fired rockets, hurled hand grenades and then set ablaze 96 trucks, Reuters news agency quoted a police officer, Azeem Khan, as saying. "They were shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Great) and Down With America," a security guard told Reuters. "They broke into the terminals after snatching guns from us," Mohammad Rafiullah said.

Another report said 106 lorries had been set on fire - 62 laden with Humvees. Most supplies for US and Nato forces in Afghanistan go through Pakistan's Khyber Pass. Last month, militants looted 12 trucks carrying Humvees and food aid as they travelled through the Khyber Pass. Security along the road leading to the border has deteriorated this year with soldiers recently carrying out an offensive in the Khyber region to drive militants away from the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in the north-west.

Dr Sentamu added: "The time to remove them from power has come." Earlier, Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the world to tell Mr Mugabe that "enough is enough" amid growing concern over the country's cholera outbreak. Zimbabwe has appealed for international help over a cholera outbreak that has claimed at least 565 lives. At least 12,545 cases have been recorded since August.

On Saturday, the UN Children's Fund in Zimbabwe said it was preparing to deal with a possible 60,000 cholera cases in coming weeks. The Unicef chief in Harare, Roeland Monasch, said such a jump could bring the number of deaths to around 3,000. In his article, Dr Sentamu said the world could no longer remain "inactive" in the face of a growing humanitarian crisis. He said a power-sharing deal between Mr Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change was "now dead".

"The time has come for Robert Mugabe to answer for his crimes against humanity, against his countrymen and women and for justice to be done," Dr Sentamu wrote. "The winds of change that once brought hope to Zimbabwe and its neighbours have become a hurricane of destruction with the outbreak of cholera, destitution, starvation and systemic abuse of power by the state. ROBERT MUGABE AND HIS HENCHMEN MUST NOW TAKE THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACE IN THE HAGUE AND ANSWER FOR THEIR ACTIONS."

The cardinal warns that BRITAIN SHOWS SIGNS OF DEGENERATING INTO A COUNTRY FREE OF MORALS, because of its rejection of traditional values and its new emphasis on the rights of the individual. There are now "serious tensions" between Christians and secularist society, he says, in which atheists are becoming more "vocal and aggressive". HE CLAIMS THAT CATHOLICISM HAS BORNE THE BRUNT OF "LIBERAL HOSTILITY" in its battles to fight for values it considers to be "FUNDAMENTAL PILLARS OF A RIGHTLY ORDERED SOCIETY".

"The vocal minority who argue that RELIGION HAS NO ROLE IN MODERN BRITISH SOCIETY PORTRAY CATHOLIC TEACHING ON THE FAMILY AS PREJUDICED AND INTOLERANT TO THOSE PURSUING ALTERNATIVES," he says. In particular, the cardinal highlights the Church's opposition to liberal laws on abortion and homosexuality, its defence of faith schools and its support for marriage.

He blames the culture of individual rights, encouraged by the Human Rights Act, as responsible for creating A SOCIETY THAT CLAIMS TO BE TOLERANT, BUT IN FACT DENIES THE RIGHTS OF RELIGIOUS GROUPS TO ACT ACCORDING TO THEIR CONSCIENCE AND BELIEFS. "British society champions tolerance and freedom, but that freedom is dependent on responsibility," he says.

The president-elect also said for the first time that he will "launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen. We will repair broken schools, make them energy-efficient, and put new computers in our classrooms," he said in the address.

The president-elect is bringing new elements of his domestic agenda into his economic recovery plan, committing to a path toward giving every American access to an electronic medical record as part of an "economic recovery plan… that won't just save jobs, it will save lives." Obama had talked in the campaign about lowering health care costs by investing in electronic information technology systems, but not in the context of the economy. Now, his key initiatives – education, energy, health care – are all being tied back to jobs.

When Congress reconvenes in January, I look forward to working with them to pass a plan immediately," Obama says in the address. "We need to act with the urgency this moment demands to save or create at least two and a half million jobs so that the nearly two million Americans who've lost them know that they have a future. And that's exactly what I intend to do as President of the United States."

Government in Zimbabwe was now broken and the state was unable or unwilling to protect its people, he said. Mr Brown added that medicine would get to those who needed it, regardless of any differences with Mr Mugabe. In a statement, Mr Brown said that over the coming days the first priority would be delivering aid to Zimbabwe, such as rehydration and testing packs.

He said: "THIS IS NOW AN INTERNATIONAL RATHER THAN A NATIONAL EMERGENCY. International because disease crosses borders. International because the systems of government in Zimbabwe are now broken. There is no state capable or willing of protecting its people. International because - not least in the week of the 60th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights - we must stand together to defend human rights and democracy, to say firmly to Mugabe that enough is enough."

Mr Brown said he had "been in close contact with African leaders to press for stronger action to give the Zimbabwean people the government they deserve". He added: "The people of Zimbabwe voted for a better future. It is our duty to support that aspiration." He also said he hoped the United Nations Security Council would meet "urgently" to consider the country's plight.

For many, FAMILY TIES AND FRIENDSHIPS HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY A PERVERTED SENSE OF LOYALTY TO THE GANG, underpinned by the fear of reprisals should anyone break ranks, the urban equivalent of Lord Of The Flies. Violent, degrading group sex, if not gang rape, is often a rite of passage for members or 'soldiers' as they style themselves - such as losing your virginity or going to the pub would be for other young men. The opposite sex is almost always treated as sexual prey. It is the reason why a petty dispute between a 14-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy escalated into gang rape.

Nine boys took part in the attack. They are due to be sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday. Yesterday, a judge ruled that all but two of the nine could be identified. What is becoming increasingly clear is that what happened is far from uncommon. THE MAJORITY OF VICTIMS - 60 PER CENT - WERE WHITE. Scotland Yard identified certain characteristics among attackers. Around 40 per cent of suspects were described as Afro-Caribbean. A further 13 per cent were of Indian or Pakistani appearance. Most perpetrators already had convictions for street crime and were aged between 15 and 21.

Those who kidnapped and abused Jenny match this profile, BUT THEIR FAMILIES, IF THAT IS THE RIGHT WORD, DIDN'T SEEM TO KNOW OR, IT SEEMS, CARE ABOUT THE LIVES THEY WERE LEADING. Most are in denial about their behaviour. Some of the mothers we spoke to even blamed Jenny for getting their sons into trouble with the law. All of the boys were members of the gang or connected with it.

The Kingzhold Boys are one of at least 22 identified post-code gangs in Hackney. THEY ROUTINELY CARRY KNIVES AND SOMETIMES GUNS and have been involved in a long-running feud with rival Hackney gang London Fields. 'Everyone has got a point to prove. Everyone has got a score to settle. AND THERE IS NO REMORSE. If you're in the wrong place at the wrong time they won't hesitate to stab or blast you.' Or gang-rape a 14-year-old girl.

Jenny, her mother and stepfather have been moved out of the area for their own protection. So, too, has another family who supported them.

Cambridgeshire County Council used the controversial REGULATION OF INVESTIGATORY POWERS ACT (RIPA) to spy on eight paperboys thought to be working without permits. It sent undercover council officers to lurk outside a Spar in the village of Melbourn and take notes on the movements of the boys. The evidence was used in a criminal prosecution of the shop's owners for employing five of the boys without the correct documentation.

Cambridgeshire's approach is just the latest example of LOCAL AUTHORITIES USING THE RIPA FOR MINOR MISDEMEANOURS. SUCH ACTIVITIES HAVE BEEN LIKENED TO THOSE OF THE STASI, THE EAST GERMAN SECRET POLICE. A Cambridgeshire bylaw states that all paperboys must have a work permit issued by the council and signed by the child's employer, headteacher and parents.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act was supposed to grant only the police and security services the power to spy on emails and phone calls. Councils in Derby, Bolton, Gateshead and Hartlepool used covert techniques to deal with dog fouling, while Bolton spied on suspected litter louts.

Male pilgrims, wearing two-piece seamless white robes, and women, covered head to foot except for their hands and faces, circled the sacred Kaaba stone structure seven times inside the Grand Mosque, which Muslims face during their five daily prayers. A pillar of the Muslim faith, the hajj is packed with symbolism and ritual aimed at cleansing the soul of sin. Every able-bodied Muslim who can financially afford to must perform it at least once in his or her lifetime.

The hajj culminates Sunday, when the pilgrims gather on Mount Arafat, 12 miles (20 kilometers) from Mecca in the desert, where Islam's Prophet Mohammed is said to have given his last sermon 14 centuries ago. At Arafat, pilgrims offer prayers from noon to shortly after nightfall in a ritual that's interpreted as a foretaste of the Day of Judgment, when Islam says every person will stand before God and answer for his deeds.

JUST 50 YEARS AGO, THE PILGRIMAGE ATTRACTED ONLY ABOUT 10,000 PEOPLE. This year, Saudi embassies world over have issued nearly 2 million visas. Just under a million pilgrims also come to the hajj from Saudi Arabia. Many others are believed to come without proper documents.