A major commemoration is taking place in Verdun, north-east France, where French and German troops fought for eight months. The battle was the war's longest, and Verdun has since become a symbol of Franco-German reconciliation. Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, and the Duchess of Cornwall are French President Nicolas Sarkozy's guests of honour at the event.

But no veterans are in attendance, says the BBC's Jonny Dymond, at the service. Not one member of the two huge armies that clashed on the fields of Verdun survives. Only the dead are left to be remembered, and the backdrop of the service is the ossuary, which contains the bones of 130,000 men who died in the fighting.

Remembrance ceremonies have already been held in Australia, which lost 60,000 men in the conflict. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd used a speech at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra to issue a call for peace. "We have all endured a most bloody century," he said. "LET US RESOLVE AFRESH AT THE DAWN OF THIS NEW CENTURY... THAT THIS MIGHT BE A TRULY PACIFIC PEACEFUL CENTURY."

World War I was the world's first industrialised war. It toppled four European empires, led to the creation of the Soviet Union, and marked the end of Europe's long global hegemony.

"I think solar minimum is behind us," says sunspot forecaster David Hathaway of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. His statement is prompted by an October flurry of sunspots. "Last month we counted five sunspot groups," he says. That may not sound like much, but in a year with record-low numbers of sunspots and long stretches of utter spotlessness, five is significant. "This represents a real increase in solar activity."

Hathaway tamps down the excitement: "We're still years away from solar maximum and, in the meantime, the sun is going to have some more quiet stretches." Even with its flurry of sunspots, the October sun was mostly blank, with zero sunspots on 20 of the month's 31 days. But it's a start. Stay tuned for solar activity.

Finance officials from the G20 group of developed and biggest emerging economies agreed on Sunday to "urgently take forward" the proposals backed by their leaders at the Washington summit, which is also expected TO DISCUSS MEASURES TO STAVE OFF A GLOBAL RECESSION.

The G20 meeting in Brazil's business capital also exposed opposing views on how to regulate financial markets and the role institutions like the International Monetary Fund should play in overseeing A NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER. A showdown appears to be brewing about whether broader groupings like the G20 should supplant the elite, rich-country G7 as the main forum governing the world economy.

France, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, is leading a drive for tough new regulations and oversight in financial markets. Many countries want to beef up the IMF and some want to give it a regulatory surveillance role. "WE SEE FRICTION BETWEEN ANGLO-SAXON CAPITALISM ON THE ONE HAND AND THE EUROPEAN-STYLE CAPITALISM ON THE OTHER HAND," French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde told reporters on Sunday on the sidelines of the G20 finance officials meeting in Sao Paulo.

"On the Anglo-Saxon side the balance is more toward letting the market rules play out and THE EUROPEAN SIDE PROBABLY HAS A BIG CONCERN ABOUT REGULATION."

It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he's the one who proposed this national security force," Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I'm just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may — may not, I hope not — BUT WE MAY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT TYPE OF PHILOSOPHY OF RADICAL SOCIALISM OR MARXISM." Broun cited a July speech by Obama that has circulated on the Internet in which the then-Democratic presidential candidate called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HITLER DID IN NAZI GERMANY AND IT'S EXACTLY WHAT THE SOVIET UNION DID," Broun said. "When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he's showing me signs of being Marxist." Obama's comments about a national security force came during a speech in Colorado about building a new civil service corps. Among other things, he called for expanding the nation's foreign service and doubling the size of the Peace Corps "to renew our diplomacy."

"WE CANNOT CONTINUE TO RELY ONLY ON OUR MILITARY IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE NATIONAL SECURITY OBJECTIVES THAT WE'VE SET," Obama said in July. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." Broun said he also believes Obama likely will move to ban gun ownership if he does build a national police force. "We can't be lulled into complacency," Broun said. "YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT ADOLF HITLER WAS ELECTED IN A DEMOCRATIC GERMANY. I'M NOT COMPARING HIM TO ADOLF HITLER. WHAT I'M SAYING IS THERE IS THE POTENTIAL."

The bad news from both the financial and corporate sectors underlined the broadening of a crisis that claimed its first victims among banks and insurers BUT HAS NOW SPREAD THROUGH THE GLOBAL ECONOMY.

Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, was set to announce on Tuesday a big increase in financial support for developing countries caught up in the credit crisis. THE MOVE COMES AHEAD OF THIS WEEKEND'S G20 summit on the world economy, which will bring together leaders from leading industrialised and developing nations. The S&P 500 index on Monday fell 1.3 per cent as investors reacted to the poor performance of sectors ranging from insurance to logistics, and the announcement that the US electronics retailer Circuit City had filed for bankruptcy protection.

AIG's ailing financial health prior to the government intervention was highlighted by a $7.5bn quarterly writedown in its troubled financial services unit. The company has recorded more than $31bn of credit-related writedowns since the crisis began. Fannie Mae, the mortgage finance group that was nationalised in September, on Monday added to the gloom, reporting a record $29bn quarterly loss. The company warned that it might require further government funds to avoid a collapse.

The EU suspended talks over Russia's intervention in Georgia, and Lithuania argues it has still not fully met the terms of the truce and withdrawn. But the 26 other EU members agreed it was time to re-engage with Moscow. "We have found a good way to proceed," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, after the foreign ministers met in Brussels.

"We think it is time to resume the talks."

FEARS ARE GROWING THAT MR OBAMA, who will become America's first black president following his inauguration next year, WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT. The secret service is reported to have already investigated more than 500 death threats against Mr Obama during the presidential election contest. Last month, two neo-Nazi skinheads were arrested for conspiring to assassinate Mr Obama.

He is expected to be protected by a secret service detail with hundreds of close-protection agents. Over the past few weeks, the US government has also begun secretly testing a new ultra-secure presidential limousine able to withstand most bomb blasts and terror attacks. Details of his movements will be a closely guarded secret for all but his most senior aides.

The scale of US presidential security is already on a different scale to that for British Prime Ministers with huge motorcades accompanying US presidents when they leave the White House. Mr Obama received full secret service protection in May 2007, much earlier than most presidential candidates. His secret service codename is "renegade".

The euro's strength comes in the wake of UK interest rates being slashed by 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent last week by the Bank of England, a move which encouraged investors to seek more lucrative returns abroad. Statistics out today pointed to a sharp slowdown in inflation, suggesting there may be scope for further reductions in borrowing costs in the months to come.

The pound has also taken a battering against the dollar in recent weeks, and is now trading around $1.57 and down from over $2 in July. With interest rates already at a 50 year low following the sharpest reduction in decades last week, markets are eagerly watching the economic data to see whether there is potential for any further cuts. FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE EURPOEAN CENTRAL BANK, UK RATES ARE NOW LOWER THAN IN THE EUROZONE.

The Intelligence and Security Committee, the parliamentary watchdog of the intelligence and security agencies which has a cross-party membership from both Houses, wants to press ministers to introduce legislation that would prevent news outlets from reporting stories DEEMED BY THE GOVERNMENT TO BE AGAINST THE INTERESTS OF NATIONAL SECURITY.

The committee also wants to censor reporting of police operations that are deemed to have implications for national security. The ISC is to recommend in its next report, out at the end of the year, that a commission be set up to look into its plans, according to senior Whitehall sources. The ISC holds huge clout within Whitehall. It receives secret briefings from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and is highly influential in forming government policy. The committee's members are particularly worried about leaks, which, they believe, could derail investigations and the reporting of which needs to be banned by legislation.

Civil liberties groups say these restrictions would be "very dangerous" and "DAMAGING FOR PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY". They also point out that censoring journalists when the leaks come from officials is unjustified.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn't require approval by Congress, AMERICANS HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THEIR MONEY IS GOING OR WHAT SECURITIES THE BANKS ARE PLEDGING IN RETURN.

"The collateral is not being adequately disclosed, and that's a big problem," said Dan Fuss, vice chairman of Boston- based Loomis Sayles & Co., where he co-manages $17 billion in bonds. "In a liquid market, this wouldn't matter, but we're not. The market is very nervous and very thin."

Bloomberg News has requested details of the Fed lending under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and filed a federal lawsuit Nov. 7 seeking to force disclosure. The Fed made the loans under terms of 11 programs, eight of them created in the past 15 months, in the midst of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. "It's your money; it's not the Fed's money," said billionaire Ted Forstmann, senior partner of Forstmann Little & Co. in New York. "Of course there should be transparency."

BANKS OPPOSE ANY RELEASE OF INFORMATION BECAUSE IT MIGHT SIGNAL WEAKNESS AND SPUR SHORT-SELLING OR A RUN BY DEPOSITORS, said Scott Talbott, senior vice president of government affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable, a Washington trade group. "You have to balance the need for transparency with protecting the public interest," Talbott said. "Taxpayers have a right to know where their tax dollars are going, BUT ONE PIECE OF INFORMATION STANDING ALONE COULD UNDERMINE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN THE SYSTEM."

The term perestroika, meaning restructuring, was used by Gorbachev in the late 1980s to describe a series of reforms that abolished state planning in the Soviet Union. In an interview with Italy's La Stampa published on Friday, Gorbachev said President-elect Barack Obama needs to fundamentally change the misguided course followed by President George W. Bush over the past eight years.

Gorbachev said that after transforming his country in the late 1980s, he had told the Americans that it was their turn to act, but that Washington, celebrating its Cold War victory, was not interested in "A NEW MODEL OF A SOCIETY, WHERE POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND MORALS WENT HAND IN HAND." He said the Republicans have failed to realize that the Soviet Union no longer exists, that Europe has changed, and that new powers like China, Brazil and Mexico have emerged as important players on the world stage.

He told the paper that the world is waiting for Obama to act, and that the White House needs to restore trust in cooperation with the United States among the Russians.

John Podesta, Obama's transition chief, said Sunday Obama is reviewing President Bush's executive orders on those issues and others as he works to undo policies enacted during eight years of Republican rule. He said the president can use such orders to move quickly on his own.

"There's a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we'll see the president do that," Podesta said. "I THINK THAT HE FEELS LIKE HE HAS A REAL MANDATE FOR CHANGE. We need to get off the course that the Bush administration has set."

Podesta also said Obama is working to build a diverse Cabinet. That includes reaching out to Republicans and independents - part of the broad coalition that supported Obama during the race against Republican John McCain. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been mentioned as a possible holdover.

THE ORDER GAVE US FORCES PERMISSION TO ATTACK TERROR TARGETS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD WITHOUT PRIOR SPECIFIC APPROVAL. The Times said the defence department declined to comment on its claims. The White House also made no comment.

The paper said it had spoken to more than six officials, "including current and former military and intelligence officials" as well as senior policy makers in the Bush administration. They said that the order, signed by Mr Rumsfeld with the approval of President George W Bush, was intended to make it easier for the US military to act outside officially declared war zones at short notice.

In total, 15 to 20 countries were covered by the mandate and attacks had been carried out in Pakistan, Syria and "several other countries," the paper reported. The paper's sources also claimed that "as many as a dozen" attacks had been called off - "often to the dismay of military commanders" - due to lack of evidence or because they were considered too dangerous or "diplomatically explosive".

He will urge COUNTRIES TO FORGE A NEW WAY OF WORKING TOGETHER that is "hard headed and progressive". His speech will also be watched for any suggestions of possible UK tax cuts. Mr Brown's comments in recent days about the need for a fiscal stimulus to boost the domestic economy have given rise to mounting speculation about possible moves in that direction.

Ahead of a meeting of leaders of the world's 20 major economies in the US at the weekend, Mr Brown is expected to say that recent CO-ORDINATED GLOBAL ACTION during the credit crisis showed the potential of a stronger MULTILATERALISM. "If we learn from our experience of turning unity of purpose into unity of action, we can together seize this moment of change in our world TO CREATE A TRULY GLOBAL SOCIETY"

He will argue that 2008 should not be remembered just for the failure represented by the financial problems, but for the way countries reacted and "DISCOVERED AND REFASHIONED THE GLOBAL POWER of nations working together. While I see a world that is facing financial crisis and still diminished by conflict and injustice, I also see the chance to forge a NEW MULTILATERALISM that is both hard headed and progressive."

"And if we learn from our experience of turning unity of purpose into unity of action, we can together SEIZE THIS MOMENT OF CHANGE IN OUR WORLD TO CREATE A TRULY GLOBAL SOCIETY," Mr Brown will say, according to pre-released extracts of his speech. THE UK, THE US AND EUROPE ARE KEY TO ESTABLISHING A NEW WORLD ORDER, HE WILL ARGUE.

Two monks from each side were detained as dozens of worshippers traded kicks and punches at the shrine, said police. Trouble flared as Armenians prepared to mark the annual Feast of the Cross. Shocked pilgrims looked on as decorations and tapestries were toppled during Sunday's clash.

Dressed in the vestments of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian denominations, rival monks threw punches and anything they could lay their hands on. The Greeks blamed the Armenians for not recognising their rights inside the holy site, while the Armenians said the Greeks had violated one of their traditional ceremonies. An Armenian clergyman said the Greek clergy had tried to place one of their monks inside the Edicule, an ancient structure which is said to encase the tomb of Jesus.

"What is happening here is a violation of status quo. The Greeks have tried so many times to put their monk inside the tomb but they don't have the right to when the Armenians are celebrating the feast," he said. The Armenians had been preparing to commemorate the 4th Century discovery of the cross believed to have been used to crucify Jesus. A Greek clergyman said: "We protested peacefully, we stood here in the middle and we claimed that we shall not let the procession finish unless they leave our guardian inside. This didn't happen and in that moment the police interfered."