Last month, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law an increase in the government's borrowing ceiling to $9.815 trillion. It was the fifth debt limit increase since Bush took office in January 2001. Those increases have totaled $3.865 trillion.

The national debt is the total of the annual budget deficits plus money that the government borrows from the Social Security and other government trust funds.

The total national debt is actually higher than $9 trillion because it includes borrowing by some agencies that are not covered by the congressional debt limit. That total was $9.086 trillion on Tuesday.

It took the country from George Washington until Ronald Reagan to reach the first $1 trillion in debt.

Coupled with storms and high tides, the wave could leave swathes of the east coast under water, according to the Environment Agency. A combination of gale force winds off the coast of Scotland and high tides are expected to cause floods which could breach sea defences. The surge is expected to hit the Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex coastline from early tomorrow morning. About 8,000 properties in Great Yarmouth and 1,800 in Lowestoft could be at risk.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called a special COBRA Cabinet Office meeting to coordinate an emergency reponse. John Healey, minister of state for local communities, said: "COBRA will be on full alert throughout the night, and the Prime Minister will be keeping in close touch and keeping on top of things." The spokesman likened the current conditions to those leading up to the floods of 1953. More than 300 people were killed when a surge from the North Sea flooded almost 100,000 hectares of eastern England.

"In 1953, there was a 3.2-metre surge and also high tides and a storm. It's comparable but we're much better prepared now," he said. Nine severe weather warnings have been issued covering coastal areas from the north-east to Anglia. There are also 10 flood warnings and 24 flood watches in place. The Dartford Creek and Thames barriers were closed at 8pm to cope with the expected high water.

From January to September, Japanese exports to China totalled 12.756 trillion yen ($113.1 billion), slightly topping the 12.568 trillion yen of exports to the United States. Given that China-bound exports are surging while shipments to the United States have been sluggish largely because of US housing loan problems, the gap is likely to widen in the final three months of this year, economists say.

The fate of the US economy, though, will remain more important for Japan for some time, economists say, because a large part of Japan's exports to China consists of machine parts that are assembled and then sold to the United States and other countries.

"It's true that demand from China is very strong," said Takumi Tsunoda, economist at Shinkin Central Bank. This year, Japan's exports to China look set to top 16 trillion yen, twice the level of just five years ago.

This was the 69th new high the yuan has hit since the beginning of this year, up more than four percent accumulatively. The accumulative appreciation since July 21, 2005, when China discontinued yuan's peg to the greenback, has exceeded 8.3 percent.

The British paper quoted military sources in the US capital as saying that the figure presented by Ahmadinejad could be the "tipping point" that touches off an IAF strike. Washington was reluctant to go forward with a strike against Iran, but Israel was a "different matter," the officials said.

Even before the Iranian president's announcement US defense officials told the Times that "Israel could do something when they get to around 3,000 working centrifuges. The Pentagon is minded to wait a little longer." Concern over an Israeli strike has been "heightened" following the September 6 strike on a target suspected to belong to a Syrian nuclear program, the paper said.

Uranium gas, spun in linked centrifuges, can result in either low-enriched fuel suitable to generate power in a nuclear reactor, or the weapons-grade material that forms the fissile core of nuclear warheads. US experts say 3,000 centrifuges are enough to produce a nuclear weapon, perhaps as soon as within a year. Iran says it plans to expand its enrichment program to up to 54,000 centrifuges at Natanz in central Iran - which would amount to industrial-scale uranium enrichment.

Ahmadinejad on Wednesday reiterated his rejection of any suspension of Iran's enrichment activities, or even a compromise over how Teheran will proceed beyond the 3,000 centrifuges. "They say they've swallowed these 3,000 and want to reach an agreement with us on what to do, at what speed, how many [centrifuges] a day or week," Ahmadinejad said of latest Western pressures. "Our response is: 'Who are you to make comments about the Iranian nation - Do we ask you how many machines you have?'"

He also said he had bluntly refused a recent offer to negotiate with the United States over Iran's nuclear activities. "I, as your representative, told those who brought the message that we didn't ask for talks? If talks are to be held, it is the Iranian nation that has to set conditions, not the arrogant and the criminals," Ahmadinejad said. "The world must know that this nation will not give up one iota of its nuclear rights? if they think they can get concessions from this nation, they are badly mistaken," he concluded.

Earlier this week, Foreign Ministry director-general Aharon Abramovitch publicly criticized INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY HEAD MOHAMED ELBARADEI for calling for more time for nuclear inspectors to work in Iran and for praising Teheran's cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning - for the first time - that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress. Shifts in Chinese policy are often announced through key think tanks and academies.

Described as China's "nuclear option" in the state media, such action could trigger a dollar crash at a time when the US currency is already breaking down through historic support levels. It would also cause a spike in US bond yields, hammering the US housing market and perhaps tipping the economy into recession. It is estimated that China holds over $900bn in a mix of US bonds.

Xia Bin, finance chief at the Development Research Centre (which has cabinet rank), kicked off what now appears to be government policy with a comment last week that Beijing's foreign reserves should be used as a "bargaining chip" in talks with the US. "Of course, China doesn't want any undesirable phenomenon in the global financial order," he added.

The pound stormed to as high as $2.1021 in trading in London, a level not seen since the early Thatcher era, and many currency experts now predict it will go higher despite signs that the UK economy is slowing.

The greenback's renewed weakness was sparked by comments from Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of China's National People's Congress, who suggested China will diversify some of its $1.33 trillion (£660bn) of foreign-exchange reserves.

Mr Siwei told a conference in Beijing: "We will favour stronger currencies over weaker ones, and will readjust accordingly."

Besides sterling, the dollar was down against 14 of the world's 16 biggest currencies this morning, hitting the lowest since the 1950s versus the Canadian dollar, reaching a new record against the euro and its weakest in more than 20 years against the Australian dollar.

THAT POSITION IS, LIKE THE U.S. POSITION ON RUSSIAN NUKES, BASED ON TRUST - on high-level, personal contacts between military commanders on both sides. For now, Washington can maintain that line about Pakistan because that country's two highest military leaders have close ties to the U.S. or Britain. General Pervez Musharraf, who is also President, was trained in England, and his likely military successor General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani was trained in the U.S. - SOON, HOWEVER, THAT TRUST AND FELLOW-FEELING WILL NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE.

That is because of the estrangement between the U.S. and a rising generation of Pakistani officers. For about 10 years, the U.S. Congress barred contacts between American and Pakistani military officials as part of sanctions on Islamabad for pursuing nuclear weapons in the first place.

In an ironic boomerang, it is now those officers, ascending to ever more senior ranks, who soon could be overseeing various elements of the Pakistani military, including the security of the several dozen atomic weapons Pakistan is believed to have in its arsenal. THEIR PROVINCIALISM, U.S. OFFICIALS FEAR, COULD MAKE THEM SYMPATHETIC TO THE AL-QAEDA AND TALIBAN ELEMENTS NOW ROILING THE COUNTRY.

For generations, the Pakistani army's top officers had trained in the United States and Great Britain, giving them a worldly sense of military affairs and a perspective on international relations hard to come by inside the country. But such exchanges ended between the U.S. and Pakistan for about a decade after Congress cut off all military cooperation in 1990.

"Musharraf was worried that a lot of the junior officers had been isolated from this and might turn inward," Zinni says. "YOU WERE BEGINNING TO SEE BEARDS IN THE OFFICER CORPS, WHICH MAY SIGNIFY MORE RELIGIOUS CONSERVATISM. That's created a bubble of officers who are going to start coming into senior positions that were isolated during the era of sanctions."

Wall Street suffered its second big drop in a week Wednesday, with investors worried about spreading fallout from the credit crisis at banks and about a DOLLAR THAT JUST KEEPS GETTING WEAKER. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 360 points -- just about matching its pullback of last Thursday.

Comments from Federal Reserve officials didn't give investors much reason to reconsider their bets. St. Louis Fed President William Poole said recent weeks have seen the credit markets make clear progress in returning to normal but SAID THE FED MIGHT HAVE TO MAKE OTHER RATE CUTS. SUCH A MOVE WOULD LIKELY HASTEN THE DOLLAR'S FALL AS INVESTORS WOULD SEEK BETTER INTEREST RATES ELSEWHERE. The central bank reduced the federal funds rate in September and again last month.

Meanwhile, the dollar swooned amid speculation that China will seek to diversify some of its foreign currency stockpiles beyond the greenback and General Motors Corp. further dampened sentiment by posting a record loss tied to an accounting adjustment. Oil hit a record, rising above $98 per barrel before retreating, and gold pushed higher, moves exacerbated by an anemic dollar.

Still, the concern on the Street is THAT THE EXTENT OF THE FALLOUT FROM THE CREDIT MARKET CRISIS THAT HAS LED TO BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN LOSSES FOR MAJOR BANKS AND INVESTMENT FIRMS IS NOT YET KNOWN. With Citigroup Inc. announcing Sunday it needed to take an additional $8 billion to $11 billion in writedowns, INVESTORS ARE VERY UNEASY NOT JUST ABOUT STOCKS, BUT THE ECONOMY AS A WHOLE.

"The financials are the bodyguards of the market and when the bodyguards are taking shots then the market can't do well," said David Darst, chief investment strategist for Morgan Stanley's global wealth management group.

"A LOT OF THE BAD STUFF IS KNOWN; WHAT THE MARKETS ARE WORRYING ABOUT IS THE UNKNOWN," Darst said.

The dollar cannot remain 'someone else's problem,' Sarkozy said today on Capitol Hill. "If we are not careful, monetary disarray could morph into economic war. We would all be its victims."

Sarkozy's complaints that the U.S. currency's drop against the euro is undermining European competitiveness struck a discordant note in a summit intended to demonstrate an improving U.S.-French relationship. His comments came as the euro surged to a record high against the dollar. The currency touched $1.4731 today, a 65 percent gain since the end of 2001.

Concern that the euro is too strong has been a Sarkozy theme since his presidential campaign earlier this year. Since his May 6 election, he has urged European Central Bank officials to lower interest rates to weaken the currency. Germany hasn't joined Sarkozy in his effort to weaken the currency. German Chancellor Angela Merkel isn't concerned by the euro's appreciation, a Finance Ministry spokesman said.

Beyond economic policy, Sarkozy emphasized France's "friendship" with the U.S., drawing a standing ovation when he expressed gratitude for the liberation of Europe from the Nazis. He backed U.S. opposition to Iran's nuclear program and pledged to keep troops in Afghanistan as long as necessary.

The current tightness will last longer than previous periods of food supply shortages such as the 1974 oil crisis, said Ali Arslan Gurkan, chief of commodity markets and policy analysis at the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). "Previous crises petered away quickly," Gurkan told a news briefing to coincide with a report on the outlook for food supplies that highlighted tight stocks of staples such as wheat.

"Biofuels demand and crude oil prices are unique here (now)," he added, referring to the practice of growing crops to manufacture alternative energy in response to record crude oil prices now edging close to a landmark $100 per barrel. In the report, the FAO said the global wheat market is extremely tight and ending stocks are forecast to drop 10.4 percent year-on-year to 142.6 million tonnes in 2007/08.

Gurkan said sub-Saharan African countries, many of which depend on high-cost energy as well as food imports, will be hardest hit by food shortages and inflation. The international community's goal to halve extreme poverty by 2015 was now further out of reach, he added.

Oil in New York rose to a new high above $98 a barrel and the dollar extended its slide to $1.4666 per euro, the lowest ever. Gold is seen by some investors as a hedge against inflation, and a weaker U.S. currency makes the dollar-priced metal cheaper for holders of other currencies. "We may see gold prices breaching the $850 level, at the earliest tonight," said Kazuhiko Saito, strategist at Interes Capital Management Co. in Tokyo. "It's like people are pushing gold prices toward the record."

Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as $11.99, or 1.5 percent, to $836.99 an ounce, the highest since January 1980, when it reached a record $850 an ounce. The metal was at $834.90 an ounce at 3:51 p.m. Singapore time. Gold has gained more than threefold since the end of 2000 when it fetched $272.25 an ounce.

Silver for immediate delivery jumped as much as 31 cents, or 2 percent, to $15.91 an ounce, the highest since Dec. 1980. The metal stood at $15.75 at 3:47 p.m. Singapore time. It has climbed 22 percent this year, heading for a sixth straight annual gain.

The whopping loss announced Wednesday was attributed to a $38.6 billion noncash charge largely related to establishing a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets in the U.S., Canada and Germany, as well as mortgage losses at GM's former financial arm, GMAC Financial Services.

A joint communiqué signed by visiting Premier Wen Jiabao and his Russian counterpart Viktor Zubkov said increased cooperation on nuclear energy is a priority in economic ties. According to the deals, the two countries will continue to work on the second phase of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in Jiangsu and uranium enrichment factories, and take measures for peaceful use of nuclear energy.

During the 12th regular meeting between the two prime ministers, they agreed to complete the construction of a Sino-Russian oil pipeline by the end of next year and speed up negotiations on a long-term oil supply deal. The two sides reiterated that the energy cooperation is a key component of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership and said they would push forward collaboration in the oil, gas and electricity sectors.

Russian media quoted First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as saying that gas deliveries to China would begin "in the next few years" once agreements on the pricing and delivery routes are finalized. Reviewing the decade-old Sino-Russian strategic partnership, Wen said bilateral ties have reached an unprecedented level.

He said the two countries will jointly explore the potential in various fields and improve the trade structure to raise the proportion of machinery and high-tech products. They will expand investment and enhance cooperation in border areas as well as in the fields of space flight, civil aviation, information industry and banking.

Official figures show that two-way trade is expected to top $40 billion by the end of the year. Zubkov said he believes the figure would jump to $80 billion in three years, a goal set by the top leaders of the two countries.

The origins of medical ethics can be traced back to the 4th century BC. They encompass the Hippocratic writings and ancient Rabbinical and early Christian works; over time, contributions were made by Islamic physicians, liberal theorists and moral theologians.

What emerged, however, was not a specific set of answers to the difficult ethical questions doctors faced, but a framework - underpinned by core values - within which to understand ethical dilemmas. And while these core values tend to endure, what we consider to be ethical practice often changes over time.

Two of these lasting concepts are primum non nocere - first do no harm - and beneficence, that a doctor should always act in the best interests of the patient. But what we judge to be ethical practice is really just a matter of interpretation. Our understanding of "first do no harm", for example, may be very different from that of our ancestors.

If, from an ethical perspective, a doctor is allowed to terminate a pregnancy at 23 weeks because the chance of the child surviving is so slim, why is it not acceptable to extend the same rationale to adults? The more you consider it, the more apparent it becomes that ethics are anything but consistent. Someone with a terminal illness has, by definition, a survival rate of zero, worse than that of a 22-week-old foetus.

And yet, as a doctor, it is considered ethical for me to terminate a 22-week pregnancy - there are about 500 terminations a year done at this stage - but unethical for me assist in the death of someone whom I know is going to die. Surely the way in which we are applying our ethical framework is flawed?

This is not to say we should not abort babies at 22 or 23 weeks, but rather, if we accept that it is morally acceptable to do so on the grounds of viability, then we should give proper thought to whether the same rule should be applied to us all.