'To Vima' weekly said the Hellenic state asset development fund, an agency set up last year to manage Greece's asset sales, plans to create a privatisation bond to buy back part of the country's enormous debt on the secondary market. For every one billion euros earned by the planned bond, the state will be able to buy back older debt worth 2.5 billion euros given the currently depressed value of Greek debt, unnamed agency officials told the newspaper.

Greek state debt, which has exploded to over 350 billion euros ($447 billion), is currently trading up to 35 percent below its face value, 'To Vima' said. Athens last year pledged a sweeping privatisation drive in return for bailout loans from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The process originally aimed to raise 5.5 billion euros by the end of the year, and 50 billion overall by 2015.

But targets have been revised owing to procedural delays and fears that a hurried sale in the present economic downturn will only bring limited revenue. In December, Greece sold four disused Airbus A340 jets for 40.4 million dollars, a sum which aviation unionists dismissed as scrap value. The privatisation list includes ports, regional airports, utilities and motorways, a leading casino, public-owned defence, train and mining companies, and a key stake in Greece's monopoly gaming operator.

They said senior executives of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which advises 28 oil consuming countries, discussed on Thursday an existing plan to release up to 14 million barrels per day (bpd) of government-owned oil stored in the United States, Europe, Japan and other importers.

Action on this scale would be more than five times the size of the biggest release in the agency's history - made in response to Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The maximum release, some 10 million bpd of crude and about 4 million bpd of refined products, could be sustained during the first month of any coordinated action, the plan says.

"This would form a necessary and sensible response to a closure of the strait," a European diplomat told Reuters. "It wouldn't take long to put in place if it was required... and would be unlikely to prove controversial amongst the (IEA) membership."

Founded in 1974 in the wake of the Arab oil embargo, the IEA has only drawn down reserves on three occasions. Apart from last summer, member countries released oil in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina damaged offshore oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico and made available 2.5 million bpd in January 1991 after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait disrupted about 4.3 million bpd.

Naval commanders believe the deployment of HMS Daring, a Type 45 destroyer, will send a significant message to the Iranians because of the firepower and world-beating technology carried by the warship. Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, has publicly warned Iran that any blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would be "illegal and unsuccessful".

The Daily Telegraph understands that HMS Daring has been fitted with new technology that will give it the ability to shoot down any missile in Iran's armoury. The 1 billion pounds destroyer, which will leave Portsmouth next Wednesday, also carries the world's most sophisticated naval radar, capable of tracking multiple incoming threats from missiles to fighter jets.

Daring, with its crew of 190, will transit through the Suez Canal and enter the Gulf later this month to replace the Type 23 frigate currently on station. Speaking earlier, Mr Hammond said that "our joint naval presence in the Arabian Gulf" was "key to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open for international trade".

During an intensive "swarm attack", the vessel could simultaneously track, engage and destroy more targets than five of it predecessor Type 42 destroyers. The Sea Viper is also one of the world's most agile missiles equipped with its own radar that can allow it to hit a target a hundred miles away.

Lord West, the former First Sea Lord, described Daring as a "world beater", adding: "This warship has an unbelievably capable ability to track targets, spot the most dangerous and identify them for its missiles to take out. It's highly, highly capable. I would like to see the Type 45s show their potential in the region."

Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Revolutionary Guards' ground forces, said the "Martyrs of Unity" exercises near Khvat, 60 km (40 miles) from Afghanistan, were "aimed at boosting security along the Iranian borders," Fars reported. The Revolutionary Guards' naval forces' 10-day exercise in the Gulf that ended last Monday worsened relations with Washington days after US President Barack Obama approved sanctions that aim to stop countries buying Iranian oil.

Threats that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz, which leads out of the Gulf and provides the outlet for most oil from the Middle East, pushed up oil prices and Iran warned Washington not to send an aircraft carrier back into the Gulf.

Events such as the 2010 volcanic ash cloud, which grounded flights in Europe, Japan's earthquake and tsunami and Thailand's floods last year, have showed that key sectors and businesses can be severely affected if disruption to production or transport goes on for more than a week.

"One week seems to be the maximum tolerance of the 'just-in-time' global economy," said the report by Chatham House, the London-based policy institute for international affairs. The current fragile state of the world's economy leaves it particularly vulnerable to unforeseen shocks. Up to 30 percent of developed countries' gross domestic product could be directly threatened by crises, especially in the manufacturing and tourism sectors, according to the think-tank.

After the Japanese tsunami and nuclear crisis in March last year, global industrial production declined by 1.1 percent the following month, according to the World Bank. The 2010 volcanic ash cloud cost the European Union 5-10 billion euros and pushed some airlines and travel companies to the verge of bankruptcy.

"I would like to think we can learn from those experiences and be more resilient for longer but it won't happen unless governments and businesses are better prepared and put in place different supply chains which can be relied on when disasters strike," said Alyson Warhurst, chief executive of UK-based risk analysis company Maplecroft. Costs can escalate quickly when transport or major production hubs are disrupted for more than a few days, which can in turn threaten food and water supplies and energy and communication networks, the report said.

(The full report is available at www.chathamhouse.org)

A prominent former high-ranking German industrial functionary, who has stepped forward with a plea to split up the Euro Zone, is undertaking the establishment of a voter initiative ("Free Voters") - independent of established parties represented in parliament. Both of these initiatives are expressions of a rightward drift in the political spectrum, which has been apparent throughout Europe for years and which has led to a significant reinforcement of the rightwing extremist parties in numerous EU countries.

Greece is the most recent example. The government in Athens, installed under pressure from Germany to implement Berlin's austerity dictate, includes a racist, anti-Semitic party that upholds the tradition of Athens's earlier military junta. Phasing out parliamentary democracy is being contemplated also in Germany. The escalation of the crisis is accentuating nationalist and anti-democratic ventures.

The fact that in Germany, of all places, at the seat of European hegemony, there is no extreme rightwing party that has really become prominent, can be explained by particular historical attributes. Because of historical experiences, the rise of a strong neo-Nazi force in Germany would hardly be tolerated abroad without serious resistance. Yet, racist, anti-democratic positions are making inroads with growing brazenness also in Germany. Last fall, a public-sector radio broadcast advertisement for the book entitled "Dare Less Democracy" ("Weniger Demokratie wagen"). The drift to the right that this demonstrates, has led to an organizational rearrangement of forces on the rightwing spectrums of the mainstream political parties. The development of the Euro crisis over the next few days, weeks and months will have a great influence on how this drift will continue to evolve.

Supersoldier ants can occur naturally in the wild, but only rarely. In the deserts of America and Mexico, their job is to protect the colony from raids by invading army ants. The supersoldiers use their enormous heads to block the nest entrance and attack any enemy ants that get too close. Scientists showed that ordinary ants of the species Pheidole morrisi contain all the genetic 'tools' needed to turn them into supersoldiers - they just need a hormonal push.

The research is reported today in the journal Science. Authors Dr Rajendhran Rajakumar, from McGill University, Canada, and colleagues wrote: 'We uncovered an ancestral development potential to produce a novel supersoldier subcaste that has been retained throughout a hyperdiverse ant genus that evolved 35 to 60 million years ago.' The results suggest that holding on to ancestral development toolkits may play an important role in evolving new physical traits, say the researchers.

At this point, there are several major European nations that are on the verge of default, the European financial system is overflowing with debt and toxic assets, and most major European banks are leveraged about as badly as Lehman Brothers was when it collapsed. Most Americans simply do not grasp the gravity of what is happening. Just because the Dow is sitting above 12000 and a few US economic numbers have improved slightly does not mean that everything is going to be okay.

As I wrote about recently, the EU has a bigger economy than we do and they have a bigger banking system than we do. US banks are massively exposed to European sovereign debt and European banking debt. When the financial system of Europe collapses and the euro falls apart it is going to rock the entire planet. So you better look out below - the euro is coming down and it is coming down hard. After the euro implodes, nothing is ever going to be the same again.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what is happening in Europe.

The equation is simple:

BRUTAL AUSTERITY...

+ toxic levels of government debt

+ rising bond yields

+ a lack of confidence in the financial system

+ banks that are massively overleveraged

+ a massive credit crunch

= A FINANCIAL IMPLOSION OF HISTORIC PROPORTIONS

"It is essential that we colonise space. I believe that we will eventually establish self-sustaining colonies on Mars, and other bodies in the solar system, although probably not within the next 100 years. "I am optimistic that progress within science and technology will eventually allow humans to spread beyond the solar system and out into the far-reaches of the universe," he said. Professor Hawking was answering questions submitted by listeners to BBC Radio 4's Today programme to mark his seventieth birthday.

But if man should meet alien life on its journey into space, the consequences for humanity could be grave, Prof Hawking warned. "The discovery of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe would be the greatest scientific discovery ever. But it would be very risky to attempt to communicate with an alien civilisation. If aliens decided to visit us, then the outcome might be similar to when Europeans arrived in the Americas. That did not turn out well for the Native Americans." He said he did not believe the results of the CERN experiments which appeared to show particles travelling faster than the speed of light - in defiance of the known laws of physics.

"Einstein's theory of relativity predicts that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. Thus if the Opera experiment is correct, and neutrinos do travel faster than light, then relativity theory is wrong."

A listener from Lagos asked Hawking, Britain's most celebrated physicist, whether there "was a time when there was nothing". "The origin of the universe can be explained by the laws of physics, without any need for miracles or divine intervention," replied the professor, who uses a speech synthesizer due to his debilitating Motor Neurone Disease. "These laws predict that the universe was spontaneously created out of nothing in a rapidly expanding state. It's called inflation, because it's like the way prices go up at an ever increasing rate. Time is defined only with the universe, so it makes no sense to talk about the time before the universe began. It would be like asking for a point south of the south pole."

Congressman Randy Neugebauer, who chairs an investigative panel of the House Financial Services Committee, sent letters to Moody's Corp Chief Executive Raymond McDaniel and Standard & Poor's Ratings Services President Douglas Peterson asking for detailed information about their procedures for determining MF Global's credit-worthiness. In letters dated December 27, Neugebauer asked each of the rating agencies to respond to his inquiries into the matter by January 15 and to turn over a lengthy list of documents concerning bankrupt futures brokerage MF Global.

The subcommittee is also seeking to hold a hearing in the coming weeks on the role of the ratings firms in the MF Global mess, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal first reported about the congressional inquiry. MF Global filed for bankruptcy on October 31 after it was forced to reveal that it had made a $6.3 billion bet on European sovereign debt, spooking investors and customers.

Downgrades of MF Global's debt rating by Moody's to near-junk status on October 24 helped trigger the panic among investors. Moody's and Fimalac SA's Fitch Ratings later both downgraded MF Global to junk on October 27. McGraw-Hill Cos Inc's S&P, meanwhile, warned of a possible downgrade on October 26, but did not take any rating action until after MF Global filed for bankruptcy.

"If the common currency were to break down, it will lead to the break up of the European Union itself. And this will be catastrophic not only for Europe but also for the global financial system." The euro zone crisis is "more serious and more threatening than the crash of 2008," the Economic Times reported, quoting Soros.

In the near term, some of the euro zone countries may have to take more austerity measures because of the imbalances between the "creditor and the debtor countries," Soros said at a business school event, the Mint newspaper reported. "Unfortunately, they haven't yet solved the acute financial crisis and that is causing the situation to deteriorate... and (it) is not at all clear it will have a solution," he said.

Nigeria has recently experienced a surge in ethnic and sectarian violence. The government declared a state of emergency in parts of the country. "The attackers started shooting sporadically. They shot through the window of the church, and many people were killed including my wife," Mr Jauro told Reuters news agency. "Many members who attended the church service were also injured."

No group has said it carried out the attack, but the Islamist sect Boko Haram recently carried out a string of bombings on Christmas Day, including against a church in the capital, Abuja, which killed dozens of people. There have been unconfirmed reports that Boko Haram has told all southerners - who are mostly Christians and animists - to leave the largely Muslim north. Earlier on Thursday, two suspected members of Boko Haram were arrested after a father and son were killed in Maiduguri in neighbouring Borno state.

In unrelated violence on Sunday, at least 50 people died in the eastern state of Ebony in clashes between two ethnic groups over a land dispute.

Described as "The Iron Lady of Banking", she is one of 120 Tory MPs in the Fresh Start group, which has drawn up a list of functions that should be handed back to the UK by the European Union. They could include control of employment laws, health and safety measures, farming and funding for poor areas. The group, whose demands will be set out in an alternative White Paper in July, are keen to increase pressure on the Prime Minister despite welcoming his decision not to back an EU treaty designed to rescue the ailing euro.

The move is likely to increase Coalition tensions because the Liberal Democrats are keen for closer relations with Europe. Mr Clegg added to the row yesterday when he said that no one had planned for the possibility of the UK being left isolated following Mr Cameron's veto against the eurozone treaty. Mr Clegg said: "The dangers are that other countries will do things in a way that is not particularly helpful to us as a country when we have not got a proper influence or a good voice."

Speaking before Mr Clegg made his comments, Ms Leadsom, MP for South Northamptonshire and joint chairman of the Fresh Start group, said: "The eurozone crisis is going to be a catalyst for change and a chance to ensure a better relationship for Britain within the EU." She said the Liberal Democrats could not have a veto on repatriating powers, pointing out that the coalition Agreement did not allow for it. She added: "We must seize the opportunity now. We must get on with it.

"Some Lib Dems might not like David Cameron's use of the veto but the coalition is not going to break up over this." Top of the list of Fresh Start demands would be an EU rule allowing member states to opt out of Brussels directives whenever they have a change of government. That would allow the coalition to end the maximum 48-hour week under the EU's working time directive that was agreed when Labour was in power.

Franz Herrmann, head of the German Association of Savers (BDS), has spent half a century trying to be a good investor. As a child, he filled piggy banks and, as an adolescent, he put money away in his savings account. Later came a building loan contract, in addition to 12 life insurance policies. "Money attracts money," his father liked to tell him, quoting a German saying. "I was hardwired for saving money," Hermann explains.

At 52, he says he figured out "what's going on." He'd earned money through his business selling beer steins and jewelry in Munich's city center. But he became convinced that he'd actually lost money through his savings efforts and cancelled his insurance policies, while the small interest earnings from his remaining savings accounts were "eaten up by inflation," he says. To fight back, Herrmann formed the BDS. Now he makes appearances around the country, warning of "money-destroying instruments." He's certain that saving is "state-sanctioned robbery."

Becoming poorer by saving? As radical as Herrmann's perspective may sound, a growing number of people share his mistrust. They no longer believe in the rates of return promised by the financial industry, while savings and fixed deposit accounts yield pathetic interest earnings, and the never-ending euro crisis feeds fears of inflation or even a currency devaluation. Surveys by the polling institutes TNA Infratest and Allensbach reflect the current crisis of faith in Germany: Nearly half of the respondents now fear inflation, while every second person with a job questions which form of private investment even makes sense anymore.

The man standing in the elegant counter hall of the Pro Aurum gold dealing house in Berlin begs to differ. The zookeeper looks - and smells - a little out of place amid the gold bars arrayed behind reinforced glass. He's just come from mucking out stables at Berlin Zoo. All these unsecured loans are like toothpaste, the man said. "You can get it out of the tube, but it won't go back in." Politicians are only making the final bankruptcy more likely by shelling out ever higher sums and setting up new rescue funds, he says. That's why he has converted his and his wife's life insurance and almost all their cash reserves into precious metal. "No one can take my gold away," he says. The greater the public fear, the longer the queues in front of the Pro Aurum counters. Gold is seen as crisis-proof.

These war games involve the testing of Israel's air defense system, which is now fully integrated into the US global missile detection system, following the installation (December 2008) of a new sophisticated X-band early warning radar system. The US global missile detection system includes satellites, Aegis ships in the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and Red Sea as well as land-based Patriot radars and interceptors. In the context of planning the US-Israel Spring war games:

"The US will also bring its THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) and shipbased Aegis ballistic missile defense systems to Israel to simulate the interception of missile salvos against Israel. The American systems will work in conjunction with Israel's missile defense systems - the Arrow, Patriot and Iron Dome. Gorenc came to Israel for talks with Brigadier-General Doron Gavish, commander of the Air Force's Air Defense Division. He toured one of the Iron Dome batteries in the South and the Israel Test Bed lab in Holon where the IAF holds its interception simulation exercises.

Tehran has since 2005 warned that it will retaliate if attacked, in the form of ballistic missile strikes directed against Israel as well as against US military facilities in the Persian Gulf, which would immediately lead us into a scenario of military escalation. This war would engulf a region extending from the Mediterranean to the heartland of Central Asia. It would have devastating consequences, resulting in a massive loss of life.

It would precipitate humanity into a World War III scenario.