The euro hit another a four-year low against the dollar. It fell to below $1.215 before recovering to $1.222. Analysts said comments by German chancellor Angela Merkel that the "current crisis" facing the euro was "the biggest test Europe has faced in decades" were doing nothing to help stop the euro's falls.

Meanwhile oil fell to $68 a barrel, as concern over tighter financial regulation sparked a move away from riskier assets.

The German financial regulator has banned traders in the country from "naked" short-selling of euro-denominated government bonds and of shares in the country's 10 most important financial institutions. Short-sellers usually borrow shares, sell them, then buy them back when the stock falls and return them to the lender, keeping the difference in price. "Naked" short selling occurs when a trader sells a financial instrument that has not yet been borrowed.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said the regulator saw a ban on the shorting of government bonds - or debt - as an attempt to stop "what it would see as mischievous bets by investors that the financial difficulties of the likes of Greece and Portugal will worsen. It thinks that such bets are what force down the price of Greek and Portuguese government bonds, which then spook investors, and make it much more difficult and expensive for the likes of the Greek and Portuguese governments to borrow vital new money," he added.

The reordering of power will sweep away Labour legislation and new criminal offences deemed to have eroded personal freedom. It will involve the end of the controversial ID cards scheme, the scrapping of universal DNA databases - in which the records of thousands of innocent people have been stored - and restrictions placed on internet records. The use of CCTV cameras will also be reviewed.

Dubbed the "Great Reform Act", the measures will close down the ContactPoint children's database. Set up by Labour last year, it includes detailed information on all 11 million youngsters under 18. In addition, schools will not be able to take a child's fingerprint without parental permission. In an attempt to protect freedom of speech, ministers will review libel laws, while limits on peaceful protest will be removed. Mr Clegg said the Government wanted to establish "a fundamental resettlement of the relationship between state and citizen that puts you in charge".

In a speech in London he will say: "This Government is going to transform our politics so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state. This Government is going to break up concentrations of power and hand power back to people, because that is how we build a society that is fair."

Mr Clegg will add: "It is outrageous that decent, law-abiding people are regularly treated as if they have something to hide. It has to stop. This will be a government that is proud when British citizens stand up against illegitimate advances of the state. That values debate, that is unafraid of dissent."

In quick succession Tuesday night, the jittery inhabitants of Washington's marble halls found three more reasons to worry about their staying power. Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, the Senate's patron saint of resilience, was turned out in a Democratic primary in favor of an unwanted rival, Representative Joe Sestak, who had neither major union support nor White House support.

In Arkansas, Senator Blanche Lincoln, a model of southern Democratic moderation, was forced into a primary runoff by a self-styled outsider, Bill Halter, challenging from her left. And in Kentucky, the Washington establishment's chosen Republican Senate candidate, Trey Grayson, fell to the son of a libertarian outlier who carried the flag of another party. "I have a message, a message from the Tea Party, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words: We've come to take our government back," declared Rand Paul, son of Representative and former presidential candidate Ron Paul, upon winning by a double-digit margin.

With less than six months to go before the midterm elections on November 2, all signs are pointing to a tidal wave. Electoral railbirds, steeped in historical stats, point to the many bad signs for Democrats. In polls, Republicans and conservatives demonstrate much more enthusiasm than Democrats and liberals. The President's approval rating is below 50%, and more registered voters say they expect to vote for Republicans than Democrats for Congress. "This is as favorable an election for Republicans, as hostile for Democrats, as any in recent memory," says Mark Blumenthal, the editor of Pollster.com.

According to Italian weekly newspaper Panorama, conversations intercepted by Italian authorities led to the arrest and deportation of the two suspects. The order for expulsion reportedly included the transcript of a conversation in which one of the students, Mohammed Hlal, said that he wished "death to the head of the Vatican City State" and was "ready to assassinate him to earn a place in Paradise."

The 26-year-old Hlal was speaking over the phone with 22-year-old Ahmed Errahmouni when he made the statements which earned them the attention of the local police and a trip back to Morocco. They were deemed a "threat to national security" in the document signed by the Italian Minister of the Interior and expelled on April 29, Panorama reports.

"We need more radical reforms," he added. "The idea that we'll be able to close down an institution like Goldman (Sachs) in an orderly way - a business that operates in nearly a hundred countries - is absurd." Roubini, an NYU professor who has been called "Dr. Doom" for his dire economic outlook, said the three main problems with big banks like Goldman were that they were 1) Too big to fail, 2) Too big to be bailed out and 3) Too big to be risk managed.

Attempting to manage the risk of the largest financial institutions is "mission impossible," according to Roubini, a task that "even the most amazing risk manager can't do" because financial institutions are far too complex. "Experience has shown that 'economies of scale' achieved by the largest banks as a result of Glass-Stegall have been very small," Roubini said. "The cost of being too big to fail has been much larger."

He tiptoed around the question of whether the financial crisis is over. "Maybe not," Roubini said. "There is a risk of ending up in another crisis, as the world found itself in the Depression in 1933." The world is now faced with a choice between default or inflation, according to Roubini.

Roubini suggested three remedies to restore competitiveness in Western economies: deflation, structural reform and weakening of the euro. But he warned that the EU could break apart if not all countries adhere to the same fiscal discipline.

Regulators are still trying to pinpoint the cause of the market free-fall and are expected to disclose preliminary findings later on Tuesday. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler called the report "very preliminary." He added: "There is still a great deal of work to do and a great deal of information to be reviewed." Gensler spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Washington.

Regulators and the exchanges have been under intense pressure to zero in on what triggered the May 6 meltdown and to find ways to uphold the integrity of the US markets. A circuit breaker or a mechanism to halt trading across markets and in a single stock has emerged as one of the key solutions to protect investors. The breakers will act as "speed bumps to help the market adjust quickly to the high levels of volatility," SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said by video link from Washington at a conference in Boston.

The SEC and exchanges will propose later on Tuesday a circuit breaker that would halt trading in a company's stock if it fell more than 10 percent in 5 minutes, multiple sources have said. It was not clear how long the trading halt would last. The circuit breakers need to be in place and operational by June 14, one of the sources said on Tuesday. The new curbs would align US markets more closely to European markets, which have more muscular safeguards.

A UK Treasury spokesman said this was a "very good result in the circumstances, the best outcome we could have expected". But there are concerns about implications for London's hedge fund industry, particularly that the rules will make it harder for fund managers to find investors across the EU's 27 countries.

Some European governments, notably France and Germany, have long suggested that hedge funds pose a risk to the stability of the world's financial system and so need more regulation. "We are determined to accelerate the pace of regulation," said Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany's finance minister. "Up until now this was not regulated. This hole will now be closed."

The EU said the directive it had agreed was aimed at fulfilling commitments made after the financial crisis to regulate "all players in the market that might pose a risk to financial stability". Hedge funds use sophisticated, complex investment strategies to make returns, and often make money when markets are falling. The US government has objected to the plans to restrict trade, labelling them protectionist.

On the eve of the 43rd Jerusalem Day, 43 rabbis, mainly from the Religious Zionism movement, visited the Temple Mount on Monday, in the largest group of rabbis to visit the site since 1967. The event was coordinated with the Jerusalem Police and was held under security. This is the third time in recent years that a group of rabbis gathers to visit the Temple Mount, and the event has become a tradition since the 40th anniversary of Jerusalem's liberation.

The list was originally publicized this past February, including such sites as Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, the Aharonson Farm and Signaling Station in Atlit, the Jerusalem and Tzemach train stations, sites in Ashkelon and Gedera, Ein Gedi, the Mikveh Yisrael school, and over 100 more. In response to a query by IsraelNationalNews, the Prime Minister's Bureau was unable to provide the exact list, and the Cabinet Secretariat staff was on a tour.

No sites in Judea and Samaria were included on the list - until wide-scale protests and politicking by coalition whip MK Ze'ev Elkin and others led to the inclusion of the Machpelah Cave (Tomb of the Patriarchs) in Hevron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem. These are the only two sites on the National Heritage Sites list that are located in areas liberated by Israel during the Six Day War of 1967.

"The Temple Mount is the holiest site in the world for the Jewish people," the petition states, "yet the Muslim authorities, aided by Israel Police, systematically deny the right of religious expression on the Mount to all non-Muslims. On numerous occasions the High Court of Justice has upheld the Jewish people's right to pray at the site, yet the police continue to prevent this. Furthermore, Jewish visitors are harassed and degraded... Israeli law is not recognized by the Wakf authorities; illegal digging has destroyed priceless historical remnants of Jerusalem's Jewish history. Please, end this travesty and... include the Temple Mount in your 'Heritage Plan'of sites significant to the Jewish people."

The Temple Institute in Jerusalem notes that though the Temple Mount is the holiest place in the world, "Jews and all non-Moslems are denied the right to pray in groups, and even as individuals; this refusal is accompanied by their constant degradation, and they are granted no opportunity for any religious expression whatsoever on the Temple Mount."

By the time the mistake had been realised, Heathrow had cancelled 169 arrivals and departures and Gatwick more than 200. An estimated 50,000 passengers were affected. Willie Walsh, boss of British Airways, said the shutdown was a gross over-reaction to a very minor risk. 'I am very concerned that we have decisions on opening and closing of airports based on a theoretical model,' he added. 'There was no evidence of ash in the skies over London yet Heathrow was closed.'

Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's chief executive, said: 'It is frankly ridiculous that the flight plans of millions of air passengers are being disrupted on a daily basis by an outdated, inappropriate and imaginary computer-generated model. It is time these charts were done away with.' Experts said the new concentration of ash deemed safe to fly in was equivalent to two grains of sand in a bath tub. The Civil Aviation Authority said the plan for a 'Time Limited Zone' had the approval of airlines, manufacturers and engine makers.

Assets of Asia (ex-Japan) funds are seen rising 70 percent over the next two years, outpacing the 50 percent growth in global assets, according to industry estimates. "Asia, and Singapore in particular, could definitely benefit from the stupid regulatory environment in Europe," said Lionel Martellini, director of France's EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Center.

Scrutiny of hedge funds has heightened in Europe as politicians in Germany and France blamed the industry for causing the financial crisis - though the crisis was caused more by regulated banks in the United States, Martellini said. The G20 nations want greater supervision of hedge funds, with the European Union debating more contentious rules that could make it harder to offer non-EU funds to European investors. London has objected to the proposed EU rules.

Tim Rainsford, managing director Asia Pacific at hedge fund manager Man Investments, which manages $39 billion globally, said the increasing focus on emerging markets was also playing a key role in encouraging hedge funds to move to Asia. "Certainly regulation always has some influence on where hedge funds choose to start or establish themselves. But I actually think that outside of their regulatory environment, much more importantly, is that the hedge funds always have done and will continue to follow very closely the flow of global capital."

Recall that last Friday the president refused to take any questions after delivering his angry statement in the Rose Garden on the oil spill. And he has not held a prime-time White House news conference in many months, despite much pleading from pundits and members of the media. So after he signed the bill, and as the press "wranglers" began aggressively herding us out of the room, I asked if he still has confidence in BP.

He ignored the question so I tried this: "In the interest of press freedom, would you take a couple questions on BP?" That did elicit a smile, and he told me I was free to ask questions. Someone else shouted, "Will you answer them?" He said he's not holding a press conference today as we were escorted out the door.

The announcement comes days after Pope Benedict, on a visit to Portugal, told pilgrims they should oppose the law. Portugal's Constitutional Court validated the bill last month. In a televised address, Mr Silva said he regretted that political parties had failed to reach a compromise on the issue. He said vetoing the bill would merely return it to parliament where his decision would be overturned, at a time when MPs needed to focus on the economic crisis facing the country.

"I feel I should not contribute to a pointless extension of this debate, which would only serve to deepen the divisions," he said. The bill had received parliamentary approval with the support of the governing Socialist Party and other parties further to the left. During a heated debate in January, Prime Minister Jose Socrates said the law would put right an injustice that caused unnecessary pain. But parliament rejected proposals to allow homosexual couples to adopt.

Many other countries have introduced civil partnerships, which give lesbian and gay couples some of the rights of married heterosexuals.

The European Commission wants new rules to overcome what it sees as gaps and inconsistencies in existing, national regulatory frameworks. However the US government has argued the EU plans are protectionist. And London-based fund managers have said the proposals will make it impossible for funds based outside the EU to raise money within Europe. But the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Strasbourg said the aim was to make the hedge funds more transparent and prevent the market instability they're said to have encouraged during the financial crisis.

It is also hoped there would be stricter reporting and registration rules, and guidelines to limit pay. Our correspondent added that "a European financial supervisor would keep checks on the amount of borrowing hedge funds can take on". Meanwhile, the EU proposals include new guidelines on short selling, including requiring managers regularly to disclose information on important short positions to national authorities.

It is thought Mr Osborne will on Tuesday restate the UK's objections to some of the proposed new regulations. Hedge funds use sophisticated, complex investment strategies to make returns, and often make money when markets are falling.

The speaker suggested that Israelis go to "your original homeland," listing Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Russia and Ethiopia as possible options. He did not mention the many countries in the Arab world from which Jews fled to Israel, such as Syria, Egypt, or Iraq. PA TV is owned and controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

Besides portraying Israeli Jews - most of whom were born in Israel - as foreigners, the broadcast also backs the "right of return." The PA, along with much of the Arab world, demands that Israel allow millions of Arabs born abroad to "return" to the Israeli cities from which their grandparents or great grandparents fled during the War of Independence in 1948.

In a recent interview with OpEdNews reporter Joan Brunwasser, PMW director Itamar Marcus warned that the incitement in PA media is more indicative of the PA's intentions than its statements given to the foreign press. "We feel that if there is to be peace, it has to start with children," Marcus said. "Therefore, what children are being taught in schools and what they are learning from music videos and children's media are a better indicator of the real beliefs and goals of the leaders, and will also determine if we have peace in the next generation."