A small percentage of Hizbullah's current arsenal of tens of thousands of missiles can reach almost 190 miles, Ashkenazi said, well over the distance from southern Lebanon to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, the joint air defence exercise, Juniper Cobra, was completed on Tuesday to the satisfaction of all levels of command. Top brass in both the Israeli and US armies called the exercise a great success. In the final operation, ten Patriot missiles were shot down by unmanned planes within a matter of hours. Approximately 1,400 personnel, each from the US military and the IDF, took part in the fifth operation of the biennial exercise.

Major Omri Maost, an anti-aircraft commander in the South, sat in the control room during the launching and was directly responsible for some of the missiles that were launched. He said that the success of the operation boosted soldiers' confidence.

Lech Walesa, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and co-founder of the Polish labor union Solidarity (Solidarnosc), affirmed this Monday in Berlin at the celebration of the day East and West Germany were reunified. He stated that the future of a united Europe should be built on the foundation of truth, not on lies. With this assertion, he added that the historical truth was THAT FREEDOM FOR EAST GERMANY WAS NOT DUE TO POLITICIANS ALONE.

"Truth is very important when we speak of the course of history," said Walesa. He suggested that THE FALL OF THE IRON CURTAIN WAS DUE IN A LARGE PART TO POPE JOHN PAUL II and the Solidarity labor movement. A visual presentation during Walesa's address depicted the visit of Pope John Paul II to Poland, and the effects of that visit on unifying Europe in freedom. The Polish Pontiff's trip to his native country in June of 1979 made a great impact, as it was the first visit of a Pope to a Communist country.

On June 4, 1979, John Paul II said to the representatives of the Communist regime: "Allow me, venerable gentlemen, to continue to consider Poland's interest as my own, and to participate in it as profoundly as if I still lived in this country and were a citizen of this nation." Recalling those years, and the events that followed, Walesa affirmed, "EUROPE DESPERATELY NEEDS THE VALUES THAT SPARKED THIS REVOLUTION."

Additional bonus payments for the rest of year could take the total above the £53 million paid out to MoD officials in 2008/09. THERE ARE 85,000 CIVIL SERVANTS AT THE MOD, ONE FOR EVERY TWO ACTIVE TROOPS. Around 50,000 of them will get a performance bonus this year.

The MoD has claimed that the bonuses would average less than £1,000, but some officials will get much bigger payments. Last year, the department had 95 senior employees who were paid salaries of more than £100,000; and the average bonus for a senior civil servant in the department was £8,000.

An Army private can be paid as little as £16,681, with a £2,380 bonus for serving in Afghanistan. The disclosures come as British troops are dying in Afghanistan at a rate not seen since the Falklands war, and polls show voters are turning against the mission.

Oregon, Nevada, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois and Wisconsin round out the list of the 10 states with the worst economic decay, the Pew Center said in the report, "Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril." Pew's conclusions are drawn from an analysis around the experiences of California, which ranks as the world's eighth largest economy, during the recent recession, the longest and deepest since the Great Depression. The study looked at how a surging foreclosure rate and rising unemployment led to a steep fall in California's revenues, with the state's political structure and record of poor fiscal problems crippling the ability to respond to the crisis.

Pew said the nine other states in its top-10 list "face hardships nearly as daunting." Arizona, also hurt by the housing downturn, has been "hamstrung by voter-imposed spending constraints, a tax structure highly reliant on a growing economy and a series of tax cuts." The recession did not discriminate among states, and has left most gasping to cover spending needs. While recovery is spreading in the national economy, most experts do not expect states' finances to heal any time soon.

"Several states on the top 10 list were unable to muster the political resolve to make long-term fixes to their fiscal problems," the study said.

Aaron Regent, president of the Canadian gold giant, said that global output has been falling by roughly 1m ounces a year since the start of the decade. Total mine supply has dropped by 10 per cent as ore quality erodes, implying that the roaring bull market of the last eight years may have further to run. "There is a strong case to be made that we are already at 'peak gold'," he told The Daily Telegraph at the RBC's annual gold conference in London.

"Production peaked around 2000 and it has been in decline ever since, and we forecast that decline to continue. It is increasingly difficult to find ore," he said. Ore grades have fallen from around 12 grams per tonne in 1950 to nearer 3 grams in the US, Canada, and Australia. South Africa's output has halved since peaking in 1970.

The supply crunch has helped push gold to an all-time high, reaching $1,118 an ounce at one stage yesterday. The key driver over recent days has been the move by India's central bank to soak up half of the gold being sold by the International Monetary Fund. It is the latest sign that the rising powers of Asia and the commodity bloc are growing wary of Western paper money and debt. CHINA HAS QUIETLY DOUBLED HOLDINGS TO 1,054 TONNES and is thought to be adding gradually on price dips, creating a market floor.

The message arrived amid intense debate over strategy, with President Obama yet to make a decision on troop numbers. This dramatic intervention seems to put the envoy at odds with generals wanting reinforcements, correspondents say. On Wednesday, Mr Obama held his eighth meeting in a series aimed at refocusing Afghan policy. Mr Eikenberry, a former US commander in Afghanistan, also raised CONCERNS ABOUT CORRUPTION WITHIN THE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT. He said it was "not a good idea" to send more troops, the BBC has been told.

The cable arrived days before Mr Obama held a crucial strategy session - to discuss the question of whether to send tens of thousands more troops to confront and push back the Taliban. The cable appears to be a dramatic and last-minute intervention by the ambassador, BBC Washington correspondent Adam Brookes reports.

It comes right at the end of weeks of White House deliberation over how to proceed in Afghanistan, and appears to put the ambassador at odds with the US army, whose generals favour reinforcing and intensifying America's campaign in Afghanistan.

These newly proposed wars are only the Obama phase of what is likely to be an endless 21st-century crusade called "the war on terrorism."

Yet what we justifiably fear - terrorists acquiring a nuclear weapon and detonating it in the United States - cannot be prevented by the United States imposing itself on one country after another in the Middle East or elsewhere. A more plausible strategy is to address the grievances and problems that lead people to want to strike out against the West in general, and the United States in particular.

The bond market is telling us not to worry. BUT IF HISTORY IS ANY GUIDE, THE BOND MARKET IS WRONG. I'm referring to Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, TIPS for short, in particular those that reflect long-run inflation expectations. The current spread tells us to expect annual inflation averaging a bit over 2 percent for the next 30 years. That would be fairly benign. And fairly wrong. Why? Because it assumes US political leadership will put the country on a sustainable fiscal path. I highly doubt it will happen.

In a note to clients last month, Société Générale strategist Dylan Grice explained the connection between debt and inflation. Turning Milton Friedman on his head, Grice argued that "inflation is always and everywhere a fiscal phenomenon." Money printing may be the vehicle, but the "root cause" of INFLATION TENDS TO BE "A GOVERNMENT UNABLE TO PAY ITS WAY."

The appointments will be made by the leaders of the 27 member states, by a qualified majority vote. Belgium's Prime Minister, Herman van Rompuy, has emerged as a frontrunner for the post of EU president. On Monday Sweden's PM Fredrik Reinfeldt said he was half-way through consultations with the governments on their preferred candidates.

Under Lisbon, the president of the European Council will be appointed by the governments for a term of two-and-a-half years, renewable once. The goal is to achieve more continuity and stability in major EU policy areas. Besides Mr Van Rompuy, leading candidates for the job are said to include Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and his Luxembourg counterpart Jean-Claude Juncker.

The centre-left former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema is a frontrunner for the new post of High Representative for Foreign Affairs. Whoever gets that job will also become vice president of the European Commission. THE LISBON TREATY WILL COME INTO EFFECT ON 1 DECEMBER.

This President and administration know the lies behind all this and they couldn't give a flying piece of rubbish because they also know most of us are too busy to care. We are too busy to research real science and find out this is total fraud. In truth, environmentalists couldn't care less about trees, polar bears and climate. THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT CONTROLLING YOU, WHAT YOU EAT, DRINK, BUY AND SELL, WHILE CONVINCING YOU TO GIVE THEM MONEY.

What do you think this nightmare lie of Cap and Trade is about? It is designed to support the unholy trinity of regulation, taxation and litigation as it collects your money. You know, it's an international emergency so many of you actually feel great about paying in. You are helping to save the troubled planet. The other direct arm of control and communism will be seen if this Government health care bill passes. THIS WILL BE THE LARGEST GRAB OF POWER INTO THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY.

Why is Government health care such a severe take over? Because this administration will attach our health care to everything we do, buy and sell. Your gun records and even right to own guns will be monitored and tracked to health care, its cost and lack thereof; your mental health records, past and present will be tracked, monitored and probably sold to all the wrong people. My prediction is that even transportation, the work we do and food we eat will be tracked and known.

Health care and Environmentalism are multi-trillion dollar industries that create the regulations, taxation and controls to reign in the population and seize what is left of our freedoms. You wonder what happened to the teeth and vision of the old communist party? You are watching it tighten around your neck as we speak.

The group Catholic Democrats has hailed passage of HR 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009, and notes that the only House Republican voting for it, Representative Joseph Cao of Louisiana, is a Catholic and former Jesuit seminarian. "The Catholic Church has been at the forefront of advocating for health care as a right for decades, including pastoral letters issued by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in 1981 and 1993," the group notes.

The evidence indicates that the Bishops — and THE VATICAN ITSELF — ARE CALLING THE SHOTS behind the scene. In fact, as many media organizations are now reporting, they engineered the "compromise" that deleted abortion funding so the bill could pass the House. The Los Angeles Times reported that HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, A CATHOLIC, not only "conferred with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to be sure the new restrictions were acceptable" but "CONSULTED BY TELEPHONE WITH A CARDINAL IN ROME." CNN reported that, as a deal was being made between Pelosi and Catholic lobbyists, "Several Democrats, including Representative Jason Altmire, Democrat for Pennsylvania, said they are in touch with their Catholic Bishops back home. Altmire said he must have the approval of his bishop in Pittsburgh before he can vote yes."

WHERE IS THE MEDIA OUTRAGE OVER "THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE?" In this case, there is direct evidence of A FOREIGN ENTITY, THE VATICAN, actually passing judgment on legislation and, in effect, delivering votes for it. Few in the media, on the left or right, want to raise the issue, apparently fearful of being labeled "anti-Catholic." But the outcome of the legislation in the House demonstrates that while the Republicans don't have the votes to stop it, THE VATICAN HAS THE VOTES TO PASS IT. COULD THE SAME THING HAPPEN IN THE US SENATE?

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is holding a conference on astrobiology, the study of life beyond Earth, with scientists and religious leaders gathering in Rome this week. For centuries, theologians have argued over what the existence of life elsewhere in the universe would mean for the Church: at least since Giordano Bruno, an Italian monk, was put to death by the Inquisition in 1600 for claiming that other worlds exist.

Among other things, extremely alien-looking aliens would be hard to fit with the idea that God "made man in his own image". Furthermore, Jesus Christ's role as saviour would be confused: would other worlds have their own, tentacled Christ-figures, or would Earth's Christ be universal? However, just as the Church eventually made accommodations after Copernicus and Galileo showed that the Earth was not the centre of the universe, and when it belatedly accepted the truth of Darwin's theory of evolution, Catholic leaders say that alien life can be aligned with the Bible's teachings.

Father Jose Funes, a Jesuit astronomer at the Vatican Observatory and one of the organisers of the conference, said: "As a multiplicity of creatures exists on Earth, so there could be other beings, also intelligent, created by God. This does not conflict with our faith, because we cannot put limits on the creative freedom of God."

Not everyone agrees. Paul Davies, a theoretical physicist and author of The Goldilocks Enigma, told The Washington Post that the threat to Christianity is "being downplayed" by Church leaders. He said: "I think the discovery of a second genesis would be of enormous spiritual significance. The real threat would come from the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence, because if there are beings elsewhere in the universe, then Christians, they're in this horrible bind. They believe that God became incarnate in the form of Jesus Christ in order to save humankind, not dolphins or chimpanzees or little green men on other planets."

Figures calculated by House of Commons researchers show that Britain will have lost out on €10.5billion (£9.3billion) by not receiving the full rebate between 2007 and 2013, calculated at 2004 prices - equivalent to £344 for every household in Britain.

The article quotes Open Europe's Mats Persson, saying, "This £10 billion would certainly have come in handy at a time when the UK is facing a massive public deficit, and every tax penny counts. Taxpayers will not be pleased at this news." He added that Mr Blair had "naively agreed to give up large chunk of the UK's rebate from the EU budget, in return for vague promises of a root-and-branch reform of the EU's distorting and wasteful farm subsidy scheme".

The article notes that there are fears that the UK's rebate could be scrapped altogether by 2020, following a proposal included in a recent draft document from the European Commission.

The SUGV was developed as part of the US Army's Future Combat System, an ambitious collection of manned and unmanned systems that were supposed to be linked together through a single network. After that estimated $100 billion program was canceled last year, mainly out of cost considerations, the Defense Department opted to keep the SUGV as part of a new strategy to bolster infantry combat teams.

MILITARY ROBOTS HAVE FAST GROWN INTO A MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS. Massachusetts company iRobot has already delivered around 2,700 robots to militaries around the world. Some of those were part of a December 2007, $300 million US Defense Department contract that iRobot won after prevailing over an upstart that purloined its technology. A second Massachusetts firm, Foster-Miller, won a contract in 2008 for another $400 million to supply thousands of its TALON robots. Both iRobot's PackBot and Foster-Miller's TALON are mostly used to locate and detonate improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, which have proved to be one of the Taliban's deadliest weapons.

The SUGV has a broader application. Joseph Dyer, head of iRobot's government and industrial robots division, says he expects to see A "QUANTUM LEAP" IN NUMBERS NOW THAT ROBOTS are moving beyond IED disposal to become a more versatile tool for the infantry. "The big army is just a much, much larger market," he says.

These include the EU's policies on cohesion; research, energy and transport; external aid and enlargement; and part of the agricultural programme. However, the ECA gave an unqualified, or clean opinion, on the reliability of the 2008 EU accounts. This means that the Court considers the EU Commission's accounts to present a fair and accurate picture of how much money was spent out of the EU budget.

The Court concluded that cohesion policy, or the Structural funds, which is the second largest spending area in the budget (representing almost a third of the budget), "remains problematic and is the area most affected by errors." The Court estimated that at least 11% of the total amount paid out in grants from the Structural Funds should not have been paid out in the first place. Crucially the auditors note, that "In many situations THE ERRORS ARE A CONSEQUENCE OF TOO COMPLEX RULES AND REGULATIONS. Simplification, therefore, remains a priority."