During a conference call in preparation for President Obama's trip to Cairo, Egypt, where he will address the Muslim world, deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Denis McDonough said "THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF EXPERIENCED ISLAM ON THREE CONTINENTS before he was able to - or before he's been able to visit, really, the heart of the Islamic world - you know, growing up in Indonesia, having a Muslim father - obviously Muslim Americans (are) a key part of Illinois and Chicago."

Given widespread unease and prejudice against Muslims among Americans, especially in the wake of 9/11, the Obama campaign was perhaps understandably very sensitive during the primaries and general election to downplay the candidate's Muslim roots.

Back then, the campaign's "Fight the Smears" website addressed the candidate's faith without mentioning his father's religion: "Barack Obama is a committed Christian. He was sworn into the Senate on his family Bible. He has regularly attended church with his wife and daughters for years. But shameful, shadowy attackers have been lying about Barack's religion, claiming he is a Muslim instead of a committed Christian. When people fabricate stories about someone's faith to denigrate them politically, that's an attack on people of all faiths. Make sure everyone you know is aware of this deception."

Since the election, however, with the threat of the rumors at least somewhat abated, the WHITE HOUSE HAS BEEN INCREASINGLY FORTHCOMING ABOUT THE PRESIDENT'S ROOTS. Especially when reaching out to the Muslim world. In his April 6 address to the Turkish Parliament, President Obama referenced how many "AMERICANS HAVE MUSLIMS IN THEIR FAMILIES OR HAVE LIVED IN A MUSLIM MAJORITY COUNTRY. I KNOW, BECAUSE I AM ONE OF THEM."

Mogadishu civilians have been fleeing intense fighting between Islamist guerrillas and pro-government forces. The government says it has regained control of a second part of the city. Mogadishu's deputy mayor Abdifitah Ibrahim Shawey said Islamist insurgents had been ousted from Dharikinley police station in the south-west of the capital, after the government took Yaqshid police base in the north of the city on Monday. Following an upsurge in violence over the past month, some 200 people are crossing the border into Kenya each day, the UN says.

Hassan Noor, Oxfam's humanitarian co-ordinator for Somalia, told the BBC's Network Africa programme circumstances in the capital were "very dire". "The situation is really appalling," he said. "There are hundreds of children all over the area with tubes on their faces and [saline] drips on their hands. Some of them are actually unconscious and suffering from all sorts of diseases, mainly acute diarrhoea and cholera."

"I have seen the situation in Darfur, northern Uganda, some parts of Congo, but what is actually happening now in Somalia is indeed the worst kind of humanitarian situation in Africa in many years," he added. Radical Islamist militia groups, Hisbul-Islam and al-Shabab, have been locked in see-sawing battles in the Somali capital with pro-government forces that have displaced more than 60,000 civilians since 7 May.

Uptake of the MMR vaccine fell sharply after controversial research wrongly linked it to a raised risk of autism. One in four children under five has not had both MMR injections, which are needed to give full protection against measles, mumps and rubella. As a result there have been measles outbreaks across the country, and experts at the Health Protection Agency now fear a measles epidemic is likely. Sir Sandy said: "Our attempts to persuade people have failed."

"The suggestion is that we ought to consider making a link which in effect would make it compulsory for children to be immunised if they are to receive the benefit of a free education from the state." Linking vaccinations to school admission is controversial but common in other countries. It happens in the US, most of Australia, Spain and Greece.

But in the UK vaccination programmes have relied on persuading and educating parents that immunisation is not only beneficial to their children but to society as a whole. The BBC has learned, however, through a freedom of information request that THE STRATEGIC HEALTH AUTHORITY IN LONDON ASKED THE GOVERNMENT IF IT COULD INTRODUCE COMPULSORY VACCINATIONS. Specifically the SHA asked about the "feasibility of requiring an immunisation certificate for measles before children go to school."

"I don't think we have to change strong support for Israel," Obama said in an interview with National Public Radio on Monday. "We do have to retain a constant belief in the possibilities of negotiations that will lead to peace," Obama said. "And that's going to require, from my view, a two-state solution."

Obama reiterated that no settlement expansion also includes "natural growth," an allowance made by his predecessor. Obama said that the peace process would require a freeze on settling Judea and Samaria, including expansion to accommodate successive generations of Jews living there, and for the Arab side to end "the incitement that understandably makes Israelis so concerned."

Jerusalem feels that the Obama administration has backtracked from previous agreements made under Bush's tenure allowing for "natural growth" in Jewish towns within Judea and Samaria. OBAMA FEELS THAT HIS "TOUGH LOVE" STANCE WITH ISRAEL WILL RESTORE AMERICAN CREDIBILITY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD, that sometimes accuses the US of playing favourites with Israel. "Obviously we are deeply sympathetic to Israel," the US President responded. "Given past statements that Israel should be driven to the sea, annihilated, you could see why the US would back Israel."

Nevertheless, Obama said that the US wouldn't treat Israel with kid gloves: "It is important for us to be clear about what we believe to lead to peace. This is unequivocal and there will be compromise on both sides," Obama said, "Part of being a good friend is being honest. And I think there have been times where we are not as honest as we should be about the fact that the current direction, the current trajectory, in the region is profoundly negative, not only for Israeli interests but also US interests. And that's part of a new dialogue that I'd like to see encouraged in the region."

He looks at the proposals of the so-called 'future group', which include plans for "the mass gathering of personal data" and a "Euro-Atlantic area of cooperation with the USA in the field of freedom, security and justice", which he argues "would go far beyond current co-operation and mean that POLICIES AFFECTING THE LIBERTIES AND RIGHTS OF EVERYONE IN EUROPE WOULD NOT BE DETERMINED IN LONDON OR BRUSSELS BUT IN SECRET EU-US MEETINGS."

He notes that a formal process will start when the Commission adopts proposals in June, and that the European Parliament will be consulted when it re-assembles in September. He concludes: "We can either leave these decisions to our leaders (and an elite group of civil servants) or we can insist on an open and meaningful debate now before it is too late. The idea that the surveillance society and database state is just a UK issue is naive: it is a European one in which our government plays a very active role."

Two years ago, economist Moritz Schularick and I coined the word "CHIMERICA" to describe what we saw as the key relationship in the then-booming global economy: CHINA PLUS AMERICA. Cheap Chinese labour was making US corporations highly profitable. Spendthrift American consumers, in turn, were keeping Chinese corporations busy with export orders. And the Chinese monetary authorities were converting export surpluses into dollar denominated reserves with the aim of preventing their own currency from appreciating.

The unintended consequence was a multi-billion dollar credit line to the United States, financing America's deficit at rock-bottom rates. It was those low long-term rates – combined with monetary policy errors by the Fed, excessive bank leverage and reckless financial engineering – that inflated the American property bubble, the bursting of which triggered this crisis.

In February, the People's Daily acknowledged the "global importance and influence" of Chimerica, but warned of an impending "period of chillness". COULD THIS BE ONE OF THOSE GREAT TURNING POINTS IN HISTORY, when the balance of power tilts decisively away from an established power and towards a rising challenger? It is possible. FINANCIAL CRISES OFTEN ACCELERATE THE GRADUAL SHIFTING OF THE GEOPOLITICAL TECTONIC PLATES; THEY ARE TO HISTORY WHAT EARTHQUAKES ARE TO GEOLOGY.

In a widely anticipated move, Dow Jones & Co said technology bellwether CISCO SYSTEMS INC (CSCO.O) WILL REPLACE GM, which filed for bankruptcy on Monday morning. Travelers Co (TRV.N), a large home, auto and commercial insurer, will take the place of Citigroup due to the bank's restructuring and the government's "large and ongoing stake."

The changes marked the latest fallout on the financial landscape from the collapse of the US housing market, when home prices plunged after years of running higher as credit markets froze. The turmoil helped drive Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy last September, shaking Wall Street to its core and prompting the US government to create a $700 billion financial rescue fund. The US Treasury plans to use about $30 billion of that bailout money to buy a stake in GM.

GM's bankruptcy is the third-largest Chapter 11 case in US history, ranking only behind Lehman Brothers and WorldCom in terms of size. One factor that helped seal GM's fate was the surge in US oil futures prices to record highs near $150 a barrel last July. THAT DROVE GASOLINE PRICES UP TO AROUND $4 A GALLON and helped kill demand for Detroit's gas-guzzling best sellers, the sport utility vehicles, or SUVs.

But that, in short, is the job description for Brian Deese, A NOT-QUITE GRADUATE OF YALE LAW SCHOOL WHO HAD NEVER SET FOOT IN AN AUTOMOTIVE ASSEMBLY PLANT until he took on his nearly unseen role in remaking the American automotive industry.

Nor, for that matter, had he given much thought to what ailed an industry that had been in decline ever since he was born. A bit laconic and looking every bit the just-out-of-graduate-school student adjusting to life in the West Wing — "he's got this beard that appears and disappears," says Steven Rattner, one of the leaders of President Obama's automotive task force — Mr Deese was thrown into the auto industry's maelstrom as soon the election-night parties ended.

MR. DEESE'S ROLE IS UNUSUAL FOR SOMEONE WHO IS NEITHER A FORMALLY TRAINED ECONOMIST NOR A BUSINESS SCHOOL GRADUATE, and who never spent much time flipping through the endless studies about the future of the American and Japanese auto industries.

FOR GM'S VOICELESS OWNERS - THE COMMON SHAREHOLDERS - IT IS A WIPEOUT. The proximate cause of the bankruptcy was supposed to be the inability of GM and the government's auto task force to reach an accommodation with GM's bondholders. But late last week, the bondholder problem was moving toward rapid resolution, and was clearly resolvable. Why then are GM and its multibillion government financier proceeding with bankruptcy?

The bankruptcy and the GM restructuring plan are THE PRODUCT OF A SECRETIVE, UNACCOUNTABLE, WALL STREET-MINDED GOVERNMENT TASK FORCE that assumed power because of a Congressional abdication of historic magnitude. By all rights, THE RESTRUCTURING PLAN SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED TO CONGRESS for deliberative review and decision.

MANY, MANY JOBS WILL BE LOST THAT COULD BE PRESERVED. There is reason to question whether too many plants and brands are being closed - a matter that should have been taken up in Congress. Just the closing of hundreds of (GM and Chrysler) dealerships will cost more than 100,000 jobs. These sacrificed jobs will fray communities and impose enormous expenses on government entities that will have to provide unemployment and social relief, while suffering lost tax revenues.

The unionized workforce will see the wage and benefit structure slashed - even though auto manufacturer wages make up less than 10 percent of the cost of a car - so that new jobs at GM will no longer be a ticket to the middle class. THIS WILL DRAG DOWN THE WAGE STRUCTURE OF THE ENTIRE AUTO INDUSTRY - exactly the wrong direction for the country.

AMERICA'S MANUFACTURING BASE WILL BE FURTHER ERODED, as GM pursues its Grand China Strategy - increasing manufacturing outside of the United States, and increasingly from China, for import back into the United States. Unanswered questions persist about how GM's valuable operations in China, and unrepatriated profits, will be treated in bankruptcy, or excluded from bankruptcy.

Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co and seven other firms judged to need extra capital by the Fed's "stress tests" plan to raise the required $69.1 billion through a combination of share offerings, asset sales, private securities exchanges and earnings. THEY WILL DO ANYTHING TO ESCAPE THE GOVERNMENT MEDDLING THAT PROBABLY AWAITS CITIGROUP, said Philip Orlando, who helps manage $410 billion as the New York-based chief equity strategist of Federated Investors Inc.

"YOU NEVER WANT TO HAVE THE GOVERNMENT INVOLVED IN YOUR BUSINESS," said Orlando, whose firm owns 7.3 million JPMorgan Chase & Co shares and 1,483 shares of Citigroup. "THEY'RE NOT BUSINESSMEN; THEY'RE BUREAUCRATS. They don't understand capitalism, they don't understand the profit motive and they don't understand the financial industry."

"The investing community doesn't welcome long-term involvement by the US government in the private economy," said Kevin Starke, an analyst at CRT Capital Group LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. "Every time I try to pitch an idea to investors that has some government involvement, the automatic reaction is, 'I don't want to get involved.'" Citigroup was found by the Fed to need $93 billion more in common equity as of the end of 2008, the biggest gap among the 19 US banks that underwent the stress tests.

On Iran, he said he hoped to see progress by the end of the year, through "tough, direct diplomacy". But he said rather than imposing its values on other countries the US should act as a role model. Speaking to BBC North America Editor Justin Webb, Mr Obama said he believed the US was "GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET SERIOUS NEGOTIATIONS BACK ON TRACK" between Israel and the Palestinians.

"Not only is it in the interest of the Palestinian people to have a state, it's in the interest of the Israeli people to stabilise the situation there," he said. "And it's in the interest of the United States that we've got two states living side by side in peace and security."

Asked about Israel's rejection of his call for a halt to Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the president urged patience, saying it was early in the conversation. "DIPLOMACY IS ALWAYS A MATTER OF A LONG HARD SLOG. IT'S NEVER A MATTER OF QUICK RESULTS," he said. However, Mr Obama said he had not needed convincing by Israel of the need to address Iran's programme of nuclear development.

Mr Obama is due to arrive in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in the first stage of his tour of the Middle East and Europe. He will travel to Egypt on 4 June, where he is set to give a key speech on US ties with the region, before carrying on to Europe to attend D-Day commemoration events.

The Israeli rabbi says Arabs should find another place to build their homes. "This territory is Jewish territory," AFP quoted Savir as saying, making a sweeping gesture towards the nearby hilltops to show that he means the entire West Bank which Israel occupied in 1967. He stressed that Israel's right-wing government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should not even consider bulldozing Jewish settlements in the occupied lands under international pressure.

"JEWISH PEOPLE LIVE HERE BY BIBLICAL RIGHT," the Israeli rabbi said. "Arabs," he adds "should find another place to live."

Some 280,000 Jews live in 120 West Bank settlements which Israel considers legal and also wildcat outposts, which unlike full-scale settlements, are not authorized by the Israeli government. "WE MUST SETTLE HERE, GOD HAS ORDERED US TO LIVE ON THIS LAND," says Daniel Landesberg, 20, as he and a group of teenagers spread out cement being poured out of a large concrete mixer truck to form the base of a new house.

The premier also ruled out the possibility of lifting the crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, saying there are other issues that should be dealt with in the coastal sliver. "We are being asked to ease the living conditions of the population and allow goods and equipment in, but we have other priorities in the Gaza Strip," he added.

"We do not want to strengthen Hamas, not by allowing them to rebuild their defenses," Netanyahu said. He made the remarks on the same day that the Israeli military launched a large-scale manoeuvre which hints that another war in the region is imminent.

The Israeli premier added that "we need to find a balance between easing the conditions of the (Gaza) population and easing on Hamas' ability to acquire more weapons."

Both Hamas men and the homeowner died in the shootout, along with three policemen. Dozens of bullet holes in walls and furniture in the home attested to the ferocity of the fighting. It was the bloodiest internal Palestinian clash in the occupied West Bank since the Western-backed Abbas launched a security drive and revived peace talks with Israel in 2007 after breaking with Hamas over its takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Samman and Yasin had ignored calls to surrender, witnesses said. Palestinian security forces spokesman Adnan Damiri said police had tried to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff. "Thousands of shots were fired at the security forces," Damiri said, adding that large quantities of explosives were discovered in the Hamas hideout.

After the raid, Hamas threatened to call off Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation talks with Fatah that had been scheduled to resume in Cairo in July. Fawzhi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip said: "We in Hamas have come closer than ever to taking a decision to suspend our participation in the dialogue."

Reports say a majority of bondholders have now agreed to a deal giving them at least a 10% stake in what is likely to emerge as a much smaller company. President Barack Obama is due to give full details at a news conference. The BBC's Jonathan Beale, in Detroit, says Mr Obama is expected to announce $30bn (£18.5bn) in new funding for GM.

GM's sales have been hit hard by the financial crisis and the firm has received $20bn in state aid. In return for more cash the federal government is reported to be receiving a stake of 60% in a new, leaner company due to be re-launched within 90 days. Senior executives at General Motors have been making final preparations for completely restructuring what was once the world's largest car company, under judicial supervision.

A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by GM would rank as the third largest bankruptcy in US history following Lehman Brothers' collapse and the failure of telecoms giant WorldCom.