"Chinese penetrations of unclassified DoD networks have also been widely reported. Those are more sophisticated, though hardly state of the art," said National Counterintelligence Executive, Joel Brenner, at the Austin University Texas last week, according to a transcript made available on Wednesday.

Listing out some of the examples of Chinese cyber spy penetration, he said: "We're also seeing counterfeit routers and chips, and some of those chips have made their way into US military fighter aircraft. You don't sneak counterfeit chips into another nation's aircraft to steal data. When it's done intentionally, it's done to degrade systems, or to have the ability to do so at a time of one's choosing."

Referring to the Chinese networks penetrating the cyber grids, he said: "Do I worry about those grids, and about air traffic control systems, water supply systems, and so on? You bet I do. America's networks are being mapped. There has also been experience of both Chinese and criminal network operations in the networks of some of the banks".

That, however, is not enough. Following the Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread holiday, the IWA will launch another campaign urging Israelis to help save the Sea of Galilee from shrinking any further by making additional cuts to their private water usage.

The government is also gearing up to implement some direct measures to curb water use, including cutting agriculture quotas, heavily taxing farmers and private homes that use too much water, and fining anyone who waters their private lawn.

The German automaker, with its nine car and truck brands including Audi, Skoda, Seat and Skania, has set a goal of overtaking Toyota and General Motors Corp to be the world's No.1 seller by 2018 - a target that was initially met with skepticism.

But a deepening recession and credit crisis have crippled demand in Toyota's top markets, with US sales falling 38 percent and Japan sliding 24 percent in January-March.

Volkswagen, meanwhile, is benefiting from government stimulus plans that have boosted sales in China, Germany and Brazil, which together accounted for 44 percent of group sales last year, making it more likely that it beat Toyota or at least came close. Market research company R L Polk Germany predicted this month that Volkswagen would overtake GM as the world's second-largest automaker as the US giant suffers steep declines at home amid fears of bankruptcy.

Residents of the village of Mir Gadkhel said they thought dozens had been killed there. A Reuters cameraman also counted about 10 dead bodies in another nearby village, Sar Kot. "Three of my family members were killed and seven are injured. I think about 40 people have died. Hundreds of houses have been destroyed," Gul Mohammad said in Mir Gadkhel, about 45 km (30 miles) west of the Afghan city of Jalalabad.

The US Geological Survey said a 5.5 magnitude quake hit the area just before 2 am on Friday (5:30 pm EDT on Thursday), followed by a 5.1 magnitude aftershock two hours later.

"I'm less pessimistic than many of where the economy may be going," Tax cuts and lower interest rates, along with other initiatives, should by now have helped boost demand, he said. Mr Miles is due to join the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee in June.

"Economic history teaches us that a combination of tax cuts, running large fiscal deficits, substantial cuts in interest rates and more quantitative easing is likely, with a certain time lag, to have a substantial impact on demand in the economy," Mr Miles told the paper. "That's not a confident prediction but a judgment about what may be the case."

The agency's intelligence assessment, sent to law enforcement officials last week, warns that right-wing extremists could use the bad state of the U.S. economy and the election of the country's first black president to recruit members.

The assessment also said that returning military veterans who have difficulties assimilating back into their home communities could be susceptible to extremist recruiters or might engage in lone acts of violence. "To characterize men and women returning home after defending our country as potential terrorists is offensive and unacceptable," said Boehner, Representative for Ohio.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended the assessment and others issued by the agency. "Let me be very clear — we monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States," Napolitano said in a statement. "We don't have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group; we must protect the country from terrorism whether foreign or homegrown, and regardless of the ideology that motivates its violence."

China's State Reserves Bureau (SRB) has instead been buying copper and other industrial metals over recent months on a scale that appears to go beyond the usual rebuilding of stocks for commercial reasons. Nobu Su, head of Taiwan's TMT group, which ships commodities to China, said Beijing is trying to extricate itself from dollar dependency as fast as it can.

"China has woken up. The West is a black hole with all this money being printed. THE CHINESE ARE BUYING RAW MATERIALS BECAUSE IT IS A MUCH BETTER WAY TO USE THEIR $1.9 TRILLION OF RESERVES. They get ten times the impact, and can cover their infrastructure for 50 years. The next industrial revolution is going to be led by hybrid cars, and that needs copper. You can see the subtle way that China is moving into 30 or 40 countries with resources," he said.

The SRB has also been accumulating aluminium, zinc, nickel, and rarer metals such as titanium, indium (thin-film technology), rhodium (catalytic converters) and praseodymium (glass). While it makes sense for China to take advantage of last year's commodity crash to restock cheaply, there is clearly more behind the move. "THEY ARE DEFINITELY BUYING METALS TO DIVERSIFY OUT OF US TREASURIES AND DOLLAR HOLDINGS," said Jim Lennon, head of commodities at Macquarie Bank.

An animated Perry told the crowd at Austin City Hall — one of three tea parties he was attending across the state — that OFFICIALS IN WASHINGTON HAVE ABANDONED THE COUNTRY'S FOUNDING PRINCIPLES OF LIMITED GOVERNMENT. He said the federal government is strangling Americans with taxation, spending and debt. Perry repeated his running theme that Texas' economy is in relatively good shape compared with other states and with the "federal budget mess." Many in the crowd held signs deriding President Barack Obama and the $786 billion federal economic stimulus package.

Perry called his supporters patriots. Later, answering news reporters' questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union, though he said he sees no reason why Texas should do that. "There's a lot of different scenarios," Perry said. "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot."

As rescue workers combed through the rubble for survivors and rushed to set up tents for the homeless before night fell, officials warned the death toll could rise further and declined to estimate the number of missing. Most of the dead were in L'Aquila, a 13th century mountain city about 100 km (60 miles) east of Rome, and nearby towns and villages in the Abruzzo region. The quake struck shortly after 3.30 a.m. (0130 GMT) and aftershocks rattled the area throughout the day.

"Some towns in the area have been virtually destroyed in their entirety," said Gianfranco Fini, speaker of the lower house of parliament, as MPs observed a moment of silence. Abruzzo's regional government said more than 130 people were confirmed dead, some 16 hours after the quake struck with a magnitude of between 5.8 and 6.3. ANSA news agency quoted hospital sources as saying more than 150 people had died.

In the small town of Onna, which was almost entirely razed to the ground, 24 people were killed. A Reuters witness saw a mother and her infant daughter carried away in the same coffin.

Calling for a greater partnership with the Islamic world in an address to the Turkish parliament, Obama called the country an important US ally in many areas, including the fight against terrorism. He devoted much of his speech to urging a greater bond between Americans and Muslims, portraying terrorist groups such as al Qaida as extremists who did not represent the vast majority of Muslims.

"Let me say this as clearly as I can," Obama said. "The United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical... in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject." The US president is trying to mend fences with a Muslim world that felt it had been blamed by America for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Al Jazeera and Al Arabiyia, two of the biggest Arabic satellite channels, carried Obama's speech live.

Obama said the partnership between the US and the Muslim world is critical in rolling back what he called a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject. "America's relationship with the Muslim world cannot and will not be based on opposition to al Qaida," he said. "We seek broad engagement based upon mutual interests and mutual respect."

"We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over so many centuries to shape the world for the better, including my own country," Obama said. Obama also said, to a round of applause, that the United States supports Turkey becoming a member of the European Union.

Dozens of corporate advisers and executives have already, or will be shortly, interviewed in six separate cases being investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The investigations have been prompted by a high number of suspicious trading alerts that identified unusual movements in share prices of companies ahead of almost a third of all merger or takeover announcements.

The FSA has brought just one criminal case of insider dealing since its inception in 2001. But the new crackdown reflects concerns that traders and corporate advisers in the heart of the City have resorted to using confidential information to make illegal profits from mergers and acquisitions markets which have been hit by the recession.

Margaret Cole, head of enforcement at the FSA, the chief City regulator, told The Independent she wanted to send a message to the City that there were no hiding places for those who tried to profit by abusing the financial markets. In the first of the six cases, a man and a woman, one a senior corporate finance adviser, were arrested last week in connection with an ongoing investigation into suspected organised insider dealing.

The largest fire, an 11,000-acre blaze near the Texas-Oklahoma state line, was about 25 percent contained, but wind gusting to 35 mph made it difficult to maintain fire lines, Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Jeanne Eastham said Sunday. The forest service said the blaze near the town of Wheeler destroyed eight homes and 26 outbuildings. The town of about 1,300 residents was temporarily evacuated Saturday after the fire jumped the North Fork of the Red River. Residents returned home late in the day.

Another fire, which had blackened about 2,100 acres in Jack County northwest of Fort Worth, also forced temporary evacuations of more than a dozen homes Saturday, but residents there were allowed back by midnight. That fire was about 75 percent contained Sunday.

Fire crews also were battling three other wildfires in northern parts of the state. Two blazes, in Jeff Davis County and Shackelford County, were at least 60 percent contained Sunday, while a smaller fire in Nolan County was five percent contained.

This cannot be good news for U.S. President Barack Obama, who wants peacemaking to resume but has yet to spell out in what form, analysts and diplomats said. Refusing to enter final-status negotiations until the Palestinians meet their road map commitments, including a crackdown on militants, was Israeli policy under former prime ministers Ariel Sharon and, initially, his successor, Ehud Olmert. "THAT MEANS NO SERIOUS TALKS ANYTIME SOON," a senior Western diplomat said.

The first phase of the road map calls on the Palestinians to rein in militants and to build up governing institutions. It also calls on Israel to freeze all settlement activity and uproot outposts built without government approval. Lieberman and Netanyahu advocate expanding settlements, not freezing them, whereas Abbas has mounted a major crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank. While he rejected Annapolis, Lieberman said the new government would "work exactly according to the road map," and would be "meticulous" in implementing its three phases.

He said this meant checking "every dot in every phase" and vowed never to agree to "go straight to the final phase: negotiations for a final status agreement."

"If in the future, banks need exceptional assistance in order to get through this, then we will make sure that assistance comes," while ensuring taxpayers are protected, Geithner said yesterday in an interview on the CBS "Face the Nation" program. "Where that requires a change in management and the board, then we will do that."

Geithner noted that American International Group Inc., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had their chief executives removed after it became clear the companies couldn't survive without government rescues. The Treasury is reviewing how much capital the biggest U.S. financial companies need in order to endure a severe economic downturn.

"Where we've had to do exceptional things," the government has replaced management and boards, Geithner said. Banks and financial institutions worldwide have reported more than $1.2 trillion in credit losses and writedowns. Many of those stemmed from mortgage-related investments that declined with the collapse in the U.S. housing market.

But people looking down from recently built high-rises in Mecca found the niches in many older mosques were not pointing directly towards the Kaaba. Some worshippers are said to be anxious about the validity of their prayers. There have been suggestions that laser beams could be used to make an exact measurement.

Tawfik al-Sudairy, Islamic affairs ministry deputy secretary, downplayed the problem in remarks quoted by the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat. "There are no major errors but corrections have been made for some old mosques, thanks to modern techniques," he said. "In any case, it does not affect the prayers."