Mr Soros said his prediction meant he was better able to brace his Quantum investment fund against the global storm. But other investors failed to take notice of his prediction. His decision to come out of retirement in 2007 to manage the fund made him $2.9 billion. And while the financial crisis continued to deepen across the globe, THE 78-YEAR-OLD STILL MANAGED TO MAKE $1.1 BILLION LAST YEAR.

'It is, in a way, the culminating point of my life's work,' he told national newspaper The Australian. Soros is one of 25, top hedge fund managers from across Wall Street who have defied the credit crunch crisis to reap a total of $11.6 billion (£7.9 bn) last year. The managers made their profit by trading above the pain in the markets, according to Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine.

At York Minster he said humanity should turn away from the selfishness and greed that leads it to ignore its interdependence with the natural world. And God would not guarantee a "happy ending", he warned. Dr Williams has often spoken out about environmental issues. Speaking on Wednesday he said just as God gave humans free will to do "immeasurable damage" to themselves as individuals it seemed "clear" they had the same "terrible freedom" as a human race.

"I think that to suggest that God might intervene to protect us from the corporate folly of our practices is as unchristian and unbiblical as to suggest that he protects us from the results of our individual folly or sin," he said. "God's faithfulness stands, assuring us that even in the most appalling disaster love will not let us go - but it will not be a safety net that guarantees a happy ending in this world."

Without a change of heart, Dr Williams warned, the world faced a number of "doomsday scenarios" including the "ultimate tragedy" of humanity gradually "choked, drowned, or starved by its own stupidity." The poorest and most vulnerable and our children and grandchildren would pay the heaviest price for climate change, he added.

Khadem al-Qubaisi really likes Mercedes. "I drive an SLR, and most of my other cars are also made by Daimler. Apart from a few BMWs and Porsche," said the chairman of investment company Aabar, which belings to the emirate of Abu Dhabi. That's part of the reason why his fund has just purchased a 9.1 percent stake in the Stuttgart-based automaker, he added.

Al-Qubaisi and Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche were in high spirits as they explained the deal to the world at a news conference on Monday morning. The head of Aabar justified the investment by citing soft arguments rather than hard figures. Germany's car industry was fascinating, he said, and Daimler had an investment style that he liked. But he left no doubt that other industries had potential too, especially in Germany. "There are good companies, good technology and good managers here," said al-Qubaisi.

It's a view shared by many sovereign funds in the Middle East, and there are strong signs that Arab investors will become increasingly active in Germany and Central Europe in the near future. DESPITE THE FINANCIAL CRISIS, THEY HAVE AMPLE CASH. Besides, the stock value of major companies has nosedived and governments are so busy trying to rescue their economies that their RESISTANCE TO SUPPOSEDLY DANGEROUS FOREIGN INVESTORS HAS EVAPORATED.

Mirek Topolanek's government was already in limbo from the first day it took office. After Czech parliamentary elections in the summer of 2006, no party had a majority and it took months before a coalition between Topolanek's conservative-liberal ODS, the Christian Democrats and the Green Party could finally take shape. On top of that, the government was forced to rely on two renegade voters from the Social Democratic opposition in order to pass legislation in parliament.

On four occasions, the leftists of the Social Democrats (CSSD) and the Communists pushed for no-confidence votes in a bid to force Topolanek out of office. Each time, the experienced tactician barely managed to circumvent the worst for his government.

But the fifth time, on Tuesday, he finally failed. EUROPE IS DISMAYED. In the midst of a serious economic crisis, of all times, the political classes in Prague have managed to relegate the current president of the European Council to lame duck status.

"Unless it comes up with practical measures to support the countries at the periphery of the global financial system, MARKETS ARE GOING TO SUFFER ANOTHER SINKING SPELL just as they did on February 10, 2009, when the authorities failed to produce practical measures to recapitalize the United States banking system," Soros said in testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Soros said President Barack Obama could help make the G20 meeting a success by raising a possible solution that would involve increasing the amount that developing countries - from Eastern Europe to Africa - can effectively borrow from the International Monetary Fund.

The urgent task of re-inflating the global economy has to be carried out mainly by the IMF, "imperfect and beleaguered as it is, because it is the only institution available," Soros said. Soros also warned that if the United States failed to live up to its responsibility in helping solve the global crisis, "WE SHALL CEASE TO BE THE DOMINANT FINANCIAL POWER."

The blunt comments of the Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, coming just a week before a crucial meeting of the Group of 20 that is supposed to show leaders coming together to cope with the crisis, were greeted with embarrassment by many Europeans, who believe that the Czechs do not represent the consensus in the European Union in any case.

What made the situation even more absurd was that MR. TOPOLANEK LOST HIS PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC ON TUESDAY, with his new lame-duck status further weakening Prague's European presidency. Adding to the awkwardness, Mr. Topolanek will host Mr. Obama in Prague a few days after the G-20 meeting, at a United States-European Union summit. SO THE OLD QUESTION OF WHO SPEAKS FOR EUROPE and when, especially in a crisis, has again become more acute, especially with persistent internal strains between more prosperous West European countries, which use the euro, and newer members in Central and Eastern Europe, which do not.

A Czech spokesman said that Mr. Topolanek meant to say that the European Union would be on the way to hell if it boosted its own spending too much. His comments were intended to highlight the differences between the United States and Europe, the spokesman said. But it is precisely those differences that everyone is currently eager to downplay before London.

His interim report in December said primary age children need a greater understanding of information technology and Sir Jim's proposals may say children should be familiar with BLOGGING, PODCASTS, WIKIPEDIA AND TWITTER by the time they go to secondary school. Under the proposals, schools will no longer be required to teach Victorian history or the Second World War but can still opt to include them, The Guardian reported.

Children will be expected to be able to place historical events which they have studied in date order under the new proposals. Schools Minister Jim Knight said: "Sir Jim Rose's report has not been completed let alone published yet - but we are already getting stories about dropping this or removing that from the curriculum. The bottom line is that we are working with experts to free up the curriculum in a way that teachers have asked us to do but British history has, and always will be, a core part of education in this country.

"Of course pupils in primary school will learn about major periods including the Romans, the Tudors and the Victorians and will be taught to understand a broad chronology of major events in this country and the wider world." Sir Jim has said his aim is to create "a primary curriculum which is challenging and constantly enriches children's understanding, where they can apply knowledge and skills learnt in one subject to better understand another".

DEFORESTATION ACCOUNTS FOR ABOUT 20% OF THE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS resulting from human activities, UN data shows. The environmental charity will outline its concerns during a public lecture in central London on Thursday evening. "This year is the crunch time for forests and climate change," Earthwatch's head of climate change research Dan Bebber told BBC News.

"We are hoping for big things from the Copenhagen climate summit at the end of 2009," he added, referring to a much anticipated UN gathering. "Unless we tackle the question of forests as a mitigation method for climate change, then we will really have lost the battle to keep greenhouse gas concentrations below levels that many people would consider to be dangerous."

He added that there must be help for the poorest countries, saying that THE GLOBAL DOWNTURN HAD PUSHED 100 MILLION PEOPLE INTO POVERTY. Mr Brown was in the US, as part of a three-continent tour ahead of the G20. Following talks with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon in New York, Mr Brown said that at the G20 summit in London "doing nothing is no longer an option".

"A hundred million people have been pushed into poverty; HALF-A-MILLION MORE CHILDREN WILL DIE as a result of the failure of our system to be able to provide enough food and help and medical aid for them," Mr Brown stressed. "We in the world community have to show the world that when there is difficulty we act. When there is suffering we are prepared to take the action that is necessary and when there is need we are prepared to meet it."

He also played down comments made by Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King, that the government should be cautious about a further fiscal stimulus, given the high levels of UK debt. Mr Brown has been pressing the case for wealthy countries to bring forward big fiscal stimulus packages to refloat the economy. The prime minister said that what was at issue was whether people were prepared to do what was necessary to resume economic growth.

But Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, who lost a "no confidence" vote in his own parliament on Tuesday, SUGGESTED THE US RECOVERY PLANS WERE THE "WAY TO HELL".

The document, signed by the council's deputy secretary-general Daud Abdullah, also seemingly advocated attacks on the Navy if it tried to stop arms intended for Hamas being smuggled into Gaza. Mrs Blears has said that until the MCB - which was once considered the Muslim group closest to Labour - takes a firm stance against Dr Abdullah, relations with the Government will be suspended.

In response, the MCB said it was 'appalled by the highhanded and condescending action' of Mrs Blears. Yesterday, the council - which has received at least £150,000 in Whitehall grants - released a provocative statement in response to the Government's anti-terror strategy, which threatens a tougher line against groups which promote extremist views. Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the MCB, said: "The Government's new strategy document rightly insists that the rule of law will be upheld at all times in the fight against terrorism."

"It also says the new strategy 'will tackle the causes as well as symptoms of terrorism' however, earlier this year, for some reason, the Government could not bring itself to describe the barbaric Israeli bombardment of Gaza as actions constituting a war crime. The Government must be more consistent if we are to successfully counter the terror threat."

The idea to police MySpace, Bebo and Facebook comes on top of plans to store information about every phone call, email and internet visit made by everyone in the United Kingdom. Almost half the British population – some 25 million people – are thought to use social networking sites. There are already proposals under a European Union directive – dating back to after the 7 July 2005 bombs – for emails and internet usage to be monitored and added to a planned database to track terror plots.

But technology has moved on in the past three years, and the use of social networking sites has boomed – so security services fear that that has left a loophole for terrorists and criminal gangs to exploit.

To close this loophole, Vernon Coaker, the Home Office minister, has disclosed that social networking sites could be forced to retain information about users' web-browsing habits. They could be required to hold data about every person users correspond with via the sites, although the contents of messages sent would not be collected. Mr Coaker said: "Social networking sites, such as MySpace or Bebo, are not covered by the directive. That is one reason why the Government is looking at what we should do about the intercept modernisation programme because there are certain aspects of communications which are not covered by the directive."

Central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan this week urged the International Monetary Fund to create a "super-sovereign reserve currency." The dollar weakened after the Federal Reserve said that it would buy Treasuries and the U.S. government outlined plans to buy illiquid bank assets.

"CHINA IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE POTENTIAL FOR A SLIDE IN THE DOLLAR as the U.S. attempts to stimulate its economy," said Mark Williams, a London-based economist at Capital Economics Ltd. The "rare" sight of a Chinese official attempting to reframe an international debate may be "A SIGN OF CHINA BECOMING MORE ENGAGED," he said.

While Zhou didn't call for the yuan to become the new reserve currency, his remarks may signal ambitions for China to play a bigger global role. The central bank this week signed a currency swap with Indonesia, adding to agreements since December with South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Belarus. It's also preparing for trade settlement in the Chinese currency with Hong Kong, Macau and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said yesterday that he was "all for" a common Asian currency to reduce volatility and help trade, adding that if countries as diverse as Greece, Spain and Ireland can share the euro, "THERE'S NO REASON WHY ASIA CANNOT COME TOGETHER."

Heavyweights are involved including former presidential contenders Atiku Abubakar and Muhammadu Buhari, who also led Nigeria after a coup in the 1980s. The opposition parties say they are uniting in order to save Nigeria. They accuse the PDP of running the country into the ground and acting as if Nigeria was a one-party state. The PDP has dominated since Nigeria's return to civilian rule in 1999.

But observers have criticised elections as being marred by rigging, voter intimidation and the use of security forces in favour of the ruling party. Many analysts believe the tension between opposing political camps in previous alliances gave birth to the collapse of both the first and second republics in Nigeria, says Muhammad Jameel Yusha'u of the BBC's Hausa service. There were allegations that politicians who could not achieve their political goals connived with the military to overthrow elected governments, he says. The opposition parties now say they are seeking registration with the electoral commission.

The big question now is whether the Independent National Electoral Commission - which is being criticised for partisanship and inability to conduct free and fair elections - is going to be different, Muhammad Jameel Yusha'u says.

The Nobel Prize-winning economist, speaking a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by almost 7pc in support of the novel public-private partnership (PPIP), said that the plan is "very flawed" and "AMOUNTS TO ROBBERY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE." Professor Stiglitz on Tuesday led a list of well-known economists and high-profile industry figures who have said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's toxic asset plan may not be as successful as it first seems.

Professor Stiglitz, speaking at a conference in Hong Kong, said that the US government is essentially using the taxpayer to guarantee the downside risks, namely that these assets will fall further in value, while the upside risks, in terms of future profits, are being handed to private investors such as insurance companies, bond investors and private equity funds.

"Quite frankly, this amounts to robbery of the American people. I don't think it's going to work because I think THERE'LL BE A LOT OF ANGER ABOUT PUTTING THE LOSSES SO MUCH ON THE SHOULDER OF THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER." His comments echo those of fellow Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, who said on Monday that THE PLAN IS ALMOST CERTAIN TO FAIL, SOMETHING WHICH FILLS HIM "WITH A SENSE OF DESPAIR."

Attitudes by different faiths towards same sex marriages, human rights, gender equality and even GM crops will be among the topics covered. THE COURSE WILL LARGELY SNUB TRADITIONAL LESSONS ON THE BIBLE and other holy books. Examiners said the syllabus - by one of Britain's biggest exam boards - will make the subject more "relevant" to students.

But it has been criticised for "pandering to popularity". Religious studies is currently one of the fastest-growing GCSEs in the UK and in the last two years the number of entries has increased by 24,000 to 171,000. In one key area, lessons will focus on the influence of minority religious movements, such as Falun Gong, the banned Chinese spiritual group, and the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, which believe in the spirituality of nature. As part of a topic on Rastafarianism, students are asked to look at the influence of Bob Marley in the 1970s.

Liam Gearon, professor of lifelong learning at Plymouth University, who supports the new course, said: "This is an intellectually exciting new GCSE which will challenge students to think about the role of religion in modern Britain and in the worldwide community. Encouraging the use of historical reflection as well as thought-provoking analysis of contemporary events, it will engage students of all abilities with the many issues that surround religion in the modern world."