The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election. Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth — his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject — he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president. Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican John McCain and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.

At least one other appeal over Obama's citizenship remains at the court. Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., argues that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Obama says and the Hawaii secretary of state has confirmed. Berg says Obama also may be a citizen of Indonesia, where he lived as a boy. Federal courts in Pennsylvania have dismissed Berg's lawsuit. Federal courts in Ohio and Washington state have rejected similar lawsuits. Allegations raised on the Internet say the birth certificate, showing that Obama was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, is a fake.

The publisher claims the changes have been made to reflect the fact that BRITAIN IS A MODERN, MULTICULTURAL, MULTIFAITH SOCIETY. But academics and head teachers said that the changes to the 10,000 word Junior Dictionary could mean that children lose touch with Britain's heritage.

"We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To say it is all relative and replaceable is questionable," said Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment at Buckingham University. "The word selections are a very interesting reflection of the way childhood is going, MOVING AWAY FROM OUR SPIRITUAL BACKGROUND and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us."

VINEETA GUPTA, the head of children's dictionaries at Oxford University Press, said: "When you look back at older versions of dictionaries, there were lots of examples of flowers for instance. That was because many children lived in semi-rural environments and saw the seasons. Nowadays, the environment has changed. WE ARE ALSO MUCH MORE MULTICULTURAL. PEOPLE DON'T GO TO CHURCH AS OFTEN AS BEFORE. Our understanding of religion is within multiculturalism, which is why some words such as "Pentecost" or "Whitsun" would have been in 20 years ago but not now."

WE ARE BEYOND THE EXTREMES OF THE 1930S. The frontiers of monetary policy are being pushed to limits that MAY NOW TEST VIABILITY OF PAPER CURRENCIES and modern central banking. You cannot drop below zero. THIS TIME WE ARE ALL GOING DOWN TOGETHER. There is no deus ex machina to lift us out. Certainly not China, which is the most vulnerable of all.

As a scholar of the Great Depression, Bernanke does not think that sliding prices can safely be allowed to run their course. "Sustained deflation can be highly destructive to a modern economy," he said.

Once the killer virus becomes lodged in the system, it leads to a self-reinforcing debt trap – the real burden of mortgages rises, year after year, house prices falling, year after year. The noose tightens until you choke. Subtly, it shifts wealth from workers to bondholders. It is reactionary poison. ULTIMATELY, IT LEADS TO CIVIC REVOLT. DEMOCRACIES DO NOT TOLERATE SUCH SOCIAL UPHEAVAL FOR LONG. THEY CHANGE THE RULES.

New figures show that the economic crisis has pushed Britain well down the international league table. The UK is now the sixth largest economy in the world, behind America, Japan, China, Germany and France. ECONOMISTS SAID THE FALL REFLECTED THE POUND'S SLUMP TO RECORD LOWS AGAINST THE EURO. A year ago the UK economy was 8 per cent bigger than that of France, measured by gross domestic product (GDP).

Now it is 14 per cent smaller, according to figures from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). "An overvalued sterling has inflated the UK's claims to be among the top five world economies," said Ben Read, an economist with the CEBR. "The drastic reduction in sterling's value has accelerated the inevitable process of the UK falling down the league table of world economies, AS INDIA AND BRAZIL CATCH UP AND OVERTAKE THE UK'S NATIONAL OUTPUT.

At present Britain's GDP is 6 per cent bigger than that of Italy. But according to CEBR, IT WILL DROP BELOW ITALY'S NEXT YEAR.

Obama also said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the survival of the domestic car-making capacity is important, yet any bailout must be "conditioned on an auto industry emerging at the end of the process that actually works." Less than six weeks before he takes office, Obama said that help for homeowners facing foreclosure is an option as part of his plan. He sidestepped a question about when he plans to raise taxes on wealthy Americans.

In the intervening weeks, the economy has showed clear signs of worsening. EMPLOYERS SAID THEY ELIMINATED MORE THAN 500,000 JOBS IN NOVEMBER ALONE and retailers reported disappointing holiday-season sales. "THE ECONOMY IS GOING TO GET WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER," he said twice in the early moments of the interview, taped Saturday in Chicago.

Mr Cogman, 50, ACCUSED THE POLICE SERVICE OF BECOMING SO SENSITIVE TO THE RIGHTS OF GAYS THAT CHRISTIANS COULD NO LONGER SAFELY EXPRESS THEIR VIEWS. Speaking at his home in Sea Palling, Norfolk, which he shares with his wife Elaine, 46, and his two children, Mr Cogman said: "In the service in general there is a feeling of fear. THERE IS A DEFINITE BIAS AGAINST FAITH – ANY FAITH – IF IT TAKES A CRITICAL VIEW OF HOMOSEXUAL SEX."

Mr Cogman, backed by the Police Federation, is appealing against his sacking and is planning to take his force to an employment tribunal next year, funded by the Christian Legal Centre. He said he had received a huge amount of support both from within and outside the force. He claimed a small group of pro-gay officers had been determined to oust him. "They have their own agenda and now they have my scalp."

Last week the Rev Martin Young, vicar of St Andrew's church in Norwich, wrote an open letter to Norfolk Police protesting that it had "manifestly failed to uphold PC Cogman's right to express his Christian faith". The vicar added: "HIS VIEWS ARE NOT EXTREME OR UNUSUAL. They are consistent with the published understanding of the Church of England, of which he is a member." Mr Cogman said he had no problems with colleagues until gay liaison officers circulated an email to officers in early 2005 encouraging staff to wear a pink ribbon on their uniforms during Gay History Month.

The frigate HMS Northumberland, which is armed with guided missiles, torpedoes and a Lynx helicopter, was due to be sent on patrol to the islands this month. But it will now be replaced by a Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessel NOT EQUIPPED FOR OFFENSIVE COMBAT OPERATIONS. The controversial decision was forced on senior naval commanders by the increasing problem of overstretch facing the Royal Navy.

Cuts to the size of the fleet over the last 10-years – the Royal Navy has just 22 frigates and destroyers compared to 65 in 1982 – has left the service with too few ships to meet its responsibilities. The Telegraph also understands that the Royal Navy is likely to face more cuts in the near future while major projects such as the £3.9bn new carrier programme could be delayed. Ageing vessels such as Type 23 frigates, which were commissioned in the late 1980s, will have their service life extended by up to 20-years.

One senior naval source said that successive cuts by the government had left the Royal Navy vulnerable and unable to properly defend its interests overseas. He said: "The Royal Navy has been pared to the bone. THE FLEET IS NOW SO SMALL THAT THE ROYAL NAVY CAN'T EVEN SEND A PROPER WARSHIP TO GUARD THE FALKLANDS. In any shooting war with a serious enemy the Royal Navy would cease to exist within a few weeks. Rock bottom is an appropriate description of where the Royal Navy now is."

THE LAST TIME THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT REDUCED ITS NAVAL PRESENCE IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC was in 1982 when the ice patrol vessel HMS Endurance was withdrawn from patrolling the area around the Falkland Islands. The move PROMPTED AN INVASION BY THE ARGENTINE MILITARY AND LED TO THE FALKLANDS WAR.

"AND IT JUST KEEPS GETTING A LITTLE BIT WORSE MONTH AFTER MONTH AFTER MONTH," said Hamlin, who owns the dealership. Nationwide, 750 dealerships have already closed this year and 150 more are expected to shut down by year's end, PUTTING NEARLY 40,000 EMPLOYEES OUT OF WORK. When a dealership closes its doors, it's not just about the jobs lost at the car lot. It's about everything else the community loses along with them.

NEW AND USED CAR SALES ARE THE SINGLE-LARGEST SOURCE OF SALES TAX REVENUE FOR ALMOST EVERY CITY, county and state government in the country. In Los Angeles for every $28,000 car sold, the city takes in about $560 in tax revenue - a total of $80 million each year. Now with auto sales dropping, so is the revenue and that means … "Less fire and police protection, less road maintenance, libraries closing. IT CAN BE EXTREMELY CATASTROPHIC," said Laura Chick, Los Angeles' city controller.

Car dealers are often the largest source of ad revenue for local TV stations, radios and newspapers. "Not only do they spend a lot of money, they spend it frequently and throughout the year," said media analyst John Rash. But this year, dealer ad spending could drop by $3 billion. "Every industry has peaks and valleys, but man, THIS VALLEY SEEMS TO BE ABOUT AS LOW AS YOU CAN GO," said Matthew Gunderson of the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association. And it could be a long drive back up the hill.

The troubled economy has even become part of the recruiters' arsenal. And the pitch may be paying off. The Army led all four branches of the military, exceeding recruiting goals. And it's not just new recruits. The Army also surpassed its goal for retaining men and women already serving by 14 percent.

Kevin Bonds signed his re-enlistment papers Friday. The Sgt. First Class could have retired tomorrow after 20 years in the Illinois National Guard. "Until the economy changes and turns turn around, I'm in for the long run," he said. Sgt. Mathew Steen has also re-signed. He says patriotism means more than a paycheck, but admits the Army is a great place to prepare for any career. "You've got good benefits, your medical, you've got your dental, and you're getting the skills to lead people," Steen said.

"What difficult economic times give us, I think, is an opening to make our case to people we might not otherwise have," said Undersecretary of Defense David Chu. "And if we make our case, I think we can be successful." That success comes at a critical time for a military stretched between two wars, and for soldiers hoping to protect their country - and their own economic futures.

Russians of all ages and classes are struggling to understand the crisis. "IT HAS SPREAD TO THE REGIONS MUCH FASTER THAN COULD BE EXPECTED," says Andrei Kuznetsov, a strategist at investment bank Troika Dialog. "Companies are complaining of low demand, payment arrears, and limited financing."

That's a sharp change from just a few weeks ago, when the Kremlin played down talk of a systemic problem and most Russians assumed the downturn was mainly an issue for Western economies. Then the freezing of international credit markets exposed THE HEAVY DEPENDENCE OF RUSSIAN BANKS AND COMPANIES ON WESTERN LOANS. Russia is also being hammered by the fall in commodity prices: Oil, gas, and metals account for some 80 percent of exports.

Now advertising banners and billboards offer "anti-crisis" discounts on everything from mattresses to Lada sedans. Nightclubs stage "anti-crisis" parties. Jokes about the crisis are legion: "Daddy, is it true we're facing a crisis?" "No, Son. It's the oligarchs who are facing a crisis. We are facing oblivion."

Iran launched six days of naval war games on Tuesday in the Sea of Oman and the Gulf region amid tension with the UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL, WHICH HAVE NOT RULED OUT MILITARY ACTION IF DIPLOMACY FAILS to end a row over Tehran's nuclear work. Iran has said that, if pushed, it could close the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf and through which about 40 percent of the world's traded oil passes.

"The Nasr-2 was fired from a warship and hit its target at a distance of 30 km (19 miles) and destroyed it," the official news agency IRNA said, adding it was the first test of the new, medium-range missile. The West accuses Iran of seeking to build nuclear warheads, a charge Tehran denies. It insists that it wants to master nuclear technology to generate electricity so that it can export more of its huge oil and gas reserves.

Washington, which has its navy Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain, has pledged to keep shipping lanes open. EXPERTS SAY IRAN'S NAVY WOULD BE NO MATCH FOR U.S. TECHNOLOGY BUT COULD STILL CREATE HAVOC IN THE WATERWAY.

Outside UN-led talks in Poland aimed at pushing 187 countries toward stiffer targets to fight global warming, some 1,000 demonstrators said governments were risking the planet's future by delaying action to squabble over who was to blame. Several thousand more protesters took part in a march through London to demand "URGENT AND RADICAL ACTION" from the British government on climate change.

"So far I think it's going really slowly," Susann Scherbarth from Friends of the Earth in Germany said of the talks in the western city of Poznan. She and other protesters in Poznan waved a banner reading: "Stop clowning around, get serious about climate action."

Meanwhile, "The Guardian" reports - THIS YEAR IS SET TO BE THE COOLEST SINCE 2000, according to a preliminary estimate of global average temperature that is due to be released next week by the Met Office. The global average for 2008 should come in close to 14.3C, which is 0.14C below the average temperature for 2001-07. In March, a team of climate scientists at Kiel University predicted that global TEMPERATURES WOULD REMAIN CONSTANT UNTIL 2015 BUT WOULD THEN BEGIN TO ACCELERATE.

Farmers so far are turning their noses up at the notion, which is one of several put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that greenhouse gases emitted by belching and flatulence amounts to air pollution. "THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST RIDICULOUS THINGS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS TRIED TO DO," said Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, an outspoken opponent of the proposal.

It would require farms or ranches with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs to pay an annual fee of about $175 for each dairy cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and $20 for each hog. The executive vice president of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, Ken Hamilton, estimated the fee would cost owners of a modest-sized cattle ranch $30,000 to $40,000 a year. He said he has talked to a number of livestock owners about the proposals, and "ALL HAVE SAID IF THE FEES WERE CARRIED OUT, IT WOULD BANKRUPT THEM."

Sparks said Wednesday he's worried the fee could be extended to chickens and other farm animals and cause more meat to be imported. "WE'LL LET OTHER COUNTRIES PUT FOOD ON OUR TABLES LIKE THEY ARE PUTTING GAS IN OUR CARS. Other countries don't have the health standards we have," Sparks said. While farmers say it would drive them out of business, AN ORGANIZATION SUPPORTING THE PROPOSAL HOPES IT FORCES THE FARMS AND RANCHES TO SWITCH TO "HEALTHIER" CROPS.

Taleban militants are suspected of being behind several such attacks aimed at disrupting supplies, analysts say. The road is a major supply route for US and Western forces battling against the Taleban in neighbouring Afghanistan. HAULIERS SAY THAT OVER 350 TRUCKS DAILY CARRY AN AVERAGE OF 7,000 TONNES OF GOODS OVER THE KHYBER PASS TO KABUL.

The attack occurred around 0230 on Sunday (2130 GMT, Saturday) as up to 250 militants stormed the Portward Logistic Terminal. They fired rockets, hurled hand grenades and then set ablaze 96 trucks, Reuters news agency quoted a police officer, Azeem Khan, as saying. "They were shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Great) and Down With America," a security guard told Reuters. "They broke into the terminals after snatching guns from us," Mohammad Rafiullah said.

Another report said 106 lorries had been set on fire - 62 laden with Humvees. Most supplies for US and Nato forces in Afghanistan go through Pakistan's Khyber Pass. Last month, militants looted 12 trucks carrying Humvees and food aid as they travelled through the Khyber Pass. Security along the road leading to the border has deteriorated this year with soldiers recently carrying out an offensive in the Khyber region to drive militants away from the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in the north-west.

Dr Sentamu added: "The time to remove them from power has come." Earlier, Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the world to tell Mr Mugabe that "enough is enough" amid growing concern over the country's cholera outbreak. Zimbabwe has appealed for international help over a cholera outbreak that has claimed at least 565 lives. At least 12,545 cases have been recorded since August.

On Saturday, the UN Children's Fund in Zimbabwe said it was preparing to deal with a possible 60,000 cholera cases in coming weeks. The Unicef chief in Harare, Roeland Monasch, said such a jump could bring the number of deaths to around 3,000. In his article, Dr Sentamu said the world could no longer remain "inactive" in the face of a growing humanitarian crisis. He said a power-sharing deal between Mr Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change was "now dead".

"The time has come for Robert Mugabe to answer for his crimes against humanity, against his countrymen and women and for justice to be done," Dr Sentamu wrote. "The winds of change that once brought hope to Zimbabwe and its neighbours have become a hurricane of destruction with the outbreak of cholera, destitution, starvation and systemic abuse of power by the state. ROBERT MUGABE AND HIS HENCHMEN MUST NOW TAKE THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACE IN THE HAGUE AND ANSWER FOR THEIR ACTIONS."