He will be protected by the largest amount of bulletproof glass to be erected around an American politician, and watched over by more security officials than any other public official in US history. His limousine can withstand chemical attack and roadside bombs. Yet when hundreds of Secret Service agents on inauguration duty awake this morning – if, indeed, they managed to sleep at all – they will be consumed by one central question: will they be able to ensure that Barack Obama survives the day?

The fear of America's first black president being assassinated on the day he is sworn in, before a crowd of at least two million people, is on the minds of many observers this morning. For those charged with ensuring his safety on his first day in the job, it has led to unprecedented levels of protection.

Fears for Mr Obama's safety have increased in recent days, after an intensification of "chatter" and threats on white supremacist websites. While US intelligence officials and the Secret Service say that they must be alert for a foreign-based terrorist attack, greater attention is focused on domestic race-hate groups.

German banks face further losses totalling billions of euros because THEY HAVE ONLY WRITTEN OFF A FRACTION OF THEIR NON-PERFORMING SECURITIES linked to American mortgages and student loans, according to a survey of 20 major German banks conducted by the German central bank and banking watchdog BaFin.

All the country's top commercial banks and the publicly owned regional banks known as Landesbanken took part in the survey which revealed that the banks hold so-called "toxic" securities totalling just under €300 billion ($398 billion), of which only a quarter has been written off. THEY HOLD THE REMAINDER IN THEIR BOOKS AT VALUES THAT ARE NOW ILLUSORY. The government expects the banks to make further writedowns as a result, which should lead to further big losses for the banks. That in turn means that even more banks are likely to require government cash injections in the near future.

The Finance Ministry in Berlin estimates that THE ENTIRE GERMAN BANKING SECTOR IS STILL HOLDING RISKY SECURITIES TOTALLING UP TO €1 TRILLION. Given that volume, Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück of the center-left Social Democrats, believes it would be irresponsible for the government to set up a so-called Bad Bank as a repository for toxic assets stemming largely from the devastated subprime mortgage market, as banks have suggested. Several banks have said that stalled bank lending won't resume unless banks can offload their toxic securities in a Bad Bank.

The source told Reuters a deal with Fiat would help Chrysler make vehicles that produce fewer harmful emissions. "To get financing, US (car makers) have to show that they are really committed to developing over the short term a new family of vehicles that pollute less," the source said. "By itself, Chrysler would not be able to meet this condition."

The talks between Fiat and Chrysler were reported by auto industry publication Automotive News Europe earlier in the day on its website (http://www.autonews.com). The publication cited unnamed sources as saying Fiat could take a stake of up to 35 percent in Chrysler and give the US automaker access to platforms, engines and transmissions.

Chrysler, the No. 3 US-based automaker behind General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co received $4 billion of US government loans to avert collapse and Chief Executive Bob Nardelli said last week it was counting on $3 billion more.

Alistair Darling today warned the whole economy will collapse if his bailout of the banking system fails. His admission came as Royal Bank of Scotland revealed it is facing losses of up to £28billion for last year, the biggest in UK corporate history. RBS said it had lost £7 to £8billion in lending and £15 to £20billion on its stake in Dutch bank ABN Amro. IT COULD ULTIMATELY FACE LOSING £45BILLION FOR 2008 once write downs on other banks it has purchased are factored in.

The bank, the second largest in the UK, said it had discussed full nationalisation with the Government because of the poor results but that this was 'something they all wanted to avoid'. Its value plunged more than 60 per cent on the Stock Market after the announcement, which came just as the Government confirmed its second bailout of the banks in three months.

Under the plans, taxpayers - who have already stumped up £37billion for the first bailout - will have to underwrite the reckless loans made by banking executives. The 'pay-as-you-go' scheme will see an uncapped amount of 'toxic' bank debt guaranteed by the public purse.

It reveals how the European Union is spending billions of euros a year promoting itself and its central aim of 'ever closer union'. In 2008 alone, IT SPENT MORE THAN 2.4 BILLION EUROS. That is more than Coca Cola spends on advertising each year, worldwide. The EU pours hundreds of millions of euros a year into think-tanks and lobby groups which promote its policies and campaign for further EU integration, and MANY OF ITS EFFORTS ARE DIRECTED VERY DELIBERATELY AT YOUNG PEOPLE.

Buffett said AMERICANS ARE IN A CYCLE OF FEAR, "which leads to people not wanting to spend and not wanting to make investments, AND THAT LEADS TO MORE FEAR. We'll break out of it. It takes time." Buffett's interview centered on President-elect Barack Obama and the tough task he faces in fixing the US economy. "You couldn't have anybody better in charge," the Omaha resident said of Obama, who'll be sworn into office today.

AS ONE OF OBAMA'S ECONOMIC ADVISERS, BUFFETT said the president-elect listens to what his advisers say, but ultimately comes up with better ideas. He predicted that Obama will be able to convey the severity of the economic situation to the American people and explain their part in alleviating it. As to how long the crisis would continue, Buffett said he didn't know.

"It's never paid to bet against America," he said. "We come through things, but its not always a smooth ride."

The killer bug, also known as the plague, swept through insurgents training at a forest camp in Algeria, North Africa. It came to light when security forces found a body by a roadside. The victim was a terrorist in AQLIM (al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb), the largest and most powerful al-Qaeda group outside the Middle East. It trains Muslim fighters to kill British and US troops. Now al-Qaeda chiefs fear the plague has been passed to other terror cells — or Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

One security source said: "THIS IS THE DEADLIEST WEAPON YET IN THE WAR AGAINST TERROR. Most of the terrorists do not have the basic medical supplies needed to treat the disease. It spreads quickly and kills within hours. This will be really worrying al-Qaeda." Bubonic Plague is spread by bites from infected rat fleas. Symptoms include boils in the groin, neck and armpits. In Pneumonic Plague, airborne bacteria spread like flu.

It can be in the body for more than a week — highly contagious but not revealing tell-tale symptoms. The al-Qaeda epidemic began in the cave hideouts of AQLIM in Tizi Ouzou province, 150km east of the capital Algiers. The group, led by wanted terror boss Abdelmalek Droudkal, was forced to turn its shelters in the Yakouren forest into mass graves and flee.

Few see the government nationalizing the entire banking system the way Sweden did in the 1990s, but the US is growing more willing to put significant pressure on the largest banks. Over time, the government could exercise the same day-to-day control over major US banks as with IndyMac Bank, a failed California thrift that the US government operated for much of last year.

"We're nationalizing banks one at a time now. The real question is, will the biggest ones need to be nationalized?," said Roy Smith, professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. The US banking system desperately needs capital. Estimates of the shortfall range from $700 billion to more than $2 trillion.

In a video address on the last day of the World Meeting of Families here Sunday, the pontiff argued with more than 22,000 people on hand that, "due to its essential social function, the FAMILY HAS THE RIGHT TO BE RECOGNIZED with its own identity and not to be confused with other forms of cohabitation."

The pope said that personal freedom had been taken to capricious extremes, making it hard for the FAMILY TO DO ITS EDUCATING WORK. Mexico City was the first place in this majority Roman Catholic country to adopt after noisy debate same-sex unions, legal abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, assisted suicide and quick divorce.

The meeting is the first to take place without the pope's presence since it was created in 1994 by the late John Paul II, who visited Mexico five times during his papacy, gathering massive crowds. Current 81-year-old Pope Benedict XVI, who seldom travels abroad, was thought to have pulled out of the event due to the high altitude of the Mexican capital, at more than 2,200 meters (7,300 feet) above sea level.

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in response: "We'll play this day by day. We'll see how this goes. We want to leave Gaza. We'll do so as soon as we can." Ayman Taha, a Hamas official in Cairo for talks with Egypt on the conflict, said the group and other factions were announcing a Gaza ceasefire "starting immediately" and Israel, which launched its offensive on December 27, had a week to withdraw.

Hamas, he said, was demanding the opening of all Gaza border crossings for the entry of "all materials, food, goods and basic needs." The Islamist group said previously it would not stop its attacks as long as Israeli soldiers remained in the Gaza Strip. A statement issued by Hamas in Syria, which also announced the week-long ceasefire, said Palestinian factions were willing to respond to efforts by Egypt and others to broker an agreement for the "final lifting" of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Israel tightened the blockade, deepening hardship in the Gaza Strip, after Hamas seized the territory from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. Egypt has largely kept its Rafah crossing with the enclave closed.

He has not said where. Egypt and Pakistan are obvious possibilities, but there has been speculation that he could choose Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, where he spent part of his childhood. Obama will be sworn in as president with HIS FULL MUSLIM-SOUNDING NAME OF BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, in keeping with White House tradition.

"This Tuesday, we can reaffirm our own veneration and love for our country and our democracy," he said yesterday in a radio address. "We can once again provide an example to the world." His inauguration presents a "unique opportunity to reboot America's image in the world and also in the Muslim world in particular", he said in an interview.

HE ARGUES THAT SOCIETY HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY INTOLERANT OF THE FREEDOM TO EXPRESS RELIGIOUS VIEWS. "You can't express views that were common currency 30 or 40 years ago," he said. "Arguably, the parameters of what you might call 'right thinking' are probably closing. Sadly, along with that has come the fact that it's almost socially unacceptable to say you believe in God."

His comments follow the claim from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, that Britain is an "unfriendly" place for religious people to live.

Ed Stourton, one of Mr Vine's colleagues at the BBC, said that he felt that the biggest problem for people of faith is being sidelined. "If you are in the American political system or others then you can talk about religious faith and people say 'Yes, that's fair enough,' and it is something they respond to quite naturally. YOU TALK ABOUT IT IN OUR SYSTEM AND, FRANKLY, PEOPLE DO THINK YOU'RE A NUTTER."

Dublin has nationalised Anglo Irish Bank with its half-built folly on North Wall Quay and €73bn (£65bn) of liabilities, moving a step nearer the line where markets probe the solvency of the Irish state. A great ring of EU states stretching from Eastern Europe down across Mare Nostrum to the Celtic fringe are either in a 1930s depression already or soon will be. Greece's social fabric is unravelling before the pain begins, which bodes ill.

Each is a victim of ill-judged economic policies foisted upon them by elites in thrall to Europe's monetary project – either in EMU or preparing to join – and each is trapped. As UKIP leader Nigel Farage put it in a rare voice of dissent at the euro's 10th birthday triumph in Strasbourg, EMU-land has become a Völker-Kerker – a "prison of nations", to borrow from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

This week, Riga's cobbled streets became a war zone. Protesters armed with blocks of ice smashed up Latvia's finance ministry. Hundreds tried to force their way into the legislature, enraged by austerity cuts. "Trust in the state's authority and officials has fallen catastrophically," said President Valdis Zatlers, who called for the dissolution of parliament.

FIXED EXCHANGE SYSTEMS – AND EMU IS JUST A GLORIFIED VERSION – RUPTURE SUDDENLY. Things can seem eerily calm for a long time. Politicians swear by the parity. Remember John Major's "soft-option" defiance days before the ERM blew apart in 1992? Or Philip Snowden's defence of sterling before a Royal Navy mutiny forced Britain off the Gold Standard in 1931. Don't expect tremors before an earthquake – and there is no fault line of greater historic violence than the crunching plates where Latin Europe meets Teutonia.

Traders suspect that investors are dumping their Club Med and Irish debt immediately on the European Central Bank in "repo" actions. In other words, the ECB is already providing a stealth bail-out for Europe's governments – though secrecy veils all. An EU debt union is being created, in breach of EU law. LIABILITIES ARE BEING SHIFTED QUIETLY ON TO GERMAN TAXPAYERS. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GERMANY'S HARD-WORKING CITIZENS FIND OUT?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has allowed shipments of Australian bees to resume despite concerns by some of its own scientists. Australia had been airfreighting the insects across the Pacific for four years to replace hives devastated by the perplexing colony collapse disorder. But six weeks ago the Australian government abruptly stopped the shipments, saying it could no longer be certain the hives were free of a smaller, aggressive bee that has infested areas near the Great Barrier Reef, U.S. officials said.

Early this month, the USDA decided to permit the bee shipments to resume with some precautions, and the first planeloads arrived in San Francisco last Monday. Beekeeper Ken Haff of Mandan, North Dakota, says he fears the foreign hives could kill off his apiary. Government officials said they do not know how many Australian bees have been imported, but hive importer Sullivan estimates that HE HAS SOLD 110,000 HIVES SINCE 2005.

"The last quarter of 2008 was catastrophic in every respect." It was unclear whether he was referring to the euro zone or the wider European economy. The European Commission is due to present its forecasts for the euro zone next week. The EU's executive arm forecast on November 3, the euro zone economy would still grow 0.1 percent in 2009 and 0.9 percent in 2010, but data since then has shown the forecasts were too optimistic and they will be revised on Monday.

The European Central bank last week cut rates by half a percentage point to 2 percent in response to the deepening euro zone recession, and governments have launched stimulus packages worth billions of euros to offset the crisis.