Although Damascus insists that its forces are conducting an anti-smuggling operation, the Lebanese Government is eyeing the moves with unease, believing that the unusual scale of the deployment has more to do with tensions between the two countries over recent sectarian clashes in northern Lebanon.

Their surprise deployment comes after several months of clashes in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, pitting the majority Sunnis against the minority Alawites, an offshoot of Shia Islam. The small Alawite community in Lebanon is a close ally of the Syrian regime. President Assad of Syria is an Alawite and most top positions in the Syrian security and military apparatus are filled by them

Alawites are a small offshoot of Shia Islam, which broke away from Sunni Islam after the death of Muhammad. Their doctrine deifies Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad. They interpret the pillars of Islam as symbols; some celebrate many Christian festivals. The Baathist Government in Syria is dominated by Alawites. They comprise about 12 per cent of Syria's population. Their numbers are small in Lebanon but they became influential during Syria's military presence

Whether or not tomorrow's accounts of today's turmoil prove David Owen of Dresdner Kleinwort right; whether or not this is the beginning of the end of the dollar's pre-eminence in the world's central banks and foreign exchanges, THE ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE HAS UNDOUBTEDLY CHANGED FOREVER.

The US taxpayer bail-out of America's banking sector is an event whose significance will reverberate for many years. What it means for free markets, for the way Western economies are run, for the prosperity of the world economy, must remain to be seen. But as investors scrambled to make sense of last week's events, already one conclusion was all but irrefutable – THE US DOLLAR WILL HAVE TO TAKE ANOTHER MAJOR FALL.

The dollar rally that began in July and pushed the pound's value against the greenback significantly lower has come to an abrupt end as markets face up to the fact that the currency will have to absorb the effects of a sudden shocking increase in America's budget deficit. Might the dollar now be vulnerable to a run? In the longer term, MIGHT THIS SIGNAL THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR THE DOLLAR'S STATUS AS THE WORLD'S RESERVE CURRENCY?

Additionally, Japan's No 3 bank plans to invest in Goldman Sachs, Japanese media said, in what would be the third big Japanese investment this week on Wall Street. Shares of Goldman Sachs jumped more than 7 percent to $134 before the bell.

"When one of the highly respected value investors puts up that amount of money it suggests, on the surface, that when Buffett jumps in the pool others may follow," said Andre Bakhos, president of Princeton Financial Group in Princeton, New Jersey. "That says to investors that all is not lost."

But even as the Goldman Sachs news suggested confidence, investors worried congressional wrangling could delay or weaken the proposed $700 billion plan to rescue the financial sector, increasing unease about the struggling US economy. In another worrying sign for investors, the interbank cost of borrowing three-month money in London jumped on Wednesday, indicating that lending between banks remains strained because of a lack of confidence.

General Motors Corp, Dillard's Inc and Regions Financial Corp TUMBLED MORE THAN 7 PERCENT after members of the Senate Banking Committee expressed skepticism about Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan. General Electric Co, the world's third-biggest company, retreated 4.6 percent as Merrill Lynch & Co downgraded the stock on "growing fundamental pressures." ConocoPhillips and Newmont Mining Co lost more than 3 percent as oil, gold and copper prices decreased.

"THE CREDIT CRUNCH IS GOING TO BECOME FAR MORE SEVERE THAN ANYBODY THOUGHT TWO WEEKS AGO," said Tom Wirth, senior investment officer at Chemung Canal Trust Co in Elmira, New York, which manages $1.7 billion. "In my opinion this is not understood by the politicians in Washington." About 1.2 billion shares changed hands on the floor of the NYSE today, about half of the average last week.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said terrorism is spreading quickly in Afghanistan while "the occupiers" are still in Iraq nearly six years after Saddam Hussein was ousted from power in Iraq. "AMERICAN EMPIRE IN THE WORLD IS REACHING THE END OF ITS ROAD, AND ITS NEXT RULERS MUST LIMIT THEIR INTERFERENCE TO THEIR OWN BORDERS," Ahmadinejad said.

He accused the U.S. of starting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to win votes in elections and blamed a "few bullying powers" for trying to undermine Iran's nuclear program. He suggested that the presence of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan has contributed to a sharp rise in terrorism and a huge increase in the production of narcotics. "Throughout history every force that has entered Afghanistan has left in defeat," Ahmadinejad said.

In addition, Centrica, which owns British Gas, will take 25% of all power generated by British Energy once it is in French hands, the BBC has learnt. The deal with EDF is seen by Centrica as vital to reducing its dependence on imported gas. The cost to Centrica of this investment will be around £3bn. EDF's acquisition of British Energy is due to be announced on Wednesday.

The deal will be controversial, BBC business editor Robert Peston says, because it will be seen by some AS HANDING THE UK'S NUCLEAR FUTURE TO A COMPANY OWNED BY THE FRENCH STATE. British Energy owns the UK's eight nuclear power stations and generates an estimated 14% of its electricity supply. EDF is expected to build four new nuclear plants on existing British Energy sites and sell-on the remaining ones.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) says DRUGS SUCH AS RITALIN SHOULD BE AVOIDED - AND MUST NOT BE GIVEN TO THE UNDER-FIVES. Teachers would also benefit from training to recognise and help children with this condition, it adds. Any primary school class is likely to have a child with ADHD, experts say.

Most of the estimated 365,000 children in Britain with ADHD receive no treatment at all. But of those who do, most - about 37,000 - are prescribed stimulants like Ritalin (methylphenidate). Children with ADHD have extreme difficulty sitting still, learning or concentrating. At school they may find it hard to keep friends and suffer from bullying because of their behaviour. Looking after affected children can be exhausting for parents.

Dr Tim Kendall, a consultant psychiatrist from Sheffield who is joint director of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and helped draw up the guidelines, said: "THERE IS AN OVER-RELIANCE ON MEDICINES." Quite commonly, people tend to revert to offering methylphenidate or atomoxetene. When they do that it's not always because there's a good balance of risk and benefits. IT'S BECAUSE THE CHILD HAS GOT WHAT APPEARS TO BE ADHD AND THAT'S WHAT'S AVAILABLE.

"Its easier to prescribe a drug when other options like parent training programmes are not available." Dr Kendall said it was important to diagnose ADHD correctly, rather than label all bad behaviour as ADHD. The symptoms of ADHD persist in all settings - both at school and at home - and cause real impairment.

In the past year, as the US housing market slumped, the FBI began a broad inquiry across the financial sector. It was prompted by concerns over the way high-risk, "sub-prime" mortgages were being sold. The FBI has been looking at lenders who sold home loans to buyers on low or unpredictable incomes and also the investment banks that packaged these loans and sold them on.

Investigations into the four companies were at an early stage, officials told the Associated Press news agency. ABC News, citing unidentified sources, said the probes were assessing whether company officials systematically misled investors about the financial strength of their institutions. The slump in the US housing market has resulted in billions of dollars of losses for these banks and turmoil in world credit markets.

Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and AIG are all being bailed out by the US government following bankruptcy fears. Lehman Brothers, a top investment bank, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Last week FBI director Robert Mueller said more than 20 large financial firms were already under investigation.

SOME HAVE GONE FURTHER, CALLING THE PLAN A POTENTIAL WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY. "Without question, our markets and financial institutions need serious attention," said the leading Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, Richard Shelby. "I DO NOT BELIEVE, HOWEVER, THAT WE CAN SOLVE THIS CRISIS BY SPENDING A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF MONEY ON BAD SECURITIES."

Committee chairman Chris Dodd, a Democrat, called the package "unacceptable" in its present form. The White House has called on Republicans and Democrats to work together to approve the plan, under which a federal fund could buy bad debt from financial institutions with "significant operations in the US". The fund would aim to sell off these mortgage-related debts in the future when, the Treasury says, their value may have risen.

Senators from both parties have voiced concerns taxpayers would be paying a huge price for mistakes made by banks. THEY ALSO SAID IT WAS CRUCIAL NOT TO RUSH THROUGH THE BAIL-OUT - which is unprecedented in US history - without carefully considering how it would work.

Democrats are seeking greater oversight of the plan, help for Americans who stand to lose their homes AND LIMITS ON COMPENSATION FOR EXECUTIVES AT FIRMS SELLING BAD ASSETS. The Democratic Senator for New Jersey, Robert Menendez, warned against being "stampeded into bad decisions". But he said there was a consensus that action had to be taken. Global markets have been focused on the wrangling over the bail-out. News of the plan late last week led to a rally, BUT THIS WEEK HAS SEEN FURTHER FALLS AMID CONCERN THAT IT COULD BE DELAYED OR WATERED DOWN.

The archbishop is among a group of Church of England bishops, clergy and laity making the pilgrimage. Each year, millions of Catholics visit the holy site where a peasant girl said she saw apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Organisers of the anniversary celebrations said that an average of 20,000 pilgrims a day have been visiting the shrine in the foothills of the Pyrenees this year.

Dr Williams was invited to preach at the International Mass by the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Jacques Perrier. The service is being celebrated by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE PROMOTION OF CHRISTIAN UNITY.

McComas is principal investigator for the SWOOPS solar wind sensor onboard the Ulysses spacecraft, which measured the decrease. Ulysses, launched in 1990, circles the sun in a unique orbit that carries it over both the sun's poles and equator, giving Ulysses a global view of solar wind activity. "What we're seeing is a long term trend, a steady decrease in pressure that began sometime in the mid-1990s," explains Arik Posner, NASA's Ulysses Program Scientist in Washington DC. Flagging solar wind has repercussions across the entire solar system—beginning with the heliosphere.

The heliosphere is a bubble of magnetism springing from the sun and inflated to colossal proportions by the solar wind. Every planet from Mercury to Pluto and beyond is inside it. The heliosphere is our solar system's first line of defense against galactic cosmic rays. High-energy particles from black holes and supernovas try to enter the solar system, but most are deflected by the heliosphere's magnetic fields.

But any extra cosmic rays can have consequences. If the trend continues, astronauts on the Moon or en route to Mars would get a higher dose of space radiation. Robotic space probes and satellites in high Earth orbit face an increased risk of instrument malfunctions and reboots due to cosmic ray strikes. Also, there are controversial studies linking cosmic ray fluxes to cloudiness and climate change on Earth. That link may be tested in the years ahead.

Most preventive screening looks for explosives or metals that pose a threat. But a new system called MALINTENT turns the old school approach on its head. This Orwellian-sounding machine detects the person — not the device — set to wreak havoc and terror. MALINTENT, the brainchild of the cutting-edge Human Factors division in Homeland Security's directorate for Science and Technology, searches your body for non-verbal cues that predict whether you mean harm to your fellow passengers.

It has a series of sensors and imagers that read your body temperature, heart rate and respiration for unconscious tells invisible to the naked eye — signals terrorists and criminals may display in advance of an attack. But this is no polygraph test. Subjects do not get hooked up or strapped down for a careful reading; those sensors do all the work without any actual physical contact. It's like an X-ray for bad intentions.

Most preventive screening looks for explosives or metals that pose a threat. But DHS says this is not Big Brother. Once you are through the FAST portal, your scrutiny is over and records aren't kept. "Your data is dumped," said Burns. "The information is not maintained — it doesn't track who you are."

"I see a danger of nations looking more inward, rather than toward a shared future," he said at the opening of the UN General Assembly's annual debate. He spoke of a "challenge of global leadership" to tackle the world's worsening financial, energy and food crises. "We see new centers of power and leadership - in Asia, Latin America and across the newly developed world," Ban told more than 120 heads of state or government, including Presidents George W. Bush of the United States and Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

"IN THIS NEW WORLD, our challenges are increasingly those of collaboration rather than confrontation," he added. "Nations can no longer protect their interests, or advance the well-being of their people, without the partnership of the rest." On the world's current financial crisis, the UN secretary general stressed the need to "restore order to the international financial markets".

And like many in Vienna, the project where Karakoe empties bins and sweeps the streets is now also home to a mix of native-born Austrians and immigrants of Turkish and Yugoslav descent, the vast majority of whom carry Austrian passports.

Polls predict the populist far-right Freedom Party headed by Heinz-Christian Strache, and a splinter party, Alliance for Austria's Future founded by Freedom's former leader Joerg Haider, could mop up around a quarter of votes between them - a 10-point gain from two years ago. Freedom still demands a halt to immigration and a ministry for repatriating foreigners: "If you want an apartment, all you need is to be wearing a headscarf," Strache said earlier this month, ACCUSING SOCIAL DEMOCRATS OF MAKING PUBLIC HOUSING MORE ACCESSIBLE TO IMMIGRANTS THAN TO NATIVE AUSTRIANS.

Under Haider, the Freedom Party won enough votes to form a coalition with the conservatives that lasted from 2000-2005. Anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic sentiment is not uncommon, if rarely public IN THE COUNTRY WHICH ONLY RECENTLY ACKNOWLEDGED IT WAS A WILLING PART OF HITLER'S THIRD REICH.

Freedom's broader platform - focusing on social policy issues in addition to the nationalist and immigration agenda - is helping it draw support from a wider base, said Richard Luther at Britain's Keele University. "THERE IS ALSO PUBLIC DISSATISFACTION WHICH IS LINKED TO INFLATION AND THE CREDIT CRUNCH," he said. This comes on top of frustration with the dysfunctional outgoing government of Social Democrats and mainstream conservatives.

It will acquire the equities and investment banking businesses from the US bank which filed for bankruptcy protection last week. Nomura said it expects to save the jobs of a "significant proportion" of the 2,500 Lehman staff in those businesses. It said its priority was to get them up and running under the Nomura name.

Lehman Brothers had an estimated 5,000 workers in the UK. However, it is not yet clear where the 2,500 jobs that have been saved across the two regions will be located. PricewaterhouseCoopers, the administrators of the Lehman's business in Europe, said it was "delighted" by the deal. The Japanese bank is also going to acquire Lehman's assets in Asia.