Assailants rammed a burning car into the gates of a synagogue in Toulouse, in southwest France, on Monday night. A Jewish congregation in Helsingborg, in southern Sweden, also was attacked Monday night by someone who "broke a window and threw in something that was burning," said police spokesman Leif Nilsson. Neighbors alerted rescue services before the fire took hold.

In Denmark, a 27-year-old Dane born in Lebanon of Palestinian parents is alleged to have injured two young Israelis last week, opening fire with a handgun in a shooting that police suspect could be linked to the Gaza crisis.

In Britain, the Community Security Trust, a Jewish defense group, said it had seen a rise in anti-Semitic incidents since the start of Israel's offensive against Gaza. The group said it had recorded 20-25 incidents across the country in the past week that it believed were connected with Gaza, including an arson attempt on a synagogue in north London on Sunday. London police are investigating the attack, in which suspects splashed flammable liquid on the door and set it on fire.

Community Security Trust spokesman Mark Gardner said that in another incident last week a gang of 15-20 youths walked along the main street in Golders Green, a largely Jewish neighborhood in north London, shouting "Jew" and "Free Palestine" at passers-by.

We will never stop until we avenge the death of all who are killed, injured, widowed and orphaned in Palestine and throughout the Islamic world," said Ayman al-Zawahiri in a new 10 minute audio recording released today on extreme Islamist web forums. The message is entitled "The Massacre in Gaza and the Siege of the Traitors".

He also vows to carry out al Qaeda's repeated threat that the United States will not live in peace until Palestine does. "We are at work to carry out the promise of our fighting sheikh Osama Bin Laden (may Allah protect him) who promised that America will not live in peace in their dreams before we live in peace in Palestine, and until all the forces of the infidels leave the lands of Muhammed," Zawahiri says.

The Army - Only a few troops, perhaps 1 percent, will actually direct aimed fire at the enemy with the intent to kill. These troops are treasured, and set apart, and called snipers. Armed robots will all be snipers. Stone-cold killers, every one of them. They will aim with inhuman precision and fire without human hesitation. They will not need bonuses to enlist or housing for their families or expensive training ranges or retirement payments.

Commanders will order them onto battlefields that would mean certain death for humans, knowing that the worst to come is a trip to the shop for repairs. The writing of condolence letters would become a lost art. No human army could withstand such an onslaught. Such an adversary would present the enemy with the simple choice of martyrdom or flight. So equipped, America's military would be irresistible in battle.

The U.S. Navy - A generation ago the Reagan administration brought World War II-era battleships out of mothballs to provide gunfire support to onshore operations. With a crew of more than 1,500, these ships were designed to be manned by the low-paid draftees of the 1940s, not the more amply rewarded volunteers of the 1980s. The Navy couldn't afford them, and the ships were soon returned to mothballs. In their place, the Navy came up with the new DDG-1000 Zumwalt destroyer, an automated warship with a crew of only 150.

The Air Force is also moving down this path. Long skeptical of UAVs, it has begun to embrace them as the future of air power. Piloted aircraft face fundamental limits of crew fatigue. Heavy bombers flying from the island base of Diego Garcia to Afghanistan would spend more than a dozen hours flying to and from the target area, leaving little time for loitering over it. In contrast, large bomber-size UAVs can spend days over the target. At some point in the next decade, the Air Force will begin replacing cockpits with robotic pilots.

The Institute for Supply Management's factory index fell to 32.4, below economists' forecasts and the lowest level since 1980, from 36.2 the prior month. Readings less than 50 signal contraction. The group's new-orders measure reached the lowest level on record and prices slid the most since 1949.

"Every component suggests that the weakness is going to carry over into 2009," Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. "There's just not a whole lot of new business coming in," and companies will have a "painful adjustment" as consumers shun spending.

Separate figures today showed business at European factories contracted in December by the most on record. Manufacturing declined in China for a fifth month in December, for an eighth month in the U.K., for a seventh month in Australia and at the fastest pace in at least 14 years in Sweden. The figures "confirm a sharp contraction in global investment, output and trade activity, consistent with the deepest global recession since at least the early 1980s," said Lena Komileva, head of market economics in London at Tullet Prebon Plc.

Earlier, he met politicians in Washington to discuss ways to boost the economy and create new jobs. US media reports say he is planning a stimulus package worth more than $800bn (£551bn), including $300bn of tax cuts.

Mr Obama has said he wants a plan that will create 3m jobs by 2011. The president-elect hopes to be able to enact the package shortly after his inauguration on 20 January. "The economy is very sick," he said. "We have to act and act now to break the momentum of this recession."

The US Labor department will release its December employment report on Friday and many economists are expecting the jobless figure to rise by 500,000, bringing the total US job losses for 2008 to about 2.5 million.

Mr Singh also accused Pakistan of "whipping up war hysteria" in what correspondents say may be the toughest comments yet by a senior Indian figure. On Monday, India said it had handed to Islamabad evidence that linked the attacks to "elements" in Pakistan.

Speaking to a meeting of the chief ministers of Indian states in Delhi, Mr Singh said that because of the "sophistication and military precision of the attack it must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan". He added: "Today, even as Pakistan engages in whipping up war hysteria, our nation remains steadfastly united and, if anything, the process of national consolidation is becoming stronger."

Mr Singh again criticised Pakistan's policies on tackling terrorism, saying it had "given sanctuary to terrorists and other forces who are antagonistic to India". He added: "The more fragile a government, the more it tends to act in an irresponsible fashion."

Gazprom said it was reducing supplies to compensate for the amount it says Ukraine has been siphoning off. Russia stopped supplying gas to Ukraine last week in a row over unpaid bills. A statement on Naftogaz's website lists nine countries, including Germany, Poland, and Hungary which, it says, will receive reduced supplies.

"Naftogaz of Ukraine considers that in such a case if European users receive less volumes of natural gas, all claims of the noted countries must be directed to Gazprom," says the statement. Moments later, Bulgaria's energy minister said Russian gas supplies to Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Macedonia had already been cut.

Pipes across Ukraine carry about one-fifth of the European Union's gas needs.

At Change.gov, under the heading "civil rights," Obama promises legal protection for "gender identity" and "gender expression"; expansion of "hate crime" statutes and homosexual adoption rights, repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, and repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" rule for military service.

Labeling homosexual behavior a civil right apparently trumps majority rule at the ballot box too. For example, in the November election, voters in California adopted Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment which defines "marriage" as the traditional union of one man and one woman. However, after the voters had spoken, homosexual activists started a statewide witch hunt, targeting the Mormon church, getting prominent supporters of traditional marriage fired and boycotting businesses whose owners had contributed to the "YES on 8" campaign. A skillful media campaign painted the voting majority bigots and the homosexual campaign to suppress democracy a defense of basic civil rights.

Labeling homosexuality a "civil right" also seems to trump everyone else's civil rights. Just as illegal aliens seem to have more "rights" than citizens do, HOMOSEXUALS CLAIM THEIR "CIVIL RIGHTS" PREVAIL OVER EVERYONE ELSE'S CIVIL RIGHTS.

You don't need a weather man to know which way this wind is blowing. CURRENT POLITICAL COMMENTARY IS LARGELY FOCUSED ON THE TRANSITION FROM A MARKET ECONOMY TO SOCIALISM. The transition from civil rights for all to privileged rights for the small but politically powerful homosexual left is just as important a "change you can believe in."

"The Lord said the economy of your nation will recover," Robertson told a group assembled at Founders Inn on the campus of Regent University in Virginia Beach, a university Robertson founded. Robertson said God also declared, "The steps taken will lead to a dramatic increase in the power of government. The people will welcome socialism in order to relieve their pain. Nothing will stand in the way of a plan by Obama to restructure the economy in the same fashion as the New Deal in the '30s."

In a follow-up interview he granted to Terry Meeuwsen, his co-host on CBN's The 700 Club, Robertson added, "It will be the largest transfer of power to Washington since the '30s. But people are willing to accept it because the pain has been so bad."

Not all of Robertson's predictions, however, are quite so rosy. Socialist policies and massive government spending, Robertson told Meeuwsen, could lead to heavy hyperinflation, sending prices through the roof and the value of the dollar through the floor. "The Lord said the dollar is going to go down dramatically," Robertson said in the interview. "If I'm hearing him right, gold will go to about $1900 dollars an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." As a result, Robertson warned, "People are not going to trust the United States any longer as the leader in financial matters."

The book, "The hard sell: EU communication policy and the campaign for hearts and minds" shows how EU information policy is geared not towards providing neutral, balanced information, but towards trying to convince people to support EU integration.

As well as a sophisticated information and communication strategy designed to 'sell' the EU and its political message, the EU also spends billions of euros a year on efforts to engender a common European culture and citizenship, with the explicit aim of increasing people's attachment to the EU project. 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.

Open Europe Director Lorraine Mullally was quoted saying, "Taxpayers should not be footing the bill for vain PR exercises to make us love the EU. The EU needs urgent and radical reform, not expensive campaigns to improve its image. People certainly need to know more about the EU, but the EU has proved unable and unwilling to provide neutral, factual information. This senseless spending on dubious PR projects has got to stop."

A worldwide study found pesticide levels in orange and lemon drinks sold under the Fanta brand, which is popular with children, WERE AT THEIR HIGHEST IN THE UK. The research team called on the Government, the industry and the company to act to remove the chemicals and called for new safety standards to regulate the soft drinks market. The industry denies children are at risk and insists that the levels found by researchers based at the University of Jaen in southern Spain are not harmful.

The researchers tested 102 cans and bottles of soft drinks, bought from 15 countries, for the presence of 100 pesticides. The UK products were bought in London, Cambridge, Edinburgh, St Andrews and at Gatwick Airport. The experts said the levels found were low under the maximum residue levels allowed for fruit, but they were 'very high' and 'up to 300 times' the figure permitted for bottled or tap water. The chemicals detected included carbendazim, thiabendazole, imazalil, prochloraz, malathion and iprodione. They are mainly applied to fruit after harvest to stop it developing fungal infections and rotting.

A total of 19 products were bought in the UK, all made by Coca-Cola. Two orange drinks bought in the UK contained imazalil at 300 times the limit permitted for a single pesticide in drinking water. Two similar products contained 98 times the legal drinking water limit for thiabendazole.

The company, whose brands include Royal Doulton, announced this morning that the Irish-listed company had been placed into receivership and that the bulk of its 10 UK subsidiaries would go into administration later today. The collapse leaves Sir Anthony O'Reilly, the media tycoon and the company's non-executive chairman, facing millions of pounds worth of losses.

Waterford Wedgwood has been forced to appoint a receiver, which it named as David Carson from Deloitte, the accountancy firm, after it missed a January 2 deadline to meet loan repayments. The company, which has net debts of €449 million, had been unable to raise €150 million of new equity it had sought in August.

It will also appoint administrators to the UK business later today, including Neville Kahn, the Deloitte partner charged with finding a buyer for Woolworths, which will see its remaining 200 stores close tomorrow after nearly 100 years of trading.

Parents complained after spotting that the doll was noticeably lighter than the on-screen Upsy Daisy, and blogs have appeared on the internet criticising the decision. Melanie, a 43-year-old mother of one, wrote on her blog 'Melanie's Daily Blurb': "When I saw the doll I was shocked. Upsy Daisy is a black doll in the show, but the doll available for sale is not. I thought kudos to the BBC and Ragdoll Worldwide for their positive reflection of a multicultural society. Sadly that positively did not extend to their merchandising."

An online petition also called for parents to boycott the dolls saying: "Upsy Daisy is black! Kids don't want a watered down white version, they want the real thing."

Ragdoll was co-founded in 1984 by Anne Wood, a former teacher and magazine publisher. It has made a string of hits for children including Rosie and Jim, Pobs Programme and Teletubbies. Teletubbies also courted controversy for Ragdoll productions with educationalists criticising the programme for encouraging young children to mimic the infantile sounds of its characters. Christian leaders also claimed TINKY WINKY WAS GAY BECAUSE HE CARRIED A HANDBAG.

These practices helped inflate their gains, as well as hedge fund managers' salaries and bonuses, in the past, but subsequently helped bring about the recent failure of many major hedge funds. At the heart of this is the distinction between realized gains and unrealized gains. Gains are realized when assets are liquidated into cash. For instance, if you buy a stock for $100 and it is currently trading at $200, you have made $100 in unrealized gains. If you sell it at $200, you have made $100 in realized gains. Most hedge funds do not regularly liquidate their entire portfolio, so THEY ALWAYS REPORT UNREALIZED GAINS TO THEIR INVESTORS AND TO THE PUBLIC.

Now comes the murkier part: Many assets — particularly those that unregulated hedge funds can trade — are not as liquid as stocks, and so they do not always have a definite price on the market. Since a fund reports unrealized gains, it could easily get away with inflating profits. More specifically, the fund could use the most optimistic models to price its illiquid assets, which include mortgage-backed securities and other swaps. After all, economists disagree about how to value these assets, so the fund is not necessarily dishonest in its assessment.

BY DESIGN, HEDGE FUNDS MOST BENEFIT MANAGERS, rather than investors. Since the liquidation of assets always results in slippage — the more that is sold, the worse the price — MANAGERS FOR EVERY HEDGE FUND ALWAYS GET THE "BEST" 20% OF THE PROFIT.

Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza, with reports by unnamed Palestinian sources of Israeli tanks moving towards the southern town of Khan Younis. The Israeli military said it carried out 30 air strikes overnight. Targets included a mosque, smuggling tunnels and the homes of Hamas leaders.

The Palestinians said there had also been clashes in the east, near the Israeli border. Earlier, Israeli forces took up positions in the north on either side of Gaza City. The BBC's Tim Franks on the Israeli-Gaza border says that tens of thousands of Israeli reservists, and hundreds more tanks, are assembled on the border with Gaza. Israel says its intentions are to suppress Palestinian militant rocket attacks, which have killed five Israelis since the start of the campaign. Our correspondent says militant rocket fire has dwindled, for the time being, with just five missiles launched overnight.

Mr Sarkozy's Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, is part of an EU delegation, which has already been in Cairo. It is headed by the Czech Foreign Minister, Karel Schwartzenberg, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, and includes EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. After talks with Egypt's foreign minister, the EU appealed for an end to both Israel's shelling of Gaza and Palestinian militant rocket attacks on Israel.