US intelligence fears the Kremlin will supply the sophisticated S-300 system to Tehran if Washington pushes through Nato membership for its pro-Western neighbours Georgia and Ukraine. The proposed deal is causing huge alarm in the US and Israel as the S-300 can track 100 targets at once and fire on planes up to 75 miles away.

That would make it a "game-changer", greatly improving Iranian defences against any air strike on its nuclear sites, according to Pentagon adviser Dan Goure. "This is a system that scares every Western air force," he said. Senior US intelligence operatives believe that Russia is planning to use a stand-off over the S-300 to create a foreign policy showdown that would test the mettle of a new US president.

"The message from Moscow is very clear," said George Friedman, director of Stratfor, a leading US private intelligence agency. "They are saying if you don't stop meddling in our sphere of influence, this is what we are going to do. Back Georgia and Ukraine for Nato membership and you'll see the S-300 go to Iran. It is a very powerful bargaining chip and a major deterrent to US actions in the region. Moscow is playing very strategically on America's obsession with Iran."

Critics of the Large Hadron Collider - a £4.4 billion machine due to be switched on in ten days time - have lodged a lawsuit at the European Court for Human Rights against the 20 countries, including the UK, that fund the project. The device is designed to replicate conditions that existed just a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, and its creators hope it will unlock the secrets of how the universe began.

However, opponents fear the machine, which will smash pieces of atoms together at high speed and generate temperatures of more than a trillion degrees centigrade, MAY CREATE A MINI-BLACK HOLE THAT COULD TEAR THE EARTH APART. Scientists involved in the project have dismissed the fears as "absurd" and insist that extensive safety assessments on the 17 mile long particle accelerator have demonstrated that it is safe.

The legal battle comes as the European Nuclear Research Centre (CERN), in Geneva, prepares to send the first beam of particles around the machine at the official switch on, on September 10, although it will be several weeks before the first particles are collided together.

Professor Otto Rössler, a German chemist at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen who is one of the most vocal opponents of the LHC and was one of the scientists who submitted the complaint to the court, said: "CERN ITSELF HAS ADMITTED THAT MINI BLACK HOLES COULD BE CREATED WHEN THE PARTICLES COLLIDE, BUT THEY DON'T CONSIDER THIS A RISK."

"My own calculations have shown that it is quite plausible that these little black holes survive and will grow exponentially and eat the planet from the inside. I have been calling for CERN to hold a safety conference to prove my conclusions wrong but they have not been willing. We submitted this application to the European Court of Human Rights as WE DO NOT BELIEVE THE SCIENTISTS AT CERN ARE TAKING ALL THE PRECAUTIONS THEY SHOULD BE IN ORDER TO PROTECT HUMAN LIFE."

Demonstrators filled the capital's historic Zocalo Square, holding candles and pictures of kidnap victims and bearing signs that read, "Enough Is Enough". People marched in cities throughout the country, including along the U.S.-Mexico border where increasingly brazen drug gangs are battling each other for control of smuggling routes. MORE THAN 2,300 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED IN DRUG MURDERS THIS YEAR.

Long used to violent crime, Mexicans were nevertheless outraged by the kidnapping and murder of Fernando Marti, 14, whose body was found in a car trunk in Mexico City on August 1, even though his businessman father had paid a ransom. Mexico is one of the worst countries in the world for abductions, along with conflict zones like Iraq and Colombia.

Protester Manuel Ramirez, 50, who has not seen his daughter Monica since she was kidnapped in 2004, complained that criminals were becoming bolder. "They are more bloodthirsty, they make their victims disappear, they mutilate them, they cut their ears off just as in the case of my daughter. We do not know where she is," Ramirez said.

The epicenter of Saturday's quake, which struck around 4:30 p.m. (3:30 a.m. EDT), was about 20 miles southeast of Panzhihua, near Sichuan's border with Yunnan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was about 6 miles deep.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 5.7, while China's official Xinhua news agency said it measured 6.1. Xinhua said the quake had injured 192 people, and three more were missing. It added that 656 schools had also been damaged and that heavy rain and difficult terrain were hampering rescue efforts, with mobile telephone communications patchy.

Parts of Sichuan province were devastated by an earthquake that killed about 70,000 people in May. The province, known for its pandas and fiery cuisine, has struggled to rebuild after the disaster, which left 10 million people homeless.

The market was set to reopen Tuesday after the Labor Day holiday, COMMENCING WHAT IS TRADITIONALLY A TREACHEROUS MONTH. "Many investors believe October is the worst month for equity market returns. This can be partly attributable to the fact some large one-day declines have occurred in October," said David Templeton of the financial website Seeking Alpha.

"While economic growth seems to be in the minds of everybody, I still worry about inflation," he said. "The trend is clearly upwards and will continue to remain on that path if the Federal Reserve continues to be as irresponsible as it has been until now." Corporate profits will be squeezed by the combination of soft growth and high inflation, the economist argued.

"How long can a business keep prices constant when facing an almost 10 percent increase in the price of its inputs?" he asked.

Mayor Ray Nagin gave the mandatory order late Saturday, but all day residents took to buses, trains, planes and cars - clogging roadways leading away from New Orleans, still reeling three years after Hurricane Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city and killed about 1,600 across the region. The evacuation of New Orleans becomes mandatory at 8 a.m. Sunday along the vulnerable west bank of the Mississippi River, and at noon on the east bank. Nagin called Gustav the "mother of all storms" and told residents to "get out of town. This is not the one to play with."

Gustav had already killed more than 80 people in the Caribbean, and if current forecasts hold up, it would make landfall Monday afternoon somewhere between East Texas and western Mississippi. Forecasters warned it was too soon to say whether New Orleans would take another direct hit, but residents weren't taking any chances judging by the bumper-to-bumper traffic pouring from the city. Gas stations along interstate highways were running out of fuel, and phone circuits were jammed.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said they were surprised at how quickly Gustav gained strength as it slammed into Cuba's tobacco-growing western tip. It went from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane in about 24 hours, and was likely to become a Category 5 - with sustained winds of 156 mph or more - by Sunday. "That puts a different light on our evacuations and hopefully that will send a very clear message to the people in the Gulf Coast to really pay attention," said Federal Emergency Management Agency chief David Paulison.

Update:- JR/News - NEW ORLEANS — Police with bullhorns plan to go street to street this weekend with a tough message about getting out ahead of Hurricane Gustav: This time there will be no shelter of last resort. The doors to the Superdome will be locked. Those who stay will be on their own.

The water in the basin, which irrigates Australia's food bowl, has been over-allocated. Farmers all along the Murray-Darling have purchased and were promised water allocations that the river system simply can no longer sustain. A 20% reduction in rainfall leads to a 70% reduction in stream flow.

Since the Murray-Darling runs through four states - New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia - each one has fought hard for its share of the water, often at the expense of the needs of neighbouring states. Naked self-interest has often reigned. It was not until 2007 that the Howard government decided to take national charge of the river system.

"It's been a disaster," according to the global warming activist and best-selling author, Professor Tim Flannery. "We managed to unify the railways shortly after federation but it's taken us a century to do anything about water. And it's still extremely difficult because the water in those river systems is over-allocated, it's a 130% allocation, and that was in a good year. So when we're facing a really serious water deficit, there just isn't any water any more."

Father Larry Snyder said this in response to statistics released Tuesday by the United States Census Bureau, which revealed that 800,000 more people are living in poverty in the United States this year. "IT IS UNACCEPTABLE THAT IN A NATION THAT IS AS PROSPEROUS AS OURS THAT 37.3 MILLION PEOPLE, INCLUDING 13.3 MILLION CHILDREN, CONTINUE TO LIVE IN POVERTY," Father Snyder said. "At 12.5%, the poverty rate indicates that reducing poverty is not a priority for this nation."

The priest said his organization and its member agencies serve nearly 8 million needy people a year. "The poverty rate is not just another economic statistic," he said. "This unacceptable figure represents the millions of families we see each and every day who are struggling just to make ends meet." FATHER SNYDER AFFIRMED THAT THE DOWNTURN IN THE U.S. ECONOMY HAS WORSENED THE SITUATION.

Since the onset of the credit crunch last year, Merrill has suffered after-tax losses of more than $14bn as its balance sheet has been savaged by almost $52bn in writedowns and credit-related losses.

A few of them wear the black kneesocks and tasseled tie belt of the Belzer Hassidic sect, while others are American youths, students from the Mir Yeshiva. Occasionally they are joined by Gerer Hassidim, and of course national-religious Jews, with their crocheted skullcaps. Only after a thorough check of the worshipers' bags, to make sure they contain no prayer books, prayer shawls or phylacteries, do the police allow them to enter the Temple Mount compound.

This unusual "coalition," which has been visiting the mount at least once a week for years, is defined in the ultra-Orthodox world as somewhere between eccentric and untouchable, BUT PRIMARILY AS REBELLING AGAINST A HALAKHIC PROHIBITION STATING THAT TODAY THERE IS THEORETICALLY NO GREATER SIN THAN ENTERING THE TEMPLE MOUNT; that anyone who violates this ruling is doomed to an untimely death.

In recent years the circle of those rebelling against that ruling is growing. Last month Rabbi Moshe Tendler, the son-in-law of the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, considered the greatest "decider" (posek) of halakha (Jewish law) among American Jewry in the last generation, visited the Temple Mount accompanied by members of the Temple Mount Institute. Tendler expressed his solidarity with the ultra-Orthodox group, which does not heed the ruling, but rather believes, like many national-religious halakhists, that certain parts of the mount are permissible to Jews today; areas that are not part of the original Temple Mount, and which the Temple did not occupy.

In the ultra-Orthodox world there is absolutely no tolerance for anyone who violates the prohibition against visiting the Temple Mount. Tendler, who openly visited the mount, has been roundly censured. About 20 years ago the Belz Hassidic Elboim family, which founded the Movement for Establishing the Temple faced similar responses, but continues to visit the Temple Mount every week.

Maariv's veteran political reporter Ben Caspit stops short of detailing the precise solution Israel will implement to put an end to Iran's nuclear program, but writes, "PREPARATIONS FOR AN ISRAELI MILITARY OPTION INTENDED TO STOP IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM ARE UNDERWAY."

The results of the series of highest-level discussions are thus clear: "The debate between those who believe in doing everything, including a military operation, to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, and those who think we can live with Iranian nukes, has been settled." Not only that, but "if the ayatollahs' regime does not fall in the next year, if the Americans do not strike militarily, and if the international sanctions do not break the Iranian nuclear plan, ISRAEL WILL HAVE TO ACT FORCEFULLY."

The specter of Gustav and the danger it poses to the Gulf Coast grows this weekend as the nation marked the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina Friday, regarded as one of the most destructive natural disasters in U.S. history. As Expert Senior Meteorologist John Kocet explained, "This storm will be destructive. Where it goes will determine whether it knocks down trees and floods bayous, or whether it destroys communities."

In addition to the potential destruction on land, Gustav will have a major impact on oil and natural gas operations in the Gulf, as well as refining operations along the Gulf Coast. Shell and BP are working toward a full evacuation of assets in the Gulf. ExxonMobil has initiated evacuation of nonessential personnel and is "prepared to evacuate remaining personnel from offshore facilities safely in advance of the storm." Fears of Gustav have caused hikes in global crude prices and wholesale gasoline prices in the Gulf region. Analysts say the storm could send pump prices back over $4 a gallon.

According to Bloomberg News, GULF COAST STATES CONTAIN 56 OPERABLE REFINERIES THAT ACCOUNT FOR ALMOST HALF OF THE U.S. REFINING CAPACITY. There is strong potential that Hanna will move around the bottom of a high pressure area currently over the East, through the Straits of Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, where it could become another major hurricane later next week.

UPDATE:-THE MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS HAS ISSUED A MANDATORY EVACUATION ORDER FOR THE ENTIRE CITY, as Hurricane Gustav bears down on the US Gulf Coast. Ray Nagin said residents of the city's West Bank should begin moving out at 0800 (1300 GMT) on Sunday, with the East Bank leaving at midday (1700 GMT).
He called it "the storm of the century" and added: "You need to be scared". Gustav, which is forecast to strengthen to a CATEGORY 5 STORM over the Gulf, powered through western Cuba overnight. "ANYONE WHO'S THINKING OF STAYING - RETHINK IT, GET OUT OF TOWN"

HURRICANE CATEGORIES
•FIVE: Winds over 155mph (249km/h). Storm surge more than 18ft (5.4m) above normal. Only three such US landfall hurricanes - Labour Day 1935, Camille 1969 and Andrew 1992
•FOUR: Winds 131-155mph. Storm surge 13-18ft
•THREE: Winds 111-130mph. Storm surge 9-12ft. Katrina hit New Orleans as a three.
•TWO: Winds 96-110mph. Storm surge 6-8ft
•ONE: Winds 74-95mph. Storm surge 4-5ft

Integrity Bank, with $1.1 billion in assets and $974 million in deposits, was shuttered by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Regions Financial Corp., Alabama's biggest bank, will assume all deposits from Integrity, which was run by Integrity Bancshares Inc. The failed bank's five offices will open on Sept. 2 as branches of Regions, the FDIC said. "Depositors will continue to be insured with Regions Bank so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance," the FDIC said.

BANKS ARE BEING CLOSED AT THE FASTEST PACE IN 14 YEARS as financial companies report more than $505 billion in writedowns and credit losses since 2007. California lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc., which had $32 billion in assets, was closed July 11 in the third-largest bank seizure, contributing to a 14 percent drop in the U.S. deposit insurance fund that had $45.2 billion at the end of the second quarter.

Regions will buy about $34.4 million in assets and will pay the FDIC a premium of 1.01 percent to assume the failed bank's deposits, the FDIC said. The FDIC estimates the cost of the Integrity failure to its deposit-insurance fund will be $250 million to $300 million.

The chancellor has been criticised for sending contradictory signals over possible measures to assist homebuyers, particularly the prospect of a temporary suspension of stamp duty on home purchases. He also faced a backlash over the abolition of the 10 pence tax rate. In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Darling said Labour had to rediscover its "zeal" if it wanted to be re-elected for a fourth term. But he admitted that was "a huge problem for us at the moment".

THE CHANCELLOR'S REMARKS COME AFTER A SUMMER OF UNREMITTINGLY BAD ECONOMIC NEWS. House prices are falling at their fastest rate in 18 years, leading to fears of a wave of repossessions. Mortgage lending has slowed dramatically due to the credit crunch while key indicators have suggested that the economy could be poised to go into recession. The economy showed no growth in the second quarter of the year while building firms and retailers have laid off thousands of staff amid fears that the economy will deteriorate further. A member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee said on Friday that radical action was needed to ensure the crisis did not get worse and warned of a sharp rise in unemployment.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne said: "WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH AT THE TOP OF GOVERNMENT? The prime minister says the economic situation isn't as bad people think and that Britain is well placed to weather the economic storm but the chancellor says we are at a 60-year low. Gordon Brown has briefed out stories that he has an economic recovery plan all worked out, meanwhile the chancellor says the downturn will be more profound and long-lasting than people thought. It's not clear whether Alistair Darling meant to tell us the truth about the mess 10 years of a Labour government has left our economy in, but he has certainly let the cat out of the bag."

Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister, spoke in the wake of attacks against Christians in India that have left at least 13 people dead this week. Mamberti, addressing a conference in northern Italy, said RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WAS A VITAL PART OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND HUMAN DIGNITY. In order to promote this dignity in an integral way, so-called 'Christianophobia' should be combated as decisively as 'Islamophobia' and anti-Semitism," he said.

This week in eastern India, thousands of people, most of them Christians, have sought shelter in makeshift government camps, driven from their homes by religious violence. Hindu mobs burnt more than a dozen churches and attacked Christians after a Hindu leader was killed. Mamberti said the events in India made the issue of religious liberty today all the more pressing.