"We must not - we cannot - become a two-tiered alliance of those willing to fight and those who are not," Gates told the Munich Conference on Security Policy, where Afghanistan was a central topic.

"Such a development, with all its implications for collective security, would effectively destroy the alliance," he added. Washington has had innumerable disputes with its NATO allies in the 59 years since it was founded as a bulwark against the former Soviet Union. But today's debate over the importance of the mission in Afghanistan and how to accomplish it was portrayed by Gates as among the most difficult ever. A central theme of Gates' speech was his assertion that al-Qaida extremists, either in Afghanistan or elsewhere, pose a greater threat to Europe than many Europeans realize.

Pulling out of the war ranked first among proposed remedies in the survey, followed by spending more on domestic programs, cutting taxes and, at the bottom end, giving rebates to poor people in hopes they'll spend the economy into recovery. The $168 billion economic rescue package Congress rushed to approval this week includes rebates of $600 to $1,200 for most taxpayers, the hope being that they will spend the money and help revive ailing businesses.

The cost of the war in Iraq as of today is $493,211,053,000. - which is $275 million per day.

For update - go to:-http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home

Floods triggered by heavy rain killed eight people in two districts in East Java over the past two days, said Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's crisis centre. Several areas in Jakarta, where flooding killed five people this month, were under water on Sunday. Indonesia suffers heavy flooding and landslides every rainy season. Rain and floods forced about 100,000 Jakarta residents from their homes early this month and brought the city to a standstill.

The Salah-a-Din faction, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, claimed responsibility for three Kassam rockets, and the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rest. Israeli security forces have reported at least 17 rocket strikes on Friday, with at least 12 landing in Sderot, and one striking a green house in the western Negev. A number of people have been treated for shock as a result of the attacks.

On Thursday, some 20 Kassam rockets pounded the western Negev. One rocket struck a direct hit on a garage adjacent to a home in Sderot, setting it ablaze and sending three people into shock.

"It looked like a baby doll," said David Harmon, a firefighter who had already combed the field once looking for survivors. Then he checked for a pulse. "He was laying there motionless ... and he took a breath of air and started crying."

The field had already been combed once for survivors, and finding anyone alive seemed improbable. Hours after the storm, there was devastation everywhere: The body of the boy's mother was found in the same field, houses were wiped to concrete slabs and a brick post office was blown to bits. But except for a few scrapes, Kyson was fine.

At a press conference held in midtown Manhattan, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose charitable organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies, contributed $2 million to conduct the study, joined top WHO officials to present the findings. Among the litany of sobering statistics: 5.4 million people die each year - one every six seconds - from lung cancer, heart disease or other illness directly linked to tobacco use.

Smoking killed 100 million people in the 20th century, and the yearly death toll could pass 8 million as soon as 2030 - 80% of those deaths will be in the developing world, where tobacco use is growing most rapidly. "We're on a collision course," said Dr. Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative.

The researchers said that past studies showing the benefits of ethanol in combating climate change have not taken into account almost certain changes in land use worldwide if ethanol from corn ? and in the future from other feedstocks such as switchgrass ? become a prized commodity.

"Using good cropland to expand biofuels will probably exacerbate global warming," concludes the study published in Science magazine.

The researchers said that farmers under economic pressure to produce biofuels will increasingly "plow up more forest or grasslands," releasing much of the carbon formerly stored in plants and soils through decomposition or fires. Globally, more grasslands and forests will be converted to growing the crops to replace the loss of grains when U.S. farmers convert land to biofuels, the study said.

Al-Masri, a one-eyed, hook-handed preacher, already is imprisoned in Britain for inciting racial hatred at his North London mosque. His legal team has 14 days to appeal the decision. If he does not appeal, he could be handed over to U.S. authorities within 28 days. A Home Office representative said it is likely Al-Masri will appeal the decision, but they have heard nothing from his lawyers. Al-Masri, who lost both hands and one eye working in Afghanistan, is the highest-profile radical Islamic figure in Britain.

He formerly preached at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London. His followers included the so-called "shoe bomber" Richard Reid -- who was convicted of trying to light a bomb in his shoes on a trans-Atlantic flight -- and Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person to be charged in the United States in connection with the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. The Egyptian-born cleric began serving a seven-year prison sentence in 2006 after being convicted in a British court of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred. But he is also facing 11 terrorism-related charges in the United States, which has promised to press for his extradition when British law allows.

Both non-Muslims and Muslims have condemned al-Masri's preaching, which include praising the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, calling al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden a hero, and describing the 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster as punishment from Allah because the astronauts were Christian, Hindu and Jewish.

In the letter, obtained by Reuters, Ackman said bond insurers in recent years have become a means for banks to avoid reporting their full credit exposure and make their capital ratios appear stronger, but that banks should be forced to own up to their full credit risk.

"We understand that the banking industry counterparties to the bond insurers would prefer to avoid taking these risks back on balance sheet -- particularly at a time when their balance sheets are strained by subprime and other losses that have not been hedged," Ackman wrote, adding that "there are no such free lunches available in the capital markets."

In a speech to The Guardian Public Services Summit in St Albans, Hertfordshire, Mr Clegg will say: "Britain has become the true Prozac Nation. I believe this trend has gone too far. "We must cut the number of anti-depressants prescribed by doctors. Pills must not be a crutch for the wider issues in our society which cause mental health problems."

More than 31 million prescriptions for drugs such as Prozac were issued in England in 2006 after an almost continuous rise over the last 10 years.

Dr Rowan Williams said the UK had to "face up to the fact" some citizens did not relate to the British legal system. Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said such moves would create "social chaos." The Muslim Council of Britain said it was a complex issue in need of debate, but stressed it would only involve a "small aspect" of the law.

Gordon Brown's spokesman said the prime minister "believes that British laws should be based on British values". He added that Mr Brown had a good relationship with the archbishop, who was perfectly entitled to express his views. Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said: "To ask us to fundamentally change the rule of law and to adopt Sharia law, I think, is fundamentally wrong."

Ibrahim Mogra, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "We're looking at a very small aspect of Sharia for Muslim families when they choose to be governed with regards to their marriage, divorce, inheritance, custody of children and so forth. "Let's debate this issue. It is very complex. It is not as straight forward as saying that we will have a system here."

"We had decided that money is money and we'll take it and just do the exchange whenever we can with our bank," Robert Chu, owner of East Village Wines, told Reuters television.The increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York with money to burn and looking to take advantage of hugely favorable exchange rates.

"We didn't realize we would take so much in and there were that many people traveling or having euros to bring in. But some days, you'd be surprised at how many euros you get," Chu said."Now we have to get familiar with other currencies and the (British) pound and the Canadian dollars we take," he said.

While shops in many U.S. towns on the Canadian border have long accepted Canadian currency and some stores on the Texas-Mexico border take pesos, the acceptance of foreign money in Manhattan was unheard of until recently.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said that it deplored the decision and accused the government of caving in to "unreasonable demands spearheaded by the Tory leader". Muhammad Abdul Bari, the secretary-general of the MCB, said that Dr al-Qaradawi enjoyed respect as a scholar throughout the Muslim world. "I am afraid this decision will send the wrong message to Muslims everywhere about the state of British society and culture," he said

"Britain has had a long and established tradition of free speech, debate and intellectual pursuit. These principles are worth defending, especially if we would like to see them spread throughout the world." The British Muslim Initiative (BMI) described the decision to bar al-Qaradawi, an "eminent scholar", as "an unwarranted insult to British Muslims" Muhammad Sawalha, the BMI president, said: "We would have to go as far back as the medieval age when scholars were hounded and vilified in order to find a similar retrograde decision."

The cleric last visited the UK in 2004, where he was welcomed by Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, and chaired the annual meeting of the European Council of Fatwa and Research at London's City Hall. His visit prompted protests from Jewish groups and gay people, who regard him as anti-Semitic and homophobic. He has called for the death penalty for homosexuality and the destruction of the state of Israel.

In the same year, the cleric defended suicide attacks on Israelis during a BBC interview, saying: "It's not suicide, it is martyrdom in the name of God." He added that it did not matter if women and children were the victims of such attacks. The cleric is also said to preach that husbands should beat disobedient wives.

Analysts had widely predicted the move, which followed recent cuts in the US where the Federal Reserve had slashed its borrowing costs to 3% from 4.25%. However, the Bank of England signalled it was unlikely to be as aggressive because of fears over rising prices. The Bank said it needed to ensure that growth and inflation were balanced.

"Inflation at 2.1% in December was close to the 2% target, but higher energy and food prices are expected to raise inflation, possibly quite sharply, in the coming months," the Bank's statement said. "The Committee needs to balance the risk that a sharp slowing in activity pulls inflation below target in the medium-term against the risk that elevated inflation expectations keep inflation above target," it added.

British Chambers of Commerce economic adviser David Kern said, "Threats to growth are much more acute now than risks of higher inflation, and we would have welcomed a bold UK move to 5% today,"

Dr Williams told BBC Radio 4's World at One that the UK has to "face up to the fact" that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system. He says Muslims should not have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty". Dr Williams argues that establishing Sharia law in some circumstances would help maintain social cohesion. He proposes that Muslims be able to choose whether to have issues like marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in Sharia-compliant proceedings or the existing legal system.

Last month, one of Dr William's colleagues, the Bishop of Rochester, said that non-Muslims may find it hard to live or work in some areas of the UK. The Right Reverend Dr Michael Nazir-Ali said there was "hostility" in some areas and described the government's multicultural policies as divisive. He said there had been a worldwide resurgence of Islamic extremism, leading to young people growing up alienated from the country they lived in. He has since received death threats and has been placed under police protection.