Japan's benchmark Nikkei index plunged 1.5% in the first minute of trading. South Korean shares dropped by around 5%, with Sydney's market continuing its longest losing streak for 26 years, down 7.1% on the day at the close. In Bombay, India's main index fell 9.75% within minutes, triggering an automatic one-hour halt in trading.

The loss in Indian shares came after a fall of 7.41% on Monday, the Sensex's worst day ever. India's Finance Minister P Chidambaram has urged the Indian investors to "remain calm" and advised them to "stay invested".

In Japan, during Tokyo's morning trading session, stocks tumbled more than 4%, hitting new two-year lows. In China, the main Shanghai Composite Index fell more than 5% in early trade, while markets in Taiwan saw similar falls. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was also down more than 5% by mid-morning. The decline continued a worrying start to 2008 for Asia's markets. So far this year, Japan's Nikkei has dropped 13%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down more than 14% and China's main Shanghai index has slipped almost 7%.

Opposition MPs said the Home Secretary had made an "admission of failure" to the millions of shift-workers who have no option but to brave the threat of violence. Aides of Miss Smith compounded her gaffe with a desperate attempt to undo the damage by claiming she had recently popped out in the evening to "buy a kebab in Peckham". In fact, she has round-the-clock police protection.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "This is an astonishing admission by the Home Secretary. IT IS SHAMEFUL YOU CAN WALK THE STREETS OF NEW YORK, TOKYO, PARIS AND BERLIN SAFELY AT NIGHT, BUT NOT THE STREETS OF LONDON." And Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather said the Home Secretary was "out of touch". "Instead of putting large amounts of money into an ID scheme which is not going to tackle crime, I think they should be putting that money into getting more police on the streets."

The controversy raged as Ministry of Justice figures revealed the steep rise in the number of under-18s convicted or cautioned over violent offences. Total offences FOR TEN-TO-17-YEAR OLDS climbed steadily from 184,474 in 2003 to 222,750 in 2006, the last year for which figures are available - a rise of 21 per cent. But the increase in violent offending was steeper, while ROBBERIES ROSE EVEN MORE DRAMATICALLY, UP 43 PER CENT OVER THE THREE YEARS.

By contrast, ADULT CONVICTIONS and cautions increased by LESS THAN ONE PER CENT. More than HALF OF YOUNG OFFENDERS were let off with cautions, where they admitted their offence but were spared a court appearance and WERE NOT PUNISHED.

FAIR TRIAL GROUPS ATTACK EU PRISON PLAN - THE TELEGRAPH reports that fair trial campaigners have given warning that there will be miscarriages of justice under EU plans to hand over Britons tried and convicted in absentia by foreign courts. Britain does not convict people or hold trials in their absence but many EU countries, including Belgium, France, Spain Greece and Italy, do so on a regular basis.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BREAKS OWN RULES TO STIFLE DEBATE ON LISBON TREATY - IN THE TELEGRAPH Dan Hannan MEP describes how THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BROKE ITS OWN RULES AND PROCEDUREs this week by stopping a group of MEPs from speaking in opposition to the Lisbon Treaty. Hannan suggests that "By refusing to countenance any opposition, the European Parliament has put itself morally in the wrong. And, by failing to follow its own procedures, it has put itself legally in the wrong."

BLAIR FOR PRESIDENT? - In an article in Le Monde former French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur argues that "Tony Blair cannot be President of Europe". He says, "The President of the Union must fulfill two conditions: he/she must come from a country which adheres completely to the progress of the Union and ---participates in all its forms of cooperation; they must be determined to build, notably in the diplomatic and military field, Europe's independence". Europe must move forward, in order to be more present in the diplomatic and military field, but in a way that is independent from the US". He said that it was vital that the President "comes from a country which respects all European commitments."

REVISED EU CONSTITUTION WILL GO AHEAD - EVEN IF A COUNTRY FAILS TO RATIFY - Le Figaro reports - During his speech to the French Assembly yesterday Valery Giscard d'Estaing criticised the fact that the Lisbon Treaty is "practically impossible" to read. Comparing the Treaty to the original Constitution, he said, "the content is very close, but the presentation is different. You can't say that the treaty is simplified, because it's longer than the one before." He also said that if one or more countries does not ratify the Constitution, "that will not prevent the adoption of the text. THAT IS WHEN THESE COUNTRIES WILL HAVE TO ASK FOR A SPECIAL STATUS OR LEAVE" THE EU.

FRENCH CONSTITUTION REVISED - Le Figaro reports - The French Assembly yesterday voted in favour of amending the French Constitution to allow for ratification of the revised EU Constitution. 95 Socialist MPs abstained, 51 voted against and 8 voted in favour.

MPS PUT DOWN A REFERENDUM AMENDMENT ON LISBON TREATY BILL - THE Guardian reports - A cross party group of 20 MPs led by Labour member Ian Davidson has put down an amendment to the Lisbon Treaty bill which notes that all the main parties supported in 2005 a referendum on the Treaty. Davidson is quoted in the Guardian saying "The more amendments and discussion, the more likely people are to come our way. This is the opening clash in [a] war, rather than being the battle."

EU BIOFUEL TARGET COSTS 'WILL OUTWEIGH BENEFITS' - EUobserver FT - The Commission's own scientists have said that an EU plan to increase use of biofuels to 10% of all transport fuel use should be rejected, according to the FT. The unpublished study by the Joint Research Centre, argues that "The costs [of the target] will almost certainly outweigh the benefits. The uncertainty is too great to say whether the EU 10% biofuel target will save greenhouse gas or not," it adds. The report suggests that the transport target be scrapped.

This will create an EU wide set of laws that will govern how electronic communications, including e-mail, SMS, fax and websites operate in the UK. It is also intended that this LATEST POWER GRAB WILL BUILD UPON THE POWERS THE EU ALREADY HAS over radio frequencies and their allocation.

The EU is also seeking to take power over the delivery of television to mobile phones with the aim of limiting technological competition allowing the European Commission to pick winners and control Britain's mobile spectrum rather than leaving the communications operators free to determine how the spectrum is used.

Weighing just under 300 kilograms, the TecSar was developed by the IAI's Space Division MBT and has the ability to create images of objects on Earth day and night, even in cloudy weather conditions - a capability not available in Israel's Ofek satellite series. The TecSar is reportedly capable of imaging with a resolution of up to 10 centimetres.

The Ofek 7 is a camera-based satellite, while TecSar is capable of creating high-resolution images using synthetic aperture radar, an advanced radar technology. Once in space, officials said, the TecSar would be by far the most advanced Israeli satellite. In addition to the Ofek 7, Eros B and the Amos 1 and 2 (both communication satellites), Israel operates the Ofek 5 spy satellite, successfully launched in May 2002. IAI plans to launch the Amos 3 in the coming months.

The decision to launch the missile from India was reached three years ago during a visit there by then-Defense Ministry director-general Amos Yaron. It is part of growing Indian-Israeli cooperation, which is scheduled to eventually lead to the launching of two more satellites.

The Prime Minister was accused by Opposition parties of "running scared" ahead of what is certain to be a tempestuous opening of Parliament's efforts to ratify the Lisbon Treaty.

But Mr Brown "regularly mocked by opponents for being absent at times of difficulty" will be on the last leg of a tour of the Far East, rather than leading his government in the Commons chamber. William Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said it was extraordinary that the Prime Minister had failed to ensure he would be present for the biggest Commons clash on Europe since the passage of the Maastricht Treaty in the early Nineties. His absence had echoes of his late signing of the Lisbon Treaty in December.

"Gordon Brown clearly knew when he decided to hold this vote on Monday night that he would be away at the time. It could just as easily have been held last week or later this week," Mr Hague said. "SO THE PRIME MINISTER WHO WAS PREPARED TO SIGN THE EU TREATY - BUT NOT IN FRONT OF THE CAMERAS - IS NOW THE PRIME MINISTER WHO WANTS TO RAM THE TREATY THROUGH PARLIAMENT - BUT NOT VOTE FOR IT HIMSELF."

The unprecedented rescue package paves the way for a takeover by Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson who said he is "ready and willing" to buy the ailing bank. Branson vows to net £5bn profit for taxpayers if Virgin plan is approved.

Critics point out that the scale of the rescue package is highly risky. In the event of a catastrophic downturn in the housing market, with Northern Rock mortgageholders defaulting on their debts, the taxpayer would be left seriously out of pocket.

Northern Rock was at the centre of the UK's first bank run in nearly 150 years last September after its borrowing costs soared in the credit crunch, forcing it into a Bank of England bail out.

Almost $31bn (£16bn) in write-downs, $9.2bn in charges, $22.6bn in quarterly losses. NUMBERS ALMOST TOO LARGE TO COMPREHEND but numbers which led, in part, to US stock markets experiencing their worst week's trading in five-and-a-half years. As Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan Chase, among others, informed the investment community just how badly they have been impacted by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, they had little choice but to get their begging bowls out again. The result: tens of billions of dollars in investments from government-backed funds which in recent months have usurped the Wall Street banks as the kingpins of global finance.

The cash infusions were not, however, enough to stem losses in the equity markets, with the S&P500 index falling 2.9pc in the space of little more than two hours on Thursday afternoon, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average, now off 14.5pc from its peak, touched a base level not seen since October 2006. The scale of the collapse in equities stemmed not just from disappointment at the banks' fourth-quarter results, but also from fears that the US economy is now entering what could prove to be A PROLONGED PERIOD OF ECONOMIC RECESSION.

I was struck yesterday by an observation of the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband. He said: "The reform treaty gives Britain a bigger voice in Europe." That seems to me to be the opposite of the truth. The reform or Lisbon treaty GIVES EUROPE A MUCH BIGGER VOICE IN BRITAIN. It follows the original constitutional treaty in giving the EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE NOT DEMOCRATICALLY ACCOUNTABLE important additional powers, while failing to repatriate any powers to the individual European nations. The people should be consulted when their powers of self-government are being given away.

The original constitutional convention was SUPPOSED TO REDUCE THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT OF EUROPE. The Lisbon treaty has done the opposite, taking powers away from the nations and their electorate. THE TREATY IS A DEFEAT FOR THE IDEA OF A LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC EUROPE. The Government's handling of the referendum issue has been shameful, because that, too, has been anti-democratic. They could not face any more referendums in Europe because they would lose them. In particular, they could not face a British referendum. THE BRITISH VOTERS DO NOT WANT TO HAND OVER MORE POWERS TO THE EUROPEAN FEDERALIST BUREAUCRACY; THEY WANT TO GET SOME OF THEM BACK.

There are many Eurosceptics who feel very angry, who feel betrayed. Voters would become more cynical about politicians, and might regard them all as untrustworthy. The young Eurosceptics are as angry as the older. In England there is a rising tide of nationalism responding in part to the success of the Scottish nationalists; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have had their devolutions, IN EACH CASE RATIFIED BY A REFERENDUM. I think the English would claim their own devolution from Europe if they were forced into a centralising treaty and denied their promised referendum.

Promising a referendum and then refusing it is a most dangerous policy for Mr Brown and the Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg. It is bad to break one's word - it is even worse to be found out.

Sentiment was undermined by sharp falls on Asian markets overnight as investors were left UNDERWHELMED by President Bush's package of measures aimed at stimulating the US economy. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slumped 5.5 per cent and the Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 3.9 per cent. David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index in London, said: "The lack of detail in Friday's proposals on how to provide stimulus for the US economy has done little to ease current negative sentiment for global financial markets."

UPDATE:- The stock market was in meltdown at lunchtime today as nearly £60 billion was wiped off London shares in THE BIGGEST CRASH SINCE 9/11. A combination of poor economic figures and the worsening global credit crunch sent the FTSE 100 plunging.

At one stage the drop was the biggest since 9/11 in 2001, although the index of Britain's biggest companies later clawed back some of the losses. The Footsie was down 250.1 points to 5647.8. That means the FTSE 100 has now FALLEN BY AROUND 10 PER CENT IN THE LAST 10 DAYS, by around 15 per cent over the last month and is well on the way to being off 20 per cent since its most recent high of 6754 in July - before the world's banking system was sent spiralling.

In early trade, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 2.4 per cent to 1,325.13, Frankfurt's Xetra Dax shed 3.1 per cent to 7,087.93, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 3.1 per cent to 4,933.39, and London's FTSE 100 sagged 2.4 per cent to 5,761.8.

The latest losses in Europe followed heavy falls in Asia as INVESTORS GAVE PRESIDENT BUSH'S STIMULUS PACKAGE A LUKEWARM RESPONSE. In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 slumped 3.9 per cent to a 27-month low of 13,325.94. The index has lost a quarter of its value in the past six months.

Financial shares bore the brunt of heavy losses with exporters also battered, while in Tokyo, stocks were also hit by a stronger yen. "NOBODY KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON," said Kyoya Okazawa, head of research at Credit Suisse in Tokyo. "THIS IS THE POWER OF FEAR PUSHING DOWN THE EQUITY MARKET."

In Tokyo, THE NIKKEI 225 slumped 3.9 per cent to close near a 27-month low of 13,325.94. THE INDEX HAS LOST A QUARTER OF ITS VALUE IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS.

Hong Kong stocks dropped 5.5 per cent. Australian stocks extended their losing run to an 11th straight session, falling 2.9 per cent. South Korea's Kospi shed 3 per cent and Singapore was down over 5 per cent in late afternoon trading.

To many in the West, talk of sharia law conjures up images of the floggings, stonings, amputations and beheadings carried out in hardline Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. However, the form practised in Britain is more mundane, focusing mainly on marriage, divorce and financial disputes.

The judgments of the courts have no basis in British law, and are therefore technically illegitimate - they are binding only in that those involved agree to comply. For British Muslims who are keen to follow Islam, this poses a dilemma. An Islamic marriage is not recognised by British law, and therefore many couples will have two ceremonies - civil for the state, and Islamic for their faith.

Dr Hasan is open in supporting the severe punishments meted out in countries where sharia law governs the country. "Even though cutting off the hands and feet, or flogging the drunkard and fornicator, seem to be very abhorrent, once they are implemented, they become a deterrent for the whole society. This is why in Saudi Arabia, for example, where these measures are implemented, the crime rate is very, very, low," he told The Sunday Telegraph.

In a documentary to be screened on Channel 4 next month, entitled 'Divorce: Sharia Style', Dr Hasan goes further, advocating a sharia system for Britain. "If sharia law is implemented, then you can turn this country into a haven of peace because once a thief's hand is cut off nobody is going to steal," he says. "Once, just only once, if an adulterer is stoned nobody is going to commit this crime at all. We want to offer it to the British society. If they accept it, it is for their good and if they don't accept it they'll need more and more prisons."

These sentiments, and the vast cultural gulf they expose, alarm many in the West and go to the heart of the debate about the level of integration among Muslims living in Britain and their acceptance of British values.

FOR MUCH OF THE WORLD, THE UNITED STATES IS NOW ON SALE AT DISCOUNT PRICES. With credit tight, unemployment growing and worries mounting about a potential recession, American business and government leaders are courting foreign money to keep the economy growing. Foreign investors are buying aggressively, taking advantage of American duress and a weak dollar to snap up what many see as bargains, while making inroads to the world's largest market. Last year, foreign investors poured a record $414 billion into securing stakes in American companies, factories and other properties through private deals and purchases of publicly traded stock, according to Thomson Financial, a research firm.

During the first two weeks of this year, foreign businesses agreed to invest another $22.6 billion for stakes in American companies - more than half the value of all announced deals. If a recession now unfolds and the dollar drops further, THE PACE COULD ACCELERATE, economists say. The surge of foreign money has injected FRESH TENSION INTO A RUNNING DEBATE ABOUT AMERICA'S PLACE IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. It has supplied state governors with a new development strategy - attracting foreign money. AND IT HAS REINVIGORATED SOMETIMES JINGOISTIC WORRIES ABOUT FOREIGNERS SECURING CONTROL OF AMERICA'S FORTUNES, a narrative last heard in the 1980s as Americans bought up Hondas and Rockefeller Center landed in Japanese hands.

Some labor unions see the acceleration of foreign takeovers as the latest indignity wrought by globalization. "It's the culmination of a series of fool's errands," said Leo W. Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers. "We've hollowed out our industrial base and run up this massive trade deficit, and now the countries that have built the deficits are coming back to buy up our assets. It's like spitting in your face."

But even if political tension increases, so will the flow of foreign money, some analysts say, for the simple reason that businesses need it. "The forces sucking in this capital are much bigger than the political forces," said Mr. Garten, the Yale trade expert. "IF THERE IS A BIG CONTROVERSY, IT WILL BE BETWEEN WASHINGTON ON THE ONE HAND AND CORPORATE AMERICA ON THE OTHER. IN THAT CONTEST, THE FINANCIERS AND THE BUSINESSMEN ARE GOING TO WIN, AS THEY ALWAYS DO.

Indeed, it is said that the rest of the Church never allowed a Jesuit to be elected to the real papacy for fear of concentrating too much power in the hands of the order. On Saturday, Jan. 19, the Society of Jesus - the order's formal name - elected a new "black pope." The gathering of 217 Jesuit leaders in Rome chose little-known Father Adolfo Nicolas, 71, as their new "Superior General", a position which has historically been a lifetime posting. THE LEADER OF THE JESUITS HAS SWAY OVER A NETWORK OF PRIESTS, UNIVERSITIES, HOSPITALS AND OTHER MISSIONARY INSTITUTIONS AROUND THE GLOBE.

Following four years of study at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, he then returned to the Far East, with subsequent stints in the Philippines and Japan. Nicolas had spent the last three years running Jesuit operations in East Asia and Oceania, an administrative experience that will serve him in HIS NEW JOB OF MANAGING 20,000 PRIESTS ACROSS THE GLOBE.

But Nicolas' biography shares a striking parallel with another of his more recent predecessors. Pedro Arrupe, the charismatic and controversial Superior General from 1965 until 1983, was another Spaniard who rose up through the ranks in Japan before being chosen to lead the Jesuits. Arrupe's reign was marked by progressive challenges to the Church establishment, including clashes with both Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. THE JESUITS WERE ECLIPSED BY THE STAUNCHLY TRADITIONALIST OPUS DEI.

His successor, a low-key Dutch priest named Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, was credited with re-establishing a serene rapport with top Vatican officials. Last year, Pope Benedict XVI accepted Kolvenbach's unprecedented request to retire from what had always been a lifetime posting. The new black pope may find himself clashing with the regular Pope, WHO HAS REAFFIRMED THAT ULTIMATE AUTHORITY LIES WITH THE VATICAN.

Benedict implored the order to hold firm in Catholic tradition on matters of morality and sexuality. "It could prove extremely useful that the general congregation reaffirm, in the spirit of St. Ignatius, ITS OWN TOTAL ADHESION TO CATHOLIC DOCTRINE, in particular on those neuralgic points which today are strongly attacked by secular culture," the Pope said.

Historically, the Jesuits were THE SHOCK-TROOPS OF THE CHURCH AS IT FOUGHT THE REFORMATION, TERRORIZING PROTESTANT REGIMES from England to the Netherlands to Sweden.