Military operatives had only a 10-second window to hit the satellite - USA 193 - which lost control shortly after it was launched in December 2006. Officials said they were worried fuel on board could pose a threat to humans.
But Russia suspects the operation was a cover to test anti-satellite technology under the US missile defence programme. The US denies the operation was a response to an anti-satellite test carried out by China last year, which prompted fears of a space arms race.

The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says this operation was hugely ambitious - like trying to fire a missile through the eye of a needle. The operation went ahead hours after the space shuttle Atlantis landed, removing it as a safety issue for the military. The satellite - believed by some commentators to be a radar imaging reconnaissance satellite - was passing about 130 miles (210km) over the Pacific.

On Tuesday, a US State Department spokesman stressed that the action was meant to protect people from the hazardous fuel and was not a weapons test. The US government has also denied claims that the main aim of the operation was to destroy secret components on USA 193. Officials say classified parts would be burned up in the atmosphere and, in any case, that would not be a reason for shooting down the satellite.

Colin Cook, who formerly taught English at the King Fahad Academy in Acton, West London, told a tribunal how pupils as young as five were taught from Arabic textbooks describing Jews as "monkeys" and Christians as "pigs". Under public pressure, the academy agreed to destroy the books - but not before photocopying them for future use, he told the Watford tribunal.

He also claimed that headteacher Dr Sumaya Alyusuf had given a false assurance that the school did not use objectionable parts of the book. Dr Alyusuf said on BBC's Newsnight: "There are chapters from these books that are used and that will serve our objectives. But we don't teach hatred towards Judaism or Christianity - on the contrary." But Mr Cook told the tribunal: "I discovered that race hate was being taught in textbooks at the academy. The race hate included test questions asking pupils to list the reprehensible qualities of Jews and described Christians as 'pigs'. It was appalling."

Father-of-three Mr Cook, 58, of Feltham, is claiming unfair dismissal, race discrimination and victimisation, which the school denies. He was earning £35,000-a-year and is seeking £135,000 for lost earnings, injury to feelings and aggravated damages. The tribunal heard that pupils at the private Muslim faith school included the five children of jailed, hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza and those of Abu Qatada, alleged to be Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe.

"Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," says Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, 'The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness'. "Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave."

Rossiter says the kind of liberalism being displayed by the two major candidates for the Democratic Party presidential nomination can only be understood as a psychological disorder.

"A social scientist who understands human nature will not dismiss the vital roles of free choice, voluntary cooperation and moral integrity - as liberals do," he says. "A political leader who understands human nature will not ignore individual differences in talent, drive, personal appeal and work ethic, and then try to impose economic and social equality on the population - as liberals do. And a legislator who understands human nature will not create an environment of rules which over-regulates and over-taxes the nation's citizens, corrupts their character and reduces them to wards of the state - as liberals do."

Dr. Rossiter says the liberal agenda preys on weakness and feelings of inferiority in the population by:
- creating and reinforcing perceptions of victimization;
- satisfying infantile claims to entitlement, indulgence and compensation;
- augmenting primitive feelings of envy;
- rejecting the sovereignty of the individual, subordinating him to the will of the government.

"The roots of liberalism - and its associated madness - can be clearly identified by understanding how children develop from infancy to adulthood and how distorted development produces the irrational beliefs of the liberal mind," he says. "When the modern liberal mind whines about imaginary victims, rages against imaginary villains and seeks above all else to run the lives of persons competent to run their own lives, the neurosis of the liberal mind becomes painfully obvious."

Lunar eclipses have long been associated with superstitions and signs of ill omen, especially in battle. The defeat of the Persian king Darius III by Alexander the Great in the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC was foretold by soothsayers when the Moon turned blood-red a few days earlier.

And an eclipse is credited with saving the life of Christopher Columbus and his crew in 1504. Stranded on the coast of Jamaica, the explorers were running out of food and faced with increasingly hostile local inhabitants who were refusing to provide them with any more supplies. Columbus, looking at an astronomical almanac compiled by a German mathematician, realised that a total eclipse of the Moon would occur on February 29, 1504. He called the native leaders and warned them if they did not cooperate, he would make the Moon disappear from the sky the following night. The warning, of course, came true, prompting the terrified people to beg Columbus to restore the Moon -- which he did, in return for as much food as his men needed. He and the crew were rescued on June 29, 1504.

The Moon will be in total eclipse from 0301 GMT to 0351 GMT. This will be visible east of the Rocky Mountains in North America, as well as in all of Central and South America, West Africa and Western Europe. The zenith of totality is close to French Guiana.

It will be in partial eclipse from 0143 GMT to 0301 GMT, visible west of the Rockies and from the eastern Pacific, and from 0351 GMT to 0509 GMT, visible across the rest of Africa and Europe and much of South and West Asia.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average shed 447.54 points, or 3.25 percent, from Tuesday to 13,310.37, declining for the first time in three trading sessions. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 42.57 points, or 3.16 percent, to 1,302.72. In line with equity tumbles across Asia, Tokyo stocks fell almost across the board with the heaviest falls seen in real estate, warehouse and harbor transport services, and banking issues.

Combined with a recent hike in iron ore prices, jitters hit the Tokyo and Asian markets after the price of oil ended above $100 per barrel in New York for the first time Tuesday. "It is hard to deny that rising prices of raw materials will squeeze earnings of Japanese companies," said Norihiro Fujito, a senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co.

That makes advocates happy: Cloning enables the livestock industry to do in a fraction of the time what breeders have been doing throughout history, narrowing the gene pool to its most desirable genes. Beyond that, say cloners, future benefits include production of genetically engineered animals that could offer a variety of benefits - more nutrient-rich milk, for example, for people without adequate access to food.

Cloned-animal products aren't on store shelves yet - the industry won't begin selling them for at least a few months, after a government-recommended "transition period" - but when they finally do appear in supermarkets you may not even notice, because they won't be labeled. "The FDA does not require labeling if there [are] no food safety issues," said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, at a January press conference.

There are about 4,000 cloned cattle on the planet, and 600 of them in the U.S. They are used primarily for breeding purposes, and as yet, their products aren't officially sold anywhere - though there is anecdotal evidence that cloned food products have made their way into the market in the past. Currently the U.S., E.U., Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand all use cloned cattle and pigs. ViaGEN, a cloning and animal genetics company based in Austin, Tex., produces some 150 cloned cattle annually, which it sells to meat suppliers, primarily for breeding.

Most of the deaths have occurred due to drowning in Eastern Samar province since February 15, the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council and the Philippine Red Cross reported. At the time, a low pressure area dumped heavy rains that caused flash floods and cut off major roads and damaged bridges.

The government's national disaster council in Manila said the entire province was under a state of calamity to enable officials to draw emergency funds for relief operations, including delivery of food and shelter.

"Kosovo declared independence on February 17 and the Republic of China (Taiwan) has formally recognized Kosovo with immediate effect," Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, using the island's official name.
But the Foreign Ministry stopped short of saying whether it had forged formal diplomatic ties with Kosovo.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said it was pointless to even talk of Taiwanese recognition of Kosovo, because there is only one China, to which Taiwan belongs. Taiwan's number of diplomatic allies has been dwindling over the past few years as China tries to isolate the island diplomatically. China sees Taiwan as a renegade province that needs to be reunified eventually, by force if necessary. The island has been ruled separately since the defeated Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek fled there after losing a civil war in 1949.

Ahead of weekend talks in Canberra with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the planned withdrawal of 550 soldiers, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said Iraqi forces had not needed Australian backup for two years now. "The situation on the ground in Al Muthanna and Dhi Qar (provinces), the Iraqis are taking care of business," Houston told a hearing before Australia's upper house Senate.

"The conditions on the ground have been established whereby we can leave them to it and, because we have influenced their training, we are very confident in their ability to handle the circumstances in those two provinces. The job is done." Britain is also withdrawing some forces, but like Australia denies the draw-down represents a distancing from Washington over support for the war.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the Palestinian negotiating team with the Israelis, told Reuters that if they could not reach a deal with the Jewish state, the Palestinians could consider declaring independence like Kosovo did on Sunday.

"If things are not going in the direction of actually halting settlement activities, if things are not going in the direction of continuous and serious negotiations, then we should take the step and announce our independence unilaterally," he said.

The real centre piece of the improved Negev-based IAF complex is its new landing strip, a whopping 2.5-mile (over four kilometres) paved highway on which the largest transport aircraft can land. It will be the largest landing strip in the entire Middle East.

The article also pointed out that such a mammoth operation requires development of improved infrastructures in the area: "This will include constructing transportation systems, education facilities, places of employment and housing. As part of the improvement of the infrastructure in the region, a train station will be built at the gates of the base - vital roads will be built ahead of schedule by the IAF, and a gas-powered electricity station will be built to produce energy for the region." The amount of asphalt used to pave the new landing strip was about the same amount used to pave a 56-mile-long two-lane highway.

The base is expected to stretch across an area equivalent to the total size of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and will include a new air traffic control tower, underground hangars and housing for at least 2,000 soldiers. Some 900 workers were hired to build the new base, with more than half of them local Negev residents. The project, which also involved relocation of IDF training units, Intelligence Corps and Teleprocessing Units, is expected to cost a total of approximately $658 million.

Iran's Fars News Agency reported that Jafari's prediction appears in a letter he wrote to Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese terrorist group Hizbullah. Jafari was offering condolences to Nasrallah in the wake of last week's death of Hizbullah mastermind and arch-terrorist Imad Mughinyeh.

"In the near future, we will witness the destruction of the cancerous existence of Israel by the powerful and competent hands of the Hizbullah combatants," Jafari's note said. "Undoubtedly the martyrdom of this sincere fighter [Mughniyeh] will strengthen the determination of all revolutionary and combatant Muslims, particularly his comrades, in confrontation with the Zionist regime."

Mughniyeh was killed in a car bombing in Damascus, Syria last week. Israel has been credited with the elimination of the wanted terrorist, who was responsible for several major international terrorist attacks on Israeli, American and Jewish targets. No confirmation has been forthcoming from Jerusalem. US President George Bush commented only that "the world is a better place" without Mughniyeh in it.

A pamphlet distributed in synagogues around the country this past Sabbath is devoted to one topic: Getting Shas to quit the government. IT WARNS THAT OLMERT IS USING THE CONTINUED PRESENCE OF SHAS IN THE GOVERNMENT to formulate an agreement endangering Jerusalem, other areas of the land of Israel - and hundreds of thousands of Jews. (IF THE SHAS LEAVE, THE COALITION GOVERNMENT WILL FALL)

No address, organization or publisher is printed on the pamphlet calling upon Shas to leave. However, it does feature a full-page article by Yossi Elituv, long-time Shas affairs commentator and writer for the weekly Mishpacha magazine.

The top article is headlined, "Israel has Secretly Agreed to Divide Jerusalem," and cites a PA source bragging that major progress has been made in "the secret talks, especially regarding Jerusalem." The source said, "Today we can say that Israel is agreeable to withdraw from nearly all the Arab neighborhoods and villages in Jerusalem. Israel is willing to re-divide Jerusalem, and this is a positive development."

Elituv, in an open letter to the leaders of Shas, praises their governmental work on behalf of their constituents over the past two years - but then goes for the jugular: "This period has now ended. Your mandate is over. Shas must leave the government, simply because the Prime Minister has decided to take advantage of the time that is left until the coming elections to formulate an unreal and dangerous diplomatic agreement that has major and far-reaching concessions."

"Jerusalem is being torn to pieces, and all in the merit of the votes of the Shas Knesset Members. There must be some red lines that will get you out - and those red lines have already been crossed. Your four Cabinet ministers are a source of pride; Yeshai, Attias, Nahari and Cohen can tell us what they have done, collectively and individually, for the People of Israel. We believe you that you have accomplished much. But now, please make a courageous decision and change the tune."

Finally, former IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Moshe Yaalon is quoted as saying, "You have to be blind to think that if we give the [Arab] neighborhoods to the Arabs, that this will bring quiet to Israel. Giving up these neighborhoods means that the Knesset, nurseries, the university and the Western Wall will all come into Kassam rocket range."

The schoolgirl was found about five miles from the small southern Welsh town and she is thought to have been close to at least one other victim of the apparent suicide epidemic. This weekend friends of Kelly Stephenson, 20, paid tribute to the keen footballer who took her own life hours after hearing that her cousin Nathaniel Pritchard, 15, had hanged himself. The two lived a few doors from each other in Bridgend.

Police have played down links between the young people who have recently died in the area, and politicians have dismissed rumours of an internet suicide cult in the county. The suicides, by 17 young people aged between 15 and 27 since January 2007, has prompted national media interest but also great anguish in South Wales. At least eight of the previous victims are thought to have known each other.

In recent weeks one part of the debt market after another has buckled. High-risk loans used to finance corporate buyouts have plummeted in value. Securities backed by commercial real estate mortgages and student loans have fallen sharply. Even auction-rate securities, arcane investments usually considered as safe as cash, have stumbled. The breadth and scale of the declines mean more pain for major banks, which have already written off more than $120 billion of losses stemming from bad mortgage-related investments.

THE DEEPENING LOSSES MIGHT MAKE BANKS EVEN MORE RELUCTANT TO MAKE THE LOANS NEEDED TO PROD THE SLOWING AMERICAN ECONOMY. They also could force some banks to raise more capital to bolster their weakened finances.

Such dire predictions underscore how the turmoil in the credit markets is hurting Wall Street even as the Federal Reserve reduces interest rates. Already, once-proud institutions like Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and UBS have gone hat in hand to Middle Eastern and Asian investors to raise capital. "You don't have a recovery until you have the financial system stabilized," Ms. Whitney said. "AS THE BANKS ARE TRYING TO RECOVER THEY WILL NOT LEND. THEY ARE ALL ABOUT SELF-PRESERVATION AT THIS TIME."

And last week, some hedge funds began to wade into the troubled loan market. But prices do not yet reflect any widespread rallies, and Wall Street still has to absorb losses reflected in these markets. "The fourth quarter was terrible, but you had strong investment banking revenues," Mr. Hintz said. "Now you've had a bad December, a worse January and an even worse February."