With British mortgage lender Northern Rock the latest financial institution to require emergency central bank help, any hopes of a quick return to normal financing conditions have received a severe dent.

"Whether the news of Northern Rock's woes constitutes a final exclamation mark in the whole credit debacle or is the beginning of a more serious phase of problems for the sector is a question that we imagine was most troubling investors," said Neil Mellor, strategist at Bank of New York Mellon.

Billions of dollars of pent-up refinancing from the August seizure still need to be negotiated, there is concern about what private-sector banks may reveal during the third-quarter earnings season and decisions from top central bank meetings also hang in the balance.

But it's the lack of a single hose to douse the flames that leads policymakers to accept this disruption will have a more durable impact on world economic growth than previous banking shocks -- such as the ones that followed Asia's emerging market collapse and Russia's default in the late 1990s.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warned this week that the dent to market confidence boosting short-term borrowing costs by more than half a percentage point would not dissipate quickly. The European Central Bank echoed that on Thursday.

The United States, Germany, France and Britain have led a diplomatic drive to punish Iran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment program. They succeeded in persuading reluctant Russia and China to back two U.N. sanctions resolutions. Despite the sanctions, which have led to a sharp decrease in Western trade with Iran, Tehran refuses to abandon a program it says is meant for the peaceful generation of electricity.

Washington, which suspects Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, believes the time has come to expand the sanctions and has called a September 21 meeting of the six powers to discuss a third sanctions resolution to submit to the U.N. Security Council.

France said on Friday it was ready to take fresh action. "We wish to have new sanctions adopted, as a priority in the U.N. Security Council," Foreign Ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux told a regular news conference in Paris. Germany, however, said discussion of fresh sanctions would not be necessary if Iran cooperated with the United Nations and cleared up doubts about its nuclear program.

"Germany is ready, if necessary, to take the necessary steps against Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said. But as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Germany was also open to "giving Iran a chance to recover the international community's lost confidence in its nuclear program," Jaeger said at a regular news conference.

Mostafa Pour Mohammadi said he had reached a consensus on the issue in meetings in Beijing with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and senior foreign policy adviser Tang Jiaxuan. "The two sides agreed that other methods such as sanctions are inappropriate and ineffective," Pour Mohammadi told reporters at the Iranian Embassy.

Asked whether China had urged more active cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Pour Mohammadi replied, "It's natural that our friends in other countries hope that talks conclude successfully."
China's official Xinhua News Agency quoted Yang as saying China supported a negotiated settlement and opposed the spread of nuclear weapons.

"China would like to continue its efforts to push forward the peaceful resolution of Iran's nuclear issue," Xinhua quoted Yang as saying.

But experts and officials insist that Northern Rock, which has £113bn in assets, is not in danger of going bust.

Despite the reassurances, lines of customers formed outside many Northern Rock branches around the UK.

The bank has struggled to raise money to finance its lending ever since money markets seized up over the summer.

Other bank shares fell, with Bradford & Bingley, Alliance & Leicester and HBOS down nearly 8%, 7% and 4% respectively. House builders were also hit, with companies like Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Bovis Homes and Berkeley Group falling around 6% and more.

The Daily Telegraph has learned that existing safeguards preventing EU interference with national identity documents have been quietly dropped. Sources close to negotiations suggest that Britain has allowed the safeguards to be removed in order to participate in EU security measures, such as biometric passports and ID cards.

William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said: "Gordon Brown has absolutely no democratic mandate to sign Britain up to a possible Euro ID card scheme. It illustrates how important it is that the British people have their promised say on this treaty."

Derek Scott, chairman of the I Want A Referendum campaign, said: "Under the Constitutional Treaty, work on harmonisation of identity documents would gain momentum. The EU is doing a lot of radical things in this area with far too little scrutiny, so it's no wonder that many people are uncomfortable with this."

The report was withdrawn after huge protests by opposition parties. The report was presented to the Supreme Court on Wednesday in connection with a case against a proposed shipping canal project between India and Sri Lanka. Hindu hardliners say the project will destroy what they say is a bridge built by Ram and his army of monkeys.

Scientists and archaeologists say the Ram Setu (Lord Ram's bridge) - or Adam's Bridge as it is sometimes called - is a natural formation of sand and stones. On Wednesday, Hindu hard-line organisations blocked roads across India to protest against the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project. Commuters in the capital, Delhi, were stuck in traffic jams for hours as Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) and Bajrang Dal blocked roads at various places. Road blocks were also held in Bhopal, the capital of the central state of Madhya Pradesh, on the Delhi-Agra highway and on the Jaipur-Agra highway. Train services were disrupted in many places across northern India.

The canal project proposes to link the Palk Strait with the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka by dredging a canal through the shallow sea. This is expected to provide a continuous navigable sea route around the Indian peninsula. Once complete, the canal will reduce the travel time for ships by hundreds of miles and is expected to boost the economic and industrial development of the region.

The "precautionary" cull of animals had taken place at Stroude Farm, Egham, near the scene of the outbreak of the disease discovered on Wednesday. Initial tests say the strain found on Wednesday was the same as that found during the outbreak in August. The government is also considering easing movement restrictions on animals in England, as in Scotland and Wales.

The Washington Post report is based on new intelligence the United States has gathered over the past six months, the bulk allegedly from Israel, which includes dramatic satellite imagery that has led some US officials to believe the facility could be used to produce material for nuclear weapons.

The new information, particularly images received in the past 30 days, has been restricted to just a few senior officials under the instructions of national security adviser Stephen J Hadley, leaving many in the intelligence community unaware of it or uncertain of its significance, sources told the Washington Post on condition of anonymity.

Since the alleged Israeli attack in Syria occurred, the Israeli government has refused to divulge any details, but a former Israeli official said he had been told that it was an attack against a facility capable of making unconventional weapons.

Here is a chronology of some earthquakes in recent years:

Dec 12, 1992 - INDONESIA - A magnitude 6.8 quake killed at least 2,200 people on a string of islands in the province of East Nusa Tenggara.

Sept 30, 1993 - INDIA - A series of quakes killed almost 10,000 people in western and southern India. The first tremor was of magnitude 6.4.

June 6, 1994 - COLOMBIA - A quake brought down buildings and triggered mudslides, killing about 1,000 people in the Paez River valley in southwestern Colombia.

Jan 17, 1995 - JAPAN - A magnitude 7.2 quake, the country's worst in half a century, rocks Kobe, killing 6,430 people.

May 28, 1995 - RUSSIA - Russia's worst earthquake, magnitude 7.5, kills 1,989 people in the oil-producing Far East.

Feb 28, 1997 - IRAN - A magnitude 5.5 quake kills about 1,000 people in northwestern Iran.

May 10, 1997 - IRAN - A magnitude 7.1 quake kills 1,560 people in rural areas of eastern Iran near the Afghan border.

Feb 4, 1998 - AFGHANISTAN - At least 4,500 people are killed in Takhar province in a quake of magnitude 6.1.

May 30, 1998 - AFGHANISTAN - A magnitude 6.9 quake kills up to 4,000 people in northern Takhar province.

July 17, 1998 - PAPUA NEW GUINEA - An undersea quake of magnitude 7.1 creates three tsunami waves, killing at least 2,100 people.

Aug 17, 1999 - TURKEY - More than 17,800 people are killed by a magnitude 7.4 quake.

Sept 21, 1999 - TAIWAN - At least 2,000 people are killed and hundreds of thousands made homeless by a magnitude 7.6 quake in central Taiwan.

Jan 26, 2001 - INDIA - An earthquake of magnitude 7.7 strikes the western state of Gujarat killing at least 19,700 people and causing damage in neighbouring Pakistan. The quake affected 15.9 million people in 7,904 villages.

March 26, 2002 - AFGHANISTAN - At least 1,500 people are killed when a series of quakes of between magnitude five and six strike northern Afghanistan

May 21, 2003 - ALGERIA - A magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes Algiers and nearby towns to the east, killing 2,251 and injuring 10,243.

Dec 26, 2003 - IRAN - A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes the historic city of Bam, 1,000 km (600 miles) southeast of Tehran. 30,948 were killed in the quake.

Dec 26, 2004 - ASIA - The number of dead and missing in an Asian earthquake and tsunami is almost 230,000. The wave crashed into Sri Lanka and India, drowning thousands and swamping tourist isles in Thailand and the Maldives. The quake measured 9.15 in magnitude.

March 28, 2005 - INDONESIA - Nearly 1,000 people are killed after a quake of magnitude 8.7 struck the coast of Sumatra.

Oct 8, 2005 - PAKISTAN - At least 73,000 people are killed by a 7.6 magnitude quake that struck about 95 km (60 miles) northeast of Islamabad. The quake also rocked Indian Kashmir, killing 1,244 there.

March 31, 2006 - IRAN - An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale hits the area of Doroud and Boroujerd in the western Lorestan province, killing at least 70 people.

March 6, 2007 - INDONESIA - A 6.4 magnitude quake and another measuring 6.3 in Sumatra kill more than 70 people.

July 16, 2007 - JAPAN - A 6.8 magnitude quake killed 10 people in northwestern Japan and shut the world's largest nuclear power plant.

Aug 15, 2007 - PERU - An 8.0 magnitude quake killed more than 500 people and destroyed about 34,000 homes on central coast.

Germany, which has been the top exporter to Iran for 30 years, supplied goods totalling $5.08bn (€3.6bn, £2.5bn) to the country last year, according to the Iranian central bank, but in the first five months of this year its exports fell 19.8 per cent. China, which has enjoyed growing trade since the early 1990s, ranked third behind the United Arab Emirates last year, with $4.48bn of exports, up 35.8 per cent on 2005.

The trend is set to continue this year, with diplomats predicting China will become the leading supplier to Iran.

The trade shift is partly driven by the prospect of sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme. A meeting of leading powers next week will discuss a new United Nations resolution and possible fresh curbs against Iran.

Unilateral US action, meanwhile, has put international organisations, notably banks, under pressure to stop conducting business with Tehran or risk action against their interests in the US. In recent weeks three German banks, including Deutsche Bank, have reduced business with Iran.

Asadollah Asgaroladi, head of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce, says: "We have no choice but to look at the east." He believes Iranians prefer trade with the west because of historical ties and "our factories are dependent on their technology. But what else can we do when they [the west] turn their back on us and bow to US pressure".

He made it clear that the bank was prepared to act as "lender of last resort" in other cases after Northern Rock today became the first major British bank to be bailed out by the central bank for more than 30 years.

Mr Darling told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is in everybody's interest that we have a very stable banking system and that indeed is what we have got."

Northern Rock said "extreme conditions" in global credit markets had forced it to ask Bank of England Governor Mervyn King for emergency funding. However, the authorities said Britain's fifth biggest mortgage lender remained "solvent" and there was no threat to its borrowers or savers.

The Newcastle based group - one of the country's most respected banks - admitted it had got caught up in the world credit turmoil triggered by the sub-prime mortgage market crisis in the US. The Chancellor stressed that there was no lack of money among UK banks but said they were "reluctant" to lend money among themselves given the problems in America linked to the housing market.

He added that 10 years ago, Britain had put in place plans to deal with such situations.

Indonesia's meteorology agency issued on Friday the latest in a series of tsunami warnings after another strong quake in Sumatra, although it was lifted about an hour later. There have been a series of tremors ranging in intensity from 4.9 to 7.8 since Wednesday's 8.4 quake, repeatedly setting off tsunami warnings in Indian Ocean countries. There have, however, been no reports of the sort of widespread tsunami that caused the death and devastation of the huge waves in 2004, which followed a quake of over 9 magnitude.

Seismologist Mike Turnbull of Australia's Central Queensland University warned against complacency over the frequent tsunami warnings. "The problem is, these were very large eathquakes. They had every capability to generate large tsunami." At least two areas in Bengkulu province were hit by tsunamis after Wednesday's quake, residents told Reuters correspondents. About 100 houses were damaged by a 3 metre (10 ft) wave in Serangai, 70 km north of Bengkulu city, but there were no casualties.

The quakes in the last few days in Sumatra were felt in neighbouring Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Indonesia suffers frequent quakes, as it lies on an active seismic belt on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire".

Greenspan, who led the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank through 18 years and four presidents, speaks to Lesley Stahl in his first major interview, to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, Sept. 16 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Greenspan says he knew about the questionable subprime lending tactics that gave loans to homebuyers and investors with low adjustable interest rates that could rise precipitously, but not the severe economic consequences they posed. "While I was aware a lot of these practices were going on, I had no notion of how significant they had become until very late," he tells Stahl. "I really didn't get it until very late in 2005 and 2006."

The rocket carrying the three-metric ton orbiter took off into blue skies, leaving a huge trail of vapor over the tiny island of Tanegashima, about 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo, at 10:31 a.m. (9:31 p.m. EDT) as it headed out over the Pacific Ocean.

The long-delayed lunar explorer separated from the rocket in skies near Chile about 45 minutes after lift off. It is to orbit the Earth twice and then travel 380,000 km (237,500 miles) to the moon.

"Kaguya separated from the rocket smoothly," the space agency's launch commentator said in a live broadcast of the launch on the Japanese space agency's Web site (www.jaxa.jp). Japanese scientists say the 55 billion yen ($479 million) Selenological and Engineering Explorer, or SELENE, is the world's most technically complex mission to the moon since the U.S. Apollo program decades ago. "If we succeed in this program, we will be able to prove that Japan has the technology," Okada said.

SELENE also carries a high-definition television camera to shoot the Earth "rising" from the Moon's horizon, footage of which will be sent back to Earth. SELENE will orbit the moon for about a year until it runs out of fuel.

China plans to launch a lunar orbiter called Chang'e One in the second half of this year to take 3D images, and it aims to land an unmanned vehicle on the moon by 2010.

India is planning its first unmanned mission to orbit the moon in 2008, powered by a locally built rocket. It is also discussing sending a person to the moon by 2020.

The United States plans to launch a lunar orbiter next year.

FRANCE is set to once again become a full member of NATO after strong indications from the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, that he will soon make a historic move by ending his country's 41-year boycott of the alliance's integrated military command.

In a foreign policy speech last month, Mr Sarkozy said he would shortly take "very strong" initiatives to build up European defence and renew the NATO military alliance, while giving France "its full place" in the organisation, insisting NATO was no rival to France's ambition of a robust European defence capability.

"France is a country that contributes a lot, is often among the countries that contribute the most, and that also means to our military operations," James Appathurai, a NATO spokesman told reporters in Brussels yesterday.

On 17 September, 1958, the French president, Charles de Gaulle, sent a memorandum to the US president, Dwight Eisenhower, and the prime minister, Harold Macmillan. In it he argued for the creation of a tripartite directorate that would put France on an equal footing with the United States and the UK, and also for the expansion of NATO's coverage to include geographical areas of interest to France, most notably Algeria, where France was waging a counter-insurgency and sought NATO assistance.

He did not consider their response to be satisfactory and snubbed the Allies - who had enabled him to liberate his country from the Nazis - embarking on an independent defence program.