The US military invented the Internet 40 years ago. WHY CAN'T IT SIMPLY HUNT DOWN AND DESTROY THE WEBSITES THAT INSPIRE MURDEROUS FANATICS? "Most jihad cyber domains initiate very little, if any, original discussion, primarily reposting material from popular jihad forums," said a report earlier this month from MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, an organization that monitors and translates much jihadist material. "HENCE, DISABLING THE FEW PROMINENT DOMAINS COULD SERIOUSLY CRIPPLE ISLAMISTS' ABILITY TO CONDUCT MASS ONLINE DISCUSSIONS, and could also hamper the rapid spread of jihad material in cyberspace."

Last week the House Armed Services Committee held a hearing into the topic just as Arquilla was arguing in a post on Foreign Affairs magazine's website that the time had come to view al-Qaeda's cyberspace as a battlefield. "Instead of thinking of cyberspace principally as a place to gather intelligence, WE NEED TO ELEVATE IT TO THE STATUS OF 'BATTLESPACE,'" he argued. "This means that we either want to exploit terrorists' use of the Web and Net unbeknownst to them, or we want to drive them from it."

Arquilla tells TIME that al-Qaeda doesn't "put people on planes anymore because they know we're good at spotting them, and IF WE TAKE AWAY CYBERSPACE WE WOULD ACHIEVE A CRIPPLING EFFECT ON THE GLOBAL TERROR NETWORK."

A loose reformist opposition movement that swelled after a disputed presidential election in June is exploiting the rhythms of the Islamic Republic's political-religious calendar to stage rolling protests and sustain the momentum of its struggle. On Wednesday, security forces fought with protesters marking the third day after the death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the reformists' spiritual patron, in the cities of Isfahan and Najafabad, his birthplace, a reformist website said.

The outcome of Iran's internal upheaval is uncertain - and restrictions on independent reporting hamper any assessment of what is unfolding in a complex society - but it may have set a new clock ticking, alongside the nuclear one that drives Western urgency in dealings with the world's fifth biggest oil exporter. "It is going to get messier," said Ali Ansari, a professor at Scotland's St Andrews University. "It's wishful thinking when people say nothing is going to happen or there is going to be a smooth 'velvet revolution'. It is going to get very violent."

Two senior al-Qaeda commanders in the Arabian peninsula could be among the dead, he said. Al-Qaeda has carried out frequent attacks in Yemen in recent months. The Saudi government has recently expressed its concern about the resurgence of the movement in the region.

Last week, Yemeni officials said they had killed 34 suspected al-Qaeda militants and arrested 17 in operations in Abyan province in the south and in Arhab, north of Sanaa. Officials said the militants had allegedly been planning multiple suicide attacks, with eight of them preparing explosive vests at the time of the raids. Analysts say Yemen has long been an ideal base for jihadists.

With its rugged mountains and traditionally weak central authority, it is terrain well suited to militant groups looking for hiding places and training camps.

But the revelation in the book "Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living" by New Zealanders Robert and Brenda Vale has angered pet owners who feel they are being singled out as troublemakers. The Vales, specialists in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington, analysed popular brands of pet food and calculated that a medium-sized dog eats around 164 kilos (360 pounds) of meat and 95 kilos of cereal a year.

"Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat," Barrett said. Other animals aren't much better for the environment, the Vales say. Cats have an eco-footprint of about 0.15 hectares, slightly less than driving a Volkswagen Golf for a year, while two hamsters equates to a plasma television and even the humble goldfish burns energy equivalent to two mobile telephones

Sylvie Comont, proud owner of seven cats and two dogs - the environmental equivalent of a small fleet of cars - says defiantly, "Our animals give us so much that I don't feel like a polluter at all. I think the love we have for our animals and what they contribute to our lives outweighs the environmental considerations."

The four-man, twin-propeller plane "should arrive on or shortly after December 25th," about one month ahead of schedule, Lieutenant General David Deptula, who oversees Air Force intelligence and reconnaissance, said in an e-mail today.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered the service in April 2008 to dramatically increase the number of manned and unmanned aircraft providing intelligence to ground troops. The planes also are equipped with SENSORS THAT CAN MONITOR INSURGENTS' CONVERSATIONS and help pinpoint their location, said Jeffrey Richelson, author of the "US Intelligence Community," a detailed compendium now in its fifth edition.

The sensors are provided by the National Security Agency, which manages US eavesdropping satellites.

In Poland, where temperatures have dropped to as low as -20C in some areas, police appealed for tip-offs about people spotted lying around outside. At least 42 people, most of them homeless, died over the weekend. In Ukraine 27 people have frozen to death since the thermometer dropped last week. Authorities in Romania said 11 people had succumbed to the chill, and in the Czech Republic the toll was 12. In Germany, where temperatures have fallen to -33C in certain parts, at least seven people are known to have lost their lives in the freezing weather.

For millions of others across the continent, the cold snap has brought severe disruption, with flight cancellations and traffic jams thwarting pre-Christmas travel plans. The resumption of Eurostar services brought some relief to passengers travelling between France, Belgium and England, but many trains across Europe were delayed or cancelled. Airports were struggling to cope with icy runways, with Ryanair and Easyjet among several airlines to cancel some flights.

In Italy, where winters are usually mild, motorways in the north-east were closed and the Ministry of Defence dispatched helicopters in Sicily to bring medical aid to those in need. In Milan hundreds of soldiers worked through the night to clear the snow and ice-covered streets.

Prices for carbon permits for December 2010 delivery, the benchmark contract for pricing European permits, dropped nearly 10 per cent in early trading, before recovering to end the day 8.3 per cent lower at €12.41. Lower prices give companies less incentive to invest in cutting their greenhouse gas output. Analysts estimate that prices of more than €40 a tonne are required to stimulate investment in new low-carbon technologies.

Carbon traders blamed the price fall on the Copenhagen conference, which produced an accord among the world's biggest developed and developing countries to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, but omitted details on what those limits would be. Governments now have a month to submit formal pledges on how far they will reduce their carbon output.

City Hall, public libraries, health clinics and most other city offices will be closed on Christmas Eve as those city workers are being forced to take the day off without pay. Police and Fire Department operations are not affected and will remain fully staffed. Any other worker needed to provide for the public's safety will also be on the job.

As part of the 2009 budget, three reduced-service days were planned for 2009: August 17, the Friday after Thanksgiving; and Christmas Eve. The city expects to save $8.3 million. "Every dollar we save from these measures helps to save jobs, and in the long-term, maintain services for Chicagoans," Mayor Daley said in a statement. "This plan relies on most of our civilian employees to be part of the solution to our very serious budget challenges. I want to thank them again for their efforts."

In Copenhagen, the outlines of a dangerous world were there for all to see. The climate summit did not end in a fist fight between tens of thousands of people, despite the fact that serious global problems were not resolved. Barack Obama did not have to fly out from the roof of a burning conference center. Nevertheless, it was palpable that this is a world in which TRUST IS HARDER TO COME BY THAN OIL, and where there is more mistrust than CO2 emissions.

And yet Copenhagen has proven that trust is the most important resource for the transformation of the current oil-based system into a green civilization. It is more important than all the money that will be required for new technology, more efficient machines, dams and the survival of forest inhabitants.

It is a question of trust that China does not flood Europe with even more products made using cheap coal-based power, instead of replacing coal with alternative power stations; that Europe is not isolated as an island of environmentalists, while in Africa entire countries are becoming inhospitable; that climate aid amounting to billions does not land in private bank accounts in Africa, while there is not enough money for schools in the donor country; and that America does not come to rely on cheap oil, while China and India curb their fossil fuel consumption for reasons of climate protection.

In order for 9 billion people to live together on one planet, a circle of trust is required, one that rewards solutions and punishes the wrong economic activities of the past. That does not describe some kind of paradise. Rather it is the prerequisite for preventing a world without hope. In Copenhagen a vicious circle of mistrust came in to being, one that engulfed all the good intentions and plans.

Regulators shuttered First Federal Bank of California, based in Santa Monica, with $6.1 billion in assets and $4.5 billion in deposits, as well as Imperial Capital Bank of La Jolla, California, with about $4 billion in assets and $2.8 billion in deposits.

California was one of the states hardest hit by the real estate market meltdown and many banks there have suffered under the weight of soured mortgage loans. First Federal and Imperial Capital bring to 17 the number of California banks to fail this year.

THE 140 BANK FAILURES are the most in a year since 1992 at the height of the savings-and-loan crisis. They have cost the government-backed deposit insurance fund - which has fallen into the red - more than $30 billion so far this year. The failures compare with 25 last year and three in 2007.

THIS IS THE BIGGEST HEIST IN HISTORY. As they poured carbon over snow-covered Denmark from their gas-guzzling jets, world leaders were congratulating themselves on securing a deal which will make their backers and financiers a trillion pounds a year. These riches will come from buying and selling permits, the so-called 'carbon credits' which allow industry and electricity generators in developed countries to emit carbon dioxide.

Forget 'Big Oil' - this is 'Big Carbon' making the most of a 'business opportunity' that was created by the first climate treaty at Kyoto in 1997. The frenzied negotiations we have just seen were never about 'saving the planet'. THEY WERE ALWAYS ABOUT MONEY. At stake was this new 'climate change industry' which last year ripped off £129billion from the global economy and is heading for that trillion-pound bonanza by 2020 - but only if the key parts of the Kyoto treaty could be renewed.

THE ACTUAL EMISSIONS DON'T CHANGE, it's merely a matter of how much you have to pay for them. For example, in 2006, the NHS spent £6million on carbon permits to keep patients warm. THIS WAS THE REAL BUSINESS IN COPENHAGEN LAST WEEK.

There were "GLOBAL CRISES" and "GLOBAL CHALLENGES", the only possible resolution to which lay in "GLOBAL SOLUTIONS" necessitating "GLOBAL AGREEMENTS". Gordon Brown actually suggested something called a "GLOBAL ALLIANCE" in response to climate change.

To the extent that the word had intelligible meaning, it also had political ramifications that were scarcely examined by those who bandied it about with such ponderous self-importance. The mere utterance of it was assumed to sweep away any consideration of what was once assumed to be the most basic principle of modern democracy: that elected national governments are responsible to their own people – that the right to govern derives from the consent of the electorate.

Nor was much consideration given to the logical conclusion of all this grandiose talk of global consensus as unquestionably desirable: if there was no popular choice about approving supranational "legally binding agreements", WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO DISSENTERS WHO DID NOT ACCEPT THEIR PREMISES (on climate change, for example) when there was no possibility of fleeing to another country in protest? Was this to be regarded as the emergence of world government? And WOULD IT HAVE POWERS OF POLICING AND ENFORCEMENT THAT WOULD SUPERSEDE THE AUTHORITY OF ELECTED NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS?

In effect, this was the infamous "DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT" of the European Union elevated on to a planetary scale. And if the EU model is anything to go by, then the agencies of global authority will involve VAST TRACTS OF POWER BEING HANDED TO UNELECTED OFFICIALS. Forget the relatively petty irritations of Euro bureaucracy: WELCOME TO THE ERA OF EARTH-BUREAUCRACY, WHEN THERE WILL BE LITERALLY NOWHERE TO RUN.

As explained by the German Minister of State to the Foreign Ministry, Werner Hoyer, the EU Council President and the Foreign Minister do not have to be German, but Germany "lays great weight" on "relevantly participating" at the administrative level positions just below them, which are considered decisively influential on Brussels' policies.

Berlin is giving the new External Action Service a particularly high priority, since it consolidates the EU's external policy and is supposed to provide Brussels with new global power impact. GERMAN POLICY ADVISORS CONSIDER THAT THE EU HAS THE "POTENTIAL OF A WORLD POWER" but point out that this potential must first be established through Brussels' external policy.

It was under German pressure that the decision was made to place the EU's military planning and operation staff within the responsibility of the External Action Service, to be able to directly incorporate military operations into EU external policy. IN THE MEANTIME, THE GERMAN PROJECT OF CREATING AN EU ARMY IS WINNING FAVOR. Last weekend the Italian Foreign Minister gave his accord.

Leading personnel from the Chancellery and the Foreign Ministry are being suggested. The general secretary heads the administration and is second only to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, CATHERINE ASHTON, WHO IS CONSIDERED TO BE VERY WEAK, meaning that a German EEAS general secretary would have a free hand.

The structuring of the EEAS is one of Berlin's most essential objectives since the Lisbon Treaty took effect, reinforcing the EU on its path toward becoming a world power. As was expressed in Berlin's foreign ministry, the basic features of the new administration must be institutionalized by April 2010, so that the British Conservatives, expected to be the victors of the next parliamentary elections in the spring of 2010, will not be able to have any influence. THEY ARE CAPABLE OF PUTTING UP SERIOUS RESISTANCE TO GERMAN HEGEMONIC POLICY.

But Berlin is pressing for haste. Next spring, in May 2010 at the latest, parliamentary elections will be held in Great Britain. The replacement of the Labor government by a Conservative one is considered certain. The German government is doing everything possible so that the basic structural features of the EEAS will be completed by April 2010. A Conservative British government could "otherwise complicate the implementation of the EEAS," as is diplomatically asserted in the German Foreign Ministry, WHERE IT IS FEARED THAT LONDON COULD SERIOUSLY RESIST GERMAN PLANS TO USE EU FOREIGN POLICY TO RISE TO WORLD POWER STATUS.

As explained in a recent paper published by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), the British Conservatives' attitude will have a "DECISIVE INFLUENCE ON HELPING TO SET THE EU'S FUTURE RADIUS OF ACTION," because the ambitious possibilities in EU foreign policy making, opened through the Lisbon Treaty's coming into force, will depend, to a certain extent, on London's cooperation.

It is expected that the elections scheduled in May will bring a government change - from Labor to Conservative. The chairman of the conservatives, a flexible "Euro-pragmatist," is taking a Euro-skeptic position because of the balance of forces within his party, according to the authors of the SWP paper, but he can be brought to oppose his party's EU-critical wing. THE MAIN REASON FOR BRITISH EU-SKEPTICISM IS THE FEAR OF THE LOSS OF THE COUNTRY'S SOVEREIGNTY. It would "behoove" EU members to insist on the British government's firm engagement for Brussels after the Lisbon Treaty takes effect.

This is not unjustified, as can be seen in the controversy around Greece's national debt. The German chancellor is threatening Athens that the EU needs to consider whether it should impose an austerity budget on Greece - if necessary, EVEN AGAINST THE WILL OF THE ELECTED PARLIAMENT IN ATHENS.