Earlier this month, President Nicolas Sarkozy said the burka, which covers the whole face, was not welcome in the strictly secular country. "Yesterday was the hijab (the Islamic headscarf long banned in French schools) and today, it is the niqab (the full veil)," Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, head of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was quoted as saying.

"We will take revenge for the honour of our daughters and sisters against France and against its interests by every means at our disposal." The group also called on Muslims to retaliate for what it called French "hostility" against the community and its attempt to obstruct Islam's practice on its territory.

France is home to Europe's largest Muslim community and faces a dilemma between accommodating Islam and maintaining secularism. In 2004, it passed a law banning headscarves or any other "conspicuous" religious symbols in schools to uphold a separation between church and state. THE MAJORITY OF MUSLIM CLERICS AROUND THE WORLD DO NOT REGARD WEARING THE BURKA, UNLIKE THE HEAD COVER, AS A RELIGIOUS OBLIGATION UNDER ISLAM.

But on Monday, as lawmakers raced to hammer out an agreement over school funding, state agencies began preparing 31,000 workers to be temporarily out of a job. Republican Governor Mitch Daniels has warned residents that most of the state's services - including its parks, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and state-regulated casinos - would be shuttered unless a budget is passed today.

Indiana is one of five states - along with Arizona, California, Mississippi and Pennsylvania - bracing for possible shutdowns this week as time runs out for lawmakers to close billion-dollar gaps in their fiscal 2010 budgets. Of the 46 states whose fiscal year ends today, 32 did not have budgets passed and approved by their governors as of Monday afternoon, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"It's a lot of states that are coming down to the wire," Haggerty said. "It's far more than we've seen in the past, and it's because of the state of the economy." Since 2002, only five states have been forced to shut down their governments. Some of the closures were brief: In 2007, Michigan's doors were closed for four hours before lawmakers passed emergency measures that bought them time to close a $1.75-billion deficit. "What's different now is that the recession has eroded tax revenues across the country," Haggerty said. Collectively, he said, states are wrestling with budget deficits totaling $121 billion.

It is facing a budget deficit of $24bn (€17bn, £14.5bn) yet Arnold Schwarzenegger, its governor, and the state assembly cannot agree on a budget that would address the shortfall. California's fiscal year ends on Wednesday but as the state's cash reserves are empty, IOUs will be issued to a range of creditors, including contractors, such as information technology companies and the food service groups that cater for prisons. "On Wednesday we start a fiscal year with a ­massively unbalanced spending plan and a cash shortfall not seen since the Great Depression," said John Chiang, the state ­controller. "Unfortunately, the state's inability to balance its chequebook will now mean short-changing taxpayers, local governments and small businesses."

Mr Schwarzenegger said he would veto any bills that raised taxes without reforming the state's government. "I will veto any majority vote tax increase bill that punishes taxpayers for Sacramento's failure to live within its means," he said. "The legislature will have a difficult time explaining to Californians why they are running floor drills the day before our budget deadline. We do not have time for any more floor drills or partial solutions. It's time for the legislature to send me a budget that solves our entire deficit without raising taxes."

(California is home to the largest manufacturing belt in the United States and to Silicon Valley, the nation's largest high-tech center. California is America's most populous state with 38 million people. Its GDP of $1.8 trillion is the largest in the US. ITS ECONOMY IS BIGGER THAN THOSE OF RUSSIA, BRAZIL, CANADA, OR INDIA.)

Russia, whose foreign policy is traditionally fixated on America, is buzzing with anticipation that the visit might improve ties between the former Cold War enemies. US ambassador Beyrle, ever the diplomat, has been at pains to play down all the issues of conflict. Russia and America, he says "have more common interests than disagreements."

The majority opinion in Moscow is that the more conciliatory tone of the Obama team stems solely from the current weakness of the US economy. "Of course Obama hasn't given up the ambition that America remains the leading power," says Evgeny Bazhanov of the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow.

Nuclear disarmament offers the best chances of quick progress. Obama wants to reduce the number of nuclear warheads for long-range missiles to around 1,000 in an initial step. Medvedev is talking about having less than 1,700 in a continuation of the Start I treaty, which expires in December. In the best-case scenario, Russian diplomats see OBAMA'S VISION OF A WORLD FREE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AS A "BEAUTIFUL DREAM," as Yuli Kvitsinsky, a former Soviet ambassador to West Germany and an experienced disarmament expert, puts it. IF ANYTHING, IT'S SEEN AS A TRAP TO FURTHER WEAKEN RUSSIA'S INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD.

Mr Cameron accused Mr Brown of "deceit, dishonesty and deception" after Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, admitted that the Government would not publish a spending review before the next election. In what was the Tory leader's strongest attack yet on Mr Brown's integrity, he all but called him a liar. The cancelling of the spending review was "a blatant attempt to cover up the truth of Labour cuts", he said.

Mr Cameron admitted that an incoming Tory administration would have to cut spending because of the dire state of the public finances. Mr Brown has made no such admission, and Mr Cameron said that if Labour were to win the next election and then start to implement the inevitable measures required to rebalance the public finances, the public would react with anger.

"THE CUPBOARD IS BARE. TOUGH DECISIONS HAVE TO BE MADE. CUTS CAN'T BE AVOIDED. IT DOESN'T SOUND EASY ON THE EAR BUT THE PUBLIC MUST HAVE THE TRUTH," said Mr Cameron. "That would be the worst of it: you go into an election pretending you are not going to have to make spending reductions, then you have to make them, and THEN YOU REALLY DO HAVE RIOTS ON THE STREETS because people do not have faith in their politicians."

Gary Taylor, president and owner of MJJcommunity.com, said he understood the tragedies had mostly taken place outside of the UK but he believed one may have been British. "I know there has been an increase, I now believe the figure is 12. I believe there may have been one Briton who has taken their life," he said.

"It is a serious situation that these people are going through but Michael Jackson would never want this. He would want them to live." Jesse Jackson, a friend of the singer, has recorded a YouTube film on the site urging fans not to "self destruct".

Its authors include former defence secretary Lord Robertson and the ex-Lib Dem leader, Lord Ashdown. It comes after news of a £1bn cost overrun on two new aircraft carriers. The original budget for the two carriers for the Royal Navy was £3.9bn but the BBC has seen a memorandum revealing the programme will come under "severe pressure" because of the cost escalation. The head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, has previously defended the new carriers from accusations they were outdated "Cold War relics".

His counterpart in the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, had earlier suggested many of the Ministry of Defence's new equipment programmes were "irrelevant" to modern warfare. Similarly, the IPPR report suggests there ought to be a radical rethink of the way the UK budgets for defence. Spending on the aircraft carriers, along with the fighters which would fly from them and the destroyers protecting them, should be in the frame for cuts, its report says. THE AUTHORS SAY THE AIM SHOULD BE TO ERADICATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS, AND THERE SHOULD BE RENEWED DEBATE ABOUT THE TRIDENT SUBMARINE-BASED MISSILE SYSTEM.

The government is committed to renewing TRIDENT AT AN ESTIMATED COST OF £20BN. The policy is backed by the Tories but opposed by the Liberal Democrats and many Labour backbenchers. The report's authors also claim that the mission in Afghanistan is on course for possible failure unless it is changed to include a joint civilian-military stabilisation and reconstruction taskforce. It also draws lessons from the Mumbai attack in India, appealing for new preventative measures in case the UK has to face a terrorist attack at multiple locations in one of its major cities.

That would be a job for strengthened special forces, not the police, the report argues. There is also a broader appeal for Britain to do more to co-operate with Europe and stop relying on the Americans when it comes to security. THE REPORT SAYS BRITAIN WOULD BE DELUDED TO THINK THE US WOULD ALWAYS HELP BRITAIN OUT.

US-led combat operations are due to end by September 2010, with all troops gone from Iraq by the end of 2011. Iraqi troops are on the alert for insurgent attacks during the handover. Despite the pullback from cities and towns, due to be completed on Tuesday, US troops will still be embedded with Iraqi forces.

BBC defence and security correspondent Rob Watson says that while the pullback is significant, the actual withdrawal of US combat troops next year will pose a greater challenge. The success of that depends on Iraq's political leaders and their ability to tackle the country's many outstanding problems and tensions, he says.

Some 131,000 US troops remain in Iraq, including 12 combat brigades, and the total is not expected to drop below 128,000 until after the Iraqi national election next January. Iraqi soldiers paraded through Baghdad's streets on Monday in vehicles decorated with flowers and Iraqi flags, while patriotic songs were played through loudspeakers at checkpoints. US commanders have said security and stability is improving, and that Iraqi forces are now ready to take over security operations.

According to a classified Federal Intelligence Service (BND) study, THE COLLAPSE OF THE WESTERN NATIONAL ECONOMIES, whose recuperation is unpredictable, COULD LEAD TO A DRASTIC ACCELERATION OF CHINA'S RISE and THE DECLINE OF WEST GERMANY'S LONG-TERM PRIMARY ALLY, THE UNITED STATES. This intelligence service paper is being currently discussed in Berlin and excerpts have been leaked to the press to prepare public opinion for possible changes in global policy orientation.

"A LONG-TERM GLOBAL CRISIS" cannot, for the moment, be excluded, assesses the BND, who, if this happens, is anticipating "MASSIVE UNEMPLOYMENT AND MOVEMENTS OF MIGRATION IN UNPRECEDENTED DIMENSIONS" as well as an escalation of nationalism and very serious international tensions. An essential question, for the future global conflict constellations, according to this paper, will be IF RUSSIA CAN BE BOUND TO THE WEST OR IF MOSCOW WILL GO OVER TO THE CHINESE ADVERSARY...

Back in March, the parents gave an interview to the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper, saying THEY DECIDED NOT TO REVEAL THEIR CHILD'S SEX BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE GENDER IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION.

"WE WANT POP TO GROW UP MORE FREELY AND AVOID BEING FORCED INTO A SPECIFIC GENDER MOLD FROM THE OUTSET," said the child's mother, "Nora" (the paper used fake names for the entire family to protect their privacy). "It's cruel to bring a child into the world with a blue or pink stamp on their forehead," the mother said. The parents, both 24 years old, said they never use personal pronouns when referring to the child. They just say "Pop."

The tot wears everything from dresses to pants, and Pop is usually the one who decides what to wear on any given morning. Pop's hairstyle is also changed on a regular basis, so it doesn't provide any clues. Swedish gender equality expert Kristina Henkel told The Local that THE EXPERIMENT COULD MAKE POP A STRONGER PERSON, SINCE HE OR SHE WON'T BE SUBJECT TO GENDER STEREOTYPES.

CHINA'S BANKS ARE VEERING OUT OF CONTROL. The half-reformed economy of the People's Republic cannot absorb THE $1,000BN (£600BN) BLITZ OF NEW LENDING ISSUED SINCE DECEMBER. Money is leaking instead into Shanghai's stock casino, or being used to keep bankrupt builders on life support. It is doing very little to help lift the world economy out of slump.

Fitch Ratings has been warning for some time that China's lenders are wading into dangerous waters, but its latest report is even grimmer than bears had suspected. "With much of the world immersed in crisis, China appears to be one of the few countries where the financial system continues to function largely without a glitch, but Fitch is growing increasingly wary," it said. "Future losses on stimulus could turn out to be larger than expected, and it is unclear what share the central and/or local governments ultimately will be willing or able to bear."

Note the phrase "able to bear". Fitch's "macro-prudential risk" indicator for China threatens to jump from category 1 (safe) to category 3 (Iceland, et al). This is a surprise to me but Michael Pettis from Beijing University says CHINA'S PUBLIC DEBT MAY BE AS HIGH AS 50PC-70PC OF GDP WHEN "CORRECTLY COUNTED".

The Swiss franc declined against the euro and dollar this week as foreign-exchange analysts said the central bank sold its currency three times to support the economy. The greenback fell against most of its major counterparts after the People's Bank of China said yesterday the International Monetary Fund should manage more of members' foreign-exchange reserves.

"THE DOLLAR'S STATUS AS A RESERVE CURRENCY IS BEING QUESTIONED," said Benedikt Germanier, a foreign-exchange strategist in Stamford, Connecticut at UBS AG, the second-largest currency trader. "THERE ARE REASONS TO SELL THE DOLLAR."

Leaving aside the question of whether it is a good or a bad idea to print money, which of the world's leading central banks is printing money faster: the Fed or the European Central Bank?

Last Wednesday, the European Central Bank injected €442 billion (£377 billion) of new cash into the euro money markets. This was the biggest long-term lending operation in the history of central banking and was EQUIVALENT TO HALF THE FED'S ENTIRE MONETARY EXPANSION IN THE PAST 18 MONTHS.

Yet most people still believe that the Fed (along with the Bank of England) is engaged in a "reckless" experiment with inflationary quantitative easing (QE), while the ECB is steadfastly honouring the deflationist traditions of the Bundesbank's "steady hand". However, if we look at the facts, the transatlantic difference is less clear. In fact, THE ECB IS PRINTING MONEY EVEN FASTER THAN THE FED IS.

A study by the thinktank found that scores of unofficial tribunals and councils regularly apply Islamic law to resolve domestic, marital and business disputes, many operating in mosques. It LED TO CLAIMS OF A "CREEPING" ACCEPTANCE OF SHARIA PRINCIPLES IN BRITISH LAW, but the Muslim Council of Britain dismissed the report as "scaremongering".

The study follows the outcry over remarks by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, last year that the adoption of aspects of Muslim law in Britain, such as in divorce proceedings, "seems inevitable". Lord Phillips, who was then the Lord Chief Justice, attracted controversy by saying that there was "no reason why" sharia principles could not form the basis of mediation in disputes.

Some decisions of Islamic tribunals are already considered legally binding and could theoretically be enforced in civil courts in England and Wales. Other officially recognised bodies can agree to grant Muslim "divorces" as part of a parallel system of religious law in Britain. "THIS WHOLE BUSINESS IS CREEPING UP ON US WITHOUT ANYONE REALLY NOTICING," said Dr David Green, director of Civitas.

Jackson, who collapsed with a heart attack at the age of 50 on Thursday, was 5ft 10in tall but weighed only 8st 10z, according to The Sun. His stomach contained the remains of partially dissolved tablets taken by the singer before an alleged final injection of painkillers, according to a coroner's report seen by the newspaper.

It disclosed that the star's distinctive shoulder length locks were a wig as he had lost virtually all of his hair. Meanwhile his body was covered in a mass of surgery scars from at least 13 cosmetic operations, the newspaper claimed. Following disclosures about the singer's addiction to a cocktail of painkillers, the post mortem report was said to confirm that his legs and shoulders bore numerous needle marks.