Governor Lamido Sanusi said Afribank, Finbank, Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank and Union Bank would be run as normal until new investors were found. The move was unprecedented in Nigeria, sending the naira down 2% to 156.9 versus the dollar. "The banks have lost their money in bad loans," Mr Sanusi told reporters in Lagos. "We have questions about the management, so we have put in new management."

"We assure every depositor that no-one will lose money and we will continue to support the banks and all Nigerian banks," he said. Armed police secured the buildings of the five banks to protect their assets. Mr Sanusi took over as head of the central bank over two months ago, pledging to clean up the banking system that has fuelled growth in Nigeria.

Among the executives removed were senior members of Nigeria's corporate elite, long seen as almost untouchable by the political establishment. "The banking sector is a critical part of any economic system and we believe the steps being taken will deliver an effective solution to a very serious set of challenges," said Michael Hugman, a strategist at Standard Bank. The five institutions account for 40% of banking sector credit in Nigeria.

At the centre of my friend's Christianity is public worship, and (so far as I can judge from many conversations with him) the main reason he did not leave the Church of England is that he could not accept the claims of a Church which did not get its worship right. His objection was not to Vatican II, but to A CASUAL APPROACH TO THE CELEBRATION OF MASS THAT MADE IT HARDER TO BELIEVE IN THE UNIQUE UNIVERSAL STATUS OF THE ROMAN CHURCH.

AND THEN ALONG CAME BENEDICT XVI. I don't want to imply that Pope John Paul II did not care about worship - he regularly denounced liturgical abuses - but it did seem to observers inside and outside the Church that nothing much ever happened. In contrast, the present Pope has made clear that bishops and priests must restore solemnity to the liturgy as a matter of urgency. And, although the fine print of Summorum Pontificum is still ignored by bishops all over the world, there is no doubt that Pope Benedict has liberated the older form of the Roman Rite.

IS IT A COINCIDENCE THAT THE BENEDICTINE REFORM OF THE LITURGY IS OCCURRING JUST AS THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION FALLS INTO IRREVOCABLE SCHISM? It wouldn't surprise me if Joseph Ratzinger, an old friend of conservative Anglicans, saw both processes as providential. His liturgical renewal could perhaps be seen as a spring-cleaning before visitors arrive. For, make no mistake about it, POPE BENEDICT XVI WANTS ANGLICANS TO "COME OVER" IN LARGE NUMBERS. Such conversions represent the fruit, rather than the failure, of the ecumenical project (though one should add that the Pope also wishes to deepen solidarity with non-Catholics who have no plans to convert).

No one knows what will happen next. WE'RE IN THE VERY EARLY STAGES OF A HISTORIC BUT DRAWN-OUT REALIGNMENT. Much depends on whether Forward in Faith, the forlorn pressure group of traditional Anglo-Catholics, follows its gut instincts and accepts the Magisterium in full. Catholics should surely hope that it does; for how can we echo Jesus's prayer in St John's Gospel, "THAT THEY MAY BE ONE", if we turn away Christians on whom the truth has dawned?

AS SURREAL AS THIS MAY SOUND, THIS IS IN EFFECT WHAT HAPPENS EACH YEAR IN IRAN. But instead of paving the way for Jesus, the Iranians are paving the way for both the Islamic "Mahdi" and Jesus. When the newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood before the UN General Assembly in 2005, very few in attendance understood what he was talking about when he prayed for the soon return of his messiah figure known as the "Mahdi." Four years later, many in the world media are still in the dark concerning who or what the Mahdi is.

Last week, the leaders of Iran held their Fifth Annual Conference on Mahdism Doctrine. For the past five years, the Iranian religious and political leaders have annually gathered together for two days in the city of Qom for what is called "The International Conference of Mahdism Doctrine," sponsored by the Bright Future Institute. The purpose of the Bright Future Institute is "TO INTRODUCE IMAM MAHDI TO THE WORLD," TO "PAVE THE GROUND FOR HIS REAPPEARANCE."

After attending last year's conference, Dr Timothy Furnish, in an article entitled "The Importance of Being Mahdist," featured in the Weekly Standard, also cited President Ahmadinejad as describing the purpose of the conference as helping to "BRING ALL OF HUMANITY TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUE SAVIOR OF MANKIND, IMAM AL-MAHDI." This year, a growing number of "government officials, seminary and university students and religious figures" attended the event. While most of the conference attendees are Shi'a Muslims, EACH YEAR A GROWING NUMBER OF SUNNI MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS ALSO ATTEND.

This year, 400 articles were presented and 40 were selected for presentation. After the completion of the conference each year, the conference papers are published in book form and also placed on the Bright Future website at mahdaviat-conference.com. Mahdism is now increasingly being used as a political tool by appealing to the religious and nationalistic tendencies of various Muslims groups.

"The Islamic Republic and other Islamic governments need to prepare for the Mahdi's governance by promoting justice and development and, although we have long-distance missiles, we are not war-like." To Muslims like Oktar, Larijani responded by quoting Imam Muhammad Baqir, a famous early Muslim scholar, who said, "THERE MUST BE BLOODSHED AND JIHAD TO ESTABLISH IMAM MAHDI'S RULE." Ayatollah Ibrahim al Amini, professor at the Religious Learning Center at Qom, affirms Larijani, when he states that "THE MAHDI WILL OFFER THE RELIGION OF ISLAM TO THE JEWS AND CHRISTIANS; IF THEY ACCEPT IT THEY WILL BE SPARED, OTHERWISE THEY WILL BE KILLED."

The German statistics office said the economy was helped by higher government and personal spending and a pick up in construction during the quarter. France also reported growth in the second quarter, with a 0.3pc rise in gross domestic product (GDP). Forecast had been for a contraction of 0.2pc.

The British economy shrank by 0.8pc in the second quarter, more than twice as much as economists had forecast, because of the continuing hit to financial services and the property markets which buoyed up growth until the financial crisis hit.

Despite the recent improvement, economists and business leaders expect recovery to be sluggish. Eurozone GDP figures out later today are expected to show the region's economy shrank 0.5pc from the first quarter. Although, the rebound in euro region's two biggest economies mean the European Central Bank is unlikely to increase its stimulus measures.

Mr Janjuah, RBS's chief credit strategist, has a loyal following in the City. He was one of the very few analysts to speak out early about the dangerous excesses of the credit bubble. He then made waves in the summer of 2008 by issuing a global crash alert, giving warning that a "VERY NASTY PERIOD IS SOON TO BE UPON US" as – indeed it was. Lehman Brothers and AIG imploded weeks later.

This time he expects the S&P 500 index of US equities to reach the "mid 500s", almost halving from current levels near 1000. Such a fall would take London's FTSE 100 to around 2,500. The iTraxx Crossover index measuring spreads on low-grade European debt will double to 1250.

"THE LAST TWO AUGUSTS PROVED TO BE PIVOTAL TURNING POINTS: August 2007 being the proverbial 'head-fake' when everyone wanted to believe that policy-makers had seen off the credit disaster at the pass, and August 2008 being the calm before the utter collapse of Sept/Oct/Nov… 3rd time lucky anyone?" The elephant in the room is the spiralling public debt as private losses are shifted on to the taxpayer, especially in Britain and America. "ASK YOURSELF THIS: WHO BAILS OUT GOVERNMENT AFTER THEY HAVE BAILED OUT EVERYONE?"

Mr Janjuah said governments might put off the day of reckoning into the middle of next year if they resort to another shot of stimulus, but that would store yet further problems. "If what I fear plays out then I will have to concede that the lunatics who ran the asylum pretty much into the ground last year are back in control."

Soldiers killed at least 30 guerrillas during an assault on Wednesday on a base of Abu Sayyaf rebels in the interior of the southern island of Basilan, Brigadier-General Rustico Guerrero, marine commander, told reporters. "Based on this one incident alone, it would be premature to make a conclusion on the neutralization of the Abu Sayyaf," Mars Buan, an analyst at the Pacific Strategies and Assessments risk consultancy, told Reuters.

"In the past, the Abu Sayyaf has suffered a bigger number of casualties, but it has remained as one of the serious threats in the south." Twenty-three soldiers were killed and 20 were wounded in eight hours of fighting, Guerrero said, describing it as one of the biggest battles since 2007, when 15 soldiers and 40 rebels were killed on Basilan.

"We launched a decisive law enforcement operation targeting the Abu Sayyaf's main training base on Basilan, but we were met by heavy resistance," he said. "What's more important for us was we've disrupted their crude bomb factory and training base."

The companies warned they would hike consumer prices and lay off workers if the agriculture department did not allow them to import more tariff-free sugar, the paper said. Current import quotas limit the amount of tariff-free sugar the food companies can import in a given year, except from Mexico, suppressing supplies from major producers such as Brazil, the paper said. Sugar prices are poised to hit 30-year highs on a perfect storm of huge Indian imports and tight supplies.

Global sugar prices have been pushed up by GROWING DEMAND IN BRAZIL FOR SUGAR TO BE TURNED INTO ETHANOL for vehicle fuel, and a sharp fall in production in India, the world's largest sugar consumer.

Filings - including notices of default, auction and bank repossession - have escalated with unemployment. "July marks the third time in the last five months where we've seen a new record set for foreclosure activity," James J Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive, said in a statement.

"Despite continued efforts by the federal government and state governments to patch together a safety net for distressed homeowners, we're seeing significant growth in both the initial notices of default and in the bank repossessions." More than 360,000 households with loans drew a foreclosure filing in July, a record dating back to January 2005, when RealtyTrac started tracking monthly activity.

NOTICES OF DEFAULT, AUCTION OR REPOSSESSION HAVE REACHED NEARLY 2.3 MILLION IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THE YEAR - with more than half a million bank repossessions, the Irvine, California-based company said. Making timely payments keeps getting more harder for borrowers who have lost their jobs or seen their wages cut.

In his address to the Global Environment Forum this week (read talking shop for unelected, overpaid bureaucrats), Ban warned of impending "DROUGHTS, FLOODS AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS", as well as mass social unrest and violence – "the human suffering will be incalculable" - if the world's leaders did not "seal a deal" on climate change at a summit in Copenhagen in December. In the Secretary General's ominous words:

"WE HAVE JUST FOUR MONTHS. FOUR MONTHS TO SECURE THE FUTURE OF OUR PLANET."

IN REALITY, THE UNITED NATIONS CAN'T EVEN MAINTAIN ITS OWN HEADQUARTERS, MANAGE ITS OWN BOOKS AND KEEP ITS TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEACEKEEPERS UNDER CONTROL, LET ALONE SAVE THE WORLD. The UN is an extraordinarily badly run institution, rife with corruption and mismanagement, that shields some of the most odious tyrants on the face of the earth. Surely it should be focusing on implementing some much-needed management reform, cracking down on rampant corruption within its ranks, and preventing its peacekeeping troops from raping refugees in war-torn places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and southern Sudan.

The main threat to humanity at present is posed not by climate change but by dangerous madmen like Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, heading rogue regimes hell-bent on wiping their neighbours off the map. Not to mention the rise of militant Islam and a global terrorist network that seeks the destruction of the free world. AS LONG AS UN OFFICIALS STICK THEIR HEAD IN THE SAND AND IGNORE THE WORLD'S REAL PROBLEMS THE BODY WILL REMAIN AN IRRELEVANCE.

Writing in the journal Nature, they say rainfall has not changed, and water use is too high, mainly for farming. The finding is published two days after an Indian government report warning of a potential water crisis. That report noted that access to water was one of the main factors governing the pace of development in the world's second most populous nation.

ABOUT A QUARTER OF INDIA IS EXPERIENCING DROUGHT CONDITIONS, as the monsoon rains have been weaker and later than usual. But weather and climatic factors are not responsible for water depletion in the northwestern states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, according to the Nasa study.

"We looked at the rainfall record and during this decade, it's relatively steady - there have been some up and down years but generally there's no drought situation, there's no major trend in rainfall," said Matt Rodell, a hydrologist at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington DC. "So naturally we would expect the groundwater level to stay where it is unless there is an excessive stress due to people pumping too much water, which is what we believe is happening."

"The financial sector will contract and it will contract much more than we've seen so far," said Faber, who was in Tokyo to speak at an event hosted by CLSA Ltd. Financial professionals have "been in paradise for the past 25 years."

The best bet for investors may be to buy a farm and escape from the cities, as a prolonged recession could lead to war, as the Great Depression did, said the Swiss national, who now lives in Thailand. "Buy a farm and let your girlfriend work on the farm," he said, to the applause of investors. "IF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY DOESN'T RECOVER, USUALLY PEOPLE GO TO WAR."

The Obama administration is projecting that when the current budget year ends on September 30, the IMBALANCE WILL TOTAL $1.84 TRILLION, more than four times last year's record-high. The soaring deficits have raised worries among foreign owners of US Treasury securities including the Chinese, the largest holder of such debt.

Massive amounts of government spending to combat the recession and stabilize the US financial system have pushed the deficit higher. The cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with depleted government tax revenues, also are major factors.

THE TOTAL PUBLIC DEBT NOW STANDS AT $11.6 TRILLION. INTEREST PAYMENTS ON THE DEBT COST $452 BILLION LAST YEAR, THE LARGEST FEDERAL SPENDING CATEGORY AFTER MEDICARE-MEDICAID, SOCIAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE.

During the inauguration ceremony to mark his "re-election," disputed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 52, bowed to religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 70, and attempted to grasp his hand to kiss it, but Khamenei turned away at the last minute. When Ahmadinejad attempted to at least embrace the supreme leader, Khamenei turned away again, leaving Ahmadinejad awkwardly facing his shoulder. It was a scene straight out of a low-budget slapstick comedy.

The incident had the rest of the world puzzled, ESPECIALLY COMING FROM IRAN, THIS COUNTRY OF SECRETIVE CODES AND SYMBOLS, WHERE EVERYTHING HAS SIGNIFICANCE. How estranged are the supreme leader and the president? Does the scene indicate a radical shift in relations between the two hardliners, or could it even symbolize the beginning of the end for Ahmadinejad, whom Khamenei has given the cold shoulder several times in recent days? And what could replace the Holocaust denier in this torn country, in which the democratic opposition refuses to give up and protesters face possible death sentences?

THIS IS THE PERSIAN PUZZLE, and the world is observing it with great anticipation. The story of Montazeri, Rafsanjani and Khamenei is one of friendship, estrangement and betrayal. It is the history of Iran, the story of its past and present, and probably of its political future.

What do you call it when the government asks its supporters to "snitch" on opponents of its policies?

What do you call it when the government wants to monitor broadcasts and establish itself as the guardian of "fairness" on the airwaves?

What do you call it when the government seeks to take over the private and personal health-care decisions of the people – establishing bureaucracies to make life-and-death decisions and banning unapproved transactions between doctors and patients?

What do you call it when the government hires and fires the top executives of major corporations and redirects their corporate policies?

What do you call it when government officials refuse to turn over documents necessary to establishing whether they are constitutionally eligible to hold office?

What do you call it when the government funds political extremist groups that have broken the law in successful efforts to empower leaders?

What do you call it when the government turns the Census, designed as a tool to ensure representative government, into a weapon designed to spy on the most personal aspects of the life of citizens?

What do you call it when the government becomes the sole arbiter of whether you can keep some or any of the wealth you accumulated legally?

What do you call it when the government ignores the laws of the land and replaces them with the arbitrary whims of men?

What do you call it when the government picks and chooses winners and losers in the business marketplace?

What do you call it when the government strikes fear into the hearts of the sovereign citizens it is supposed to serve?

What do you call it when the government metes out punishment not just for criminal actions, but for "criminal thoughts"?

What do you call it when honest and open expressions of dissent are characterized as the expressions of "angry mobs"?

What do you call it when government-created joblessness is used to promote policies of government control?

What do you call it when the government exceeds its authority under the Constitution and ignores any limits on its power?

I don't know about you, but I CALL THOSE QUESTIONS HARBINGERS OF TOTALITARIANISM. That's where America is headed – maybe not today, tomorrow or next week, but soon, if this trend continues. Everything for which America has stood for the last 230 years is under attack – not by angry mobs, not citizen lawlessness, not from threats by external enemies, but from those in charge of government.

"These results validate the dedication of thousands of homeschool parents who are giving their children the best education possible," said Michael Smith, president of the advocacy organization. The HSLDA said homeschooling in the United States already includes about 4 percent of the school-aged population and is growing at about 7 percent a year, NOW INVOLVING SOME TWO MILLION CHILDREN.

"Homeschooling is a rapidly growing, thriving education movement that is challenging the conventional wisdom about the best way to raise and educate the next generation," said Smith. Regarding costs, the average public school spends nearly $10,000 per child per year, but the Progress Report said the average homeschool parent spends about $500 per child per year.