ABOUT 19 PERCENT OF US REFINING CAPACITY IS BEING SHUT before Ike makes landfall today. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil company, started shutting down its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery because "of shifts in Hurricane Ike's track," the company said on its Web site.

"IKE IS HEADED INTO THE HEART OF THE REFINING INDUSTRY," Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said in an interview. "The damage is likely to come in flooding, a lack of power for an extended period of time."

A hurricane warning was issued from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Baffin Bay, Texas, after Ike strengthened to a Category 2 storm, the center said. The storm has sustained winds of 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour) and "strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours." The Houston area's eight refineries have a processing capacity of 2.22 million barrels a day, which represents 13 percent of the US total, according to their owners and the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association.

The tunnel is closed after the fire broke out about seven miles from Calais on Thursday afternoon. Firefighters say the 16-hour blaze has now been put out. Thirty-two people on board the freight train were led to safety, and 14 passengers suffered minor injuries. Eurostar said it "did not expect" to operate any services on Friday.

Passengers were still arriving at St Pancras International in London on Friday hoping services to the Continent would resume. A spokeswoman said about 30,000 passengers were due to travel on 50 Eurostar services on Friday and they would be offered a full refund or exchange.

The closure has caused huge tailbacks on roads near the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone as dozens of lorries have been forced to park on the M20 and other surrounding roads. Kent Police say sections of the motorway - between junctions eight and nine - are still being used to queue lorries as part of Operation Stack and are advising motorists to avoid the area.

The decision to place XL Leisure Group into administration has also left thousands of staff facing the axe. Chairman Phil Wyatt said he was "totally devastated" by the failure which has grounded XL's 21 planes. The company flies to about 50 destinations. There are 67,000 stranded who booked directly with XL, and another 23,000 who booked via other companies.The Civil Aviation Authority(CAA) also said the firm had 200,000 advance bookings.

The original EU target that 10% of all road transport fuel should come from renewable sources by 2020 did not set limits for crop biofuels. A committee of the European Parliament has now voted to limit such fuels to 6% of the 10% target. At least 4% of the total will have to be achieved using electricity or hydrogen from renewable sources, or from second-generation biofuels from waste or non-food crops.

Green MEP Claude Turmes, of Luxembourg, welcomed the decision. "While the maintenance of a binding target for biofuels is a bitter pill to swallow, the committee has at least strengthened the safeguards against the damaging impact of agri-fuels in this directive," he said.

The panel also approved a mid-term goal of 5% of road transport fuel from renewable sources by 2015, of which one fifth should not be food crop-based biofuels.

An Iranian official said 10 aftershocks were registered following the quake, each of a magnitude of 4.7 or less. All the casualties were in Iran. Across the Persian Gulf waters, residents in Dubai and neighbouring emirates - home to millions of British expats - reported feeling shaking that lasted a minute.

The tremors sent office workers rushing out of some of the high-rise towers that dot the skyline in the city-state's commercial centre. A Dubai Civil Defence official said he received several calls from panicked residents saying their beds were shaking and their furniture was collapsing.

Relatives of the 2,751 victims killed at the World Trade Center gathered in a park in lower Manhattan for readings from dignitaries and a recitation of the names of the dead. "Today marks the seventh anniversary of the day our world was broken," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at the start of the ceremony, calling Sept. 11, 2001, a "day that began like any other and ended as none ever has."

Services were also held to remember the victims of hijacked planes in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon, where a new memorial was dedicated at a ceremony attended by President Bush.

Landfall is forecast early Saturday morning between Freeport and Galveston, which puts Houston and surrounding Harris County on the dangerous east side of the storm. Because of the expected intensity of the hurricane at landfall and the angle at which Ike will approach the upper Texas coast, a storm surge of up to 20 feet may occur in Galveston Bay with a storm surge of 12 to 16 feet expected on the immediate coast. Gulf water will be pushed into the confined area of Galveston Bay. Hence the higher storm surge.

The cloud shield from Hurricane Ike took up nearly half of the Gulf of Mexico Thursday, but the early night time hours Ike remained at Category 2 strength, with sustained winds of 100 mph. With hurricane force winds extending 115 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds out to 265 miles, Ike remains a massive hurricane and conditions along the Gulf Coast will deteriorate long before landfall.

The wind field to the east of the eye, stretches roughly 550 miles from north to south. Outer bands of thunderstorms and gusty winds Thursday moved through the Mississippi Delta and New Orleans, spreading thunderstorms into areas that were hammered by Hurricane Gustav. The potential for catastrophic damage is extremely high. According to Forecasting Manager Ken Reeves, "IN CONTRAST TO THE MAJOR HITS IN THE GULF OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, INCLUDING KATRINA, IKE WILL NOT WEAKEN SIGNIFICANTLY BEFORE LANDFALL. As a result, the damage potential is exponentially higher."

On 11 October 2008, concerned people in many countries will take to the streets, the motto being "Freedom not fear 2008". Peaceful and creative action, from protest marches to parties, will take place in many capital cities. Surveillance mania is spreading.

Governments and businesses register, monitor and control our behaviour ever more thoroughly. No matter what we do, who we phone and talk to, where we go, whom we are friends with, what our interests are, which groups we participate in - "big brother" government and "little brothers" in business know it more and more thoroughly.

People who constantly feel watched and under surveillance cannot freely and courageously stand up for their rights and for a just society. MASS SURVEILLANCE IS THEREBY THREATENING THE FABRIC OF A DEMOCRATIC AND OPEN SOCIETY.

The 60-page report - published on the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington - said that the EU now saw data privacy and judicial scrutiny of police surveillance tactics as obstacles to efficient law enforcement co-operation, rather than rights to be safeguarded. The report, The Shape Of Things To Come, described a so-called EU "Future Group" preparing a new five-year security strategy as "shadowy". It said that plans to co-operate with the US on "extremely controversial" techniques and technologies of surveillance and "enhanced" co-operation. The group is accused of trying to harness a "digital tsunami" to aid law enforcement.

The Statewatch report quotes an EU Council of Ministers document on justice and security which declared: "Every object the individual uses, every transaction they make and almost everywhere they go will create a detailed digital record. This will generate a wealth of information for public security organisations, and create huge opportunities for more effective and productive public security efforts."

The report goes on: "When traffic data including internet usage is combined with other data held by the state or gathered from non-state sources (tax, employment, bank details, credit card usage, biometrics, criminal record, health record, use of e-government services, travel history etc) a frightening detailed picture of each individual's everyday life and habits can be accessed at the click of a button."

The report adds: "The harnessing of the 'digital tsunami' by public security organisations means that expected behaviour can be assessed by 'machines' on the basis of which directions are given to state officials on the spot." Statewatch says that, ever since 9/11, Washington has "got its way" on security policy to the detriment of privacy and protection data about EU citizens.

Statewatch director Tony Bunyan said: "There is now only a slim chance that the political elites in the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, national governments, the law enforcement agencies and the multinationals will change course - they have already invested too much to allow a meaningful public debate to take place. The national and European states require unfettered powers to access and gather masses of personal data on the everyday life of everyone in order so that we can all be safe and secure from perceived 'threats'. BUT HOW ARE WE TO BE SAFE FROM THE STATE ITSELF, FROM ITS USES AND ABUSES OF THE DATA THEY HOLD ON US?"

"I don't think auctioning my virginity will solve all my problems," she told celebrity television show The Insider on Wednesday. "BUT IT WILL CREATE SOME FINANCIAL STABILITY. I'm ready for the controversy, I know it will come along. I'm ready to do this."

"We live in a capitalist society. Why shouldn't I be allowed to capitalize on my virginity?" she added. The woman, who has earned a bachelor degree in women's studies and now wants to start a master's degree in marriage and family therapy, IS HOPING THE BIDDING WILL HIT $1 MILLION.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from either quake, but both prompted tsunami warnings, although Japan's Meteorological Agency predicted it would be small, about 50 centimeter (20 inches). The Indonesian quake occurred at exactly 9 a.m. (0000 GMT), the USGS said. Its epicenter was offshore, about 75 miles (120 km) north of Ternate in the province of Moluccas in eastern Indonesia. The quake was strongly felt in Ternate.

The Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysical Department issued a tsunami warning shortly afterward - standard procedure for a quake of magnitude 6.6 or higher with an epicenter offshore. Earthquakes between magnitude 6.0 and 6.9 are considered "strong" by the USGS.

UPDATE - '200 villages destroyed' as quake hits Iran A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 in magnitude struck southern Iran on Wednesday, according to a report from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Russian Air Force said the bombers would be based in Venezuela for several days and fly over neutral waters. Earlier this week Russia confirmed that it would send a Navy squadron and long-range patrol planes for joint exercises with Venezuela in November.

Mr Chavez has developed close relations with Moscow, including the purchase of Russian arms and co-operation on oil. Hugo Chavez announced that two Tu-160 bombers would carry out manoeuvres, saying that it was part of a move towards a "multi-polar world".

A Russian defence ministry spokesman confirmed that the planes had flown to Venezuela, adding that they were escorted by Nato fighters as they flew across the Atlantic. The planes are capable of carrying nuclear missiles, but the spokesman did not give any information about whether they were carrying arms during this mission.

Food prices in UK shops have risen by 8.3% since January, an index compiled for the BBC said last week. Farmers say this growing season started well but torrential rain means harvesting has been delayed, and in some areas only a tiny percentage of crops have been gathered.

BBC environment correspondent Sarah Mukherjee said farmers across Britain are reporting DAMAGE TO COMBINE HARVESTERS as they try to cut crops in waterlogged fields. Water can be wrung out of grain by hand as it is so wet, and thousands of pounds is being spent on fuel to dry sodden crops. SOME SAY NEXT YEAR'S PLANTING HAS ALREADY BEEN DISRUPTED.

"The citation of Jewish Law that is being spouted to prohibit Jewish entry to the Temple Mount is sometimes embarrassing," Rabbi Tendler told IsraelNationalRadio's Yishai Fleisher this week. He said the Chief Rabbinate must exercise its authority for the sake of the entire Nation of Israel.

"From my experience," Rabbi Tendler said, "when I started going up to the Temple Mount, Arab kids were playing soccer, and guards were eating sunflower seeds... You don't see that anymore. Now, there is more respect, because we have started visiting. So this is the contribution that we have already made for the sanctity of the Temple Mount..."

Show host Fleisher, explaining why he felt it was so important to publicize Rabbi Tendler's call, said, "First of all, as Jews, we seek out holiness, and THE TEMPLE MOUNT IS THE HOLIEST PLACE IN THE WORLD; it is where the world was created from, and where Abraham was ready to sacrifice Isaac, and where King Solomon erected the Holy Temple. Secondly, IT STRENGTHENS OUR SOVEREIGNTY IN OUR ETERNAL CAPITAL, Jerusalem. And thirdly, we see that many of our great leaders, such as Maimonides, made sure to visit this site - so let's do the same."

Even before the full cost of the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is calculated, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the nation will add more than $2.3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. This updated CBO report, released Tuesday, is the latest sign that the next president will face tough fiscal choices early on in a new administration. But it's already prompted even tougher rhetoric in Congress – and on the campaign trail – over who is to blame for all the red ink.

What's driving deficits is "AN UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF TURBULENCE" in the US economy this year, including depressed housing markets, fragile financial markets, and soaring prices for energy and food, along with the cost of war, according to the CBO. But the biggest long-term threat is rising health care costs and the retirement of the "baby boom" generation.

"As we have said over and over in the past, THE NATION IS ON AN UNSUSTAINABLE LONG-TERM FISCAL COURSE DRIVEN primarily by rising health care costs," said CBO director Peter Orszag at a briefing on Tuesday. "AND THAT DOES NEED TO BE ADDRESSED BEFORE A CRISIS HITS," One of the first decisions a new president will have to make is whether or not to extend President Bush's tax cuts, now set to expire in 2010.