The Santiago Fire in Orange County was started in two places along a little-traveled road, according to Chief Chip Prather of the county's fire authority. The fire, which has burned more than 25,000 acres, was started in brush just off Santiago Canyon Road, not close to homes. It spread rapidly, indicating the arsonist had some knowledge of winds and other factors.

"It is a confirmed arson. There was evidence found at the scene. That is the purpose of our early declaration of it being an arson-caused fire," Prather said. He would not describe the evidence. The Santiago Fire's points of origin are considered crime scenes, said Jim Amornino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

The reward for information leading to an arrest has increased to $150,000 -- $50,000 each from the governor's office, the U.S. agency of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the FBI, Prather said. The state established a toll-free arson tip line at 800-540-7085. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said anyone convicted of arson would be dealt with harshly.

Inventories last week fell 5.29 million barrels to the lowest since January, the U.S. Energy Department said. New U.S. sanctions against Iran, warnings of a Turkish assault on Kurdish militants in Iraq and a falling dollar helped push prices higher. Brent futures in London reached a record.

Crude oil for December delivery rose as much as 64 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $91.10 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since trading began in 1983. It traded at $91.02 at 12:20 p.m. Singapore time. Prices are 51 percent higher than a year ago.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, supplier of about 40 percent of the world's oil, doesn't plan additional output even with record oil prices, Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters in Caracas yesterday. "There is enough oil in the market," Ramirez said. OPEC is "'not planning to increase production."

Latest - Friday P.M.:- Crude oil prices spiked above $92 in Asia Friday on growing tensions in the Middle East and renewed concern about oil supplies. The United States announced new sanctions against Iran Thursday, targeting the elite Revolutionary Guards, which Washington accused of backing Shiite militants in Iraq. A confrontation between the world's largest oil consumer and its fourth largest oil producer could upend markets.

The appeal for peace, made public by the Catholic lay Community of Sant'Egidio, was presented to the leaders at the concluding ceremony of the 21st International Encounter of Peoples and Religions held in Naples from Sunday through Tuesday. The encounter brought together 315 religious leaders of various creeds.

The peace appeal stated: "From Naples we can say, stronger than before, that anyone who uses the name of God to hate the other, to practice violence, or to wage war, is cursing the name of God. As Benedict XVI told us, 'Never can evil and violence be justified by invoking the name of God.' We need the strength that comes from the spirit of love, which helps rebuild and mend the unity of humankind."

The appeal urged a spirit of dialogue among all peoples and religions: "In the depths of our religious traditions, we have discovered that a world without dialogue is a world without hope, where people are fated to fear each other. Dialogue does not cancel differences. Dialogue enriches life and dispels pessimism that makes one see the other as a threat. DIALOGUE IS NOT THE ILLUSION OF THE WEAK, IT IS THE WISDOM OF THE STRONG.

"We commit ourselves to learn the art of living together and to offer it to our fellow believers. There is no alternative to the unity of the human family. We need brave builders, in all cultures, and in all religious traditions. We need the globalization of the spirit, which reveals to us what we no longer see: the beauty of life and of the other, in all circumstances, even the hardest."

Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Sant'Egidio Community, which co-sponsored the event together with the Archdiocese of Naples, announced that the next encounter will be in Cyprus. "This island represents a frontier that can become a bridge of dialogue and peace," he said.

Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos II of New Justiniana and All Cyprus said that in his community, "we have friendly relations with our neighbors, both Muslims and Jews." He said he hoped the spirit of Assisi, where the first international encounter was convoked by Pope John Paul II in 1986, will be reinforced by a "spirit of Cyprus." It is necessary in this century, Chrysostomos II said, "that we are seen as united, despite differences."

The policy had predictably dire results, but today, with the world in the grip of another bout of food price inflation, governments worldwide are rushing to distort the market with subsidies and quotas, price controls and export taxes. They should stop.

In the run-up to its presidential election, Russia has imposed price controls on basic foodstuffs, and plans an export tariff on wheat. China already controls prices; other importers, including Egypt, Jordan, Bangladesh and Morocco, are increasing subsidies or fiddling with their tariff regimes.

THE SIMPLE PROBLEM WITH ALL THESE ACTIONS IS THAT THEY DISTORT THE MARKET. Price controls and export tariffs make production less profitable, which discourages increased supply and can make shortages worse. Subsidies stimulate demand so it does not fall into line with higher prices. All distort the terms of trade within a country. Farmers suffer at the expense of city dwellers - especially perverse in countries with high rural poverty, such as China.

None of this is too bad in the short term. If food prices fall back, price controls become meaningless, subsidies can be withdrawn and export tariffs no longer make sense. The more pernicious problems will appear if food prices stay high. With more demand for protein from fast-growing Asian middle classes, lunatic policies to subsidise corn-based ethanol and the legacy of underinvestment during long years of low prices, that prospect seems likely.

For exporters, distorting the market in favour of domestic consumers harms the balance of payments, lowers investment and helps rivals. Nixon's ban is often credited with creating Brazil's soyabean industry. For net food importers, who can keep prices down without shortages only by offering subsidies, the risks are much more serious. Cheap food is an open-ended fiscal commitment - once in place it is politically impossible to withdraw - that can play havoc with a budget. Developing countries have improved their fiscal position in recent years. They should not throw that away.

Rich countries, where food is a small part of total consumption, have less to worry about, although they should beware the ratchet effect as food importers increase subsidies and food producers tax exports, driving up world market prices still further. But leaders in the developing world, no matter the political pressure to bring down the cost of grain, should resist.

CHEAP FOOD COMES AT A HIGH PRICE.

Nato defence ministers meeting in the Netherlands last night were discussing the plan after several European members refused to meet a shortfall in transport helicopters. Although not named, Germany, France, Turkey, Spain and Greece were reportedly the target of Robert Gates, the United States defence secretary, when he reminded member states of "their moral responsibility and collective commitments" to support their allies by responding to requests for reinforcements and materiel.

Military sources in southern Afghanistan questioned whether helicopters rented from private security companies would meet the standards required to transport British forces. Britain and other European countries fly helicopters that are equipped with complex defensive equipment to detect and defeat heat-seeking missiles. Pilots are also trained to perform difficult low-level evasive flying to throw the aim of Taliban ground fire.

Nonetheless 18 military helicopters have been lost in Afghanistan since 2001 with the loss of 110 soldiers and airmen. The last was a US Chinook transport helicopter in May. Seven people died, including a British soldier.
The need for helicopters has become more acute in response to the growing threat from roadside bombs, increasingly acquired via Iran.

The former United Nations High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina delivered his dire prediction after being proposed as a new "super envoy" role in Afghanistan. Lord Ashdown said: "We have lost, I think, and success is now unlikely." The assessment will be considered extreme by some diplomats but timely by those pressing for more resources for Nato operations.

Lord Ashdown added: "I believe losing in Afghanistan is worse than losing in Iraq. It will mean that Pakistan will fall and it will have serious implications internally for the security of our own countries and will instigate a wider Shiite [Shia], Sunni regional war on a grand scale.

"Some people refer to the First and Second World Wars as European civil wars and I think a similar regional civil war could be initiated by this [failure] to match this magnitude." Lord Ashdown, 66, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, was speaking in advance of a Nato summit in the Dutch town of Noordwijk yesterday.

In its first detailed analysis of the squeeze that has engulfed credit markets since the summer, the Bank says that financial institutions have become more fragile and that the availability of credit may tighten. In turn, it sounds a warning that tighter lending conditions could spell serious fallout for the economy, with sub-prime borrowers and highly-leveraged companies particularly exposed.

The Bank's unexpectedly gloomy report goes on to warn investors that share prices in Britain and the US could prove "vulnerable to any further revision in growth prospects". A further danger is that the dollar could fall sharply if adverse sentiment towards US securities persists, it says.

Sir John Gieve, the Bank Deputy Governor, admitted that although it had expected some of the problems, "the speed and ferocity" of the global disruptions "had not been anticipated by firms or authorities".

Mr Rogers, who ranks among the world's best-known investment figures, said he was putting his faith in China's politically-sensitive currency alongside the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc.

Mr Rogers' comments are followed slavishly by many members of the international investment communities, and his view that the US economy is in a worse state than that suggested by most economic commentators is likely to add to pessimism in some quarters about its health.

The Dow, which tumbled almost 370 points in the final hours of trading last Friday, fell almost 200 points in early trading today as investors digested another swathe of worrying news about the American economy. Sales of previously owned homes tumbled 8pc in September to an annual rate of 5.04m, suggesting that the current achilles heel of the economy is getting worse.

Jonathan Basile, an economist at Credit Suisse, said: "The worst isn't behind us, the worst is here right now."

Traders had already been unnerved after Merrill Lynch chief executive Stan O'Neal refused to rule out further writedowns from the credit crisis after the investment bank shocked Wall Street by disclosing an extra $3.3bn hit today. The revelation leaves Merrill with a total hit of $8.4bn from the credit crunch that paralysed financial markets over the summer and pushed the prestigious Wall Street name to its worst quarterly loss since it was founded 93 years ago.

Less than a month ago, Merrill was predicting a hit of $5bn. Acknowledging the gulf between the two figures, Mr O'Neal said: "In light of difficult credit markets and additional analysis by management during our quarter-end closing process, we re-examined our remaining CDO positions with more conservative assumptions."

Data from the World Trade Organization show that the country vaulted past the US at the beginning of this year and has since moved at lightning speed to eclipse Germany's once indomitable export machine. It shipped $111bn (£54bn) worth of goods in August, up 55pc from a year earlier.

Now boasting 8pc of global exports - three times Britain's dwindling share - China has jumped up the technology ladder. Machinery, equipment and cars now make up 46pc of total exports, while textiles are fading from the picture. Beijing let the yuan break through the key barrier of 7.5 to the dollar yesterday, but seems determined to resist Western pressure for faster appreciation.

The fires, in their fourth day, had destroyed 1,500 homes and caused at least a half-million people to flee - the largest evacuation in state history. At least 1,200 of the damaged homes were in San Diego County, and officials believe that number will rise. "Clearly, this is going to be a $1 billion or more disaster," Ron Lane, San Diego County's director of emergency services, told reporters during a news conference.

So far, the fires have inflicted the worst damage in San Diego County, where five blazes continued to burn. The largest fire had charred 196,420 acres - about 300 square miles - from Witch Creek to Rancho Santa Fe, destroying 650 homes, businesses and other buildings. Other hard-hit areas included San Bernardino County, where hundreds of homes burned in the mountain resort communities near Lake Arrowhead.

The satellite, named Chang'e 1, took off from the Xichang Centre in south-west China's Sichuan province at 1800 local time (1000 GMT). Analysts say it is a key step towards China's aim of putting a man on the Moon by 2020, in the latest stage of an Asian space race with Japan and India

Earlier this month, a Japanese lunar probe entered orbit around the Moon. India is planning a lunar mission for April next year. The satellite is expected to enter lunar orbit in early November and start sending back pictures of the Moon's surface later that month. Efforts by Asian nations to advance their space programmes have gathered pace in recent years.

In 2003, China became the first Asian nation to use its own rocket to put an astronaut in space. Four years later, Beijing triggered international concern by destroying a weather satellite as part of a weapons test.

1.-There is A RAMPANT, SERIOUS FINANCIAL PROBLEM WITH TERMINAL POTENTIAL - AND NO PRACTICAL SOLUTION hidden just outside of the public's view (OTC Derivatives).

2.-Because central banks have gotten so out of hand and political which cannot be controlled by investors or the man in the street, we need to adjust our actions so that each person takes on the responsibilities normal to central banks for their own finances.

3.-Everything we buy is getting more expensive and many assets people have, other than gold, are losing value. Because of this credit is not a proper idea regardless of the weak dollar for the majority of people reading this.

4.-Major financial institutions, Internet financial entities and banks operate without transparency where their derivative holdings are concerned. Losses the financial institutions are publishing are considered by media as having extinguished all the risk. I do not believe this. I believe they are still marked to model, only the model is moving slowly towards reality of worthlessness.

5.-There is an acceleration of bankruptcy among financial institutions. This translates to the individual needing to act as their own financial institution by having their share investments in paper form, gold in their close possession with no one in-between and available cash. The individual must be their own bank and central bank as one has failed us and both may.

6.-The savings rate in the US is negative while the expansion of credit is totally over the top.

7.-Business is turning south so the US Federal Budget Deficit will move up exponentially.

8.-The US dollar has become a bombed out and lost battle zone. There is nothing good anyone can say fundamentally about the US dollar.

9.-Non US entities are fed up with financing the US consumer and US Federal activities. This is clear from the recent TIC report, which is now down trending.

10.-Financial privacy is non-existent.

11.-THERE IS A MODEL FOR EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW AND THAT IS THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC. Name war retributions as OTC derivatives and you begin to see the picture.

12.-The US dollar has now made a clear indication of the final head and shoulders; the massive formation from the absolute top is breaking down.

Number 12 is the item that impacts all of the above because of the dollar's technical position now beginning to reflect the dire fundamentals. THIS IS IT!

This is it because you now have to perform not only as your own bank but also as your own central bank. This is it because the US dollar has completed a major head and shoulders bear formation, pulled back to the underside of the neckline and thereafter declining below the major support line drawn from the beginning of the big dollar bull under Chairman Paul Volcker. Volcker made the dollar and Greenspan gave it all back to Asia.

The dollar break below the recent and most important major, major support line drawn from 1980 to now is the fundamental basis which will push Gold to $1650. The US dollar is, without any doubt in my mind, going to .7200, followed by .6200. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to defend yourselves.

Indonesian workers around the rumbling Mount Kelud volcano in East Java are unable to harvest cloves and coffee because they are being evacuated from plantations, a plantation firm official said on Wednesday.

Ade Prasetyo, a manager at state-owned PTPN XII which has plantations of coffee, cacao, clove and various woods, said the company had evacuated more than 200 workers from three of its seven plantations to safer areas. "If the eruption is the same as it was in 1990, we expect a loss of 7 billion rupiah (more than $750,000)," Prasetyo told Reuters.

Authorities were evacuating residents living within a 10-km (6-mile) zone around the 1,731-metre (5,712-ft) volcano to safer areas after experts said Mount Kelud was liable to erupt.