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Karl Rove quits White House
President Bush's controversial chief political adviser, Karl Rove, is to leave the White House at the end of the month, it emerged today. 'I just think it's time,' Mr Rove told the Wall Street Journal, which described him as 'Mr Bush's political alter ego'. Mr Rove was one of the senior Bush administration figures questioned after the identity of the CIA agent Valerie Plame was leaked to the press. He admitted telling journalists about Ms Plame's identity but avoided charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Mr Rove said: 'There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here I've got to do this for the sake of my family.'

Global credit turmoil piles pressure on central banks
Investors around the world were this morning bracing themselves for further falls on global stock markets, as the uncertainty continued over the scale of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis and the extent to which the rest of the financial system has been caught up in the problems. Inter-bank interest rates shot upin London on Friday evening, as they had done the previous night, prompting the following day's collapse in confidence. While the US stock market rallied in late trading on Friday, many investors were yesterday predicting sharp falls this morning in Far Eastern stock markets, which could trigger a downbeat reaction on western bourses.

Police inspecting airport protest
Dozens of police officers have been inspecting a camp set up by climate change protesters near Heathrow Airport. Up to 2,000 people are expected to pitch their tents on Tuesday for a week-long protest against plans to expand the airport.
About 250 campaigners have already arrived at the Camp for Climate Action. Campaigners blew whistles as police entered the camp to meet the organisers and inspect the site. Chief Superintendent Ian Thomas said 25 officers inspected the site on Monday morning at the landowner's request.

Britain's 'invisible army' of African slaves
Brought into the country under false identities and tricked into leaving their families with the promise of an education and a better future, hundreds of African children are being trafficked into the UK for a life of servitude, according to human rights campaigners. NGOs and human rights lawyers have sounded the alarm over the 'invisible children', illegally smuggled into Britain using false visas and documents.
Dragan Nastic, Unicef UK's policy and parliamentary officer, said: 'The first recognised case of child trafficking in the UK was a Nigerian girl more than 10 years ago in 1995. Here we are in 2007 and there have been no prosecutions made in cases of children trafficked into domestic labour from Africa. Not one.'

Anti-Mafia police uncover arms-to-Iraq plot
US loss of control over the flood of weapons into Iraq was highlighted again yesterday when it emerged that Italian anti-Mafia investigators had uncovered an alleged shipment of 105,000 rifles of which the American high command was unaware. The Italian team, in an investigation codenamed Operation Parabellum, stopped the £20m sale and have made four arrests. The consignment appears to have been ordered by the Iraqi interior ministry. The US high command in Baghdad admitted that it had no knowledge of any such order, even though the ministry is supposed to inform the Americans before making any arms purchases.

Cheney warned that Iraq invasion would lead to quagmire in 1994
It's not the first time that citizen 'investigative journalists' have uncovered some embarrassing, or telling, nugget from the past that apparently remained buried for years. But it has happened again with the posting of a now wildly popular video on YouTube that shows Dick Cheney explaining in 1994 that trying to take over Iraq would be a 'bad idea' and lead to a 'quagmire.' The people who put it up come from a site called Grand Theft Country, the on-screen source appears to be the conservative American Enterprise Institute, and the date on the screen is April 15, 1994. That looks right, by the age of Cheney.

How dangerous are the 'Guantanamo Five'?
Dangerous Jihadis, or victims of a Pentagon smear campaign? New claims about five British residents still held in Guantanamo bay. Earlier this week Jamil al-Banna's family were told the UK now backs their calls to bring him home. Cleared for release by the Pentagon - it is just a matter of time. But now they discover - according to the Americans at least - he's an old friend of former al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. C4 news has been told they were friends while young men in Jordan - but hadn't had contact for years.

Iran concludes inquiry into detained U.S.-Iranians
Iran's judicial authorities have completed their investigations into two detained Iranian-Americans, a senior official said on Sunday, in a case that has added to high tensions with Washington. 'The two have some written work to do and then the decision will be made about them, 'Tehran Deputy Prosecutor Hassan Haddad told the official IRNA news agency. Haddad, in charge of the file, did not specify what he meant by 'written work'. Last month, Iranian television aired 'confessions' by Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh, which the Foreign Ministry said had revealed a U.S.-backed plot to topple Iran's clerical establishment.

Heathrow protesters set up camp
A climate change protest camp is being set up outside Heathrow airport, two days earlier than had been expected. Thousands of protesters are expected this week at the Camp for Climate Action, which opposes the expansion of London's biggest airport. About 150 campaigners have begun building a camp less than a kilometre outside the airport's perimeter. In response, airport operator BAA warned it would not allow passengers to be 'harassed or obstructed'. Protesters from the UK and abroad are planning a week of demonstrations which will highlight what they claim are the links between climate change and aviation.

Revealed: cover-up plan on energy target
Government officials have secretly briefed ministers that Britain has no hope of getting remotely near the new European Union renewable energy target that Tony Blair signed up to in the spring - and have suggested that they find ways of wriggling out of it. In contrast to the government's claims to be leading the world on climat change, officials within the former Department of Trade and Industry hav admitted that under current policies Britain would miss the EU's 2020 target o 20% energy from renewables by a long way. And their suggestion that 'statistica interpretations of the target' be used rather than new ways to reach it ha infuriated environmentalists

Iraqi PM calls for crisis summit
Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, has called for a summit of the nation's main political factions in an attempt to break Iraq's political paralysis. In recent weeks almost all Sunni members of the cabinet have quit. Others are boycotting meetings, leaving at least 17 cabinet seats empty. Many of them have accused Mr Maliki, a Shia Muslim, of ignoring their demands. The crisis is worrying for the US, which wants to see progress before withdrawing troops.

Cyber protest targets UN website
The United Nation's official website appears to have been hacked in a form of 'cyber-protest' against Israeli and US policies in the Middle East. A message appearing on the site early on Sunday said: 'Hacked By kerem125 M0sted and Gsy That is CyberProtest Hey Ysrail and Usa dont kill children and other people Peace for ever No war.' Several web pages of the subsite for comments and news about Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, were affected and that section of the UN website was taken offline temporarily.

East German 'licence to kill' found
Border guards in East Germany during the Cold War were given clear orders to shoot at attempted defectors, including children, a senior official says. A newly discovered order is the firmest evidence yet that the communist regime gave explicit shoot-to-kill orders, says Germany's director of Stasi files. The Stasi was the security ministry of the East German government, which always denied there was such a policy. The order 'is a licence to kill', said the head of a Stasi victims' memorial.

Topshop accused of using 'slave labour' to produce Kate Moss range
Topshop has been accused of using 'slave labour' to produce clothes for its Kate Moss range. The chain, part of billionaire Sir Philip Green's clothing empire Arcadia, is alleged to be using Third World sweatshops where migrant workers work 70 hour weeks at 40p an hour. According to a newspaper investigation, Topshop keeps its costs down - and Sir Philip boosts his £5bn fortune - by using Mauritius sweatshops where Sri Lankans, Indians and Bangladeshis toil 12 hours a day, six days a week, for minimal pay.

Cross-border meeting 'ushers in era of love' say Afghans and Pakistanis
They have bickered, traded insults and hurled bitter accusations at one another. But yesterday President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, came together for a surprisingly warm show of unity. General Musharraf flew into Kabul for the closing ceremony of a cross-border jirga, or peace conference, to discuss the Taliban insurgency that threatens both their countries. After four days of talk, the language was at times more Woodstock than Waziristan.

Oil headed for $100 a barrel: Chavez
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez predicted that oil prices will hit $US100 a barrel, saying the world is facing an energy crisis. 'The price of oil is headed for $US100, 'Chavez told Caribbean leaders at an energy summit. 'OPEC says so ... We should prepare ourselves for those prices'. He added that 'the world is entering into an energy crisis' largely caused by a US-influenced 'consumerist model and the limitless waste'.

Stock Market Brushfire; Will there be a run on the banks?
On Friday, the Dow Jones clawed its way back from a 200 point deficit to a mere 31 point loss after the Federal Reserve injected $38 billion into the banking system. The Fed had already pumped $24 billion into the system a day earlier after the Dow plummeted 387 points. That brings the Fed’s total commitment to a whopping $62 billion. By some estimates, $326.3 billion has now been added to the G-7 Nations’ intra-banking system to prevent a breakdown. That amount will rise considerably in the weeks ahead as the situation continues to deteriorate. Some readers may remember that on Tuesday, August 7, the Fed announced that it was NOT planning to bail out the market.