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This country, as modern and sophisticated as it is geographically isolated, still seems to be in shock. But if the events of last month — the failure of Iceland’s banks; the plummeting of its currency; the first wave of layoffs; the loss of reputation abroad — felt like a bad dream, Iceland has now awakened to find that it is all coming true.

It is not as if Reykjavik, where about two-thirds of the country’s 300,000 people live, is filled with bread lines or homeless shanties or looters smashing store windows. But this city, until recently the center of one of the world’s fastest economic booms, is now the unhappy site of one of its great crashes. It is impossible to meet anyone here who has not been profoundly affected by the financial crisis.

Overnight, people lost their savings. Prices are soaring. Once-crowded restaurants are almost empty. Banks are rationing foreign currency, and companies are finding it dauntingly difficult to do business abroad. Inflation is at 16 percent and rising. People have stopped traveling overseas. The local currency, the krona, was 65 to the dollar a year ago; now it is 130. Companies are slashing salaries, reducing workers’ hours and, in some instances, embarking on mass layoffs.

The miniature reactors will be factory-sealed, contain no weapons-grade material, have no moving parts and will be nearly impossible to steal because they will be encased in concrete and buried underground.

The US government has licensed the technology to Hyperion, a New Mexico-based company which said last week that it has taken its first firm orders and plans to start mass production within five years. ‘Our goal is to generate electricity for 10 cents a watt anywhere in the world,’ said John Deal, chief executive of Hyperion. ‘They will cost approximately $25m [£13m] each. For a community with 10,000 households, that is a very affordable $250 per home.’

Deal claims to have more than 100 firm orders, largely from the oil and electricity industries, but says the company is also targeting developing countries and isolated communities. ‘It’s leapfrog technology,’ he said.

The company plans to set up three factories to produce 4,000 plants between 2013 and 2023. ‘We already have a pipeline for 100 reactors, and we are taking our time to tool up to mass-produce this reactor.’

The first confirmed order came from TES, a Czech infrastructure company specialising in water plants and power plants. ‘They ordered six units and optioned a further 12. We are very sure of their capability to purchase,’ said Deal. The first one, he said, would be installed in Romania. ‘We now have a six-year waiting list. We are in talks with developers in the Cayman Islands, Panama and the Bahamas.’

The reactors, only a few metres in diameter, will be delivered on the back of a lorry to be buried underground. They must be refuelled every 7 to 10 years. Because the reactor is based on a 50-year-old design that has proved safe for students to use, few countries are expected to object to plants on their territory. An application to build the plants will be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission next year.

‘You could never have a Chernobyl-type event – there are no moving parts,’ said Deal. ‘You would need nation-state resources in order to enrich our uranium. Temperature-wise it’s too hot to handle. It would be like stealing a barbecue with your bare hands.’

The initiative would make it easier for the Treasury Department to help a broader variety of firms if their troubles put the wider financial system at risk, the newspaper reported. However, the companies would still have to be financial firms that fall under federal regulators, it said, citing unnamed sources.

The plan, to be announced late next week at the earliest, could ultimately involve “hundreds of billions” of dollars in the $700 billion program, the Post said.

Companies best positioned to receive the government money may be those that resemble banks and engage in lending to businesses or consumers, the newspaper said. Treasury Department officials are evaluating which financial companies could become a bank or thrift holding company and remain viable in the long run, it said.

The department’s office of inspector general gave the figure in an audit of the FBI’s terrorism case-tracking system, called Guardian, launched in 2002 after the September 11 attacks.

“The FBI determined that the overwhelming majority of the threat information documented in Guardian had no nexus to terrorism. However, as a result of information reported in Guardian the FBI initiated over 600 criminal and terrorism-related investigations from October 2006 to December 2007,” the inspector general’s report said.

The report did not discuss the result of the investigations.

FBI policy requires that each threat or suspicious incident reported by the public or other government agencies and law enforcement officers be reviewed to determine whether there is a link to terrorism.

The report expressed concern over delays in the development of a related system, called E-Guardian, for sharing terrorism-related information with local law enforcement. It said the automated Guardian system had improved since it was first implemented, and the number of incidents tracked had grown dramatically.

GM, the nation’s largest automaker, reported it lost $4.2 billion, or $7.35 a share, excluding special items. That’s up from the loss $1.6 billion or $2.86 a share it reported a year earlier and was far worse than the forecast of analysts surveyed by earnings tracker Thomson Reuters, which had forecast a loss of $3.70 a share.

But the most shocking news came in its statements about its cash position. GM said it had burned through $6.9 billion during the quarter and warned that it “will approach the minimum amount necessary to operate its business” during the current quarter.

In addition, the company said that in the first half of next year its “estimated liquidity will fall significantly short” of what it needs to continue operating. It said the only thing that would save it would be a significant improvement in economic and automotive industry conditions, help from the federal government, better access to capital markets or some combination of those options.

“There are still unanswered questions that need to be answered,” said Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane, who was the former New London County state’s attorney. “There is a big difference between probable cause and proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Joseph Reilly, 42, and Gary McAvoy, 46, had been charged with murder in 2005 by Norwich police in the brutal May 14, 2004, beating death of Eugene Mallove, 56, a scientist and writer from New Hampshire. Mallove was found outside his childhood home at 119 Salem Turnpike. His clothing was bloodied and disheveled, indicating a violent struggle.

Thursday’s dismissal of charges brought a smile to Reilly and tears to McAvoy, who took turns standing before Judge Susan B. Handy in a New London courtroom.

“It’s been a hard three-and-a-half years,” Reilly said. “All along we’ve said we’re innocent.”

McAvoy asked for a moment with his mother.

Both men are in prison on unrelated charges, but now are eligible for parole.

McAvoy and Reilly admitted to a crack-fueled burglary spree around the time of Mallove’s death, but denied any role in his slaying.

Defense attorneys William Koch Jr. and Jeremiah Donovan consistently had said state evidence in the case was seriously lacking.

Investigators, while gathering incriminating statements from jailhouse informants, had failed to connect the two men to the crime through any forensic evidence.

Koch, who represents Reilly, gave Kane credit for his handling of the situation.

“I would imagine the state doesn’t nolle too many murder cases,” Koch said. “It takes a lot of guts and courage.”

He shared a high-five with special investigator Tracy Wernicki. Both had spent countless hours poring over evidence. The two only recently discovered a mix-up with DNA evidence at the state crime laboratory.

Handy agreed to dismiss the case while preserving all evidence associated with it. Norwich police have said the case remains under investigation. Police Capt. Timothy Menard said they will continue to pursue all leads “with a fresh set of eyes.”

Mallove’s son, Ethan, said his family met with prosecutors earlier in the week and knew the dismissal was coming.

“Obviously we’re not satisfied with this,” he said. “Someone needs to be brought to justice. To have some form of closure seemingly within sight, and then suddenly retracted, has left us profoundly disappointed.”

Eugene Mallove was a Norwich Free Academy graduate who became the chief science writer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He later dedicated much of his work to cold fusion and promoted experimentation in the field of alternative energy sources.

He founded the nonprofit New Energy Foundation in New Hampshire and published the magazine Infinite Energy, publicizing the work of others seeking alternative energy sources. He was cleaning out his rental property at the time of his death.

Members of the New Energy Foundation were astonished by the developments in the case, general manager Christy L. Frazier said Thursday.

Bletchley made its name by playing host to a team of mathematicians who used an early supercomputer, Colossus, to decipher Nazi codes. Cracking Enigma was recognised as one of the great achievements of the war, and helped Allied forces to victory after they began intercepting enemy communications.

Although Bletchley has been feted for its part in history – even becoming the subject of a feature film produced by Mick Jagger in 2001 – the estate has fallen into disrepair over the past decade.

Faced with the potential loss of the site, a group of academics began campaigning for funds to help the restoration effort earlier this year.

In an open letter to the Times, the group warned that the estate was “a crucial and unique piece of both British and world heritage” that was being allowed to rot without public assistance.

Campaigners had already raised more than £5m since 1992, and in August, Bletchley opened the National Museum of Computing. This effort was soon backed by computer giant IBM and the security company PGP Corporation – which both donated significant sums to the cause.

But the £330,000, three-year grant from English Heritage – the arm of the government that oversees historic monuments and sites – should finally help seal its long-term future if it succeeds in finding matching donations from private donors.

“It marks the start of a regeneration initiative to transform Bletchley Park into a world-class heritage and education centre,” said Simon Greenish, the director of Bletchley Park Trust.

Appearing live on the Alex Jones show earlier today, the Congressman spoke of a feeling of dread surrounding the change of guard both in the White House and on Capitol Hill:

“I do feel it but I don’t think it’s brand new, I didn’t wake up with it, I’ve had it for a while, I don’t think the election was a surprise, but the rhetoric is getting pretty strong and they are getting very bold.” he commented.

Speaking on the stage management of the election, and calling it a “huge distraction” from real issues, the Congressman outlined how both candidates were pre-positioned by the elite interests with the knowledge that either would satisfactorily serve their agenda:

“I think McCain was obviously a back up candidate in case something happened where Obama didn’t win, they’d have been satisfied with McCain, but they have been positioning Obama for a long long time.”

“This started even before he announced he was running. Anybody who would have gotten that much favorable coverage for so long, you know that the plans are laid for him to be the individual that’s going to be taking care of the corporate elite.” the Congressman continued.

Paul also warned that Democrats gains within the House and the Senate make for a particularly worrying situation of absolute power, similar to that held by the Republican party eight years ago.

“Just as a Republican Congress wouldn’t say boo to a Republican Congress, you know that the Democratic Congress is NEVER going to stand up.”

“I think it is very dangerous and the first year is going to be the most dangerous year.” Paul stated. “Just think of Bush’s first year, he also had the 9/11 thing that he could use to scare everybody to death. And Obama will use the financial crisis, which will get worse, and there will be more military skirmishes around the world.” Paul asserted.

The Congressman also warned that many Republican representatives may go along with Obama just to win favor with the electorate and be seen to follow popular opinion.

Commenting on the much touted “International crisis” that luminaries such as Colin Powell, Joe Biden and Zbigniew Brzezinski have all guaranteed will occur within weeks of Obama entering the White House, the Congressman stated that he believes it may be a catalyst for a shift toward world government:

“I think it’s going to be an announcement of a new monetary order, and they’ll probably make it sound very limited, they’re not going to say this is world government, even though it is if you control the world’s money and you control the military, which they do indirectly.”

The Center for Responsive Politics has issued a report highlighting millions of dollars in campaign contributions that Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) has raised from individuals working in the hedge fund industry, private equity firms, and large investment firms.

Emanuel has raised more money from individuals and political action committees in securities and investment businesses than from any other industry.

This comes after a presidential campaign that saw Obama frequently criticize Wall Street and blamed lack of government regulations for the economic crisis that hit the country in mid-September.

Emanuel, a former Clinton White House aide, is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and received much of the credit for the Democrats winning a majority in the House of Representatives in 2006 – the first time in 12 years.