Cotabato City, Philippines - An unmanned US spy plane crashed and exploded in a southern Philippine town where government troops were hunting down rogue Muslim rebels, a Catholic priest who witnessed the incident said Thursday.

The plane was flying low and smashed into a telecommunications tower Saturday in Pikit town in North Cotabato province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, Father Eduardo Vazquez said.

"It crashed into the tower at the town proper, and it exploded like a grenade," he said. "The police and the military do not want to talk about it, but many people saw the spy plane."

Vazquez said police immediately recovered the wreckage and turned it over to the military.

More lows overnight; stops drive trade into next technical support. After all is done today the rate is unchanged from US opens. Option barriers reported on the dip but those are cleared. Model accounts seen selling the rate under the 1.2800 area. Official interest noted traders say but rate continued to sell-off.

OK to look to the buy side now; rotation off the lows will likely signal a near-term bottom. Rate is an absolute screaming buy in my view—I can't see further weakness being ignored by the buyers. Oil two-way spills over into pricing and if oil rallies it might take EURO with it. Traders note stops building above the market along with offers.

Follow-on selling surprises to the downside; stops cleared and orders thin. Traders note solid bids but offers remain. Rate at new support level but ranges appears wider. Drop under the 1.6500 handle finds light stops. Monthly lows give way as sentiment won't rally.

Traders note quality bids on the dip suggesting a bottom is in here somewhere. Aggressive traders can buy anytime but expect more whippy action. Follow-on selling likely from technical's but spillover strength from EURO likely to be better to end the week.

London, Oct 23 : The US military has launched a competition to find a design for a flying submarine, a week before the release of the latest James Bond film.

Bond drove a submersible Lotus Esprit in “The Spy Who Loved Me” and villain Scaramanga drove a flying AMC Matador coupé in “The Man With The Golden Gun” but the US group is looking for a vehicle that can do both, The Telegraph reported.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), based in Arlington, Virginia, wants a flying submarine to help small teams of Special Forces to approach coastlines undetected.

The agency said that it wants the craft in order to “maintain its tactical advantage for future coastal insertion missions”.

Washington, Oct 23 : Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has thrown her weight behind Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to make sure that he stands before the nation as a President with the political strength to break the gridlock, get things done, and start progress going in America again.

“We’re throwing everything we’ve got into making sure (Obama) stands before the nation as a President with the political strength to break the gridlock, get things done, and start progress going in America again. And with a filibuster-proof Senate, we''ll be able to bring the change this country so desperately needs,” Clinton wrote.

The USD continued to advance against most majors but lost ground against Yen to end the day mixed and at new highs for the year. Stops were triggered in thin trade traders report suggesting that some bottom-picking has been done recently but the relentless one-way USD advance today made quick work of the USD bears today. Traders report that conditions were horrible and volumes almost non-existent suggesting that a potential bottom is once again forming.

With most traders focusing almost exclusively on liquidity, bank lending and the financial crisis, it appears evident that finding a USD bear will be hard work. In my view, the charge higher by the USD is suspect because it can't last due to the underlying fundamentals being what they are.