Washington  - The stock markets are in free fall. Congress is in chaos. The White House is helpless.

After Monday's rejection by legislators of the rescue package for the battered financial sector, the United States is on the brink of its worst economic crisis since the catastrophe of 1929.

"If Congress doesnt help us on this, heaven help us," said legendary multibillionaire investor Warren Buffet last week.

And Congress balked.

Washington  - The US Defence Department confirmed Tuesday that it has deployed a powerful missile-defence radar system to Israel to help protect the Jewish state from a possible Iranian attack.

The X-band radar will be operated by US personnel and is designed to track medium-and longe-range missile and provide data to an interceptor missile, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

"It more than doubles the range of Israel's missile defense radars and increases its available engagement time," Morrell said.

Belgrade  - Serbian President Boris Tadic Tuesday said that he was not planning to propose a partition of the breakaway Kosovo, but neither did he rule the idea out, while authorities in Pristina angrily did.

"Partition is being discussed in Serbia and the international community and it has been one of the options during all these years," Tadic told an evening press conference. "That option I can consider only when all other options are spent."

Moscow/Tbilisi  - The European Union chief diplomat Javier Solana met with Georgian leaders in Tbilisi on Tuesday and said he expects Russia to meet its obligation to pull it forces out of the buffer zone areas around Abkhazia and South Ossetia by October 10.

In talks coming on the eve of the start of the EU observer mission (EUMM) in Georgia, Solana insisted on Russia fulfilling its treaty commitment to pull its forces out of the two renegade Georgian provinces.

Harare  - Talks resumed Tuesday between President Robert Mugabe and pro-democracy leader Morgan Tsvangirai on dividing up between them the ministries in the country's incoming power-sharing government, but ended in deadlock again, a Tsvangirai spokesman said.

Nelson Chamisa, chief spokesman for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, said that the two men met for an hour Tuesday afternoon, but there was "deadlock on key ministries."

There was no indication when they or their parties' representatives would meet again.

Warsaw  - Polish President Lech Kaczynski said it was "impossible" for Poland to adopt the euro by 2011, warning that the financial strictures needed for the changeover would bring economic hardship on large segments of the population.

"I think the year 2011 is a pointless question," he said on Tuesday, "because it's obvious even now that's a completely unrealistic date."