The U.S. government and Swiss banking giant UBS AG have reached an agreement in a case seeking names of some 52,000 suspected American tax evaders with billions in secret Swiss accounts, but details may remain under wraps until next week, officials said.

Lawyers for the government and UBS told a federal judge in a brief conference call they had initialed a deal after a delay last week to settle undisclosed details.

Scott's staff arrived at his Smyrna, Ga., office Tuesday morning to find the Nazi graffiti emblazoned on a sign bearing the lawmaker's name. The vandalism occurred roughly a week after Scott was involved in a confrontational argument over health care at a community meeting.

As pilotless US drones do battle from the sky in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, a top US Army general is urging the military to step up the deployment of unmanned vehicles on the ground.

"It's all about saving lives," said Lieutenant General Rick Lynch, the commander of the III Armored Corps and the holder of a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

A segment of the Asia-Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN2) undersea cable network between China and Taiwan suffered a serious cable fault on Wednesday, causing Internet traffic to be rerouted onto other undersea cables and slowing Internet access for some users in Southeast Asia.

At about 10:50 a.m. on Wednesday, local time, an alarm signaled a cable fault on Segment 7 of APCN2, which connects Hong Kong and Shantou, China. The disruption caused a temporary loss of service on the undersea link but all customers that use the cable were soon shifted to capacity on other cables, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The idea of a Labour Party shaped by liberal republicans sets itself deliberately against the Big State politics espoused by Mr Brown and his preferred successor, Ed Balls, let alone the civil liberties-destroying authoritarian streak championed by Mr Blair and core supporters such as John Reid and Hazel Blears. It favours individual budgets for health care, backs Tory reforms on education, prefers tax on unearned income, and believes in civil liberties �" all ground championed by David Cameron.