Climategate has already affected Russia. On Tuesday, the Moscow-based Institute of Economic Analysis (IEA) issued a report claiming that the Hadley Center for Climate Change based at the headquarters of the British Meteorological Office in Exeter (Devon, England) HAD PROBABLY TAMPERED WITH RUSSIAN CLIMATE DATA.

THE IEA BELIEVES THAT RUSSIAN METEOROLOGICAL-STATION DATA DID NOT SUBSTANTIATE THE ANTHROPOGENIC GLOBAL-WARMING THEORY. Analysts say Russian meteorological stations cover most of the country's territory, and that the Hadley Center had used data submitted by only 25% of such stations in its reports. OVER 40% OF RUSSIAN TERRITORY WAS NOT INCLUDED IN GLOBAL TEMPERATURE CALCULATIONS for some other reasons, rather than the lack of meteorological stations and observations. CLIMATOLOGISTS USE THE INCOMPLETE FINDINGS OF METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS FAR MORE OFTEN THAN THOSE PROVIDING COMPLETE OBSERVATIONS.

The bolstered eyes in the sky will come from a mix of manned and unmanned aircraft and added technology that allows each MQ-9 Reaper drone to collect 10 video transmissions and beam them back to 10 different users on the ground, Air Force Lieutenant General David Deptula, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, told reporters. Deptula's comments came as Defense Secretary Robert Gates continues to press the Air Force to find ways to more rapidly provide better intelligence to the US and its allies in Afghanistan.

The first troop units of the surge ordered by President Barack Obama have begun to arrive in Afghanistan, a Pentagon official said Wednesday, adding to the 68,000 US forces already deployed to counter emboldened insurgents. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said a Marine battalion ordered to move in earlier this month already has "some boots on the ground," with the rest to be flown in before Christmas. "So the surge has begun in earnest," he said.

BBC's "Africa Have Your Say" Web site asked for people's views on whether Uganda has gone too far and whether there should be any laws against gays. But several British politicians said Wednesday that the BBC should not treat the execution of gays as a legitimate topic for discussion.

Opposition lawmaker Lynne Featherstone has written to BBC executives seeking an apology and end to the Web discussion. "The BBC are only FANNING THE FLAMES OF HATRED as many of the comments demonstrate," she says.

The ADIA pumped billions into Citigroup in exchange for an 11% dividend until March of next year. Then, over 18 months starting on March 15, those equity units get converted into common stock -- at those $30-plus price levels. Needless to say, while that dividends looked great to the ADIA at the time, the price to swap now makes it a really bad bargain.

So Abu Dhabi, which just bailed out Dubai with a $10 billion loan, is looking to escape the Citi deal, and is also suing the company for $4 billion in damages, alleging "fraudulent misrepresentations." The experts who talked with Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal believe Abu Dhabi's chances of winning its court case are slim, but it may be able to use the suit as a lever to negotiate a more reasonable price at which to swap the stock. Paying over $30 for a share of stock that closed at $3.56 on Tuesday is clearly ridiculous. Still, even with the lawsuit, Abu Dhabi will likely take a loss on the deal.

Looks like both US TAXPAYERS AND THE SOVEREIGN INVESTORS OF ABU DHABI WILL BE GETTING THE SHORT END OF THE STICK as Citigroup rebuilds its balance sheet and moves slowly back toward profitability.

Correspondents say it is not the first time this missile has been tested, but the timing is likely to add to current tension over Iran's nuclear ambitions. The West says Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies. The US said the test "undermined Iran's claims of peaceful intentions".

In September, Iran was heavily criticised after testing its Sajjil and Shahab missiles which could travel 2,000km (1,243 miles). Those tests came just weeks after Iran revealed the existence of a previously secret nuclear facility in the mountains near the city of Qom.

"UNFORTUNATELY, WE CANNOT CURRENTLY BUILD THE ALTAR IN ITS PROPER PLACE, ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT," Temple Institute director Yehudah Glick said. "We are building an altar of the minimum possible size so that we will be able to transport it to the Temple when it is rebuilt." The Temple Institute has already built several of the Temple vessels such as the Ark and the menorah, and has now embarked on an ambitious project to build the altar, which will ultimately measure 3 metres wide by 3 metres long and 2 metres tall.

During Thursday's ceremony, which took place in Mitzpe Yericho just east of Jerusalem, the Temple Institute laid the cornerstone for the altar and demonstrated how tar will be used to cement the stones together. THE INSTITUTE PLANS ON BRINGING THE ALTAR TO ITS PROPER PLACE ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT WHEN THE TEMPLE IS REBUILT.

"Today, Tisha B'av, is not just a time to mourn the destruction of the Temple," said Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, the head of the Temple Institute. "It is also a time to build." This is big news. FOR WHILE AN ACTUAL TEMPLE IS NOT NEEDED FOR SACRIFICES ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE (Ezra 3:6) a sacrificial altar is (Ezra 3:2-3). The Bible tells of a time when SACRIFICES WILL BE STOPPED (Daniel 9:27; 11:31) and THEY MUST BE STARTED BEFORE THEY ARE STOPPED. Prophetic events are moving forward.

Last month, THE SWISS VOTED TO BAN MINARETS. Now, it may be Europe's turn. Just a few weeks after Swiss citizens decided in a referendum to ban the further construction of minarets, A RIGHT-WING GROUP IN GERMANY is running a similar anti-mosque campaign to gain votes ahead of the state election in May 2010.

According to an article in the German daily Die Welt, the North Rhine-Westphalia group Pro NRW -- an outgrowth of the anti-Muslim right-wing group Pro Cologne -- hopes to unite other European right-wing associations behind the campaign against Muslim prayer houses.

"We will run a state election campaign that is decidedly critical of Islam. We will use the posters from the Swiss minaret ban," Markus Wiener, general secretary of Pro NRW, told Die Welt. "WE SEE THE CONSTRUCTION OF MOSQUES AS AN AGGRESSIVE AND POWERFUL SYMBOL OF A MUSLIM CONQUEST," he added.

The pilgrimage, which will include guided tours of the area throughout the morning, will also be a litmus test for the shaky calm that has prevailed in Jerusalem's Old City since October, when rumors of a "Jewish takeover" of the mount sparked fierce clashes between Arab rioters and security forces in and around the sensitive holy site and in various neighborhoods of east Jerusalem.

The rumors were fueled in part by calls at the time, from a number of Knesset members and prominent national-religious rabbis, THAT JEWS ASCEND TO THE TEMPLE MOUNT WITH INCREASED VIGOR. Those calls were portrayed, in turn, by Palestinian clerics as nefarious plans to invade the site or build a synagogue there.

The mount, which was the location of both the First and Second Jewish Temples from 960 BCE until 70 AD, is also home to the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aksa Mosque, which is considered the third-holiest shrine in Islam.

The consumer prices index jumped to a higher than expected 1.9 per cent in November, up from 1.5 per cent the previous month, due largely to the rise in fuel prices. The Bank has warned that WE WILL SEE A RISE IN INFLATION EARLY NEXT YEAR, not least because VAT will be raised back to 17.5 per cent in January. THE FULL EFFECTS OF THE FALL IN STERLING HAVE NOT YET WORKED THROUGH EITHER.

Economists think inflation could go above 3 per cent — compared with the Bank's target of 2 per cent — forcing the Governor to write to the Chancellor explaining the overshoot. But Mervyn King has indicated that the Bank will "look through" what it believes is a temporary spike caused by the swing in oil prices and will not feel compelled to raise interest rates in response. IT FORECASTS THAT INFLATION WILL BE BACK WELL BELOW 2 PER CENT BY THE END OF THE YEAR.

UN climate chief Yvo de Boer says Hedegaard will continue to lead informal talks but Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen will now be the formal head of the conference. Hedegaard said the move was procedural and that it was appropriate for Loekke Rasmussen to preside with so many heads of state and government taking part.

Hedegaard was appointed climate minister in 2004 and has been criticized by African nations for favoring rich nations in the climate negotiations.

To a chorus of boos, a man dressed as a polar bear entered Copenhagen's main conference center Tuesday and began paging the discredited climate scientist whose hacked e-mails sparked the Climate-Gate scandal. Using a megaphone to pierce the rumble of hundreds gathered inside the Bella Center, which is hosting the city's global climate summit, the polar bear boomed out: "PHIL JONES??? HAS ANYONE SEEN PHIL JONES???" Jones, who stepped down from his leading academic post amid swirling scandal earlier this month, has reportedly skipped the climate conference entirely. BUT HIS SHADOW AND HIS WORDS COULD AFFECT ITS OUTCOME.

It was Jones who, in an e-mail to a colleague, wrote of using a "trick" to "hide the decline" of data indicating global warming from the 1980s and onward. That e-mail and thousands of others were posted online in November, and have since been taken as evidence by skeptics to claim global warming is a scam. One of those skeptics was the man behind the bear suit: Phelim McAleer, a journalist and filmmaker who last year produced "Not Evil Just Wrong," which disputes many of the assertions made in former Vice President Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth."

McAleer, a persistent critic of Gore's film, frequently attends public events and venues to question and discuss the Nobel Prize-winner's position on environmental issues. McAleer has now turned his sights on Jones and the Climate-Gate scandal. When asked about the motivation behind his protest, McAleer explained his vision of a future film, a 'Roger & Me' for the climate change movement. "I wasn't getting anywhere with conventional attempts for an interview," he told FoxNews.com, "SO I DECIDED TO USE THE ENVIRONMENTALIST TRICK OF DRESSING UP AS A POLAR BEAR TO CATCH ATTENTION."

There's a serious side to McAleer's antics, of course. "PROFESSOR JONES HAS PRODUCED A LOT OF THE IPCC'S SCIENCE AND NOW HE AND THE SCIENCE IS IN QUESTION AND HE NEEDS TO ANSWER SOME SERIOUS QUESTIONS," he said. "THEY ARE SUGGESTING MASSIVE CHANGES TO OUR WAY OF LIFE — THEREFORE PROFESSOR JONES AND HIS DUBIOUS METHODS SHOULD FACE HARD QUESTIONS."

The pope's call for more environmental commitments came in his message for the Roman Catholic Church's annual World Day of Peace, to be marked on January 1 and whose theme is "IF YOU WANT TO CULTIVATE PEACE, PROTECT CREATION." The message is traditionally sent to heads of state, government and international organizations and its importance this year is more significant because its release coincided with the UN climate conference in Copenhagen.

"It is important to acknowledge that among the causes of the present ecological crisis is the historical responsibility of the industrialized countries," he said in the message. While saying that developing countries "are not exempt from their own responsibilities with regard to creation," and had a duty to gradually adopt effective environmental measures, THE BULK OF HIS CRITICISM WAS AIMED AT RICH NATIONS.

Speaking of the need for all nations to address the issue of energy resources, he said: "THIS MEANS THAT TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED SOCIETIES MUST BE PREPARED TO ENCOURAGE MORE SOBER LIFESTYLES, while reducing their energy consumption and improving its efficiency." He said no nation or people can remain indifferent to problems such as climate change, desertification, pollution, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions.

That starts a 30-day review period in Congress, but advocates expect the Democratic majority on Capitol Hill to allow the measure to become law in March. "WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF HISTORY," Councilman David Catania told a pre-vote rally Monday night. "Today's victory means a great deal, coming after marriage equality losses in New York and Maine," Joe Solmonese of the Human Rights Campaign said in an e-mail to supporters.

The vote was a bright spot for gay-rights activists who have suffered a string of recent setbacks in Maine, New York and New Jersey. If Congress sits on its hands as expected, the district will become the fourth jurisdiction, along with Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa, where gays can marry. Next month, same-sex couples in New Hampshire will be able to wed.

The warrant against Livni was withdrawn, but not before she had cancelled a planned trip to address a conference in London this week. The Israelis accused the British Government of breaking pledges to stop British courts being used to pursue Israeli politicians and generals. The Israeli foreign ministry said Britain should 'fulfill its promises to stop anti-Israel exploitation of the British courts' or risk losing its role in Middle East peacemaking.

Several senior Israeli officials have cancelled trips to London in the past after pro-Palestinian activists secured arrest warrants from British judges. Doron Almog, an Israeli general in charge of operations in Gaza during the intifada uprising, was forced to remain on a plane on the tarmac at Heathrow in 2005 to evade possible arrest if he set foot on British soil. Defence Minister and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak was also threatened with arrest when he came to meet Brown and address a fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference in October.

In a statement, the Israeli foreign ministry pointed out that 'Israel and Britain are both engaged in a common struggle against the forces of international terror. In many parts of the world, British soldiers are fighting to eradicate terrorism. Israel calls on the British government to fulfill its promises, once and for all, TO ACT IN PREVENTING THE EXPLOITATION OF THE BRITISH LEGAL SYSTEM BY ANTI-ISRAEL ELEMENTS AGAINST THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND ITS CITIZENS. The absence of immediate, determined action to correct THIS ABUSE HARMS RELATIONS BETWEEN BRITAIN AND ISRAEL.'

While premier George Papandreou offered pro forma assurances at Friday's EU summit that Greece would not default on its €298bn (£268bn) debt, his words to reporters afterwards had a different flavour. "Salaried workers will not pay for this situation: we will not proceed with wage freezes or cuts. WE DID NOT COME TO POWER TO TEAR DOWN THE SOCIAL STATE," he said. Were we to believe that a country in the grip anarchist riots and prey to hard-Left unions would risk its democracy to please Brussels?

Mr Papandreou has good reason to throw the gauntlet at Europe's feet. Greece is being told to adopt an IMF-style austerity package, without the devaluation so central to IMF plans. THE PRESCRIPTION IS RUINOUS AND PATENTLY SELF-DEFEATING. Public debt is already 113pc of GDP. The Commission says it will reach 125pc by late 2010. It may top 140pc by 2012.

If Greece were to impose the draconian pay cuts under way in Ireland (5pc for lower state workers, rising to 20pc for bosses), it would deepen depression and cause tax revenues to collapse further. It is already too late for such crude policies. GREECE IS PAST THE TIPPING POINT OF A COMPOUND DEBT SPIRAL.

Mr Papandreou faces circumstances more akin to those of ARGENTINE LEADERS IN 2001, when they tried to cut wages in the mistaken belief that ditching the dollar-peg would prove calamitous. Buenos Aires erupted in riots. The police lost control, killing 27 people. President De la Rua was rescued from the Casa Rosada by an air force helicopter. THE PEG COLLAPSED, SETTING IN TRAIN THE BIGGEST SOVEREIGN DEFAULT IN HISTORY.