Crucially, there was no change on controversial plans to create three new EU authorities with the power to override national regulators in areas of banking, securities and insurances, despite attempts by the UK to water down the proposal. The Telegraph notes that the UK only managed to insert a provision in the joint statement saying that "such powers should not impinge in any way on the fiscal responsibility of member states". However, the Telegraph argues that the wording of the statement would still "APPEAR TO REDUCE BRITAIN'S FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY (FSA) TO A SUBSERVIENT ARM OF THE EU APPARATUS, limited to 'daily oversight'".

European Voice also reports that apart from the UK, only Slovenia, Slovakia and Romania were among the countries raising concerns that the new pan-European authorities will be given too much power. The Times reports that the UK also received some support from the German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück. The UK Treasury has argued that only 16 out of 27 EU countries are members of the eurozone with a significant ECB role and would therefore not be adequately represented under the proposed arrangement, according to the Times.

The Czech Finance Minister, Eduard Janota, said that outstanding issues will "be dealt with politically" by EU leaders at their summit on 18-19 June, when the proposal is likely to be formally adopted. An article in the Irish Times argues that EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, "AS GOOD AS SAID BRITAIN WAS LIKELY TO BE OUTVOTED WHEN THE ISSUE IS DISCUSSED AT A SUMMIT OF EU LEADERS". EurActiv quotes him saying, "I am fully confident that the Council will support the Commission's proposal".

But the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was announced winner of a second four-year term this week is no cartoon character. Whether his 63 percent victory is truly the will of the people or the result of fraud, it demonstrated that MR AHMADINEJAD IS THE SHREWD AND RUTHLESS FRONT MAN FOR A CLERICAL, MILITARY AND POLITICAL ELITE that is more unified and emboldened than at any time since the 1979 revolution.

AS PRESIDENT, MR AHMADINEJAD IS SUBORDINATE TO THE COUNTRY'S TRUE AUTHORITY, SUPREME LEADER AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, WHO COMMANDS FINAL SAY OVER ALL MATTERS OF STATE AND FAITH. With this election, Mr Khamenei and his protégé appear to have neutralized for now the reform forces that they saw as a threat to their power, political analysts said.

"This will change the face of the Islamic Republic forever," said one well-connected Iranian, who like most of those interviewed declined to be named in the current tense climate. "AHMADINEJAD WILL CLAIM AN ABSOLUTE MANDATE, MEANING HE HAS NO NEED TO COMPROMISE." When he was first elected president in 2005, Mr Ahmadinejad showed his fealty to the leader, gently bending over and kissing his hand.

On Saturday, the leader demonstrated his own enthusiasm for the re-elected president, hailing the outcome as "a divine blessing" even before the official three-day challenge period had passed. On Sunday, Mr Ahmadinejad flaunted his achievement by mounting a celebration rally in the heart of an opposition neighborhood of Tehran, and holding a victory news conference where he scorned the West and made a joke out of his main opponent's quasi-house arrest. ASKED ABOUT SPECULATION THAT IN HIS SECOND TERM HE WOULD TAKE A MORE MODERATE LINE, HE SMIRKED, "IT'S NOT TRUE. I'M GOING TO BE MORE AND MORE SOLID."

Leaders of the so-called BRIC nations will discuss ways to reshape the global financial system after the worst economic crisis for decades and ideas for a NEW RESERVE CURRENCY TO REDUCE DEPENDENCY ON THE US DOLLAR may be on the agenda. "The good news is that rich countries are in crisis and that emerging countries are making a huge contribution to save the economy and, consequently, save the rich countries," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters on Wednesday.

"Wealthy countries are no longer the only ones that account for the world's production capacity and consumption," he added, saying the BRICs should work together to "change the political and trade geography of the world". The BRIC term was coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill in 2001 to describe the growing power of emerging market economies. The June 16 summit in the Russian Urals city of Yekaterinburg marks a step toward cooperation as a group.

BRIC countries account for 15 percent of the $60.7 trillion global economy but Goldman Sachs predicts that in 20 years time, the four countries could together dwarf the G7 and China's economy will overtake the United States in total size. "BRIC is a myth but a myth that is slowly becoming a reality," said Alexei Pushkov, a professor of international relations and a leading Russian journalist. "This summit shows there is a tentative community taking root. THE QUESTION IS WHETHER IT CAN BECOME A POLITICAL INSTITUTION or whether it will be dormant."

The appeal for greater government protection came amid rising tensions between New Delhi and Beijing over trade, after a high-profile dispute over an Indian ban on Chinese made toys. India's Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry said on Sunday that a survey of 110 small and medium-sized manufacturers found that about two-thirds had suffered a serious erosion of their Indian market share over the past year, because of cheaper Chinese products.

In its statement, FICCI said the Chinese imports were between 10 and 70 per cent cheaper than comparable Indian products, A PRICE DIFFERENTIAL THAT IT SAID WAS "HUGE AND DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN". Amit Mitra, the FICCI's secretary-general, said Indian industries were being hurt by "TYPICAL CHINESE PREDATORY PRICING" intended to drive rivals out of business so that Chinese companies could capture the market – and then raise prices to more normal levels.

In January, New Delhi announced a six-month ban on the import of Chinese toys, citing concerns about their safety, after Indian toymakers complained that such playthings had grabbed the lion's share of the country's $2.5bn toy market. However, the ban was lifted after just two months, after Beijing threatened to take the issue to the WTO.

"Countries have announced all types of protectionist measures as the global financial crisis weighs on domestic demand and international trade," the ministry said on its website. The statement issued by the ministry's bureau for fair trade comes a day after the EU and the US began preparing to take action against Chinese exports restrictions on about 20 types of raw materials.

"As the third biggest trade entity and the second-largest exporter, CHINA HAS BECOME THE MAIN TARGET OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE FRICTIONS BECAUSE OF INCREASING PROTECTIONISM," the statement said.

Ahmadinejad dismissed the unrest - the worst in the decade in Tehran - as 'not important' and insisted the results showing his landslide victory on Friday were fair and legitimate even though his rival said he would appeal the result. A huge rally in his support was organised even as clashes flared around the capital. The violence spilling from the disputed results has pushed Iran's Islamic establishment to respond with sweeping measures that include deploying anti-riot squads around the capital and cutting mobile phone messaging and internet sites used by the campaign of Ahmadinejad's election rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Peter Horrocks said audiences in Iran, the Middle East and Europe could be affected by the electronic jamming of satellites used to broadcast the BBC Persian TV signal to Iran. He said: 'It seems to be part of a pattern of behaviour by the Iranian authorities to limit the reporting of the aftermath of the disputed election.' In Tehran John Simpson and his cameraman were briefly arrested after they had filmed the material for a piece.

'And at least one news agency in Tehran has come under pressure not to distribute internationally any pictures it might have of demonstrations on the streets in Iran.' The whereabouts of Mousavi are not known and he has not been seen publicly since a news conference shortly after polls closed. His own website has been shut down. More than 100 reformists were arrested last night after Ahmadinejad's election victory led to street protests. A judiciary spokesman said they had not been arrested but were summoned and "warned not to increase tension". They were later released, he said.

The officials said that the speech which Netanyahu delivered at Bar Ilan University was much worse than they had expected. THEY ALSO WARNED THAT NETANYAHU'S POLICIES WOULD TRIGGER A NEW INTIFADA. Some of Abbas's top advisors accused Netanyahu of "burying the peace process" and said the ball was now in the court of US President Barack Obama.

"Netanyahu's speech is a blow to Obama before it's a blow to the Palestinians and Arabs," commented an aide. "IT'S OBVIOUS, IN THE AFTERMATH OF THIS SPEECH, THAT WE ARE HEADED TOWARD ANOTHER ROUND OF VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED." The office of PA President Mahmoud Abbas issued a terse statement in which it accused Netanyahu of destroying efforts to achieve peace in the region.

"The speech has destroyed all initiatives and expectations," the statement said. "It has also placed restrictions on all efforts to achieve peace and constitutes a clear challenge to the Palestinian, Arab and American positions." NABIL ABU RUDAINEH, A SPOKESMAN FOR ABBAS, ALSO LAMBASTED NETANYAHU FOR REFUSING TO RECOGNIZE JERUSALEM AS THE CAPITAL OF THE PALESTINIAN STATE and his call for solving the issue of Palestinian refugees outside Israel. "Netanyahu's remarks won't lead to a just and comprehensive peace based on United Nations resolutions," he added. The US said Mr Netanyahu's stance was an "important step forward".

"There are no seasons in the American supermarket", a voice intones in the opening scene as a camera swept past supermarket shelves groaning with plump-breasted chickens, perfect cuts of meat and bountiful fruit, vegetables and grains.

THE DOCUMENTARY CLAIMS COWS ARE FATTENED UP ON HEAVILY SUBSIDISED CORN, EVEN THOUGH THEY CANNOT DIGEST THE GRAIN PROPERLY AND THEIR GUTS BECOME BREEDING GROUNDS FOR DEADLY E. COLI STRAINS AS A RESULT. It also says chickens with oversized breasts are grown to maturity and are ready to be slaughtered twice as quickly as they would be naturally, thanks to chemicals in their feed. There is also stomach-churning footage of conveyer belts packed with little yellow chicks being pushed around like mechanical parts; a cow, barely alive, being dragged around by a forklift; and herds of squealing pigs being forced onto a factory "kill floor".

Food Inc is being released as AMERICA IS FINALLY STARTING TO WAKE UP TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS FUELLED BY ITS EATING HABITS AND FOOD INDUSTRY. Organic food stores are booming in affluent urban neighbourhoods and even some mainstream supermarkets are responding to demands for healthier food – most notably, Wal-Mart recently began carrying organic options and stopped selling milk containing growth hormone. But America remains far behind Europe in terms of regulation of the food industry and consumer demand for organic produce.

Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation one of the driving forces behind the movie, said: "There is this deliberate veil, this curtain that's drawn between us and where our food is coming from. The industry doesn't want you to know the truth about what you're eating because if you knew, you might not want to eat it. WE'VE NEVER HAD FOOD COMPANIES THIS BIG AND THIS POWERFUL IN OUR HISTORY."

Yossi Altman said Koogle, a play on the names of a Jewish noodle pudding and the ubiquitous Google, appears to meet the standards of Orthodox rabbis, who restrict use of the Web to ensure followers avoid viewing sexually explicit material. The site, at www.koogle.co.il, omits religiously objectionable material, such as most photographs of women which Orthodox rabbis view as immodest, Altman said.

Its links to Israeli news and shopping sites also filter out items most ultra-Orthodox Israelis are forbidden by rabbis to have in their homes, such as television sets. "This is a kosher alternative for ultra-Orthodox Jews so that they may surf the Internet," Altman said by telephone.

The site was developed in part at the encouragement of rabbis who sought a solution to the needs of ultra-Orthodox Jews to browse the Web particularly for vital services, he said. NOTHING CAN BE POSTED ON THE JEWISH SABBATH, WHEN RELIGIOUS LAW BANS ALL TYPES OF WORK AND BUSINESS, ALTMAN SAID. "IF YOU TRY TO BUY SOMETHING ON THE SABBATH, IT GETS STUCK AND WON'T LET YOU."

Asked by the liberal Haaretz newspaper whether the Jewish state was looking at a "head-on collision" with the United States if it doesn't comply with Washington's demands, Carter said "Yes." The former president, who brokered the historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in 1979, said Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank were the biggest hurdle in the hobbled Middle East peace process, saying THEY WERE "ILLEGAL AND (AN) OBSTACLE TO PEACE."

The administration of US President Barack Obama has repeatedly called on Israel to halt all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, which is viewed as one of the key obstacles in the stalled Middle East peace process. Carter on Sunday made a rare visit to a settlement, saying he went to Neve Daniel "to make sure they (the settlers) understand my own attitude towards Israel, the Jewish population across the world and the Jewish settlements." He was speaking at the start of a meeting with Shaul Goldstein, the head of the regional council of Gush Etzion, a large settlement bloc south of Jerusalem that Israel hopes to keep in any future peace deal.

Goldstein briefed the 85-year-old former president on joint Israeli-Palestinian projects in the region and on the history of the Jewish community in the Gush Etzion before the creation of the Jewish state in 1948. "This is our homeland but we recognise that there are other people living next to us," Goldstein told Carter. "We believe in human rights and we suffer when they (Palestinians) suffer." OBAMA'S EFFORTS TO PUSH FORWARD THE PEACE PROCESS HAS RAISED FEARS IN ISRAEL THAT WASHINGTON MAY EASE ITS SUPPORT OF THE JEWISH STATE as it tries to improve relations with the Muslim world. Carter is also due to visit the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Tuesday as part of a regional visit.

In many parts of the world recently the weather has not been too brilliant for farmers. After a fearsomely cold winter, June brought heavy snowfall across large parts of western CANADA and the NORTHERN STATES OF THE AMERICAN MIDWEST. In MANITOBA last week, it was -4ºC. NORTH DAKOTA had its first June snow for 60 years. There was midsummer snow not just in NORWAY AND THE CAIRNGORMS, but even in SAUDI ARABIA. At least in the southern hemisphere it is winter, but snowfalls in NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA have been abnormal. There have been frosts in BRAZIL, elsewhere in SOUTH AMERICA they have had prolonged droughts, while in CHINA they have had to cope with abnormal rain and freak hailstorms, which in one province killed 20 people.

None of this has given much cheer to farmers. In CANADA AND NORTHERN AMERICA summer planting of corn and soybeans has been way behind schedule, with the prospect of reduced yields and lower quality. Grain stocks are predicted to be down 15 per cent next year. US reserves of soya – used in animal feed and in many processed foods – are expected to fall to a 32-year low.

In CHINA, the world's largest wheat grower, they have been battling against the atrocious weather to bring in the harvest (in one province they even fired chemical shells into the clouds to turn freezing hailstones into rain). In north-west China drought has devastated crops with a plague of pests and blight. In countries such as ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL droughts have caused such havoc that a veteran US grain expert said last week: "In 43 years I've never seen anything like the DECLINE WE'RE LOOKING AT IN SOUTH AMERICA."

In EUROPE, the weather has been a factor in well-below average predicted crop yields in EASTERN EUROPE AND UKRAINE. IN BRITAIN this year's oilseed rape crop is likely to be 30 per cent below its 2008 level. And although it may be too early to predict a repeat of last year's food shortage, which provoked riots from WEST AFRICA TO EGYPT AND YEMEN, it seems possible that world food stocks may next year again be under severe strain, threatening to repeat the steep rises which, in 2008, saw prices double what they had been two years before.

It is now more than 200 years since the great astronomer William Herschel observed a correlation between wheat prices and sunspots. When the latter were few in number, he noted, the climate turned colder and drier, crop yields fell and wheat prices rose. In the past two years, sunspot activity has dropped to its lowest point for a century. One of our biggest worries is that our politicians are so fixated on the idea that CO2 is causing global warming that most of them haven't noticed that the problem may be that the world is not warming but cooling, with all the implications that has for whether we get enough to eat.

It is appropriate that another contributory factor to the world's food shortage should be the millions of acres of farmland now being switched from food crops to biofuels, to stop the world warming. Last year even the experts of the European Commission admitted that, TO MEET THE EU'S BIOFUEL TARGETS, WE WILL EVENTUALLY NEED ALMOST ALL THE FOOD-GROWING LAND IN EUROPE. But that didn't persuade them to change their policy. THEY WOULD RATHER WE STARVED THAN DID THAT. And the EU, we must always remember, is now our government – the one most of us didn't vote for last week.

Mr Netanyahu's speech, laying out his plans for regional peace, came a month after US President Barack Obama urged him to accept a two-state solution. The BBC's Paul Wood says Mr Netanyahu broke ground by accepting the principle of a demilitarised Palestinian state, albeit with conditions, and this will be what the White House is looking for.

But our correspondent says the question is whether this will be enough to make up for the lack of movement on the issue of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Mr Obama has stressed that he wants all settlement activity to stop. But in his speech Mr Netanyahu said settlers were not "enemies of peace" and did not move from his position of backing "natural growth" in existing settlements.

The Israeli leader offered to talk to the Palestinians immediately and with "no preconditions. We want to live with you in peace as good neighbours," he said. Mr Netanyahu also said he was willing to go to Damascus, Riyadh and Beirut in pursuit of a Middle East peace deal. He said Israel would "be prepared for a true peace agreement [and] to reach a solution of a demilitarised Palestinian state alongside the Jewish state". But only if "WE RECEIVE THIS GUARANTEE FOR DEMILITARISATION AND THE SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS REQUIRED BY ISRAEL, AND IF THE PALESTINIANS RECOGNISE ISRAEL AS THE NATION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE".

The regime of the ailing dictator Kim Jong-il said it was now in the "EARLY PHASE OF ALL-OUT CONFRONTATION WITH THE US" as it sought to raise tensions on the Korean Peninsular to dangerous new levels. On Friday the Security Council ordered an almost-total arms embargo and a raft of strict financial sanctions against the North in punishment for its testing of a second nuclear device last month.

In a bellicose statement, Pyongyang described the sanctions as the "vile product" of US policy in the region, adding that it would also begin work enriching uranium as it sought to build up stocks of fissile material for its nuclear weapons programme. The North is thought to have approximately 8,000 spent plutonium fuel rods which, if reprocessed, could yield 6-8kg of high-grade plutonium, or enough to make at least one more nuclear bomb.

The sanctions have also authorised UN member-states to stop and search North Korean vessels on the high seas if they suspect they are carrying banned nuclear or missile components, a measure that has drawn particular ire from Pyongyang. NORTH KOREA REPLIED THAT ANY ATTEMPT TO BLOCKADE ITS SHIPS WOULD BE REGARDED "AS AN ACT OF WAR AND MET WITH A DECISIVE MILITARY RESPONSE", AND PROMISED TO MEET ANY CONFRONTATION WITH "ALL-OUT CONFRONTATION".

The result and its violent aftermath raised fresh questions about the direction of Iranian policies at a time when US President Barack Obama wants to improve relations with Iran. SUPREME LEADER AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI TOLD IRANIANS TO RESPECT AHMADINEJAD'S VICTORY, which upset expectations that reformist candidate Mirhossein Mousavi might win the race.

Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli, an Ahmadinejad ally, declared the president had been re-elected with 62.6 percent of the vote, against 33.7 percent for Mousavi. Mousavi complained of violations and vote-rigging - allegations rejected by Interior Ministry officials. "I'm warning I will not surrender to this dangerous charade. The result of such performance by some officials will jeopardize the pillars of the Islamic Republic and will establish tyranny," Mousavi said in a statement made available to Reuters.

After the result was announced, thousands of his supporters took to the streets, some chanting, "What happened to our vote?" Others shouted anti-Ahmadinejad slogans. "We are Iranians too," and "Mousavi is our president," they shouted. Ahmadinejad draws most of his support from rural areas and poorer big city neighborhoods. Mousavi enjoys strong backing in wealthier urban centers, especially among women and the young.

Mr Hajj Hassan is one of Hezbollah's 11 members of parliament, following recent elections which were won by a rival Western-backed alliance. HEZBOLLAH IS REGARDED BY THE UNITED STATES AS A TERRORIST GROUP. The EU has previously rejected public contacts with Hezbollah, which also controls Lebanon's most powerful military force. But Mr Solana said: "HEZBOLLAH IS PART OF POLITICAL LIFE IN LEBANON AND IS REPRESENTED IN THE LEBANESE PARLIAMENT."

Mr Hajj Hassan described the meeting with Mr Solana as a "GOODWILL GESTURE FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION TOWARDS HEZBOLLAH." He said it was an attempt by the EU to "get to know" Hezbollah. Britain said earlier this year it favoured re-establishing links with Hezbollah's political wing.