Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill released Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi from prison last Thursday after doctors said he had prostate cancer and has only months to live. Faced with mounting domestic and international pressure, the Scottish Parliament was recalled on Monday to discuss the matter. Opposition politicians strongly criticised Mr MacAskill's decision, and President Barack Obama also called it a "mistake".

Archbishop Conti, however, said that he, and many other Scottish Catholics, "admired the decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on grounds of compassion", as this was "one of the principles inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament by which Scotland's government should operate". The Archbishop said: "The showing of mercy is not a sign of weakness. Indeed, in this situation, with the pressures and circumstances of the case, it seemed to me a sign of manifest strength."

Despite the barrage of criticism justice minister Kenny MacAskill has received, the Archbishop said he believed the decision ultimately to release Mr Megrahi would "be respected in the international community". "I have been impressed by the expressions of understanding and insight from Dr Jim Swire and other relatives who lost loved ones on the Pan Am flight who have acknowledged both the rightness of the gesture of compassion and THEIR DOUBTS AS TO THE SAFETY OF THE ORIGINAL CONVICTION," the Archbishop said.

Like them, the Archbishop said, HE DID NOT BELIEVE THE FULL TRUTH OF THE LOCKERBIE BOMBING HAD EMERGED. "I would welcome any move which would try to find clearer answers as to what happened and why," he added.

That Caldwell is so mainstream, well-respected and analytical makes his conclusion all the more devastating - that the mass migration of Africans and Asians into Europe since the Second World War was an unprecedented, economically unnecessary and ill-thought-out plan that has had a profoundly negative impact on our way of life.

Enoch Powell was right, at least in accuracy if not morality. His 1968 prediction about a non-white population of 4.5 million by 2002 was mocked - IN REALITY IT WAS 4.6 MILLION BY 2001. In 1970 he was again scorned for suggesting that Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Inner London would be between a fifth and a quarter non-white by the turn of the century. The figures were 22.2 per cent, 29.6 per cent and 34.4 per cent and rising.

Furthermore, he says, the mass importation of Muslims at a time WHEN EUROPE HAS LOST ITS OWN FAITH and Islam has developed a dangerous and powerful radicalism threatens the very freedom of Europe. The collapse of Christianity, and THE INTRODUCTION OF NOVEL MORALS such as the belief in sexual freedom and gay equality, totally at odds with both Muslim culture AND EUROPEAN CULTURE OF ONLY HALF A CENTURY AGO, has made conflict between Europe and the new Europeans even harder. That is why surveys consistently show Muslims and non-Muslims thinking the other side are "disrespectful" to women, or why a large minority of young British Muslims advocate the death penalty for apostasy or homosexuality.

Christopher Caldwell's new book - 'Reflections on the Revolution in Europe'

Following in the wake of a similar announcement by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) on May 19, 2009, which can be viewed at www.aaemonline.org, the LIA Foundation has cited a growing number of animal studies which suggest that GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS MAY BE CONTRIBUTING TO THE RISE OF DISEASE IN THE AMERICAN POPULATION as well. In addition, Genetically Modified (GM) foods may create an extra burden for those already suffering with chronic illnesses such as Lyme disease and Autism.

Genetically modified foods were introduced into the American food supply in 1996 by Monsanto corporation and others WITHOUT ANY INDEPENDENT STUDIES FOR NEGATIVE ANIMAL OR HUMAN HEALTH EFFECTS because of the FDA's notion of "substantial equivalence." This says that, "if a new food is found to be substantially equivalent in the composition and nutritional characteristics to an existing food, it can be regarded as safe as the conventional food."

These genetically modified foods consist of 5 major US crops: soybeans (currently 91% of all soy produced in US), corn (88%), canola(80-85%), cotton (85% - cottonseed oil and other derivatives being the foodstuff), and sugar beets (90%) according the USDA. In addition, there are 3 minor US crops which are genetically modified: papaya from Hawaii, zucchini, and crooked neck squash. All eight of these major and minor US crops are genetically MODIFIED SPECIFICALLY TO RESIST HEAVY QUANTITIES OF MONSANTO CORPORATION'S OTHER PRODUCT, ROUND-UP HERBICIDE, so that farmers can spray in massive quantities by air or automated equipment over the enormous crop fields without having their crops die while they eradicate weeds.

Biotech industries claim that they are having more productive crop yields with this farming method, however, according to R Lofstedt, "the several thousand field trials over the last 20 years for genes aimed at increasing operational or intrinsic yield of crops indicate a significant undertaking. Yet, NONE OF THESE FIELD TRIALS HAVE RESULTED IN INCREASED YIELD in commercialized major food/feed crops, with the exception of Bt corn." It was further stated that the increase in corn yields was likely due to traditional breeding improvements and not the genetic modification process.

So, incredible amounts of Round-up are on these food sources, and therefore, being ingested by the American public. And, there is RESIDUE IN OUR LAND which can affect our water supplies and runoff into lakes, streams, rivers, and eventually the Gulf and oceans. The Mississippi Delta already has A DEAD SPOT THE SIZE OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS caused by runoff pollutants from Midwestern farms. There are no large, double blind, independent scientific studies that show that Round-up, nor any other herbicide, is safe for human or animal consumption.

Americans and the safety of their food supply should come first, not lobbying dollars or political favors. And when the doctor tells you that the cause of your illness may in fact be genetic, well, he might not at all be referring to Mom, Dad or any other family ancestor, but rather, the genetically modified foods you eat.

Reuters broke the story on Monday, saying the Hamas terrorist movement, which currently controls the Gaza Strip, demands that UNRWA – the UN organization that controls many aspects of the lives of Arab refugees and their millions of descendants - withdraw plans for a new history book in UN schools in Gaza.

In an open letter to John Ging, who heads the Gaza chapter of UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), Hamas wrote that it had learned that UNRWA was about to start using a text for 13-year-olds that included a chapter on the Holocaust. "WE REFUSE TO LET OUR CHILDREN STUDY A LIE INVENTED BY THE ZIONISTS," the letter stated.

Hamas's official spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, did not say the Holocaust was a "lie," but told Reuters that Hamas opposes "forcing the issue of the so-called Holocaust onto the syllabus, because it aims to reinforce acceptance of the occupation of Palestinian land."

Mr Blair and Gordon Brown, who was Chancellor at the time, had hoped that the review "covering all aspects of EU spending, including the CAP [Common Agricultural Policy]" would lead to promises of reductions in farm spending, providing political justification for cutting the UK's rebate.

However, a source inside the European Commission said that officials are wary of triggering a heated debate between Britain and France over the CAP just when Europe's leaders must agree on appointing a new European Commission, the EU's first "foreign minister" and its first permanent president - all required under the Lisbon Treaty if it comes into effect from next year.

Shadow Europe Minister Mark Francois said that the Government's "main justification for giving up billions of our rebate was that the whole EU budget, including the CAP, would be reviewed. If this review is dropped it would be further proof of this Labour GOVERNMENT'S INCOMPETENCE IN DEFENDING BRITAIN'S INTERESTS IN EUROPE."

Robert Mueller, the head of the FBI, said that the release of the man convicted of murdering 270 people on Pan Am Flight 103 made a "mockery of justice" and would give "comfort to terrorists around the world". There was a widespread assumption in Washington all along that the decision was linked to a trade deal.

For the Americans, this is not just about justice IT IS ALSO ABOUT TRUST — the White House sees the release of al-Megrahi as a blatant breach of an agreement given by the British Government that he would serve out his sentence in Scotland. It is impossible to sustain a relationship, let alone a special one, if one partner can no longer believe what the other one says. IN WHITEHALL THERE ARE ALREADY NERVOUS MUTTERINGS ABOUT WHETHER INTELLIGENCE-SHARING AND MILITARY CO-OPERATION WILL BE ABLE TO CONTINUE IN THE SAME WAY.

THERE IS A GROWING PERCEPTION IN THE US THAT THE UK IS LOSING ITS WAY — with MPs who have been caught fiddling their expenses, a recession deeper than anywhere else and a leader who has become a lame duck. Newsweek, the magazine that hailed Cool Britannia in the 1990s, recently redefined us as "LITTLE BRITAIN", a nation struggling to keep a foothold in a rapidly changing world. It used to be said that we punched above our weight — but now we have become the global punch bag as China and India rise.

The new dawn is over, replaced by a gloomy dusk. There was always an inequality between Britain and America, but the US used to respect the UK because it was reliable. With the release of al-Megrahi the bond of trust has been destroyed. THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP IS OVER.

THE SERIOUSNESS OF THIS CANNOT BE OVERESTIMATED. Cosy images of candlelit Britain in the Seventies are all very well, but since then we have been through A REVOLUTION WHICH MAKES OUR SOCIETY ALMOST WHOLLY DEPENDENT ON COMPUTERS. It is no longer just our lights, cookers, fridges and televisions for which we rely on electricity, but pretty well our entire working lives, from offices, banks, petrol pumps and supermarket tills to traffic lights, railway signals and virtually all our transport system.

Almost the only politician who realised this was John Hutton, the former energy minister, who last year reversed Government policy by announcing that we needed at least a dozen new nuclear and coal-fired power stations to fill the gap. As he starkly declared to the 2008 Labour conference: 'No coal and no nuclear means no power, no future.'

TWO WEEKS LATER, HOWEVER, HUTTON WAS MOVED TO ANOTHER DEPARTMENT, and Britain's energy policy was handed over to Ed Miliband, a 'green' zealot in charge of a new ministry ominously named the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC). Mr Miliband proposing that we should spend £7 billion on fitting every home in the country with what are called 'smart meters'. These are two-way devices, connected electronically to our supply company, which would not only allow us to see how much electricity we ourselves are using BUT WOULD ENABLE THE FIRMS TO 'MANAGE DEMAND' BY CONTROLLING HOW MUCH POWER WE RECEIVE.

"For well over a billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time of intense devotion and reflection," Mr Obama said, in remarks welcoming his guests in the State Dining Room of the White House. "Tonight's Iftar is a ritual that is being carried out this Ramadan at kitchen tables and mosques in all 50 states," he said. "ISLAM AS WE KNOW IS PART OF AMERICA. Like the broader American citizenry, the American Muslim community is one of extraordinary dynamism and diversity."

"On this occasion, we celebrate the holy month of Ramadan and we also celebrate how much Muslims have enriched America and its culture in ways both large and small," the President said. The President also recognized the first two Muslim lawmakers in the US Congress, Keith Ellison and Andre Carson.

In a message marking Ramadan last week, he pledged "concrete actions" TO RENEW TIES WITH ISLAMIC COUNTRIES, less than three months after his historic address to the Muslim world in Cairo. "I want to reiterate my commitment to a new beginning between America and Muslims around the world," Mr Obama said in a video address posted as the world's estimated 1.5 billion Muslims prepared for a month of fasting and reflection. The President, WHO HAS MUSLIM HERITAGE ON HIS FATHER'S SIDE OF HIS FAMILY, also pledged "unyielding" support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and to "responsibly end the war in Iraq."

With winds of 145 mph, Jimena was a declared an "extremely dangerous" category 4 hurricane and the US national hurricane centre warned that it was close to becoming the strongest category 5 as it approached Mexico's Pacific coast.

"This may be the strongest hurricane ever to hit the region," said Jose Gajon, the director of Baja California Sur's civil protection agency. A state of emergency was declared in the beach resort of Los Cabos, home to world-class golf courses, miles of hotels and the mansions of many Hollywood stars and top American sportsman. Hurricane Jimena was predicted to make landfall on the peninsula early on Wednesday.

At August's town-hall meetings, voters often started with complaints about health care, ONLY TO SHIFT TO FRUSTRATIONS ABOUT ALL THE OTHER THINGS President Barack Obama and the Democrats have done or tried to do since January. The $787 billion economic-stimulus package, the government-led rescue of General Motors Corp and climate-change legislation all came in for criticism.

"A lot of the anxiety we face here has less to do with health care and everything to do with the overall state of the economy and government," said Representative Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat. "I have seen a level of dissatisfaction and even anger that I haven't experienced in the years that I've been a member of Congress," Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, told an audience at a health-care meeting in Kansas City on Monday.

"WHAT WE'RE SEEING HERE IS THIS LARGER DEBATE ABOUT WHAT THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IS," said William McInturff, a Republican pollster who conducts The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. "The health-care debate is at that fault line."

Panarin, doctor of political sciences and professor of the Russian Diplomatic Academy Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told journalists during the unveiling of his new book yesterday that President Obama has done nothing to forestall the fast approaching crisis and that IT COULD BEGIN TO PROPERLY UNFOLD IN NOVEMBER.

Since 1998, Panarin has been warning of a future disintegration of the United States and the collapse of the dollar. The recent election victory for Japan's Democratic Party is another sign that the economic collapse of the US is imminent, according to Panarin. "Today I received another confirmation that the collapse of the dollar and the US is inevitable. Japan's Democratic Party won the election, and I'd like to remind you that its leader [Yukio Hatoyama] has the snubbing of the dollar among his economic plans."

"In plainer words, he plans TO TRANSFER JAPAN'S MONETARY RESERVES FROM US DOLLARS into another currency. The move will seriously accelerate the dollar's exchange slump as early as this November. Disintegration will follow shortly," he said, adding that NEXT YEAR CHINA WOULD ALSO BEGIN TO MASSIVELY DUMP THE DOLLAR and that Russia would begin to sell oil and gas for roubles.

HE FORESEES THE US BREAKING UP INTO SIX DIFFERENT PARTS, roughly along lines similar to those of 1865 during the Civil War, "The Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong," according to Panarin.

Longer term, Panarin predicts that THE BREAKAWAY STATES WILL EVENTUALLY BE TAKEN OVER BY THE EUROPEAN UNION, Canada, China, Mexico, Japan and Russia and America will cease to exist altogether, as depicted in the illustration above. "IN MY OPINION, THE PROBABILITY OF THE US CEASING TO EXIST BY JUNE, 2010 EXCEEDS 50%. At this point, the mission of all major international powers is to prevent chaos in the US," Panarin concluded.

And the same proportion of mums say they would not take their young children to be immunised, even though they are most at risk of catching the virus. It raises the prospect that many of the MILLIONS OF VACCINES THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS ORDERED - AT A COST OF MANY MILLIONS OF POUNDS - WILL NEVER BE USED because people do not trust ministers' insistence that they are safe.

Tonight the country's most senior nurse pleaded with mothers and children to have the jab, saying it was the most effective way of preventing thousands of deaths and illnesses from swine flu over the winter. Expectant women are one of the target groups for vaccination, and all will be offered the jabs before the end of the year. The polls raise further questions over the Government's planned mass vaccination programme. The jab, currently being processed, will be fast tracked and WILL NOT BE FULLY TESTED BEFORE IT IS ADMINISTERED TO PATIENTS.

There are also concerns the jab can spark cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome, which can lead to paralysis and even death. A mass swine flu vaccination programme in the US in 1976 caused far more deaths than the disease it was designed to combat, and the Health Protection Agency watchdog has asked doctors to look out for cases of GBS when the vaccinations begin.

Not since the early 1970s when the three-day week was introduced to preserve coal has Britain faced the prospect of rationing energy use. The gap between Britain's energy needs and demand throws fresh doubt on the Government's assertion that renewable energy can make up for dwindling nuclear and coal capabilities. OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS, ONE THIRD OF BRITAIN'S POWER-GENERATING CAPACITY NEEDS TO BE REPLACED with cleaner fuels. But last night the Conservatives said that Labour had refused to face up to the problem.

Greg Clark, the shadow climate and energy change secretary, said: "Britain faces blackouts because the Government has put its head in the sand about Britain's energy policy for a decade. Over the next 10 years we need to replace one third of our generating capacity but Labour has left it perilously late, and has been forced to admit they expect power cuts for the first time since the 1970s.

The looming problem in Britain is caused by the scheduled closure by 2015 of nine oil and coal-fired power plants. THEY ARE THE VICTIM OF AN EU DIRECTIVE DESIGNED TO CUT POLLUTION. In addition, four existing nuclear power plants are set to be shut, adding to the need for new sources of energy.

The open-pit mine at Mountain Pass, California, holds THE WORLD'S RICHEST PROVEN RESERVE OF "RARE EARTH" metals, a family of minerals vital to producing the powerful, lightweight magnets used in the engines of Toyota Motor Corp's Prius and other hybrid vehicles as well as generators in wind turbines. At the peak of its operations two decades ago, the mine produced 20,000 tonnes of rare earth oxides a year, accounting for the entire US supply and about a third of the world's total. Most of the rest came from China.

But as Chinese production and exports grew through the 1990s, rare earth prices worldwide plunged, undercutting business for Molycorp, then owned by oil company Unocal. Chinese rare earth production, meanwhile, has swelled to about 97 percent of global supplies, or 139,000 tonnes of refined material in 2008, experts say. Output is expected to reach 160,000 tonnes a year by the middle of the next decade.

But global demand is climbing faster, driven by the clamor for clean energy and clean cars, leading to projections of a 40,000-tonne annual shortfall by 2015. Plans call for mining to resume at Mountain Pass by 2012, at the rate of about 1,000 tons of ore a day, enough to produce 20,000 tonnes of rare earth oxides for sale each year. Smith said the mine has approval to double that volume in time.

"If we put our facilities into the fully permitted production rates, we could come very close to meeting the needs of most of the rest of the world," he said. But Molycorp first needs to drain some 95 million gallons (360 million litres) of water that has filled the pit's bottom and remove surface rock covering the ore, A TWO-YEAR PROCESS.

The Islamic production company responsible makes the case that the endtime global leader, also known as "THE BEAST OF REVELATION," WILL ACTUALLY BE THE CHRISTIAN AND JEWISH MESSIAH. Since being posted on YouTube in June, "The Arrivals" has gone viral with more than a quarter million views to date. According to sources in the United Kingdom, writes Joel Richardson, author of the new book, "The Islamic Antichrist," in a WND commentary today, the documentary has become extremely popular among Britain's Muslim youth population.

Richardson's book, "The Islamic Antichrist," stands in stark contrast to most other popular prophecy books of the last 40 years. The student of Islam and the Middle East says that after decades of reading popular prophecy books and even best-selling fiction like the "Left Behind" series, millions of evangelical Christians around the world are expecting the Antichrist to emerge from a revived Roman Empire, which many have assumed is associated with the Roman Catholic Church and the European Union. Not so, argues Richardson. His book makes the case that the biblical Antichrist is one and the same as the Quran's Muslim Mahdi.

Many evangelical Christians believe the Bible predicts a charismatic ruler, the Antichrist, will arise in the last days, before the return of Jesus. The Quran also predicts that a man, called the Mahdi, will rise up to lead the nations, pledging to usher in an era of peace. Richardson makes the case these two men are, in fact, one and the same.