TRYING TO CONVERT MUSLIMS TO ANOTHER RELIGION IS FORBIDDEN IN MALAYSIA, though Muslims may proselytise. Members of religious minorities have complained that their rights are being ignored in Muslim-majority Malaysia. The nine Christians, five students and four friends from Hong Kong, were arrested late on Tuesday at Universiti Putra Malaysia in Serdang, near Kuala Lumpur. District police chief Zahedi Ayob said they had been distributing questionnaires to other Christians, not Muslims, as security guards at the university had believed.

The arrests followed a controversy last week centring on two journalists who wrote about hiding their Muslim identity in order to receive Communion at a Roman Catholic Church. One of the journalists said they were investigating reports that Muslims had committed apostasy by attending prayers or Communion at the church, but that they found no evidence of this.

Police said officials were investigating whether the two men had caused religious disharmony, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. Religious issues are highly sensitive in Malaysia, which has a 60% Muslim population. Christians, Buddhists and Hindus make up most of the rest of the population.

Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, will claim that BRITAIN WILL BECOME A WORLD LEADER IN LOW-CARBON TECHNOLOGY AND MANUFACTURING. He will argue that raising household energy bills to pay for investment in wind, solar and tidal power is justified not only by the dangers of global warming but also the opportunity to build a new "green economy".

However, tomorrow morning the Vestas factory in Newport, Isle of Wight, Britain's only significant manufacturer of wind turbines, will produce its last batch of seven-tonne blades. More than 600 people employed at the plant, and a related facility in Southampton, will be made redundant at the end of the month. ALL 7,000 TURBINES THAT THE GOVERNMENT WILL COMMIT TODAY TO INSTALLING OVER THE NEXT DECADE WILL BE MANUFACTURED OVERSEAS, MAINLY IN GERMANY, DENMARK AND CHINA.

Vestas managers and union leaders held meetings with Mr Miliband and officials to discuss the possibility of converting the factory — which supplies the US market — to produce a different type of blade suitable for British wind farms. The Government did not, however, offer any financial aid and was unable to give any assurances that it would break the planning logjam that has paralysed the British market for wind turbines.

L'Osservatore Romano said the movie was the best adaptation yet of the JK Rowling books, describing it as "a mixture of supernatural suspense and romance which reaches the right balance. THERE IS A CLEAR LINE OF DEMARCATION BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL AND [THE FILM] MAKES CLEAR THAT GOOD IS RIGHT. One understands as well that sometimes this requires hard work and sacrifice," the newspaper judged.

The broadsheet paper also praised the film's clear message that "THE SEARCH FOR IMMORTALITY EPITOMISED BY LORD VOLDEMORT" WAS WRONG. It even approved of the film's treatment of adolescent romance amid the halls and corridors of Hogwart's, saying that it achieved the "correct balance" and made the teenage stars more credible.

The favourable review IS AN APPARENT CHANGE OF HEART FROM THE VATICAN'S PREVIOUS ASSESSMENT of the best-selling series. Last year an article in L'Osservatore Romano condemned the books for encouraging an interest in the occult among children. The Vatican's attitude to the books has taken a harder line under the papacy of Benedict XVI in comparison with that of his predecessor John Paul II.

TWO YEARS BEFORE HE WAS ELECTED POPE, CARDINAL JOSEF RATZINGER, as he then was, wrote a letter to a German critic of the books calling the series "A SUBTLE SEDUCTION, WHICH HAS DEEPLY UNNOTICED AND DIRECT EFFECTS IN UNDERMINING THE SOUL OF CHRISTIANITY BEFORE IT CAN REALLY GROW PROPERLY". Earlier this year an ultraconservative Austrian priest, the Reverend Gerhard Maria Wagner, accused the Harry Potter novels of encouraging Satanism.

Goldman Sachs took £6.1billion from the US Government's bail-out funds at the height of the crisis last October, but repaid the cash in June. Total revenues leapt 46 per cent to £89 billion - even better than Wall Street expected, sending shares soaring. THE RETURN OF MASSIVE BONUSES WILL INFURIATE CRITICS WHO SAY LAVISH REWARDS FOR FINANCIERS ARE WHAT FUELLED THE BANKING CRISIS AND PLUNGED THE GLOBAL ECONOMY INTO DEEP RECESSION.

The bank faced further anger today as it was revealed that executives sold $700million (almost £431million) worth of shares in the bank following the collapse of rival Lehman Brothers last September. Most of the sales occurred during the period when Goldman was being propped up by $10billion (£6.1billion) of US Government money through the troubled asset relief programme.

The sudden increase in selling among Goldman partners is likely to infuriate US politicians as it came after Washington had thrown Wall Street a lifeline. It also came as MPs demanded that bankers should be hit with a punitive 90 per cent tax on bonuses. Vince Cable, liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, said: 'THIS SUGGESTS THAT FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE IN THE BANKING SECTOR ARE GOING BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL AND APPEAR TO HAVE LEARNT NO LESSONS FROM THE PAST.' The MPs have accused City chiefs of pretending the financial crisis never happened as they dish out 'generally excessive' payments.

Liberal Democrat MP Paul Holmes accused Chancellor Alistair Darling and the financial sector of dithering. 'THE GOVERNMENT AND THE CITY CAN'T JUST IGNORE PRACTICES THAT ALMOST DESTROYED THE ECONOMIES OF THE WESTERN WORLD LAST YEAR,' Mr Holmes said. Analysts believe the Goldman Sachs bonus pool could double to £12billion this year if the trading performance continues.

Tests in several animals confirmed other studies that have shown THE NEW SWINE FLU STRAIN CAN SPREAD BEYOND THE UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT TO GO DEEP INTO THE LUNGS - MAKING IT MORE LIKELY TO CAUSE PNEUMONIA, the international team said. In addition, they found that people who survived the 1918 pandemic seem to have extra immune protection against the virus, again confirming the work of other researchers.

"When we conducted the experiments in ferrets and monkeys, the seasonal virus did not replicate in the lungs," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, who led the study. "The H1N1 virus replicates significantly better in the lungs." The new swine flu virus has caused the first pandemic of the 21st century, infecting more than a million people, according to estimates, and killing at least 500. The World Health Organization says it is causing mostly moderate disease but Kawaoka said that does not mean it is like seasonal flu.

"There is a misunderstanding about this virus," he said in a statement. "There is clear evidence the virus is different than seasonal influenza." Writing in the journal Nature, KAWAOKA AND COLLEAGUES NOTED THAT THE ABILITY TO INFECT THE LUNGS IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF OTHER PANDEMIC VIRUSES, ESPECIALLY THE 1918 VIRUS, WHICH IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE KILLED BETWEEN 40 MILLION AND 100 MILLION PEOPLE.

The deficit has been widened by the huge sum the government has spent to ease the recession, combined with a sharp decline in tax revenues. THE COST OF WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ALSO IS A MAJOR FACTOR.

The soaring deficit is making Chinese and other foreign buyers of US debt nervous, which could make them reluctant lenders down the road. It could also force the Treasury Department to pay higher interest rates to make US debt attractive longer-term.

"THESE ARE MIND-BOGGLING NUMBERS," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at the Smith School of Business at California State University. "OUR FOREIGN INVESTORS FROM CHINA AND ELSEWHERE ARE STARTING TO HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT NOT ONLY THE VALUE OF THE DOLLAR BUT HOW SAFE THEIR INVESTMENTS WILL BE IN THE LONG RUN."

Norma McCorvey, 61, of Texas, better known as "Jane Roe" in the famous Roe vs Wade case from January 1973, was arrested after she and another protester started yelling during the opening statement of Senator Al Franken (Democrat, Minnesota), according to Capitol Police. McCorvey, whose pursuit of the right to access to abortion in the early 1970s led to the ruling that has been a pivotal part of every Supreme Court nomination process since, eventually become a notable opponent of the procedure.

McCorvey, who used Roe as an alias in her court filings for fear of retribution, remained an abortion-rights supporter until the mid-1990s. Working at a women's clinic in Dallas, she befriended some Operation Rescue protesters. In 1995, she was baptized and has been an anti-abortion activist ever since.

The beginning of the Arab exodus [from Israel] can be traced to the weeks immediately following the announcement of the UN partition resolution. By the end of January 1948, the exodus was so alarming, the Palestine Arab Higher Committee asked neighbouring Arab countries to refuse visas to these [Arab] refugees and to seal their borders against them.

Contemporary press reports of major battles in which large numbers of Arabs fled conspicuously fail to mention any forcible expulsion by the Jewish forces. The Arabs are usually described as "fleeing" or "evacuating" their homes. "THE ARAB STATES ENCOURAGED THE PALESTINE ARABS TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES TEMPORARILY IN ORDER TO BE OUT OF THE WAY OF THE ARAB INVASION ARMIES," according to the Jordanian newspaper Filastin (February 19, 1949). One refugee quoted in the Jordan newspaper, Ad Difaa (September 6, 1954), said: "THE ARAB GOVERNMENT TOLD US: GET OUT SO THAT WE CAN GET IN. SO WE GOT OUT, BUT THEY DID NOT GET IN."

Israel consistently sought a solution to the refugee problem, but could not simply agree to allow all Palestinians to return. No nation, regardless of past rights and wrongs, could contemplate taking in a fifth-column of such a size. And fifth-column it would be — people nurtured for 20 years [in 1967] in hatred of and totally dedicated to its destruction.

"THEY MUST RENOUNCE, ONCE AND FOR ALL, THE DEMAND TO SETTLE THE DESCENDANTS OF THE REFUGEES AND TO TAKE OVER ISRAEL'S TERRITORY PIECEMEAL AFTER OBTAINING A PEACE TREATY," Netanyahu warned. He was speaking at the official state memorial for modern Zionism's central visionary, Binyamin Zev Herzl, who died 105 years ago. Fifteen members of Herzl's family attended, as did President Shimon Peres, other dignitaries, soldiers and Jewish and Arab youths.

The Prime Minister added: "I yearn for the day that the Palestinian leaders face their people and say these clear words: 'We have had enough of this conflict. We, the Palestinians, recognize the right of the Jewish people to a country of its own on this land. We will live beside you in true peace.' Once these things are said, a window – even a huge opening – will be opened to peace," he said.

In explicit and direct language, the Pope calls for a "TRUE WORLD POLITICAL AUTHORITY" to manage the affairs of the world. At the same time, however, THE POPE ALSO WARNS THAT SUCH AN INTERNATIONAL ORDER COULD "PRODUCE A DANGEROUS UNIVERSAL POWER OF A TYRANNICAL NATURE" and must be guarded against somehow.

The New York Times got it right this time, noting THE POPE'S CALL FOR A WORLD POLITICAL AUTHORITY AMOUNTED TO ENDORSEMENT OF A NEW WORLD ECONOMIC ORDER, a long-time goal of the old Soviet-sponsored international communist movement. Bloomberg.com highlighted the Pope's call for a new world order with "teeth." THE "TEETH" MAY COME IN ADOPTING THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA, WHICH THE POPE WARMLY EMBRACES.

Sounding like Al Gore, the Pope said that one pressing need is "a worldwide redistribution of energy resources, so that countries lacking those resources can have access to them." He adds that "This responsibility is a global one, for it is concerned not just with energy but with the whole of creation, which must not be bequeathed to future generations depleted of its resources."

"THE CHURCH HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS CREATION AND SHE MUST ASSERT THIS RESPONSIBILITY IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE," he explains. In a statement that sounds like an endorsement of a new global warming treaty, which will be negotiated at a UN conference in December, the Pope says, "The international community has an urgent duty to find institutional means of regulating the exploitation of non-renewable resources, involving poor countries in the process, in order to plan together for the future. The technologically advanced societies can and must lower their domestic energy consumption, either through an evolution in manufacturing methods or through greater ecological sensitivity among their citizens." he declares.

"The signature will show that we are determined to make the Nabucco pipeline a reality as quickly as possible," European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said ahead of the signing ceremony, which would effectively end six months of intense negotiations on the use of the pipeline.

The 3,300-kilometer pipeline is expected to run between the Caspian Sea region and Austria, crossing Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Ankara, for its part, wanted to take 15 percent of the gas flowing through Nabucco at a discounted price for internal consumption or even for re-exportation, but was not granted this. The Nabucco's entire capacity amounts to 31 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year.

"The [EU-Turkey] agreement is a very significant one," says Karel Hirman, an energy expert from the Slovak innovation and energy agency. "Turkey sought to become a gas dealer, while this agreement will make it a regular transit country profiting from transit fees."

Obesity alone has never been seen as a risk factor for seasonal flu. But in a report released on Friday, health officials detailed the cases of 10 Michigan patients who were very sick from swine flu in late May and early June and ended up at a specialised hospital in Ann Arbor. Three of them died. Nine of the 10 were either obese or extremely obese. Only three of the 10 had other health problems. Two of the three that died had no other health conditions.

Also remarkable were that five of the patients developed blood clots in their lungs, and six had kidney failure. Those complications have been seen in some swine flu patients before, but not usually in such a high proportion.

"Clinicians need to be aware that severe complications can occur in patients with the novel H1N1 virus, particularly in extremely obese patients," said Dr. Tim Uyeki, a flu expert at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Uyeki was a co-author of the report, released by a CDC publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), directed by Itamar Marcus, reports on a panel discussion on a television program of the Fatah organization broadcast this past week. Headed by Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah is considered THE MORE MODERATE WING OF THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, compared with Hamas.

THE PANEL DISCUSSION SHOWS THAT IN ACTUALITY, FATAH IS NO LESS FIRM THAN HAMAS IN SEEKING THE GOAL OF ISRAEL'S DESTRUCTION. Kifah Radaydeh, the deputy head of the Jerusalem chapter of Fatah, says openly that the PA will resume violence and terror against Israel when Fatah is "capable," and "according to what seems right."

"It has been said that we are negotiating for peace," she further stated, "BUT OUR GOAL HAS NEVER BEEN PEACE. PEACE IS A MEANS; THE GOAL IS PALESTINE." Radaydeh is considered a "promising and rising young force" in Fatah, according to a PMW source, "and this report will likely give her extra prominence. But we have to publicize her words in order that the truth about the PA and Fatah be known."

People holding California State IOUs - including taxpayers, vendors and local governments - will soon have a tougher time redeeming them, as most major banks are standing firm on a vow not to cash the vouchers after today.

Many credit unions say they will continue to redeem the IOUs for customers. But without mainstream banks as an option, recipients of the IOUs who need cash immediately could be tempted to sell them at a discount to third-party speculators, including ones popping up on the Internet. Responding to that potential, the Securities and Exchange Commission determined Thursday that the IOUs are securities under federal law, which will generally require anyone trading them for profit to be a registered securities dealer.

The move is aimed at limiting the risk that IOU recipients could be defrauded by individuals or companies that offer to buy the scrip. In the last week, State Controller John Chiang's office issued 91,000 IOUs worth $354 million to people expecting tax refunds, as well as to state vendors and local governments, said spokeswoman Hallye Jordan.

"In the medium to long term, we need to do what we can to avoid the risk of currency losses or economic turbulence that could result if the dollar were to swing," Masaharu Nakagawa, the shadow finance minister in the Democratic Party of Japan, said in an interview in Tokyo on July 9. "MANY COUNTRIES ARE STARTING TO DIVERSIFY THEIR RESERVES."

Japanese investors are the biggest foreign holders of Treasuries after China with $685.9 billion of the securities in April, and Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said last month his trust in the bonds is "unshakable." The DPJ yesterday beat the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in elections for Tokyo's city assembly, boosting its prospects ahead of national polls that Prime Minister Taro Aso today called for August 30.

"The current reality of Japan's foreign-currency reserves is that their heavy weighting toward dollar assets means any fall in the dollar's value leads to valuation losses," said Susumu Kato, chief economist in Tokyo at Calyon Securities, the investment banking unit of Credit Agricole SA. "THE DPJ IS OPPOSED TO A FOREIGN-CURRENCY RESERVE POLICY THAT IS SO WHOLLY SKEWED TO THE DOLLAR."