The EU's Javier Solana made his comments on Saturday at a lecture in London while Palestinian and Israeli peace talks remain stalled. The Palestinians have said they will not revive peace talks unless there is a halt to Israel's settlement activities in the West Bank. "AFTER A FIXED DEADLINE, A UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION SHOULD PROCLAIM THE ADOPTION OF THE TWO-STATE SOLUTION," Solana said, adding this should include border parameters, refugees, control over the city of Jerusalem and security arrangements.

"It would accept the Palestinian state as a full member of the UN, and set a calendar for implementation. It would mandate the resolution of other remaining territorial disputes and legitimise the end of claims," Solana went on. Advocating a return to Israel's borders before the 1967 war with Egypt, Syria and Jordan in which it took the West Bank, SOLANA SAID MEDIATORS SHOULD SET A TIMETABLE FOR A PEACE AGREEMENT.

"If the parties are not able to stick to it (the timetable), then A SOLUTION BACKED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD BE PUT ON THE TABLE," he said. The EU, along with the United States, Russia and the United Nations, is part of the Quartet of Middle East Negotiators.

"THE MORE ABU MAZEN'S AUTHORITY AND LEGITIMACY DECLINE, THE MORE HE INCREASES HIS DEMANDS and the more rigid he becomes in his attitude," Lieberman told Israeli public radio, referring to Abbas by his popular nickname. "Today you have Fatah-land in Judea and Samaria (the Hebrew name for the occupied West Bank) and Hamastan in Gaza," Lieberman told Israeli radio, referring to Abbas's Fatah party and the Islamist Hamas movement ruling Gaza.

"AND WHO EXACTLY DOES ABU MAZEN REPRESENT? ONLY HALF THE PEOPLE, AT BEST. All of Abu Mazen's demands are simply a reflection of his distress and inability to conduct negotiations and spearhead a true political process," he added. "The demand for a (settlement) freeze is not legitimate either."

Lieberman's comments drew an angry response from the Palestinian leadership, which accused him of using "diversion tactics" to mask Israel's failure to halt settlement building in the West Bank. Monday's fiery exchange was the latest in a row that erupted over the weekend after Abbas told the Egyptian press that Israel would be better off without its outspoken foreign minister.

The International Monetary Fund says the eurozone will contract by 4.8pc this year, worse than the UK (-4.2pc) or the US (-2.6pc). The deepest damage will occur next year as Europe remains mired in slump, even as the rest of the world recovers. It is the length of recession that matters most for jobs, social stability, and public finances. I am not easily shocked any longer but I did sit up when Spain's budget chief Luis Espadas said the economic collapse could "easily" push Spanish public debt to 90pc of GDP by 2011. This is up from 36pc in 2007.

NOBODY KNOWS WHERE THE TIPPING POINT LIES ON PUBLIC DEBT, though anything above 100pc of GDP in a currency union is courting fate. Some are already there. The European Commission says Italian debt will jump to 116pc in 2010. Greece is vaulting back to 109pc, Belgium to 101pc, France to 86pc.

EVEN GERMAN FINANCES ARE FALLING APART. After screwing down spending to balance the books, discipline has broken down. Berlin says the deficit is heading for 6pc next year, taking debt to 82pc. This is happening all over the world, of course. But the ECB is compounding the effect, whether for reasons of politics, Bundesbank fetishism, or misjudgment.

By refusing to join the US, Japan, Canada, Britain, and Switzerland in quantitative easing (QE) the ECB has allowed a contraction of private credit this summer. THE M3 "BROAD" MONEY SUPPLY has shrunk since February.

IGNORE M3 AT YOUR PERIL. IT FLASHED A WARNING SIGNAL IN THE US MONTHS BEFORE THE COLLAPSE OF LEHMAN BROTHERS LAST SEPTEMBER; IT IS FLASHING THE SIMILAR WARNING SIGNALS IN EUROPE NOW.

The funding will come from a levy on energy bills, meaning a rise of up to 20 percent or more than £200 annually. About 2 per cent of Britain's energy is currently derived from renewable sources but the Government has promised to increase this to 15 percent within the next 12 years, under EU rules.

A separate article looks at a new McKinsey report, commissioned by the CBI, which calls for the Government's "overly ambitious" targets on renewable energy generation to be offset by nuclear power. It suggests raising nuclear spend by £15bn and carbon capture by £7bn, while cutting investment in expensive gas projects by £11bn and wind by £12bn. The CBI argues this would mean 83% of our electricity will come from low-carbon sources, compared with 64% under a business as usual model. Meanwhile, power sector emissions would halve by 2020 and halve again by 2030, getting the UK back on track with its longer-term carbon targets.

Meanwhile, Roland Rudd of Business for New Europe argues in the Telegraph that the EU has a "crucial role" to play with regards to climate change efforts. John Grummer, the chairman of the Conservative Party's Quality of Life Policy Group, said that the Kyoto Treaty is evidence of the EU's influential powers, "the very fact that the EU made Kyoto possible should fire us up to raise our game on climate change".

The article notes that the centre has a budget of €100 million and will unite data centres which currently function independently. It will be called the 'AGENCY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF LARGE IT SYSTEMS IN THE FIELD OF LIBERTY, SECURITY AND JUSTICE'. German liberal MEP Alexander Alvaro said "centralising such a gigantic quantity of different data ONLY MAKES SENSE IF THEY WANT TO CREATE PROFILES OF PEOPLE".

HANDELSBLATT reports that the Bavarian CSU party has declared that the German Parliament should have extensive binding powers with regards to the German government's EU policies. Horst Seehofer, CSU leader is quoted saying that "EUROPE SHOULD BE ABLE TO FUNCTION, BUT IT ALSO HAS TO BE DEMOCRATICALLY LEGITIMATE" ADDING THAT "ONE SHOULD NOT CUT DOWN ON DEMOCRACY TO SAVE TIME". Sueddeutsche notes that CSU's stance following the German Constitutional Court's judgement on the Lisbon Treaty is increasingly becoming a problem for the credibility of Angela Merkel's EU policies.

Meanwhile, in his FT column, Wolfgang Münchau argues that "European integration ends with the Lisbon treaty", as the judgement said that "member states must have sovereignty in the following areas: criminal law, police, military operations, fiscal policy, social policy, education, culture, media, and relations with religious groups." Singling out fiscal policy, Münchau argues, "A decision that essentially rules out effective economic crisis management in a monetary union, by anchoring all relevant political decisions at the national level, is hardly consistent with a sustainable single currency". THEY CONCLUDED THAT "AT THE VERY LEAST, ANYONE LOCKED IN A MONETARY UNION WITH GERMANY SHOULD BE VERY WORRIED."

"LATE BLIGHT HAS NEVER OCCURRED THIS EARLY AND THIS WIDESPREAD IN THE UNITED STATES," said Meg McGrath, a plant pathologist at Cornell University's extension center in Riverhead, New York. She said the fungal disease, spread by spores carried in the air, has MADE ITS WAY INTO THE GARDEN CENTERS OF LARGE RETAIL CHAINS in the Northeastern United States. "Wal-mart, Home Depot, Sears, Kmart and Lowe's are some of the stores the plants have been seen in," McGrath said in a telephone interview.

The disease, known officially as Phytophthora infestans, causes large mold-ringed olive-green or brown spots on plant leaves, blackened stems, and can quickly wipe out weeks of tender care in a home garden. McGrath said in her 21 years of research, SHE HAS ONLY SEEN FIVE OUTBREAKS IN THE UNITED STATES. The destructive disease can spread rapidly in cooler, moist weather, infecting an entire field within days.

"What's unique about it this year is we have never seen plants affected in garden centers being sold to home gardeners," she said. This year's cool, wet weather created perfect conditions for the disease.

The Pope told pilgrims and tourists in St Peter's Square for his weekly blessing that he was following events in Honduras with "deep worry". He called for patient dialogue and mutual understanding and reconciliation to create conditions to "ensure peaceful coexistence and authentic democratic life" in the overwhelmingly Catholic Central American country.

The interim government, installed by Congress after the widely unpopular Zelaya was ousted in a coup last month, accuses Zelaya of contravening the constitution and trying to extend his rule illegally. Costa Rica is brokering talks aimed at defusing one of the worst crises in Central America since the Cold War.

UNUSUALLY, NO CORONER'S INQUEST WAS HELD INTO HIS DEATH. The only official verdict has come from the Hutton Inquiry, commissioned by Tony Blair, which concluded that Dr Kelly, 59, died from loss of blood after cutting his wrist with a blunt gardening knife.

Critics regarded the report as a 'whitewash', and Mr Blair remains acutely sensitive to the accusation that he has 'blood on his hands' over the scientist's death. But now a team of 13 specialist doctors has compiled a detailed medical dossier that rejects the Hutton conclusion on the grounds that a cut to the ulnar artery, which is small and difficult to access, could not have caused death.

It will be used by their lawyers to demand a formal inquest and the release of Dr Kelly's autopsy report, which has never been published. It will also be sent to Sir John Chilcot's forthcoming inquiry into the Iraq War. The 12-page opinion, a copy of which has been seen by The Mail on Sunday, concludes: 'The bleeding from Dr Kelly's ulnar artery is highly unlikely to have been so voluminous and rapid that it was the cause of death.'

One of the doctors, David Halpin, told The Mail on Sunday that they had argued their case in the legal document in 'microscopic' detail. He said: 'We reject haemorrhage as the cause of death and see no contrary opinion which would stand its ground. I THINK IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY HE WAS ASSASSINATED.' Mr Baker said: 'The fact that eminent medical experts feel so strongly that the official explanation for Dr Kelly's death cannot be sustained and are now taking legal action against the Government to secure a proper inquest demonstrates both how suspect Lord Hutton's conclusions were and how this dark chapter cannot be closed unless Sir John Chilcott's inquiry into the Iraq war addresses this issue. A PROPER INQUEST INTO DR KELLY'S DEATH MUST TAKE PLACE.'

But family campaigners last night condemned the guidance, saying it encouraged underage sex and could increase rates of sexually-transmitted diseases. Under the heading 'an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away', the leaflet says: 'Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?'

The advice, which also claims regular sex is good for cardiovascular health, has been circulated to parents, teachers and youth workers. It came to light just a week after it emerged that teenagers who took part in a £6million Government initiative to reduce teenage pregnancies were more than twice as likely to fall pregnant as other girls.

Dr Trevor Stammers, of the pressure group Family and Youth Concern, said the leaflet would encourage 'risky' behaviour and an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. 'IT IS UNBELIEVABLE THAT THIS IS BEING SENT TO SCHOOLS', he said. I'd like to know what scientific evidence there is to back this up. There are an awful lot of overpaid and under-occupied health promotion officers around who are obsessed with sex.' He added that inciting UNDERAGE SEX WAS 'NOTHING LESS THAN ENCOURAGING CHILD ABUSE'.

He said: "When Irish people rejected the Lisbon Treaty a year ago, the initial reaction ranged from shock to horror to temper to vexation. That would be the view of a lot of the people who live in the Brussels beltway. On the other hand, ALL OF THE POLITICAL LEADERS KNOW QUITE WELL that if the similar question was put to their electorate by a referendum the answer in 95 per cent of the countries would probably have been No as well."

He also appeared to suggest that he still has not read the Lisbon Treaty. Asked if he had read it since admitting during the last campaign that he had not, he replied, "I am going to stay up every night during every day of the summer reading chapters. I will put questions to every journalist I meet asking them what different subsections mean. A LOT OF THAT IS POLITICAL NONSENSE." He said many EU leaders were glad they had no legal obligation to hold referenda on the treaty in their own countries.

The Bank of New York Mellon, which looks after funds for central banks, pension funds and asset managers, said its own flow data showed net outflows from German bonds for the first time since mid-March. Indeed, the pace of outflows from German bonds seen over the course of the past week has been similar in size to that seen in early March when concerns over the European banking sector were at their height. BoNY Mellon said it also tracked outflows from Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Belgian and Greek bonds.

Concerns over the eurozone banking system were triggered in February after a report from Moody's, the ratings agency, argued deteriorating economic conditions in emerging Europe would place downward pressure on local banks and was likely to spill over to their parents in western Europe. The report said the countries most at risk were Austria, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany and Sweden, which together accounted for 84 per cent of the exposure to a slowdown in emerging Europe.

Although those fears subsided as global equities rallied from multi-year lows in March, Simon Derrick, head of currency research at BoNY Mellon, said it was clear that WORRIES OVER THE EUROPEAN BANKING SYSTEM HAD NOT GONE AWAY. Indeed, on Tuesday Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, an executive board member of the European Central Bank, said European banks were facing difficulties in their medium to long-term funding because CONFIDENCE IN THE MARKETS HAD NOT RETURNED.

As many as 20m people could be inoculated this year. Ministers have secured up to 90m doses, and the rest of the population is likely to be offered vaccinations next year. A man from Essex was confirmed on Friday as the first person without underlying health problems to have died from the virus. The health department said most people with the virus had only mild symptoms.

Peter Holden, the British Medical Association's lead negotiator on swine flu, said GPs' surgeries were ready for one of the biggest vaccination campaigns in almost 50 years. "If this virus does [mutate], it can get a lot more nasty, and the idea is to give people immunity. But the sheer logistics of dealing with 60m people can't be underestimated," he said. The health department said a vaccination programme would be drawn up based on expert advice.

DR SUSAN CHU, OF OXFORD, COMMENTS - "These are brand new vaccines, not the same as your regular flu shot. The GSK one contains a squalene-based adjuvant AS03. The Baxter one is cultured in MONKEY KIDNEY CELLS and tested only in 800 subjects. GOOGLE 'ADJUVANT SAFETY' AND 'BAXTER H5N1' AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF WHETHER THEY ARE SAFE."

The Bishop of Winchester, Michael Scott-Joynt, criticised the new Equality Bill, due to be law next year, which will force religious organisations that regard same-sex relationships as sinful to employ gay workers. In a foreword to a report by the pressure group Christian Action Research and Education, the Bishop wrote: 'The sad fact is that Britain – which owes so much to its Christian heritage – is increasingly becoming a "cold" place which, as any reflection on the fruit of Christian good works will demonstrate, is not in the general interest of society.'

HE SAID THERE APPEARED TO BE A 'CONCERTED' ATTACK ON THE RIGHTS OF CHRISTIANS AND WHEN THERE WERE CLASHES, GAY RIGHTS TRIUMPHED.

"Yes, a colonial map that made little sense bred conflict, and the West has often approached Africa as a patron, rather than a partner," he told the Ghanaian parliament. "But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants."

Seeking to jolt Africa's politicians out of a complacent belief that his shared ancestry with them would soften his rhetoric, Mr Obama spoke with withering directness. Condemning tyrannical African leaders who "enrich themselves" amid the continent's chronic poverty, he promised fresh "partnerships" only with states that were well-governed. For the kleptocrats and autocrats who still sprinkle the continent, he had a simple message: enough is enough.

"No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery," he said. "That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end." Traditional "strong man" rulers must give way to "strong institutions" if they are to benefit from future Western assistance, he said. "Africa's future is up to Africans."