"It is the biggest challenge of the 21st century," Mr Zardari told a press conference in Downing Street. "It is not a short term affair, it is a long term affair. It is challenging our way of life, THEY ARE TRYING TO CREATE A NEW WORLD ORDER." Mr Zardari also dismissed as "incorrect" a BBC survey which has suggested that only 38 per cent of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province is under government control.

The two men stood side by side after an apparent snub to Mr Brown when he visited Pakistan last month and was forced to hold a press conference with Yusuf Raza Gilani, the Pakistani prime minister, instead. In another reference to tensions with the West, Mr Zardari said he was asking for "ownership" of American unmanned drones which have been launching attacks on Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in Pakistan. The focus of the meeting was on fighting terrorism and Mr Brown promised £10m in additional aid to help those dealing with refugees fleeing the fighting in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

Every year millions of people visit Canterbury Cathedral, a haven for pilgrims since the Middle Ages. The city's place in literary history was secured by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. But Pride in Canterbury is concerned with more present-day issues. The local council, it says, has failed to 'send out signals' that gays are welcome. As well as the absence of a suitable bar, a play staged at the city's Marlowe Theatre presented a gay character in a 'stereotypical' way.

The group is awaiting the outcome of an official complaint to the local government ombudsman. Spokesman Andrew Bretell said: 'We do not believe the council wants a thriving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in our city. They're more interested in ticking their equality boxes than they are in dealing with the real issues.'

The nearest gay bar is 17 miles away, in Margate, he added. 'Unless they are sending out signals that they welcome gays, then they are not creating conditions where there is likely to be a gay bar. We are not trying to turn Canterbury into Blackpool or Brighton, but we do think it's important for the gay community to have a focal point – somewhere they can go to and see LGBT culture. The area doesn't send out an image that it's OK to be gay. We're trying to work with the council to do this and don't feel we have made big demands, but we have had no success.'

The credit rating agency said the industry is being propped up by hundreds of billions of dollars of government support, especially for lenders considered too important to the financial system to fail. While efforts to spur lending, take bad assets off banks' balance sheets, and restart the market for packaging and selling securities may help the sector, S&P said banks will have a tough time surviving absent a bigger capital cushion than regulators require.

"There's nothing to say that this banking crisis can't go on for another three or four years," S&P Managing Director Tanya Azarchs said. S&P on May 4 said it may lower its ratings for 23 U.S. banks and thrifts, including 10 that underwent stress tests, citing concern about the industry's capitalisation. It said the 23 companies had at least a 50 percent chance of being downgraded within 90 days.

THAT IS MARGINALLY LESS THAN THE 4.6 PER CENT FALL IN GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT RECORDED FOR 1931 - THE WORST YEAR OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION. Any rebound from 2010 will be 'protracted' and sluggish because of the continued woes of the financial sector, Mr King added. The public spending cuts or tax hikes needed to curb Labour's record budget deficits will also act to dampen the pace of recovery. And households will be forced to spend less and save more as unemployment increases, the Bank said in its quarterly Inflation Report.

The report said inflation will undershoot the Bank's 2 per cent target until 2012, suggesting rates will stay at their current ultra-low 0.5 per cent level. That will provide some relief for mortgage holders, but cause fresh anguish to pensioners struggling to survive on income from savings interest. The Bank's bleak outlook deals a new blow to Chancellor Alistair Darling, whose Budget forecasts were dismissed in the Commons as 'utter fantasy' last month.

The Bank may have to expand its money-printing scheme, which aims to counter the risk of deflation. It has agreed to a £150 billion ceiling for 'quantitative easing' with the Treasury, but this may have to rise even higher. Mr King said: 'THE ECONOMY WILL EVENTUALLY HEAL, BUT THE PROCESS MAY BE SLOW.'

GM, facing a U.S. government-imposed deadline of June 1 to restructure or file for bankruptcy, is expected to send termination notices to up to 2,000 dealers - a third of its roughly 6,000 U.S. dealers, the sources told Reuters.

Chrysler, which filed for bankruptcy on April 30, will also tell up to 1,000 of its 3,189 U.S. dealers it is terminating their franchise agreements, according to the sources who asked not to be identified because the controversial closure plans have not been yet announced.

The moves to shut down auto dealerships underscores how the economic pain caused by the downward spiral of both automakers - NOW OPERATING UNDER U.S. GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT - is spreading beyond their home base in Detroit.

The document, which has been signed by President Dmitry Medvedev, listed top challenges to national security and outlined government priorities through 2020. "The INTERNATIONAL POLICY IN THE LONG RUN WILL BE FOCUSED ON GETTING HOLD OF ENERGY SOURCES, including in the Middle East, the Barents Sea shelf and other Arctic regions, the Caspian and Central Asia," said the strategy paper that was posted on the presidential Security Council's Web site.

"Amid competitive struggle for resources, attempts to use military force to solve emerging problems can't be excluded," it added. "The existing balance of forces near the borders of the Russian Federation and its allies can be violated." The paper didn't elaborate or name any specific nations.

In the Times Peter Riddell points to a Populus poll undertaken over the weekend, which found that 82% of people agreed with the statement "If Ireland and other countries ratify the Lisbon Treaty on the future of the European Union, Britain should hold its own referendum on the issue". 52% agreed strongly, and only 14% disagreed. The proportion of voters agreeing with the statement was 76% among Labour supporters, 85% among Lib Dem supporters, and 92% among Conservative supporters.

The poll also showed that 58% of voters believe that the balance of powers between Britain and the EU gives too much power to the EU, including a clear majority of supporters of all main parties. 28% say the balance is about right and 6% say too little power has been given to the EU.

The government adviser's report published today is the most detailed yet into the threat posed to baby boys by chemicals that block the action of the male sex hormone testosterone, or mimic the female sex hormone oestrogen. Professor Sharpe says many could be harmless on their own - but warned that their cumulative effect could be devastating for developing foetuses and warned women trying for a child to avoid them. 'You can't do anything about chemicals in the environment but you can control what you expose a baby to through your lifestyle choices,' he said.

'Because we don't know the complete list of chemicals that may be hormone disrupters, and we don't know how they interact, we can't point a finger at an individual chemical. The message is to avoid them, just as you should avoid alcohol and drugs.' Doctors are concerned about rising levels of birth defects, with 7 per cent of British boys born with partially descended testes and seven in 1000 with malformed genitals. The latest estimates indicate that one in six men in the UK has a low sperm count and will struggle to father a child.

Professor Sharpe said TDS has its origins in the period between the eighth and 12th week of pregnancy, when exposure to hormone-mimicking chemicals can interfere with testosterone production in a foetus, preventing the sex organs from developing normally. Chemicals shown to cause problems include pesticides such as DDT, fungicides such as vinclozolin; a group of chemicals called PCBs used in electrical circuits, paints, flame retardants and glues; and phthalates, which are used to soften plastics.

Elizabeth Salter Green of the charity CHEM Trust, which commissioned Professor Sharpe's report, said: 'Chemicals that have been shown to act together to affect male reproductive health should have their risks assessed together. She advised pregnant women to keep cosmetic use to a minimum, choose unscented products, stop using perfume, avoid colouring hair and avoid DIY.

"By illegally subsidising its exports through the undervaluation of its currency, CHINA HAS DISTORTED THEIR GAINS FROM TRADE, CREATED BARRIERS TO FREE AND FAIR TRADE, HARMED US INDUSTRIES AND DESTROYED MILLIONS OF US JOBS," said a press release from the sponsors of a new bill.

The bill is likely to be introduced today by senators and congressmen from both the Republican and Democratic parties. In Congress, the bill has over 40 co-sponsors. The legislation could impose additional duties on Chinese goods until China allows the yuan to revalue.

Last year, while running for president, Barack Obama said he supported a Senate bill to tackle China's manipulation. "The Bush administration has failed to act on China's currency manipulation," he said, adding: "This is unacceptable." Hillary Clinton, the secretary of State, also supported the bill.

The pontiff drove to Jesus' traditional birthplace of Bethlehem, crossing through towering concrete slabs Israel has erected to wall off the West Bank. Standing alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, he acknowledged Palestinians' desire for security and self-rule in a trip that came a day after he came under fire from Israeli critics who contended he failed to adequately express remorse for the Holocaust. "MR. PRESIDENT, THE HOLY SEE SUPPORTS THE RIGHT OF YOUR PEOPLE TO A SOVEREIGN PALESTINIAN HOMELAND IN THE LAND OF YOUR FOREFATHERS, SECURE AND AT PEACE WITH ITS NEIGHBORS, WITHIN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED BORDERS," the pontiff said.

The pope also called for Palestinian independence when he arrived in Israel on Monday for his high-profile Holy Land pilgrimage. Israel's new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in the audience, says the Palestinians aren't ready to rule themselves and so far has resisted international pressure to declare his support for a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

The pope, who has described himself as a "pilgrim of peace," has been forced to navigate a host of political land mines as he makes his way through Israel and the West Bank - his first visit to the region as the head of the Roman Catholic church. BEFORE THE POPE ARRIVED, RESIDENTS EXPRESSED HOPE THAT THE POPE WOULD USE HIS MORAL AUTHORITY TO SUPPORT THEIR QUEST FOR INDEPENDENCE. "Our pope is our hope" read posters hung around the town, which was also dotted with the yellow and cream flags of the Vatican and red, black, white and green Palestinian flags.

In the Nazi extermination camps, prisoners scratched their names onto stones and scribbled them on pieces of paper or wood, and then buried them. They knew that they would not survive. But they wanted their names to live on.

It is for the same reason that the names of those murdered in the Holocaust are preserved at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. Pope Benedict XVI, who visited the Hall of Remembrance there on Monday, added his own words of remembrance. "I have come to stand in silence before this monument, erected to honor the memory of the millions of Jews killed in the horrific tragedy of the Shoah. They lost their lives, but they will never lose their names."

THE POPE'S SPEECH, THOUGH, FELL FLAT. Immediately following his visit, the Yad Vashem Council released a statement expressing disappointment with the pope's comments at the monument. "He did not mention that it was the Nazis who did the murdering, nor a word of his personal participation in the feelings of pain and sorrow," said Yad Vashem Council Chairman Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau immediately after the speech. "Even the phrase '6 million' wasn't there. Not to mention that he didn't say 'I apologize.'"

CRITICISM DIDN'T JUST COME FROM ISRAEL, EITHER. In Germany, the Central Council of Jews in Germany blasted the pope for failing to more clearly distance himself from the Society of St. Pius X and the Holocaust denial of SSPX Bishop Richard Williamson. "What should one think of a public call to fight against anti-Semitism when he himself doesn't act and doesn't take consequences," said Stephan Kramer, general secretary of the Central Council. Council President Charlotte Knobloch said "I expected clearer words from the pope at Yad Vashem."

BENEDICT REMAINED TRUE TO HIS MANUSCRIPT, reading it, word for word, in a quiet voice. But at the same time, he rattled off the sentences as if unaware of the impact of his words, swallowing and mumbling important words, as if he were reading a manuscript meant for someone else or, even more distressingly, as if he were unaware of what he was reading. It was not a powerful moment. THERE WERE NO SPARKS.

He said many cattle were dying from the lack of water, and that this was contributing to nearly half the population suffering from malnutrition. Mr Bowden said humanitarian assistance to Somalia needed to start "increasing dramatically". He said that Somalis were not currently dying of starvation but SOME 3.2 MILLION OF THE POPULATION NEEDED LIFE-SAVING FOOD ASSISTANCE. "We're now facing a drought in Somalia that is worse than people have seen for at least a decade," Mr Bowden said.

"Roughly 45% of the [Somali] population is suffering from moderate malnutrition." SOME 1.1 MILLION PEOPLE IN SOMALIA HAVE BEEN DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMES because of conflict in recent years. Since the weekend thousands of civilians have fled fierce fighting in the capital Mogadishu between Islamist militants and the government.

In his encounter at the Dome of the Rock with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein, the Pope said common principles bind Islam, Christianity and Judaism. "Those who honor the one God believe that he will hold human beings accountable for their actions," Benedict said. "Undivided love for the one God and charity for one's neighbor thus become the fulcrum around which all else turns. This is why we work untiringly to safeguard human hearts from hatred, anger or revenge."

Tuesday's soothing words of unity and sweepingly symbolic itinerary were nevertheless overshadowed in part by the fallout from the German Pope's tumultuous first day in Israel. On Monday, Benedict's remarks at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial were a disappointment to some Jewish leaders for the lack of any mention of the Nazi perpetrators, expression of remorse or sharing of his own personal recollections of growing up in Bavaria. "SURVIVORS ANGERED BY BENEDICT'S LUKEWARM SPEECH," was the Page One headline in the Israeli daily Haaretz on Tuesday.

An evening ceremony in East Jerusalem to champion inter-religious dialogue was interrupted by an unscheduled diatribe by Palestinian Muslim cleric Sheikh Tasir al-Tamimi, who condemned Israel's attacks on Palestinians and its control over Jerusalem's holy sites. The diminutive and elderly Pope appeared a bit shaken by the outburst, and THE EVENT WAS CUT SHORT AS THE VATICAN DELEGATION QUICKLY LEFT THE MEETING HALL. Papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, who has been working overtime to react to events, called the Muslim cleric's actions a "direct negation of what dialogue should be" and expressed concern that such an incident could threaten to derail Benedict's mission of peace during his eight-day trip.

Still, perhaps as a sign of the growing tension over the trip, Lombardi himself added further misunderstanding. The typically affable Jesuit spokesman blasted media organizations for referring to Joseph Ratzinger's INVOLUNTARY MEMBERSHIP IN THE HITLER YOUTH, saying that "never, never, never" did the future Pope take part in the group. It was, however, later verified by reporters in the Pope's own writings when he was a Cardinal — and confirmed by Lombardi — THAT IN FACT BENEDICT HAD BEEN FORCED TO REGISTER IN THE ORGANIZATION FOR A BRIEF PERIOD.

Unfortunately for the Pope, the present is often as difficult to navigate as the past. On Wednesday he will visit the West Bank city of Bethlehem, where he will both pray at Jesus' birthplace and devote his attention to the Palestinian people and the suffering of their struggle for a homeland under Israeli rule. MANY HOPE THE POPE MIGHT INJECT NEW HOPE INTO THE STALLED PEACE PROCESS. OTHERS SIMPLY PRAY THAT HIS PRESENCE DOESN'T UNINTENTIONALLY MAKE THINGS WORSE.

The woman, who already had two daughters, requested an amniocentesis in order to allay concerns about possible chromosome abnormalities. At the same time, she also asked to know the foetus's gender.

Doctors at Mälaren Hospital expressed concern and asked Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare to draw up guidelines on how to handle requests in the future in which they "feel pressured to examine the foetus's gender" without having a medically compelling reason to do so.

The board has now responded that such requests and thus ABORTIONS CAN NOT BE REFUSED AND THAT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO DENY A WOMAN AN ABORTION UP TO THE 18TH WEEK OF PREGNANCY, EVEN IF THE FOETUS'S GENDER IS THE BASIS FOR THE REQUEST.

CEO Fritz Henderson, on a conference call with reporters, said it was more probable that GM was headed for bankruptcy by June 1 — the US government-imposed deadline for the automaker to restructure or face bankruptcy. "It's more probable that we would need to accomplish our goals in a bankruptcy," Henderson said. "There's still a chance for it to be done outside a court proceeding."

A move by GM to leave Detroit would represent another blow for the economy of a region already reeling from the bankruptcy of Chrysler and the sharp downturn in auto manufacturing. GM purchased its glass-towered headquarter building known as Detroit's Renaissance Center last year for $625 million.