In the Normandy town of Cambremer, there is a celebration of all the good things the region produces. Up and down the winding streets of the town stalls are heavy with cheese, calvados, more cheese, cider, sausage and more cheese. At one rare non-cheese stand Didier Bedu stands behind a wall of calvados bottles.

How, I ask him, does France feel towards the EU? "Maybe more enthusiastic than the British," he laughs, "but more and more sceptical. THEY [THE EU] WANT TO MANAGE AND CONTROL EVERYTHING, IN ALL THE SMALL DETAILS OF LIFE, AND THIS IS NOT THE ROLE OF THE EU. THIS IS THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT."

You can put growing French doubts down to a national insecurity, to concern about having to share the EU stage with so many others, or to economic worries that may yet resolve themselves - as fears over competition with Spain and Portugal did in the 1980s. But doubts there are, and they will continue to grow. And who knows, just as in the referendum four years ago - when the French rejected the EU constitution - come the June elections they may surprise their leaders once again.

European Parliament elections :- 4-7 June.

"The Pope's visit to the region should reflect collaboration of Muslims and Christians throughout history, but sticking to provocative attitudes will not serve this message." Abu Bakr urged the pontiff to "apologise to Muslims for his remarks against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Ignoring Muslims' sentiments by Pope Benedict XVI will only block the healing of wounds his statements caused," he said without specifying the statements made previously by the Pope against Muslims.

During a 2006 lecture at the University of Regensburg in Germany, where he once taught theology, Benedict quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor, one of the last Christian rulers before the fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Empire, "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Abu Bakr expressed Islamists' objection to the Pope's scheduled visit to the Holocaust memorial in Israel, saying the visit "will take place only a short time after the Zionist entity killed hundreds of Palestinian children, women and old men in the Gaza Strip. We ask if the Pope of the Vatican will visit Gaza to explore how humanity is being violated, or this does not deserve his visit?"

Father Lombardi clarified that it is "above all a journey of faith," EVEN IF EVENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST ARE ALWAYS INTERPRETED IN A POLITICAL KEY. The spiritual desire of every Christian has become a spontaneous priority for the Pontiffs ever since their international trips have become a concrete possibility," Father Lombardi contended.

"John Paul II," he added, "had to wait a lot of time before fulfilling the desire for this pilgrimage, but afterward he had the joy of making it with serenity, in the heart of the Great Jubilee, the true culmination of his grand pontificate, with moments of sublimely intense prayer and with memorable gestures of friendship and closeness with the Jewish and Palestinian people and with their past and present sufferings."

Now that it is Benedict XVI's turn, the spokesman acknowledged, the "political situation in the area is very uncertain, and also the possibilities of peace are fragile. But the Pope all the same sets out, with an admirable courage that is based on faith, TO SPEAK OF RECONCILIATION AND PEACE. All of us," he affirmed, "should accompany him not only with ordinary prayer, but also with that spiritual movement that John Paul II called the 'great prayer' - so that the Church is renewed in its sources, SO THAT THE UNION BETWEEN CHRISTIANS GROWS CLOSER, AND SO THAT HATE FINALLY GIVES WAY TO RECONCILIATION."

In a statement released from Jerusalem, the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission Between the State of Israel and the Holy See informed on the results of last Thursday's meeting. The commission periodically meets in an attempt to advance negotiations regarding the 1993 Fundamental Agreement.

"The plenary meeting of the commission took place in an atmosphere of great friendship and a spirit of cooperation and good will," the statement reported. "The plenary noted that the Working Level Commission achieved significant progress, on the eve of the upcoming important visit of the Pope in Jerusalem.

"It was agreed to hold the next plenary meeting on December 10, 2009, at the Vatican. In the meantime, the working-level commission will hold meetings in furtherance of both delegations' pledge to accelerate the talks and conclude the agreement at the earliest opportunity."

The [Pope] noted that he will be following in the footsteps of Paul VI and John Paul II, who also made pilgrimages to the Holy Land. He expressed that he hopes "to confirm and encourage the Christians of the Holy Land, who must daily confront many difficulties. As a successor of the Apostle Peter, I will show the closeness and support of the whole body of the Church."

"Moreover, I WILL BE A PILGRIM OF PEACE, in the name of the one God, Father of all," the Bishop of Rome continued. "I will give witness to the Catholic Church's commitment in favor of those who work to practice dialogue and reconciliation, to arrive to a stable and lasting peace in justice and mutual respect."

As well, the Pontiff noted, "this trip will necessarily HAVE NOTABLE ECUMENICAL AND INTERRELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE. Jerusalem is, from this point of view, the symbolic city par excellence: There Christ died so as to reunite all of the dispersed children of God."

The British Pest Control Association said that in two towns in Berkshire, most rats have become resistant to the most widely used poisons. The association is due to meet with Department of Health experts this week to call for changes to the law on pesticides. Richard Moseley, of the BPCA, said: 'In certain areas we believe there is resistance to rodenticides that we have been using. Just as rats built up resistance to the first generation of poisons, such as warfarin, they are now developing resistance to the current generation.'

The BPCA wants powerful poisons that are currently banned outdoors to be used in gardens and public spaces. The chemicals are allowed to be used outside in parts of Europe. Although they are more toxic than existing poisons, they would be used in much smaller doses.

Parts of the UK have recorded alarming rises in rat infestations in the past year, with Exeter reporting a 66 per cent increase. In York the number of call-outs doubled, while Salford reported a 40 per cent rise. Earlier this year the East Yorkshire coastal village of Flamborough was nicknamed 'Ratville' after an infestation of thousands of vermin. In other parts of the country, the scale of the problem may be hidden.

Some experts believe shuttered, abandoned shops and building sites left half finished due to the credit crunch are providing new, safe homes for vermin. Most problems are caused by the brown or common rat. They are able to breed by the time they reach six weeks old, typically have litters of four to six young and a pair can produce a family of 200 in a lifetime.

The survey of more than 100 foods marketed for babies and toddlers found that many are high in saturated fat, salt and sugar. Critics say this sets children up for a lifetime of demanding food that is unhealthy and laden with calories. The Children's Food Campaign lobby group says Farley's Original Rusks from Heinz contain more sugar per gram than McVities Dark Chocolate Digestives. Toddler's Own Mini Cheese Biscuits from Heinz had more saturated fat per gram than a McDonald's quarter pounder with cheese. And Cow & Gate Baby Balance Bear Biscuits contained trans-fats, which are linked to high cholesterol and clogged arteries.

Christine Haigh, of the Children's Food Campaign, said: "Many foods marketed for babies and young children are often advertised as 'healthy'. IN REALITY, IN TERMS OF SUGAR AND SATURATED FAT CONTENT, SOME ARE WORSE THAN JUNK FOOD. In particular, failing to correctly label products that contain dangerous trans fats is outrageous."

SHE SAID THE MANUFACTURERS WERE SOMETIMES SECRETIVE ABOUT THEIR INGREDIENTS. For example, Cow & Gate failed to provide a requested summary of the nutritional information for all its foods marketed for babies and young children. She called for the Department of Health to obtain a commitment from companies to reformulate their products to remove transfats and reduce the amount of saturated fat, salt and sugar.

Presuming each of the 29.3 million taxpayers in the country works an eight-hour day, and takes the standard four weeks off plus bank holidays, they contributed on average £7.27 for every hour that they worked. In the previous year, 31.6 million taxpayers contributed £6.63 an hour. Matthew Elliott, chief executive at the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "This is a shocking increase and shows that taxpayers face a heavier burden than ever this year. We can't have fewer and fewer productive taxpayers paying for an increasingly bloated and inefficient public sector."

The main reason for the alarming jump of 9.7 per cent is that, not only has THE TOTAL TAX BILL INCREASED SLIGHTLY, BUT THE NUMBER OF TAXPAYERS HAS DROPPED SHARPLY as the recession has caused unemployment to rise. HM Revenue and Customs last week revealed the number of total taxpayers in the country has fallen below 30 million for the first time in six years.

The main taxes that have increased over the last year are beer duties, despite signs that consumption of beer has fallen sharply, council tax and vehicle excise duty BECAUSE THEY ALL INCREASED BY MUCH MORE THAN INFLATION. The concern is that the Treasury itself estimates that its TOTAL TAX TAKE WILL FALL VERY SHARPLY NEXT YEAR, as stamp duty all but dries up because of the collapse in the housing market. Income tax is also expected to fall significantly.

Mr Marchionne wants Italy's largest industrial group to separate Fiat Auto from its other divisions, join them with Opel / Vauxhall, Saab, and GM's other European operations, and Fiat's stake in Chrysler to create a company with about €80bn ($106bn) of revenues and sales of 6m-7m vehicles a year – second to Toyota, more than Renault / Nissan or Ford Motor, or GM itself, and roughly as many as Volkswagen.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Marchionne said: "From an engineering and industrial point of view, this is a marriage made in heaven". He hopes to complete the transaction by the end of May, and list shares of the new company, tentatively called Fiat/Opel, by the end of the summer.

If it clears antitrust, political, and other hurdles, the new group would marry GM Europe's 10 plants, mostly in northern Europe, to Fiat's 11 – mostly in Italy – to create a pan-continental powerhouse that, with Chrysler, would be a big force in Europe, North America, and Latin America.

In her first extensive media interview since alerting the world to a potential flu pandemic nine days ago, Margaret Chan, the agency's director-general, told the Financial Times that the end of the flu season in the northern hemisphere meant an initial outbreak could be milder but then a second wave more lethal, as happened in 1918.

Fresh data from Mexico suggested the impact of the flu could be less than initially thought. José Angel Cordova, health minister said the flu virus epidemic had passed its peak and was declining. "The evolution of the epidemic is now in its phase of descent," he said. The Mexican government, which had already SCALED BACK ITS ORIGINAL ESTIMATE OF 176 DEATHS, SAID 19 OF THE SUSPECTED 100 DEATHS from the H1N1 virus had been confirmed.

But Ms Chan warned that an apparent decline in mortality rates outside and within Mexico did not mean the pandemic was ending. "We hope the virus fizzles out, because if it doesn't we are heading for a big outbreak." But she said: "I'm not predicting the pandemic will blow up, but if I miss it and we don't prepare, I fail. I'd rather over-prepare than not prepare."

Over the past few months, SAUDI ARABIAN investors have paid $100m for an Ethiopian farm where they hope to grow wheat and barley, adding to the millions of acres they already own in the war-ravaged country, as well as in neighbouring Sudan. The Saudis also have land in Indonesia and Thailand for growing rice. CHINA owns vast tracts of overseas land, mainly in Algeria and Zimbabwe, and one estimate suggests that more than a million ethnic Chinese farm workers will be living on the continent this year. Kenya and Tanzania have leased land while the Ugandans have been big sellers, allocating two million acres of land to Egypt for wheat and corn.

Further afield, the Saudi government and other Gulf States are negotiating with Pakistan to buy another million acres. THE DEAL INCLUDES THE SERVICES OF A 100,000-MAN PRIVATE ARMY TO PROTECT THE FOOD BEING EXPORTED. Buyers or lease-holders have have also been promised legal cover in case a future government in Islamabad is less welcoming.

Soaring wheat and rice prices over the past two years – which have caused riots in more than 30 countries from India to Haiti – were the catalyst for the latest dash for land. But the rush really took off at the end of last year when many big food-exporting nations introduced export controls. David Hallam, the deputy director of the trade and markets division at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said, "There is a danger that host countries, particularly the more politically sensitive and food-insecure, WILL LOSE CONTROL OVER THEIR OWN FOOD SUPPLIES when they need it most."

Imagine, he says, empty trucks being driven into, say, Ethiopia, at a time of food shortages caused by war or drought, and being driven out again full of grain to feed people overseas. "Can you imagine the political consequences? That's why proper legal structures need to be put into place to protect land rights, and why we should look at some form of international code of conduct."

With a huge migrant population, poverty and unemployment among locals, and with the high oil prices that fuelled the economic boom of the past few years a fast-receding memory, many feel THE TIME FOR RUSSIA'S NATIONALISTS TO TAKE THE POLITICAL INITIATIVE IS COMING SOON.

Then there's Alexander Belov, Moscow's answer to the BNP's Nick Griffin. Dressed in a sharp black suit, the light of a Bluetooth receptor constantly winking over his left ear, he fingers a set of Orthodox Christian prayer beads and sips a freshly squeezed orange juice, looking like one of the thousands of well-to-do businessmen who have made decent money as Russia boomed over the past decade. But as well as being successful in the construction industry, Mr Belov is also Russia's most famous racist.

He believes that the time for the nationalists to take the limelight is coming soon. "What I want is very simple," he says, in a quiet and measured voice. "I don't want parts of Moscow to be ghettos. This city is already full of places where Russians aren't welcome, and it's unacceptable. This is a Russian city and should remain that way. "

RUSSIA HAS MORE THAN 10 MILLION IMMIGRANTS by some estimates, giving it the second-largest immigrant population in the world, after the United States. With the financial crisis bringing Russia's economic boom to a grinding halt, hundreds of thousands of migrant labourers who were the engine behind the construction frenzy that overtook Moscow and other Russian cities find themselves out of work. At the same time, UNEMPLOYMENT AND ANGER ARE ON THE RISE AMONG ETHNIC RUSSIANS. Analysts say it could be a dangerous combination, and people such as Mr Belov believe their moment is nigh.

The first case of pigs being infected with the new virus emerged last night when officials in the Canadian province of Alberta said some animals were thought to have been infected by a farm worker who had recently visited Mexico and became ill on his return. THIS IS THIS WEEK EXPECTED TO ESCALATE THE OUTBREAK TO A FULL PANDEMIC — level six on its six-point scale — because of the continuing spread of swine flu among people who haven't been to Mexico. There is concern that the virus may become resistant to drugs.

Dr Michael Ryan, WHO director of global alert and response, yesterday said there was no evidence yet of a sustained spread of the virus outside North America. HE ADDED, HOWEVER, THAT A PANDEMIC REMAINED IMMINENT. So far, 17 countries have reported 653 cases of H1N1 and 17 Mexicans have died. Outside Mexico the virus does not appear to be severe, despite a warning last week from Dr Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO, that a swine flu pandemic would pose a "threat against humanity".

A senior consultant who has been treating swine flu victims said: "THE WAY THEY ARE TALKING YOU WOULD THINK OUR CULTURE IS COLLAPSING. This time last week we were all incredibly worried because the reports from Mexico were that hospitals were full and people were dying all over the place. Actually it doesn't seem to be that severe. The symptoms are unpleasant — fevers, shivering, aches — but no worse than normal seasonal flu. Our patient made a full recovery."

The new system, Wolfram Alpha, showcased at Harvard University in the US last week, takes the first step towards what many consider to be the internet's Holy Grail – a global store of information that understands and responds to ordinary language in the same way a person does. Although the system is still new, it has already produced massive interest and excitement among technology pundits and internet watchers.

Wolfram Alpha will not only give a straight answer to questions such as "how high is Mount Everest?", but it will also produce a neat page of related information – all properly sourced – such as geographical location and nearby towns, and other mountains, complete with graphs and charts.

The real innovation, however, is in its ability to work things out "on the fly", according to its British inventor, Dr Stephen Wolfram. If you ask it to compare the height of Mount Everest to the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, it will tell you. Or ask what the weather was like in London on the day John F Kennedy was assassinated, it will cross-check and provide the answer. Ask it about D sharp major, it will play the scale. Type in "10 flips for four heads" and it will guess that you need to know the probability of coin-tossing. If you want to know when the next solar eclipse over Chicago is, or the exact current location of the International Space Station, it can work it out.

The engine, which will be free to use, works by drawing on the knowledge on the internet, as well as private databases. Dr Wolfram said he expected that about 1,000 people would be needed to keep its databases updated with the latest discoveries and information. He also added that he would not go down the road of storing information on ordinary people, although he was aware that others might use the technology to do so.

Instead of grim warnings about global warming, the firm advises, talk about "our deteriorating atmosphere." Drop discussions of carbon dioxide and bring up "moving away from the dirty fuels of the past." Don't confuse people with cap and trade; use terms like "cap and cash back" or "pollution reduction refund."

EcoAmerica has been conducting research for the last several years to find new ways to frame environmental issues and SO BUILD PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION AND OTHER INITIATIVES. A summary of the group's latest findings and recommendations was accidentally sent by e-mail to a number of news organizations by someone who sat in this week on a briefing intended for government officials and environmental leaders.

"When someone thinks of global warming, they think of a politicized, polarized argument. When you say 'global warming,' a certain group of Americans think that's a code word for progressive liberals, gay marriage and other such issues." The answer, Mr. Perkowitz said in his presentation at the briefing, is to reframe the issue using different language. "Energy efficiency" makes people think of shivering in the dark. Instead, it is more effective to speak of "saving money for a more prosperous future." In fact, the group's surveys and focus groups found, it is time to drop the term "the environment" and talk about "the air we breathe, the water our children drink."