India has until June to complete all the steps required to get the agreement - which provides for civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries without India having to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty - before Congress for a yes or no vote. Having invested immense political capital in the deal, the Bush administration is keen to see it completed, and has been quietly pressuring New Delhi to expedite matters. Last week, former Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns publicly asked India to take a "courageous decision" in view of the "short timelines".

Making haste, however, is proving difficult for India's government, because of the resistance to the deal by opposition parties as well as the leftist parties in the ruling coalition who have delayed the deal at every step since it was first proposed in July 2005. The government has sidestepped this resistance by agreeing to hold talks with leftist allies, buying itself time to complete the requirements to get the deal before the U.S. Congress. But now, time is running out. Experts agree that the current deal is the best one India can get: it allows India to trade internationally in nuclear materials and technology, without signing the CTBT and despite carrying on with its nuclear weapons program. If the deal is not passed during the tenure of the current administration, however, its successor might seek to renegotiate on terms less favorable to India.

Two people were reported to have been killed and 15 arrested in a raid on 27 January in Urumqi, Xinjiang province. Officials now say their aim was to attack the August Olympics. The alleged plot was disclosed as officials also revealed that a plane crew prevented an apparent attempt to crash a jet on an internal flight.

China has been struggling for years to contain separatist sentiment among the Uighur minority in Xinjiang. Some Uighurs have campaigned for the mainly Muslim province to become an independent republic. The Xinjiang governor, himself an ethnic Uighur, said only a "very small number of people" in the region support the separatists.

"With the launch of the ATV, we are embarking on an extraordinary voyage," reflected European Space Agency chief, Jean Jacques Dordain. "AS OF TODAY, EUROPE IS AN ESSENTIAL PARTNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS)." The ATV is the largest, completely automated rendezvous and docking ship to go to the ISS. When it attaches to the platform on 3 April, it will do so without any human assistance.

The ATV is the way Europe will pay for its membership of the ISS project. Four vehicles will follow this initial flight. But the European Space Agency hopes its new ship will be more than just a high-flying heavy goods lorry. The sophisticated automated systems onboard are expected to be transferred into many more spacecraft - especially those that require automatic rendezvous and docking. This would include any mission that went to Mars to try to retrieve rocks to bring back to Earth laboratories.

And there may even be a grander application - one not lost on the Nasa chief Mike Griffin. "It occurs to me that it's a fairly short step to go from the ATV to something which can carry crew," he has observed. "It needs an entry system to allow it to come back safely and crew accommodations instead of cargo payload. But it seems to me that having a very fine launcher with the Ariane 5 and a very fine space vehicle with the ATV that it's only a step from there to AN INDEPENDENT, EUROPEAN MANNED-SPACEFLIGHT CAPABILITY; and I for one would like to see it."

Attempts TO USE TOOLS THAT HAVE NO PRACTICAL POWER TO CURE THE PROBLEM are pushing the problem over the hill. In the Weimar Republic the great plan to depreciate the currency in order to depreciate war reparations written in it was to let it "get out of control." The currency began a march to zero and gold therefore went to infinity in terms of that currency.

I do not expect such a situation percentage wise. I pray the situation that is now "Slipping Out Of Control" does not go to such ends. THE WEIMAR CASE STUDY HOWEVER IS A DUPLICATE OF TODAY'S CONDITIONS. All you need to do is replace the words "WAR REPARATIONS" from the Weimar case study with "OVER THE COUNTER DERIVATIVE MELTDOWN IN CREDIT AND DEFAULT DERIVATIVES" and you have a similar situation in economic history to which you can compare today.

Gold is going to a minimum of $1650. Every category of gold shares will participate, with many substantially outperforming gold as shorts are forced to cover. "This is IT" and IT is "Slipping Out Of Control." Hard assets are about to make their entrance onto the stage of the establishment equity investors. Do not try and save the world. The world will think you are crazy and get annoyed. You can only protect yourselves.

The dispute erupted last Saturday when Colombia raided inside Ecuador to kill a rebel leader. It's resolution brought the summit to a surprise ending after bitter exchanges, including Correa calling Uribe a liar. The accord came after Uribe apologized to Correa under pressure from governments across the region, which worked to prevent the crisis escalating into Latin America's first armed conflict among states in more than a decade.

The dispute had spread across the region with leftist allies Venezuela and Nicaragua joining Ecuador in cutting relations with Colombia, while Venezuela and Ecuador sent troops to their borders against the strongest U.S. ally in the region. Uribe also moved to meet another Correa demand, guaranteeing Colombia would not make similar raids if his neighbors cooperated in the fight against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The resolution was a diplomatic victory for Latin America, whose governments from Mexico to Brazil managed the crisis by emphasizing negotiations and took advantage of their previously scheduled summit to force the sides to talk.

The Fed said it had taken action "to address heightened liquidity pressures" in funding markets. It hopes to offset a credit crisis that may tip the US economy into recession. BBC business editor Robert Peston said: "The effect of the Fed's measures is to supply banks and financial institutions with the liquid funds that they can't currently obtain on the commercial markets." Banks have become unwilling to lend to each other because they are worried about the huge losses on investments in the US mortgage market.

Many banks invested in assets backed by mortgages given to US home owners with poor credit records. The sharp downturn in the US property market has made those assets very difficult to value and banks are having to declare them as losses. Recent data issued on Thursday showed the downturn continuing, with a record number of home foreclosures, and no signs of an increase in forthcoming home sales.

The TAF programme was launched in December to relieve pressure in the short-term, inter-bank funding market. The Fed will also make $100bn available through weekly 28-day repurchase agreements, with it lending money in exchange for assets such as Treasuries. It said that the TAF auctions would be continued for at least the next six months.

The court gave its landmark ruling after hearing the case of a 48-year-old woman, convicted of giving false testimony to police by denying she had lent her mobile phone to her lover. The appeal court did not agree that she had broken the law. It said bending the truth was justified to conceal extra-marital relationships. In a predominantly Catholic country you might expect the courts to take a dim view of lying and adultery. But not in this case.

The woman who brought the appeal was from Porto Ercole on the Tuscany coast, and named only as Carla. She had lent her telephone to her secret lover, Giovanni, who then used it to call Carla's estranged husband, Vincenzo, and insult him. Giovanni, the lover, was convicted of abusive behaviour in a local court, and Carla convicted as an accessory.

But the Court of Cassation found that having a lover was a circumstance that damaged the honour of the person among family and friends. Lying about it, therefore, was permitted, even in a judicial investigation. It is not yet clear whether the ruling might also apply to men who have secret mistresses.

Mr Bush said he hoped consumer spending would "spur job creation". The Labor Department figures show the effect the housing and lending crisis is having on US firms, and follows 22,000 job cuts in January. Now Mr Bush hopes his $152bn stimulus package will give the economy momentum. Mr Bush is clearly worried enough about the state of his country's economy to be making statements to the media about it, the BBC's Matthew Price reports from New York.

But many in America may be concluding that any economic help may come too late to have any real impact on what looks, every day, like an increasingly desperate situation, our correspondent adds. The package, recently passed by Congress, includes rebate cheques of $600 for individuals, $1,200 for couples, plus $300 each for dependent children for all but the very richest US citizens. "We expect they will use it to boost consumer spending and that will spur job creation as well," he said.

Mr Bush had earlier said that "it's clear our economy has slowed". He added: "Losing a job is painful and I know Americans are concerned about our economy. I know this is a difficult time for our economy," he said. "But we recognised the problem early and we provided the economy with a booster shot."

Serbian President Boris Tadic says Belgrade will only be able to defend its right to Kosovo if it joins the EU. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on 17 February. The United States and major EU countries have recognised it as independent. Serbia, backed by its ally, Russia, says it will never accept an independent Kosovo. The government in Belgrade has allegedly agreed a secret plan against Kosovo and countries that recognise it. It is unclear what it contains.

Mr Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) split with its coalition partner, the Democratic Party (DS) of Mr Tadic, over policy towards the EU in the wake of Kosovo's independence declaration. The outgoing prime minister has maintained that ties can improve only if the EU rejects Kosovo's declaration of independence. Belgrade has reacted angrily to an EU mission to ease Kosovo's transition.

The political establishment in Serbia has been deeply divided over the way forward and a general election would be the first opportunity for the people of Serbia to express their views, says the BBC's Nick Hawton in Belgrade. Kosovo's declaration of independence came nearly a decade after Nato forces expelled Serbian forces from the mainly ethnic-Albanian territory.

Cardinal Tauran said, "We have our road map that we have to follow: to make for religions a name of peace. Terrorism covers its followers with shame. All violence justified in the name of faith is a profanation of the name of God."

Noting that some factions are still committing crimes that appeared to be disappearing after World War II -- ethnic cleansing, concentration camps -- the cardinal reflected that there is still hope, reflected in "an army of men and women who believe in peace and raise their hands toward heaven."

Men and women of different religions, from many parts of the world, we have gathered here in Naples to forge bonds of brotherhood, and call to God for the great gift of peace. The name of God is peace. In the heart of the Mediterranean Sea and in this extraordinary city, which is well acquainted with poverty and greatness of heart, we stooped down upon the wounds of the world. There is an illness that pollutes every thing and its name is violence. VIOLENCE IS THE GRIM DAILY COMPANION OF TOO MANY MEN AND WOMEN ON OUR PLANET.

Violence becomes war, terrorism, poverty and despair, exploitation of our planet. It is fuelled by contempt; it stuns people with hatred; it kills hope and sows fear; it strikes down the innocent, and debases humanity. Violence seduces the hearts of human beings and tells them, "nothing can change." This pessimism makes people believe that living together is impossible. From Naples we can say, stronger than before, that anyone who uses the name of God to hate the other, to practice violence, or to wage war, is cursing the name of God. As Benedict XVI told us, "NEVER CAN EVIL AND VIOLENCE BE JUSTIFIED BY INVOKING THE NAME OF GOD."

To those who still kill, to those who still sow terrorism and wage war in the name of God, we say: "Stop! Do not kill! Violence is always a defeat." We commit ourselves to learn the art of living together and to offer it to our fellow believers. There is no alternative to the unity of the human family. We need brave builders, in all cultures, and in all religious traditions. We need the globalization of the spirit, which reveals to us what we no longer see: the beauty of life and of the other, in all circumstances, even the hardest.

Our religious traditions teach us that prayer is an active power in history, and it moves peoples and nations. Humbly, we offer this ancient wisdom to the service of all peoples, of every man and every woman, to open a new era of freedom from fear and contempt for the other. It is the spirit of Assisi, and here, from Naples, full of courage and strength, it challenges violence and any abuse of religion as a pretext for violence. Following in this path, CONFIDENT THAT PEACE CAN BE A GIFT TO THE WHOLE WORLD, we commit ourselves to the Most High.

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council of Interreligious Dialogue, said this in a message sent to Hindus for their Nov. 9 celebration of Diwali, the festival of lights. The message is titled "Christians and Hindus: Determined to Walk the Path of Dialogue."

"Sensitive to your religious feelings and respectful of your ancient religious tradition," the cardinal wrote, "I sincerely hope that your search for the Divine, symbolized through the celebration of Diwali, will help you to overcome darkness with light, untruth with truth, and evil with goodness." He continued: "The world around us is yearning for peace. Religions promise peace because they trace their origin to God who, according to Christian belief, is our peace. Can we, as believers of different religious traditions, not work together to receive God's gift of peace and to spread it around us so that the world becomes for all people a better place to live?

"Our respective communities must pay urgent attention to the education of believers, who can so easily be misled by deceitful and false propaganda. Belief and freedom always go together. There can be no coercion in religion: No one can be forced to believe; neither can anyone who wishes to believe be prevented from doing so."

Cardinal Tauran encouraged believers to educate themselves about their own faiths, and to learn about the beliefs of other religions. "Let us not forget that ignorance is the first and, perhaps, the principal enemy in the life of believers," he said.

Auxilary Bishop Sklba of Milwaukee, the chair of the US episcopal conference's Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, said this about the [Pope's] April 17th meeting with 200 religious leaders during his April 15-20 visit to the United States. Following the theme, "Religions Working for Peace," the [Pontiff] will meet and address members of Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Jain and Hindu communities at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C.

"The cry for peace in our world calls for religious bodies to come together," Bishop Sklba explained. "This meeting denotes the [Pope's] belief in the need for religious bodies to stress the goal for peace, which lies at the heart of all religions." The meeting, Bishop Sklba continued, "exemplifies what must happen all over the world."

After the Pope's address, the interfaith leaders will greet [him] and then present him with symbolic gifts by young members of each community. The gifts that will presented to the [Pontiff] are symbols of the path to peace found in the deepest teachings of each group.

From the Jewish community, a silver menorah with seven lights, symbolizing the perennial validity of God's covenant of peace.

The Muslim community will present a small, finely crafted edition of the Quran. The Jain community will give a metallic cube representing the Jain principles of non-violence and respect for diverse of viewpoints as a way to peace through self-discipline and dialogue.

From the Hindu community, the sacred syllable Om on a brass incense burner will be presented. Hindu's believe the Om is the primordial sound of creation itself, by which God's liberating peace is made known.

The Buddhist community will give Benedict XVI a bronze bell cast in Korea. Various Buddhist cultures believe the sound of the bell marks off times of meditation, which lead to inner peace and enlightenment.

The people directly affected by the deadly terrorist attack on the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva are not just the students, their relatives and friends, but THE MUCH WIDER LARGER SEGMENT OF THE RELIGIOUS ZIONIST PUBLIC. This segment of the population, already seething with anger, which started with the Disengagement in 2005, the Amona pullout, the government promises to America to remove illegal outposts, the continued diplomatic process launched at Annapolis and its emphasis to talk about all topics, including Jerusalem, is going to be extremely unhappy about this attack.

Together with the grief and sorrow, there is going to be a lot of angry talk about good and evil, ABOUT A RELIGIOUS WAR OVER THE HOLY LAND. This attack was aimed specifically for the religious Zionist and settler population, and the terrorists knew that by speaking in this language, to these people, their message could only be interpreted in one way. THIS WILL BE SEEN IN TERMS OF ISHMAEL AND ISAAC.

Being messianic religious people, the religious Zionists are going to SEE THIS ATTACK THROUGH THE PRISM OF MESSIANIC PROPHECY. Already I am hearing on religious Zionist radio stations people talking about the attack in prophetic terms, such as Isaiah 59 verse 20: And a redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. Settler radio talk-show hosts are interpreting this prophecy by saying that IF THE JEWS DON'T STOP HAMAS, THE PALESTINIANS, HIZBULLAH AND ANY OTHER ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS GOD WILL FORCE THE JEWS TO DO IT.

The fact that the Jewish students were killed in a house of God touched the most basic nerve of many Israelis, and especially of the religious Zionist public. The fact that the attack was carried out in the way it was - LIVE FIRE, CHASING DOWN THE STUDENTS AND SHOOTING THEM AT POINT BLANK RANGE, AS WELL AS CONFIRMING THE KILLS - AND NOT BY A SUICIDE BOMBING, WILL ADD TO THE SENSE OF BRUTALITY, OF THE NARRATIVE OF GOOD VERSUS EVIL.

Petrol prices have risen 20 per cent in a year, the biggest rise in a decade. The surge in the price of oil increases the pressure on the Chancellor to scrap plans for a rise in fuel duty next week. Motoring groups claim that if he went ahead with a planned 2p a litre increase, car drivers could soon by paying as much as £5 ($10) a gallon. The soaring oil prices came as Mr Darling is being buffeted by the credit crunch, rising government borrowing and a world economic slowdown.

The Chancellor, whose credibility is at stake after the Northern Rock crisis, now has less than five days to decide whether to go ahead with a range of punitive taxes on motorists. The price for a litre of petrol has risen to 105.7p, compared with 88.32p a year ago, after the benchmark for Brent crude oil hit a record high of £51.09 ($102.61).