Labour's favourite think tank says that because it would be hard to 'expunge' Christmas from the national calendar, 'even-handedness' means public organisations must start giving other religions equal footing.

Other controversial measures it proposes include:

- New 'birth ceremonies', at which the state and parents agree to 'work in partnership' to bring up newborns
- Action to 'ensure access' for ethnic minorities to the 'largely white' British countryside
- An overhaul of Britain's 'imperial' honours system
- Bishops being thrown out of the House of Lords
- An end to 'sectarian' religious education in schools
- Encouraging people to fly flags other than the Union Jack

The report robustly defends the doctrine of multiculturalism - the idea that different communities should not be forced to integrate but should be allowed to maintain their own culture and identities - which has been widely criticised in recent months.

It insists there is no 'evidence to support the claim that multiculturalist policies lead to fragmented communities. We can no longer define ourselves as a Christian nation, nor an especially religious one in any sense. The empire is gone, church attendance is at historically low levels, and the Second World War is inexorably slipping from memory.'

Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion Sayeeda Warsi said: 'Gordon Brown's favoured think tank's advisers have clearly lost the plot. Their comments betray a breathtaking misunderstanding of what it is to be British. These proposals could actually damage community cohesion.'

But an IPPR spokesman insisted: 'Sayeeda Warsi clearly doesn't understand the point we are making. IPPR's report recommends that Christmas should be celebrated by all who want to but that society should respect the religious festivals of all faiths in Britain.'

The Fed lowered its federal funds rate to 4.50 percent, as the markets widely anticipated. Lower interest rates tend to undermine the dollar and raise the allure of precious metals as an investment alternative. The dollar stumbled to another low against the euro ahead of the Fed's decision on Wednesday, helping drive gold higher.

Although the regular trading sessions of most commodities markets were closed before the Fed released its decision, gold prices continued to climb in aftermarket trading. An ounce of gold gained and settled at $795.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, then rose to a high of $800.80 ounce in later electronic activity.

GOLD last topped $800 an ounce in 1980, when prices reached as high as $875 an ounce in January. ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION, AN $800 OUNCE OF GOLD IN 1980 WOULD BE WORTH MORE THAN $2,000 TODAY.

THE EURO, which hit a high for the fourth straight trading day, reached a record at over $1.45 in afternoon trading.

In the energy market, LIGHT SWEET CRUDE FOR DECEMBER DELIVERY GAINED $4.13 TO $94.51 in electronic trading on the Nymex

The four-day meeting will examine solutions and technologies that can be used to provide a basic need for nearly half the world's population. According to estimates, 2.6bn people around the world lack access to a hygienic toilet. In India alone, more than 700 million people have no access to toilets which have proper waste disposal systems.

Thirty were killed in the Dominican Republic in the east of the island, the country's National Emergencies Centre said, and 25,000 have been evacuated. Another 18 were killed and thousands evacuated in Haiti to the west, which was hit by flash floods and landslides. Haiti is especially vulnerable to flash floods and mudslides because most of its trees have been felled to make charcoal. In Cuba, where at least 3,000 people have been evacuated, about 1,000 homes have been damaged and floods have cut off several areas.

"The situation is still dangerous and the number of deaths could rise," said Luis Luna Palino, a spokesman for the Dominican Republic's National Emergencies Centre. "Rescuing people is becoming difficult because the rains are continuing."

Emigdio Sosa, director of the Dominican Republic presidential office's social assistance plan, said that so far 145,000 families had been given emergency aid in the form of food, blankets, mattresses and mosquito nets. "We project that we will be helping more than 300,000 families," Mr Sosa said. In Haiti, around 3,400 people are being housed in emergency shelters and some 400 homes have been destroyed.

The outgoing IMF managing director said the depreciation of the dollar had been orderly, but cautioned there was a risk of a runaway sell-off that would hit growth in major economies.

The risks of a disorderly fall in the US currency appeared to increase over the weekend after the IMF failed to agree internal reforms that would have set the stage for it to take on a greater role managing global economic imbalances.

"Up to now, movements in exchange rates have been orderly and in line with fundamentals. But there are risks that an abrupt fall in the dollar could either be triggered by, or itself trigger, a loss of confidence in dollar assets," Mr Rato said. Hank Paulson, US Treasury secretary, said the IMF needed to press on with efforts to make its surveillance of member country exchange rate policies more effective, adding it was a "defining issue" for the fund.

"IMF staff need to roll up their sleeves, undertake thorough analysis and put forward their judgments. Without meaningful exchange rate surveillance, governance and management, reform will ring hollow," he said.

The fastest-growing major economy for two decades straight, China looks resilient enough to withstand a serious U.S. slowdown and still expand at close to 10 percent a year. "What China has already contributed to global growth and whether China could offer extra momentum are two separate issues," said Dong Tao, chief China economist at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong. "The question is, will China offer the additional orders in case U.S. consumption sees incremental decline? I doubt that."

The International Monetary Fund says 2007 will mark the first year that China contributes more to global growth than any other country, measured according to market GDP weights. And it forecasts that China will steam further ahead as the main engine for expansion next year. Tellingly, however, the fund projects a dip in Chinese growth to 10.0 percent in 2008 from a 13-year high of 11.5 percent this year.

Australia's wheat crop is now forecast to produce 12.1m tonnes, down from 15.5m tonnes expected last month and nearly half the 22.5m tonnes that was projected in June.

The price of wheat hit a record of $9.6175 a bushel in late September as bad weather damaged crops in Europe, Canada and Australia. Wheat stocks are already near their lowest since 1979, according to the International Grain Council, an intergovernmental body.

Australia's wheat production fell to 9.8m tonnes last year, one of the worst crops on record. It typically averages about 25m tonnes. Wheat prices have risen sharply this year on a combination of reduced supply and strong demand from developing countries such as China and India. Consumers are demanding more meat and poultry, forcing up cereal demand for livestock.

Tamir said that Hamas was "building an army" in the Gaza Strip and had obtained unprecedented capabilities through smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. On Monday, head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Yuval Diskin said that since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the Palestinians have smuggled over 112 tons of explosives into the Strip.

"They are trying to dig tunnels, build surveillance positions and mortar-fire stations along the fence," Tamir told reporters during a briefing concerning the death of IDF reservist Ehud Efrati during clashes with Hamas gunmen early Monday morning. Tamir said that for the IDF's current purposes there was no point in expanding the operations deeper into Gaza. He also said that while the IDF was working to reduce the Kassam fire from Gaza there was no perfect solution. "They can fire Kassams from one edge of Gaza all the way to the other and farther," he explained. "We are operating close to the fence since that is where they fire mortar shells, anti-tank missiles and dig tunnels."

Also on Monday, senior Hamas official Nizar Riyan said Hamas will overthrow Fatah and takeover the West Bank in less than a year. "Next fall we shall pray in Ramallah," Israel Radio on Monday evening quoted Riyan as saying during a rally in the Gaza Strip refugee camp of Jabaliya. Senior PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo said in response that Riyan should be "admitted to a mental institution."

Despite reports over the weekend that A GAP SUPPLIER had sub-contracted work to the illegal sweatshop in the Shahpur Jat area of Delhi, Indian police did not raid the address until the Daily Telegraph produced photographs of the children still at work.

The Telegraph visited the complex posing as a buyer for a fictional boutique fashion outlet in London. After negotiations with managers to view the quality of the workmanship and photograph samples, The Telegraph was shown to a series of 12 dingy rooms where both adults and children squatted on the floor performing delicate embroidery and stitching.

"Once we saw the photographs we knew that we had to act fast," said Bhuwan Ribhu, a Delhi lawyer and activist with the Indian branch of Global March Against Child Labour. "THE CHILDREN ARE AGED EIGHT TO 15 and at least three of them have told me already that they were working for no pay at all."

THE UNITED NATIONS ESTIMATES THAT 55 MILLION CHILDREN AGED FROM 5 TO 14 ARE CURRENTLY EMPLOYED IN THE DOMESTIC AND BUSINESS SECTORS IN INDIA, PRODUCING UP TO 20 PER CENT OF INDIA'S ANNUAL GDP. "Many of the children are conned from their parents by unscrupulous people-trafficking operations," Mr Ribhu said. "The agents make promises that the children will earn thousands of rupees and make their fortune in the big cities." But in reality, most work for nothing except their food for at least the first 12 months and then earn between 1,200 and 1,500 rupees (£15-£19) a month, which is half the minimum wage of 3,200 rupees (£40)."

After news broke that a Gap supplier had been using child labour - a piece of Gap packaging was still on view at Shahpur Jat - the company immediately ordered an investigation, describing the allegations as deeply upsetting. "We appreciate that the media identified this subcontractor and we acted swiftly in this situation. Under no circumstances is it acceptable for children to produce or work on garments," said a spokesman for Gap, which employs 90 inspectors to ensure suppliers follow the company's guidelines.

After the police raid, the man responsible for bringing the children to Delhi, Sheikh Mubidul, was to be found not in hiding, but giving interviews to local TV stations, angrily denouncing the police action. "The children came from Madnipur District, West Bengal, and their parents sent them with me so they could learn how to work and get enough to eat," he said. "In their villages they have nothing, so we help them in this way."

Asked if he thought it was wrong to condemn children to a life of labour at such a young age, he replied: "They have no food to eat, so they must work. What else can they do?".

Nine French nationals working for child relief NGO Zoe's Ark were arrested on Thursday as they prepared to spirit 103 Darfur orphans away from the Chadian city of Abéché on a chartered plane. According to press comments by Zoe's Ark colleagues in France, the unauthorized attempt to hustle the children out of the region flouted administrative procedure to obtain permission. Such time-consuming steps, they say, clashed with the greater humanitarian urgency of getting the orphans to care and safety in France.

Chadian authorities arrested the local Zoe's Ark official involved in the operation on charges of "kidnapping and child trafficking" - condemning the entire effort as a humanitarian-masked scheme to sell orphans to French families for profit. Chadian President Idriss Déby went so far as to accuse the group of being "paedophile" while the groups French lawyer called the entire matter politically motivated.

So why the suspicion that the placement of those 103 children with French families were permanent transactions? First off, all of the 103 families paid between $2,800 and $8,400 as part of the process of volunteering - that is, money to the NGO above whatever amount caring for the children will cost. Meanwhile, Chadian authorities say the Darfur children - taken from refugee centers administered by the NGO - showed no signs of hunger or illness that would make their departure urgent. Finally, with neither the nationality nor even exact identity of most children fully established, officials in Chad and France wonder how Zoe's Ark leaders could possibly know if the parents are indeed dead.

Zoe's Ark's French lawyer, meanwhile, has pointed out the Chadian officials remain angered by a French-inspired deployment of U.N. peacekeeping troops to eastern Chad to protect Darfur refugees - an attitude he says may motivate what he considers a framing of the Zoe's Ark workers.

In July, a post was made to numerous jihadist boards citing a previously issued fatwa authorizing the setting of forest fires as a weapon of jihad. The post began "this is an invitation to the Muslims of Europe and America, Australia and Russia to burn forests." It went on to state the justification under Islamic Sharia law for this action and to cite its benefits for jihadists.

The post, revealed in G2 Bulletin's report, cites an undated video that shows Abu Mus'ab al Suri, author of "Call to Global Islamic Resistance" and advocate of the doctrine of individual terrorism, discussing the benefits to the jihad of setting forest fires. CALIFORNIA AUTHORITIES HAVE CONFIRMED SOME OF THE WILDFIRES WERE SET DELIBERATELY, and a terror watch organization says THE CIRCUMSTANCES MATCH TERROR PLANS THE FBI ALERTED LAW ENFORCEMENT TO SEVERAL YEARS AGO.

"In 2003 an FBI memo alerted law enforcement agencies that an al-Qaida terrorist being held in detention had talked of masterminding a plot to set a series of devastating forest fires around the western United States," the National Terror Alert Response Center warned. "It was reported that the detainee, who was not identified, said the plan involved three or four people setting wildfires using timed devices in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming that would detonate in forests and grasslands after the operatives had left the country," the advisory continued. "The detainee believed that significant damage to the U.S. economy would result and once it was realized that the fires were terrorist acts, U.S. citizens would put pressure on the U.S. government to change its policies."

WND reported in 2004 that an Arabic-language jihadi website also posted a message purporting to be "al-Qaida's plan of economic attack" on the U.S. that including proposals to turn the nation's forests into raging infernos.

Less than two months ago, more than 50 people were killed and scores more hospitalized with serious injuries as a result of wildfires in portions of Greece. Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis expressed his suspicions. "SO MANY FIRES SPARKED SIMULTANEOUSLY IN SO MANY PLACES IS NO COINCIDENCE," he said when the blazes erupted.

And Terror Watch notes a top prosecutor in Greece now has begun investigating whether the arsons were, in fact, terrorism. Dimitris Papangelopoulos said the investigation will determine "whether the crimes of arsonists and of arson attacks on forests" should be prosecuted under the nation's anti-terrorism law.

Arab terrorists in Israel have started dozens of major forest fires over the years. As far back as 1988, Israeli police caught more than a dozen Palestinian adults in the act of setting fires, while other Arabs confessed to arson after arrest. Some fires followed specific calls by underground Arab terrorists. A leaflet issued by the Palestinian uprising's underground leadership called for "the destruction and burning of the enemy's properties, industry and agriculture."

During the past 30 years, only 1977, 1981, and 1983 have had less activity to date. For the period of June 1 - TODAY, only 1977 has experienced LESS tropical cyclone activity than 2007. For the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Noel is currently too weak to impact any of these results.

However, one should always be prepared for late-season developments since hurricane season ends on November 30.

Mr Mubarak said he had decided to go ahead with the programme because energy security was such an important factor in Egypt's development. Egyptian officials announced plans last year to revive civilian nuclear activities but at the time they spoke of building a single power station. The United States said it would offer its co-operation in the project.

Mr Mubarak's announcement comes just a few days before his party holds its annual conference and the BBC's Heba Saleh in Cairo says the timing seems calculated to give a boost to the party's image. Many Egyptians view the development of a nuclear programme as an issue of national pride, our correspondent adds. Demand for electricity has been growing at an average rate of 7% a year in Egypt and the country faces worsening shortages.

Cairo froze its nuclear power programme 20 years ago, following the accident at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine. However, it did maintain a small experimental nuclear reactor. In February 2005, the International Atomic Energy Agency disclosed that it was investigating Egypt's nuclear activities. Egypt admitted to failing to disclose the full extent of its nuclear research activities to the UN's watchdog. Officials said the failure arose because of a misunderstanding over exactly what had to be disclosed.

Egypt is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows countries to build nuclear power stations under international supervision.

The decision will see Mr O'Neal, 56, pay the price for the company's disastrous involvement in the US sub-prime mortgage sector and a bungled personal attempt to merge the bank with rival Wachovia. Mr O'Neal could walk away from Merrill with stock, options and retirement benefits worth about $160m.

The grandson of a former slave, Mr O'Neal is the first African-American to head a bulge bracket US investment bank. But his position has become increasingly unstable in recent weeks as the cost of writedowns due to the credit market's turmoil have mushroomed dramatically.

Three weeks ago, Merrill announced a $4.5bn writedown on the value of its securities and sub-prime assets. Last week it revealed a further $3.4bn of writedowns, taking the total to $7.9bn and leading the company to report a $3.5bn loss for the third quarter - the biggest quarterly loss in the company's 93-year history.

This year more than 1,000 sq km (386 sq miles) of GM maize was harvested. The biotech industry says this proves its products are appealing to farmers and are safe for the environment. The only genetically modified crop grown widely in Europe is maize which is resistant to the corn borer - a moth larva which eats the stem.

THE MAIZE IS CULTIVATED FOR ANIMAL FEED - NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. Planted in Spain for the last 10 years, the maize is now proving popular in France where the acreage has tripled in a year and also in Germany and the Czech Republic. Neither the pest nor the GM maize is found in Britain.

One thousand sq km (386 sq miles) is still a small fraction of the total farmed area of Europe and also tiny compared with the ONE MILLION SQ KM (0.38 MILLION SQ MILES) UNDER GM AROUND THE WORLD - an expanse four times the size of Britain.

Clare Oxborrow is a Friends of the Earth food campaigner. She told the BBC that the increase in the area planted with GM crops should not be viewed as beneficial. "The reality is, these crops have failed to deliver benefits, and more and more evidence is, in fact, coming to light showing that THERE ARE INCREASED CONCERNS ABOUT THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS," she said.

"GM crops, GM industry is not competitive, it is not creating jobs, it is not creating any new environmental benefits, it's not accepted by consumers, and I think we need to take a long, hard look. THESE FIGURES TODAY ARE MORE ABOUT THE INDUSTRY TRYING TO REASSURE ITS INVESTORS THAN ANY SIGNIFICANT SUCCESS."