"If there's a state of one religion, other religions are naturally discriminated against," Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah told reporters at the annual press conference he holds in Jerusalem before the Christian holiday. In his address, which he read in Arabic and English, Sabbah said Israel should abandon its Jewish character in favor of a "political, normal state for Christians, Muslims and Jews. This land cannot be exclusive for anyone," he said.

With his statements Wednesday, Sabbah, a longtime advocate of the Palestinian cause, waded into a debate that has marred the fledgling peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel has defined itself as the homeland of the Jewish people since it was established in 1948. The Palestinians, however, refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, saying that would mean Palestinian refugees who lost their homes after Israel's creation would not have the right to return.

Israel opposes any return of refugees, for fear they would eventually outnumber the Jewish majority. Israeli leaders recently demanded that Palestinians recognize Israel's Jewish character as part of peace talks that got under way last week, but the Palestinians have rejected the call.

Sabbah, who has been the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since 1987, is the first Palestinian to hold the post and is frequently critical of Israel. According to the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations, there are an estimated 170,000 Christians in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In a reflection of the increasing influence of Islam, figures released yesterday showed the most popular spelling of the name - Mohammed - had climbed five places to 17th in the annual list of top baby names. However, when the seven other spellings of the name are taken into account, the total comes to 6,347 babies, making it the second most popular name of the year - up from 5,936 last year.

The other spellings are Muhammad, Mohammad, Muhammed, Mohamed, Mohamad, Muhamed and Mohammod. The last national census in 2001 put the UK Muslim population at 1.6million, but this will have grown substantially in the past five years.

Religious commentators suggested the remark would inevitably colour the way he was viewed by voters, though it was not immediately clear whether his lack of belief would prove an obstacle in his efforts to restore the Lib-Dems' fortunes. Mr Clegg's readiness to declare his lack of faith sets him in contrast to the church-going Mr Cameron, not to mention Prime Minister Gordon Brown who frequently speaks of the moral lessons he learned from his minister father.

Interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live, Mr Clegg was asked directly "Do you believe in God?" and answered with the single word: "No". The Lib-Dem leader later issued a statement clarifying his position: "I have enormous respect for people who have religious faith. I'm married to a Catholic and am committed to bringing my children up as Catholics. However, I myself am not an active believer. But the last thing I would do when talking or thinking about religion is approach it with a closed heart or a closed mind."

That's what leading seafood producer Young's started doing last year, triggering a storm of protest from environmental campaigners. Young's scampi makes a round-trip of 17,000 miles (27,353km) They called the huge journey another example of food mile madness.

The company submitted research to the independent Carbon Trust. The conclusion was that shipping scampi to and from Thailand is no more environmentally damaging than peeling it by machine in this country. Mike Parker, deputy CEO of Young's, says the science is on their side. "What they found was that there was no difference between the two and the reason for that is simply that by moving from machine processing here in the UK to hand processing in Thailand saves a lot of energy and obviously a lot of the CO2 emissions associated with that.

"But at the same time the CO2 emissions associated with shipping to Thailand and back are actually very low." Asked if he can see why people may think the move was still "crazy" he says: "I can understand that perception but that perception is wrong."

But still some environmentalists say the fact that this food has been to Thailand and back before arriving in our shops is a classic example of food madness. "This doesn't make any sort of sense at all," says Willie Mackenzie of Greenpeace. "Sending shrimp half way round the world to send it back again is just nonsense. They cover this up and distract it by saying it's carbon neutral, but in truth this is about minimising costs and maximising profits."

Some pest controllers say they have had 30 percent more business this year, and are urging anyone worried about a rat problem to get in touch right away. Rats can damage buildings by gnawing through materials. They can also spread disease and illness. RATS ARE PROLIFIC BREEDERS AND CAN PRODUCE 2,000 OFFSPRING A YEAR.

Peter Crowden, a pest controller in the East Midlands warned: "The rats are moving into city centres where there's a ready made food supply for them from fast food restaurants to rubbish being left about. We also experience a lot of fly tipping. That doesn't help and it's great for the rat population." Disease is another major concern. Hair, droppings and urine can contaminate food and surfaces. It is estimated between 15 and 30 percent of the rat population carries the potentially deadly Weils Disease.

The creatures can cause serious damage to property by gnawing through materials and chewing through pipes and cables. Peter Crowden said: "If someone has a problem they should get professional help straight away because with the breeding cycles they can soon get established and cause a tremendous amount of damage."

At the same time, the Energy Department announced plans to consolidate the nuclear weapons complex that maintains warheads and dismantle those no longer needed, saying the current facilities need to be made more efficient and more easily secured and that the larger complex is no longer needed.

"We are reducing our nuclear weapons stockpile to the lowest level consistent with America's national security and our commitments to friends and allies," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "A credible deterrent remains an essential part of US national security, and nuclear forces remain key to meeting emerging security challenges."

The government will not provide any numbers on the overall size of the nuclear stockpile, but there are believed to be nearly 6,000 warheads that either are deployed or in reserve. Separately, under terms of a 2002 arms control treaty with Russia, the US is committed to reducing the number of deployed warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 by 2012.

Robert Zoellick said he welcomed the news that China, which once received grants from the World Bank's International Development Association, is now a contributor to it. That included a contribution at a recent meeting of the IDA, which provides grants and loans to the world's poorest countries.

"This is an example of China being a stakeholder in the field of development," Zoellick told a news conference at the end of a four-day visit. The undisclosed amount was a "modest but also significant step," he said. China stopped taking loans from the IDA in 1999 after having received more than US$9.9 billion, but last week was the first time it started to contribute.

Although China has fewer voting shares in the bank than some developed countries, it still has an "influential" voice, he said.

"Our broadcast is very symbolic and is only the start," said Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' so-called military wing in the Gaza Strip. "In the coming years, Hamas and other organizations will be broadcasting freely from the [Mount], which will be under FULL ISLAMIC CONTROL PROTECTED BY A MUSLIM ARMY."

Wednesday marks the Muslim holiday of Ein ul-Adhaa, which commemorates the Islamic belief of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice HIS SON ISHMAEL for Allah. The Torah says ABRAHAM NEARLY SACRIFICED HIS SON ISAAC, NOT ISHMAEL.

Wednesday is also the Jewish fast day of the Tenth of Tevet, which commemorates THE START OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM LEADING UP TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FIRST JEWISH TEMPLE during the reign of the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar. The fast also was proclaimed to mourn the First Temple's destruction.

He had used the example of crop trials around Lake Victoria in Kenya to boast how useful GM farming could be in feeding the Third World. He claimed scientists had discovered the identity of a chemical in food plants that attract pests such as root borers. Sir David suggested it had been possible to "snip" the gene responsible for this chemical out of the food crop and then insert it into grass that is grown alongside it. He said the pests then eat the grass rather than the food.

He told Radio Four's Today programme: "You interplant the grass with the grain and it turns out the crop yield goes up 40-50 per cent. A very big advantage." THE ONLY PROBLEM IS SIR DAVID FAILED TO ACCURATELY DESCRIBE THE RESEARCH IN AFRICA, WHICH DID NOT INVOLVE THE USE OF ANY GM TECHNOLOGY AT ALL. The research actually involved finding plants that can be cultivated alongside food crops and provide a natural solution to boosting yields.

Researchers identified one set of plants that naturally deters parasitic weeds, while another set, a species of grass, attracts the pests. The net result of this "push and pull" regime is that the food crop can grow more easily and produce a much higher yield. Green pressure groups are demanding a public apology from Sir David, whose credibility has been shaken by the error.

Director of the GM Freeze campaign, Pete Riley, said: "We find it quite staggering that Professor King made such misleading comments. The 'push pull' project in fact illustrates how the problem pest and weeds which plague farmers in the Global South can be tackled by well researched crop management techniques. These have the advantage of being cheap to apply and being free of the potential environmental and health impacts of GM crops or pesticide usage."

Across the land, the most unlikely little flowers are poking their way up into the grey December light as another year of chaotic weather convinces them that spring has arrived. After seeing primroses in Sussex, daffodils in Devon, crab apples in Nottingham and wild strawberries in Cardiff, gardeners probably suspected that bluebells and snowdrops would not be waiting for February to bloom. They were right.

Confused by the warmest April on record, a cold, wet summer and a mild autumn, many plants are flowering early. The Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, which monitors 100 plant species, said at least three quarters were appearing earlier each year. "This year we have lilacs, which are supposed to flower in May, coming into life in November. Our camellias, another spring flower, have also already bloomed," said spokesman Nigel Taylor.

Unseasonal blooms are extremely vulnerable to the hard frosts. "Last year our horse chestnuts came into life too soon and resulting damage meant the buds didn't grow back, come spring the branches were bare," said Mr Taylor. Guy Barter, of the Royal Horticultural Society, said many plants could waste their chance to pollinate by blooming out of season.

"What is really exercising people though is whether this will happen in the wild flower species. Bluebells in particular are timed to flower in synch with the arrival of trees leafing overhead and providing shelter. If they start coming in without that shelter, the plants will die without spreading their pollen." According to the UK Phenology Network, which monitors the annual patterns of wildlife, some species could vanish over the next few decades as Britain increasingly takes on a Mediterranean climate.

Taxpayer support for Northern Rock rose to an eye-watering £55billion yesterday as Alistair Darling announced plans for new bank rescue laws. Another day of confusion about the fate of the stricken lender saw the Government nearly double the amount it has thrown at the crisis. More than £15billion in additional protection was offered to cover the bank's liabilities, on top of £25billion in loans from the Bank of England and the Government guarantee for the Rock's remaining deposits - estimated at about £10billion.

Treasury sources said it was difficult to put a precise figure on the total potential liability, but said it was more than £50billion - the equivalent of the education budget.

The basic problem lies in the inability of Flemings and Walloons to agree on the division of powers within the country, and over recent years Flemish opinion has hardened against their Francophone compatriots and against the Belgian state generally.

The Walloons are generally hostile to any further decentralisation of power because they are big recipients of federal money. They fear that if the regions (i.e., in effect, Flanders) have fiscal autonomy, autonomy over corporate tax, employment policy and family policy, then the country will have, in effect, split into two. The sticking point with the New Flemish Alliance is the social security budget, which the Flemings want to regionalise. This would put an immediate end to the massive gravy train which is the Belgian state and Wallonia would lose out heavily.

In the meantime, the caretaker Belgian government (composed of the same ministers who ran the previous government) has signed the EU Reform Treaty (the replacement for the defunct Constitution) even though the Belgian constitution forbids a caretaker government from signing any new international agreements while it is in office.

It is one of five central banks that have injected billions in emergency cash into money markets. The aim is to cut the cost of lending between retail and commercial banks, which has jumped in the past few weeks. All banks with enough collateral, and which submitted bids of at least 4.21%, received funds from the ECB.

The ECB move - making the extra cash available over the next two weeks -will ease fears of a credit meltdown over the Christmas period, when banks need extra cash.

On Monday, the US Federal Reserve made $20bn available through auction, though it did not say how many banks took advantage of the extra money. And on Tuesday the Bank of England is set to lend more than another £10bn in funds. As well as the Bank of England, the Fed, and the European Central Bank, the national banks of Canada and Switzerland are also involved in the funding plan.

But some analysts say that until the banks reveal the true scale of their potential losses, the central banks will be unable to do much to ease the credit crunch.

The Hittites of Anatolia, whose empire stretched from northern Turkey into Iraq and Syria, were famed for their lethal chariots and skill with horses. In the Biblical book of Genesis, the Hittites are named as the descendants of Ham, through his son, Canaan. They are described as a great power who dwell "in the mountains".

Now Dr Siro Trevisanato, a molecular biochemist, has claimed that many of the Hittites' glorious victories were down to their use of infected sheep, which they would slyly introduce into cities they wanted to conquer. "There is no doubt that these were the first weapons of mass destruction," he said. "They were waging bioterrorism".

The sheep carried tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, a devastating bacterial disease that is a potential threat even today, since there is no known vaccine. The disease can pass from animals to humans, causing enormous skin ulcers and respiratory failure. Without antibiotic treatment, around 15 per cent of its victims die.

The method of attack was simple. The Hittites would leave the sheep outside the targeted city. Locals would bring them in and either breed them or eat them, spreading the disease. However, Dr Trevisanato noted, the Hittites paid a high price for their tactics. An epidemic of the disease weakened their ranks a few years after the Symra attack.

What's it like aboard the "Booze Bus" on one of the busiest party nights of the year? Over the course of a 12-hour shift on Friday night, the three colleagues on the Alternative Response Vehicle - or Booze Bus, as it's more commonly known - draw on their reserves of composure, ingenuity and stoicism to treat more than 20 dazed drunks.

At St Thomas' Hospital, where some of these patients are taken, a visibly-frustrated doctor speaks despairingly of dealing with a tide of alcohol-related problems, instead of people who are seriously ill. "Everyone I've treated tonight has been drunk - this is ridiculous," he says. One drunk patient had assaulted him, he says, and the waiting room was full of people being sick or aggressive.

"Twenty-four hour drinking has made a huge, huge difference. The problem is that staff are dealing with people who are drunk and don't know what they're doing," he says. He adds: "I don't know what's happening to society as a whole. It's scary - it's not just the kids. It's also adults. People in their 40s and 50s who you would think know better.