The heads of state of the world's largest trading bloc and its poorest continent are to approve an ambitious action plan intended to revitalise trade and improve cooperation in sensitive areas like immigration and peacekeeping. Even before the summit started, differences over getting new trade deals in place and over the attendance of Mugabe -- accused by the West of ruling like a dictator and wrecking his country's economy -- clouded the atmosphere in Lisbon.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is boycotting the summit because of Mugabe's presence, depriving the weekend meeting of high-level representation from a major former colonial power in Africa. The Czech president also stayed away.

Previous attempts to hold the summit have failed over the question of Mugabe's attendance but this time the EU, mindful of growing Chinese influence in Africa, lifted its travel ban on the Zimbabwean president. He arrived late on Thursday. Host Portugal, the current EU chairman, played down the controversy over Mugabe, saying there would be "no taboos" and that the meeting would not shy away from points of friction. EU officials were keen to emphasize the need for the summit.

"Africa and Europe are two neighboring continents, rich in a complex history. They are today determined to forge a new partnership and give up their sterile relation between the donor of the North and the beneficiary of the South," EU Aid and Development Commissioner Louis Michel said.

The supermarkets, along with a number of dairy firms, have agreed to pay fines totalling some £116m after an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) probe. Cases against Tesco and Morrisons will continue after no deal was struck.
The OFT said that in-store prices went up after the collusion, but the amount received by farmers did not increase.

However, the firms insist that the farm gate price paid for milk did rise and that they were not ripping off customers. The OFT said the collusion saw customers being charged 3 pence extra for a pint of milk, 15p extra per quarter-pound of butter and 15p per half-pound of cheese, the watchdog said.

The poll found that 27% of people were unable to identify Bethlehem as his birthplace, rising to 36% of people aged between 18 and 24. The poll, for public theology think tank Theos, also found 27% did not know who told Mary she would have a son. Last week a Sunday Telegraph survey suggested only one in five schools is planning a traditional nativity play.

The majority of the 1,015 adults questioned, 52%, could not name John the Baptist as Jesus's cousin. When asked where Joseph, Mary and Jesus went to escape from King Herod - which was Egypt - more than three quarters of people, 78%, gave the wrong answer.

The majority, 52%, thought they escaped to Nazareth. Paul Woolley, director of Theos, said: "The fact that younger people are the least knowledgeable about the Christmas story may reflect a decline in the telling of Bible stories in schools and the popularity of nativity plays.

"No one seriously thinks that being a Christian or a member of the established church is the same thing as being British today. But, at the same time, if we are serious about social cohesion we can't afford to ignore the stories that have bound us together as a culture for 1,000 years."

The quantity and auction venues will be announced Thursday or Friday, an official from the State Grain Administration told China Daily on Wednesday. State Grain Administration chief Nie Zhenbang said more corn will be auctioned if the price surges continue. Corn prices have been on the rise mainly because of expanded ethanol demand as global crude oil prices keep surging and the corn yield decreases both at home and abroad.

About 2 percent of the country's corn output, or 3-4 million tons, is used each year to make ethanol; and much of the rest is used for animal feed. Ethanol production is profitable even if oil prices hover around the $60-$70 a barrel mark. They are currently around $90.

The delegates each will produce an average 4.07 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or CO2, to reach the resort island 950 kilometers (600 miles) from Jakarta, according to estimates e- mailed to Bloomberg by the UN agency holding the conference.

Some of the 187 nations participating in the two-week forum promised to offset their so-called carbon footprint by planting trees or buying emission credits. The symbolic actions won't help stop global warming, some scientists say.

"It's very hard for the public to understand that you come together with so many people to a very distant place and cause a lot of emissions, and at the same time talk about emission reductions," Artur Runge-Metzger, head of climate strategy for the European Commission, said yesterday in an interview in Bali, adding that he had offset his own emissions.

It's two feet tall, travels ten miles an hour, and spins on a dime. Remote-controlled over an encrypted frequency that jams nearby radios and cellphones, it'll blow a ten-inch hole through a steel door with deadly accuracy from 400 meters.

The robot is fitted with the $8,000 Atchisson Assault-12 shotgun. It's made of aircraft-grade stainless steel, never needs lubrication or cleaning, and won't rust. Pour sand through it and it won't clog. It doesn't recoil, so it's accurate even when it's firing in automatic mode, which it does at a rate of 300 rounds per minute. Along with firing ridiculously powerful FRAG-12 ammo - a "straight-out-of-Terminator shell" - that contains a whirling miniature grenade - the AA-12 can handle non-lethal Tasers and even bullets that are deadly up to 120 feet but fall harmlessly by 800 feet.

"It delivers the lead equivalent of 132 M16s," says Baber. "When they start firing from every direction, it's all over. This will take the soldiers out of harm's way."

Pilgrims to the shrine in south-west France will receive "PLENARY INDULGENCES" from the Pontiff, which THE CHURCH SAYS REDUCE THE TIME SPENT BEING "WASHED" OF SIN AFTER DEATH. The indulgences will be available from this weekend until Dec 8, 2008. THE CHURCH TEACHES THAT PEOPLE WHO DO NOT GO DIRECTLY TO HEAVEN MUST SPEND TIME IN PURGATORY, WHERE THEY CAN BE PURIFIED OF RESIDUAL SIN. It is the latest initiative to get more pilgrims to the shrine, famous for the reported healing properties of its water. In August the Vatican opened an airline service offering pilgrims direct flights from Rome to Lourdes.

For those who cannot make the journey to France, the Pope will also grant indulgences to Catholics who pray at places of worship dedicated to the Madonna of Lourdes from Feb 2 to Feb 11. Indulgences may also be granted under special circumstances to people too sick to visit the shrine, the Vatican said. The offer comes as the shrine prepares to commemorate the 150th anniversary of when the Madonna was said to have appeared to a peasant girl in 1858.

The Pope is expected to visit next year, possibly in September or October.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas formally relaunched a U.S.-sponsored peace process last week and Israel has since stepped up raids on Hamas-run Gaza to try to curb rocket fire by militants.

Hamas Islamists, who have vowed to undermine the peace effort by fighting Israel, seized control of Gaza in a brief civil war with Fatah in June, prompting Abbas to dismiss a Hamas-led government and reopen talks with the Jewish state.

Hamas has since called for dialogue with Fatah but Abbas, who holds sway in the larger West Bank, rules out talks unless the Islamist group first gives up control of the Gaza Strip -- a condition Hamas rejects.

The prayer service was followed by a massive protest, co-sponsored by the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria (Yesha), near the Prime Minister's residence. The protest was entitled, "It Will Blow Up in Our Face." At the time of the Western Wall prayer vigil, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was meeting in Washington with US President George Bush in preparation for the Annapolis summit on Tuesday.

The front line of religious-Zionist rabbis, led by Former Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai Eliyahu, called for the public to attend the Western Wall prayers. MK Uri Ariel (National Union party), among those who initiated the prayer service, said, "IT IS CRITICAL FOR US TO OFFER PRAYER TO OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN WHEN THE PRIME MINISTER WANTS TO SELL OUR NATIONAL HOMELAND. WE ARE HERE [AT THE WALL] TO SAY THAT WE TRUST IN G-D, AND THAT OLMERT HAS NO MANDATE TO GIVE UP JERUSALEM."

"Thus says the L-rd of hosts, 'This people says, "The time has not come, even the time for the house of the L-rd to be rebuilt."' Then the word of the L-rd came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 'Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses while this house lies desolate?' Now therefore, thus says the L-rd of hosts, 'Consider your ways! You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.' Thus says the L-rd of hosts, 'Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the Temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,' says the L-rd." Haggai 1.2-8 [Arutz Sheva]

Organizations, speakers and supporters from across the spectrum of nationalist, right-wing and religious thought were present at the Renaissance Jerusalem Hotel to take part in the opening sessions. Though many of the participants have been at many right-wing gatherings before, a sense of cautious enthusiasm that "THIS COULD REALLY BE IT" was palpable. Co-organizer, Dr. Gadi Eshel, read aloud the Congress charter, entitled: "THE ETERNAL PEOPLE IN AN ETERNAL COVENANT IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL."

EXCERPTS: - "G-d commanded the land of Israel to the People of Israel as a heritage - to settle it, to walk through it, to love even its dust, to know it, to observe the Torah in it, to long for it throughout 2,000 years of Exile. And when the time of the Return to Zion came, we were to ingather our dispersed exiles into it, take the barely-alive remnants of Israel and revive them upon it, raise pioneers in it, settle it with brides and grooms, children, families and communities, build upon it towns and factories, preserve it, rejoice in its rebuilding, build in it a national home that would be a light unto the nations - AND TO ESTABLISH G-D'S HOLY SANCTUARY IN ITS HEART, JERUSALEM, ZION, ON MT. MORIAH.

Everything is interwoven and inseparable - the tradition of Israel, the holiness of the Land, the unity of the Jewish People in Israel and abroad, defence and security, and life of creativity and deep bonds with the land. IT CANNOT BE THAT A TEMPORARY RULE IN THE STATE OF ISRAEL WILL STEAL FROM THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL ITS LAND, WILL CONSPIRE TO EXPEL THEM AND GIVE IT AWAY TO A FOREIGN NATION - OUR BITTEREST ENEMY... Any traitorous or anti-Semitic declaration that emanates from the second Munich conference, wherever it is held, has no value whatsoever. The Nation of Israel and its State must shred it into the trash bin of history.

A GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT TAKE UPON THEMSELVES, SEEMINGLY IN THE NAME OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL, TO COMMIT NATIONAL SUICIDE, LOSE THEIR RIGHT TO RULE IN THE STATE OF THE JEWISH NATION. We hereby determine that IDF soldier and members of the Israel Police are forbidden to take part in the crime of expelling Jews from their homes and inheritance, of transferring parts of our Holy Land to our enemies, and endangering the Nation of Israel - in any form!

We call upon all those who are loyal to the Land of Israel and the Nation of Israel and every Jew who loves life, to arise, unite, remove the decrees "from our people and from the cities of our G-d," and emplace Jewish sovereignty over the entire Land. In the words of Joshua and Caleb when Moses sent them to scout out the Land, 'Let us ascend and inherit the Land, for we can overcome it.'"

Pray for this group as they move forward in their efforts to stop the division of G-d's land. G-d has said that He will raise up a remnant who will believe the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. G-D GAVE THE LAND -- from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates -- TO ISRAEL AND NO ONE ELSE. Am Yisrael Chai! [Arutz Sheva]

He welcomed the report on the civilian nature of the Iranian nuclear program by the US National Intelligence Estimates (NIE), but, at the same time strongly rejected allegations in the report that Iran had a weapons program before 2003. "Iran had never had a weapons program to stop in 2003," he said.

Hosseini said that Iranian nuclear activities had always been in line with the Non-Proliferation Treaty and that the International Atomic Energy has verified non-diversion of the Iranian nuclear program several times so far. "The Supreme Leader has already made it clear that Iran respects the religious prohibition of nuclear arms and the international conventions consistent with the nuclear program." Hosseini said.

Pointing to the threat of the Mediterranean Union, Merkel said it could ultimately lead to the 'corrosion of the EU's core area'. "This could unleash explosive powers in the EU which I do not wish for," added the German leader, speaking at a conference in Berlin.

Merkel, who is due to meet Sarkozy in Paris on Thursday, said common EU resources should not be used to create a Mediterranean Union. The French president has repeatedly called for such a strategic alliance since winning elections in early May.

Sarkozy seeks to include countries like Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Libya, in this union. Merkel has been at odds with Sarkozy on several issues including the French nuclear deal with Libya and the degree of autonomy of the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank.

Both leaders are also openly vying for the European leadership role.

The cost of everything from bread and milk to meat and vegetables has already risen sharply for shoppers in Britain over the past 18 months. An expansion of biofuel farming could push maize prices up more than two-thirds by 2020 - and increase oilseed costs by nearly half, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said.

Global cereal stocks - a key buffer used to fight famines around the world - have sunk to their lowest level since the 1980s due to reduced plantings and poor weather, said the institute's director, Joachim von Braun. "The world eats more than it produces currently, and over the last five or six years that is reflected in the decline in stocks and storage levels. That cannot go on, and exhaustion of stocks will be reached soon," he told a conference in Beijing.

There are so many problems - and they are all interrelated.

CLIMATE CHANGE - Heavy rains this year hampered the harvest of grain in many countries, leaving them vulnerable to disease. Meanwhile, floods caused by extreme weather have devastated crops in Britain and around the world. In Australia and the south-eastern United States, a major drought has had a similar effect - creating a shortage of staple goods.

HIGHER DEMAND ON ENERGY - Demand from industrialising countries such as China has sent the price of oil soaring to almost $100 a barrel. Extreme weather is also causing high energy consumption as homes and businesses fight heat and cold.

SHIFT TOWARDS BIOFUELS - Demand for biofuels is increasing as prices for oil, gas and electricity continue to rise and drivers switch to biofuel vehicles in response to tax incentives which discourage gas-guzzling 4x4s.

REDUCED GLOBAL FARMING INCOME - Worldwide income from agriculture will fall by 16 per cent by 2020, despite the potential for increased yields in some colder areas and the fertilising impact on plants of having higher carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere.

DEMAND FOR WINDFARMS - High costs for gas and oil have made wind and wave energy more feasible, especially in Scotland, where ministers want 31 per cent of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2011.

AGFLATION - Rising commodity prices due to an increasing link between energy prices and food costs have been dubbed "agflation" by economists. Food prices are rising faster in the UK than almost anywhere else in the Western world. Bread, for example, is up more than 15 per cent in the past year. The biggest supermarkets - Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's - will charge, on average, 6 per cent more for a basket of 25 Christmas foods than last year.

INFLATION - Rising prices mean falling consumer confidence. Tesco says its food prices are rising at 0.8 per cent annually compared to UK inflation of about 2 per cent, and it has called for a cut in interest rates.

INCREASED GLOBAL TRADE - The switch of low-margin manufacturing to the developing world brings wealth but also reduces self-sufficiency for food. Every year for the last decade, China has lost fertile land equivalent to the area of Scotland.

MORE TRANSPORT - Increased global trade, including the rising popularity of Fairtrade products from developing countries, means higher demand for air freight and shipping, both of which contribute substantially to harmful emissions. Greater imports of food, made necessary by shrinking numbers of local farmers, mean more damage to the environment through greater food miles.

POLITICAL INSTABILITY - In the developing world, rising food prices will have a more serious effect on standards of living and social order. In China and India, food accounts for 33 per cent and 45 per cent of their consumer price indices respectively. In Britain, the figure is closer to 10 per cent.

POVERTY - Global cereal stocks have sunk to their lowest level since the 1980s due to reduced plantings and poor weather - hampering efforts to fight famines and tackle the world's worst poverty blackspots.

Helicopters rescued some 300 people this week from flooded areas battered by Monday's fierce storm. While some flood waters are receding, entire neighborhoods and streets remain flooded with several feet of water. Cars, trees and even some homes were awash with brown, muddy waters.

Hundreds were forced to flee - some plucked from the rooftops of their own homes by rescue helicopters. About 50,000 residents still remain without power throughout the state and several counties and cities remained under flood emergency. "The town of Boistford doesn't have any running water, so we're trying to get drinking water to them and to the residents of Pe Ell," said Det. Sgt. Stacy Brown, Lewis County Sheriff's Office.

Two hikers were found dead Tuesday from an avalanche in the Cascade Mountains, King County sheriff's officials said. The hikers were killed as heavy rain atop heavy snow increased the avalanche danger.

A communiqué released Monday confirmed the presence of a Vatican delegation at the Dec. 3-14 meeting, led by Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, apostolic nuncio to Indonesia.

"Given that the sessions of the Convention on Climate Change are held once a year in various countries," the communiqué reads, "the Holy See is usually represented at such meetings with a delegation led by the apostolic nuncio and made up of experts from the area, so as to take advantage of local resources and to achieve a broader and more differentiated vision of the questions being examined."

More than 180 countries are meeting in Bali to draft a climate change framework that will succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the treaty on reducing greenhouse gas emissions that expires in 2012. Other members of the Holy See delegation include Monsignor Andrew Thanya-anan Vissanu, nunciature counselor in Jakarta, and three local experts from the Philippines and Indonesia.