The storm was centered about 240 miles southwest of Tampa and about 160 miles west of Key West at about 2 a.m. It had sustained winds near 50 mph and was moving north northeast near 10 mph. Forecasters expected Barry to continue the same path and increase speed over the next day, but a slight decrease in strength was anticipated before the storm's possible landfall.

"We're not looking for a hurricane," said Dave Roberts, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane center said it threatened to bring dangerous battering waves, coastal flooding of up to 5 feet and rainfall of three to six inches in the Florida Keys up through southeast Georgia. Tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 90 miles, forecasters said."It will bring rains to the area," Avila said. "Perhaps, the rains will be beneficial for that area."

Florida is facing one of its worst droughts on record, but the tropical weather wasn't expected to ease conditions much. "It'll help a little bit, but everyone is so far below rainfall that we're still going to be under drought conditions," said Kim Brabander, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "To really alleviate the drought conditions we're going to need anywhere from 30 to 40 inches of rain."

The moisture could also help with wildfires that have burned along the Georgia-Florida border for weeks, fueled by the dry conditions in both states. Tropical Storm Barry formed more than three weeks after the first named storm of the year - Subtropical Storm Andrea - developed about 150 miles northeast of Daytona Beach. Andrea skirted the southern Atlantic coast but caused minimal damage.

Now, cracks in the concrete walls of the dilapidated tanks have allowed seawater and rainwater to seep in and corrode the lethal contents. The situation is so bad Russia's nuclear agency has warned rods at the site could explode in an "uncontrolled chain reaction", according to a Norwegian environmental group, which says it has a leaked copy of a report. Experts say that could set off an explosion scattering radioactive material across northern Europe, reaching even as far as Britain, in an environmental catastrophe worse than the Chernobyl disaster.

"We are sitting on a powder keg with a fuse that is burning, but we don't know how long that fuse is," said Alexander Nikitin, a former Russian navy officer and Bellona environmental activist who first revealed the existence of the dump at Andreeva Bay, on the Kola peninsula of north-western Russia.

The nightmare scenario, identified by Russia's Federal Nuclear Agency, raises new fears that Moscow is failing to properly manage the potentially deadly nuclear legacy of the Cold War, which has left the country with tonnes of plutonium and uranium and millions of tonnes of nuclear waste to deal with.

The report, leaked to the Norwegian group Bellona, centres on Andreeva Bay, only 30 miles from the Norwegian border. "Ongoing degradation is causing fuel to split into small granules. Calculations show that the creation of a homogenous mixture of these particles with water can cause an uncontrolled chain reaction," reads Bellona's translation of the document.

Such a chain reaction would generate enormous heat and potentially release hydrogen from the seawater. That could lead to an explosion, hurling radioactive material into the atmosphere. "The radioactive fallout could be higher and affect northern Europe to a greater degree than the region was hit by the Chernobyl disaster." said Nils Boehmer, the atomic physicist who heads Bellona.

Since the end of the Cold War, Russia has sharply cut its stockpile of nuclear warheads, from 45,000 to less than 7,000. Now, it is its non-weaponised nuclear material that causes greatest concern in western capitals.
By some estimates, Russia has 1,200 tonnes of highly enriched uranium and 15,000 tonnes of solid spent nuclear fuel. There are some 1,000 nuclear power plants of various types.

However, China has no plans yet to reduce the proportion of US dollar assets in its coffers, Wu Xiaoling told an economic forum in Brussels, the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported Friday. China's forex reserves reached US$ 1.2 trillion at the end of March and about 70 percent of the holdings are believed to be in US dollar assets, especially US treasuries.

To address the trade imbalance with western countries, China could take measures to stimulate domestic consumption and improve the flexibility of the Chinese currency.

"If we intend to solve the problem of imbalanced trade, we will first increase the flexibility of the yuan exchange rate, but that will not be the main means," Wu said. It is more important for China to increase its citizens' incomes and boost domestic consumption through the improvement of social security networks, according to Wu.

Police say the average Briton is on as many as 300 cameras every day, usually unaware. Britain has more than 4 million closed-circuit security cameras, more than any other Western democracy. The density of surveillance is significantly higher than in any other Western democracy, says Jen Corlew, spokeswoman for Liberty, a London-based human rights group.

Britain has more than 4 million closed-circuit security cameras "WE ARE SLEEPWALKING TOWARDS A BIG BROTHER SOCIETY, NOT IN ONE FELL SWOOP BUT BY STAGES," warns The Spectator, a conservative magazine.

But the vast majority of 4,000 people surveyed in 2005 said they believed that tapping phones, opening mail and following terror suspects were a price worth paying to stay safe, according to British Social Attitudes Report - an annual survey released in January.

Scientists have already begun a £1.15 million research project aimed at proving to the public that using the remains of pigs and chickens as fodder is safe. A ban on the practice, brought in across Europe in 2000, followed fears that it was behind the spread of BSE.

Now scientists are carrying out tests to determine whether pig meat could be fed to chickens, and chicken meat to pigs, without posing any human health risks. They hope to devise tests that can accurately identify different kinds of meat in feed, to ensure only certain animals are used.

A proposal to relax the animal feed ban was set out in the EU's long-term anti-BSE strategy, published nearly two years ago. But although there are so far no firm plans to do so, members of the EU's advisory Economic and Social Committee are recommending speeding up a change of policy.

"The ESC suggests that the European Commission pursue and step up as swiftly as possible the studies currently under way which clearly show that the use of meat meal from nonruminants can be used in pig and poultry feed without posing any danger to human health", said a report of a committee meeting.

Farmers are concerned that the continued ban is unnecessarily inflating feed prices. Carcasses which would otherwise be used as protein in animal feed must be thrown away, and the extra demand for vegetable protein since the ban has kept feed prices high.

In a strongly worded attack, Cardinal Keith O'Brien said the equivalent of two Dunblane massacres a day were being carried out thanks to Britain's abortion laws. And he questioned whether Catholic politicians who support such a practice should receive Holy Communion - a key part of practising the faith. Quoting Saint Paul, he said those who take Communion without a clear conscience are "sinning against the Lord".

Jim Devine, the MP for Livingston and a Catholic, said IT WAS "UNACCEPTABLE" FOR THE CHURCH TO TRY TO INFLUENCE POLITICIANS ON ANY ISSUE THROUGH MAKING THREATS OVER THEIR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES.

FOLLOWING A RENEWED DRIVE BY THE VATICAN TO INFLUENCE POLITICIANS ON ETHICAL ISSUES, Cardinal O'Brien used a sermon at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh to attack the abortion laws in Britain. Speaking on the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act, he said the practice is now being used as "an alternative form of birth control". The latest figures show there were 13,081 abortions performed in Scotland last year, compared with 12,603 the previous year.

Cardinal O'Brien cited Madeleine McCann, the missing toddler in Portugal, to emphasise how precious human life is. He added: "We are killing - in our country - the equivalent of a classroom of kids every day. Can you imagine that? Two Dunblane massacres a day in our country. And when's it going to stop?"
"I ask them [Catholic politicians] to examine their consciences and discern if they are playing any part in sustaining this social evil. I remind them to avoid co-operating in the unspeakable crime of abortion and the barrier such co-operation erects to receiving Holy Communion."

Failing to take part in the ceremony does not stop a person being a member of the church, but it is an important part of practising the faith. Teresa Smith, leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance, welcomed the involvement of the church. But Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "THERE IS AN IMPLIED CALL TO CATHOLIC POLITICIANS AND HEALTH WORKERS TO PLACE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE ABOVE THE WISHES OF THE ELECTORATE. THIS IS UNDEMOCRATIC AND UNACCEPTABLE."

Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said women should have the choice."I have no difficulty with the Catholic Church expressing a view. What I do have a difficulty with is saying if you do not support those views THERE IS A PENALTY: in this case questioning the right of a politician and practising Catholic to attend Communion - that is taking us into unchartered territory. ABORTION IS JUST A SIDE ISSUE IN THE DEBATE THE CARDINAL HAS INITIATED. What is next? Trident? The Iraq war?"

The Golan Heights is strategic mountainous territory looking down on Israeli and Syrian population centers twice used by Damascus to launch ground invasions into the Jewish state. According to Israel's Haaretz daily, Olmert tapped third parties to approach Syria to feel out whether Damascus is seriously interested in negotiations.

Syria, which signed a military alliance with Iran, openly hosts Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. The U.S. accuses Syria of fueling and aiding the insurgency in Iraq. Israel says Syria has been allowing large quantities of weapons to be transported from its borders to the Lebanese-based Hezbollah militia, which last summer engaged in a war with the Jewish state. Syria has been widely blamed for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters Tuesday the U.S. has given the green light for Israel negotiate with Syria, but she stipulated the prime minister must not agree to any negotiations, even indirectly, regarding a change in the U.S. position toward Syria. The U.S. largely has attempted to isolate Damascus.

The reports of possible talks with Syria come after a government-appointed committee earlier this month released a report slamming Olmert's decision-making process during last summer's war against the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. The report prompted mass demonstrations and widespread calls for Olmert to step down, including from the prime minister's own deputy, Livni.

WND reported in the weeks prior to the report's release Olmert, anticipating a major backlash, held MEETINGS WITH LEADING LEFTIST FIGURES HERE PLEDGING TO CARRY OUT ISRAELI WITHDRAWALS IN EXCHANGE FOR THEIR CONTINUED SUPPORT. The sources said Olmert told the leftist leaders he is willing to negotiate with Syria and reach a final status agreement with the Palestinians, INCLUDING AN ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL FROM THE WEST BANK, WHICH BORDERS JERUSALEM AND IS WITHIN ROCKET RANGE OF TEL AVIV.

In a briefing with reporters earlier today, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said U.S. commanders at all levels are being empowered to reach out for talks with militants, tribes, religious leaders and others, including insurgents and sectarian rivals. "We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces," Odierno told reporters in a video conference from Baghdad.

Reacting to Odierno's announcement, Muhammad Abdel-El, spokesman and a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees terror group, called TRUCE TALKS WITH INSURGENTS "A BIG VICTORY FOR THE RESISTANCE." "Americans are recognizing the resistance, the same resistance that they before called terrorism; now they are dealing with them, AND THIS IS THE RECOGNITION OF IRAQI RESISTANCE AND RECOGNITION BY THE AMERICANS OF THEIR OWN LOSS IN IRAQ," said Abdel-El.

Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' so-called military wing in the Gaza Strip, said the negotiation of a cease-fire in Iraq "is PROOF THAT IRAQ WILL BE THE END OF AMERICA." "THE AMERICANS DIDN'T ACHIEVE ANYTHING WITH THIS INVASION BUT TO BRING ABOUT THEIR DOWNFALL." Abu Abdullah said he suspects violence in Iraq will continue regardless of a cease-fire.
"OF COURSE THE RESISTANCE WILL CONTINUE," HE SAID.

Earlier today, Odierno said he believed an agreement could be reached with Iraqi elements, including insurgents. "I believe there are elements that are irreconcilable, but I believe the large majority are," Odierno said. "I believe about 80 percent are reconcilable, both Jaish al-Mahdi as well as Sunni insurgents.
"Prime Minister Maliki and the government of Iraq have to continue to reach out to all these groups ... bringing these groups into the political process so we can deal with their differences in a peaceful way instead of in violent ways," Odierno said.

For the first time, it will be up to industry, rather than the regulatory authorities, to prove that chemicals are safe.
But environmental and consumer groups say the new rules do not go far enough. About 30,000 chemicals are covered by the new rules - from paints to flame retardants to fragrances in shampoos. Safety data will be required for all of them.

The most hazardous - chemicals which can cause cancer or changes in genetic material - will have to undergo further testing. If there is a safer alternative, producers will have to substitute it, unless there is a strong case for continuing to use the existing chemical. But environmental campaigners say the new rules, known as REACH, leave too many loopholes.

The new requirements will be phased in between now and 2018. The most hazardous chemicals will have to be registered first, along with those used in the largest quantities. Producers are already working together to share the cost of testing, which the European Commission reckons at up to 10bn euros (£7bn) spread over 11 years. But it says that is offset by the benefits to health and the environment: 97bn euros (£66bn) saved in health costs over the next three decades.

But believe it or not, that's an improvement over the situation just a decade ago, when climate scientists debated fiercely over whether current trends toward warmer temperatures were human-driven or just natural fluctuations in global climate. There is little debate on that subject now. Few scientists today doubt that global climate change is at least partly anthropogenic, meaning we did it.

But uncertainty reigns supreme on even some of the most fundamental questions. Richard Houghton, deputy director and senior scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center, is an expert on Earth's carbon cycle, the process by which the planet and its atmosphere absorb and release carbon in various forms. That includes carbon dioxide, the primary cause of the greenhouse effect.

Houghton is the author of a comprehensive report detailing the uncertainties over what humans have already done to the planet and what the future holds. The report, published in the Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science, surveys scores of major studies and is laced with expressions like "agreement is poor" and "the results are mixed."

That's of great concern to him, as well as to many others, because if we don't really understand exactly what is happening, and what to expect in the future, we're not likely to succeed in mitigating the impact and managing such critical elements as the carbon cycle.

In an interview broadcast this morning on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" program, Griffin was asked by NPR's Steve Inskeep whether he is concerned about global warming.
"I have no doubt that a trend of global warming exists," Griffin told Inskeep. "I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with."

"To assume that it is a problem is to assume that the state of Earth's climate today is the optimal climate, the best climate that we could have or ever have had and that we need to take steps to make sure that it doesn't change," Griffin said. "I guess I would ask which human beings - where and when - are to be accorded the privilege of deciding that this particular climate that we have right here today, right now is the best climate for all other human beings. I think that's a rather arrogant position for people to take."

News media inquiries to NASA headquarters about Griffin's comments prompted the space agency to make the unusual move of issuing a news release late Wednesday night.

"NASA is the world's preeminent organization in the study of Earth and the conditions that contribute to climate change and global warming," Griffin said in a statement. "The agency is responsible for collecting data that is used by the science community and policy makers as part of an ongoing discussion regarding our planet's evolving systems. It is NASA's responsibility to collect, analyze and release information. It is not NASA's mission to make policy regarding possible climate change mitigation strategies. As I stated in the NPR interview, we are proud of our role and I believe we do it well."

"The message was clear to me," said a retired civil servant, whose 13-year-old son, a student at the Yesilkoy Ibrahim Cengiz school, received the book. "This is not something that should be distributed in schools." This leafy, liberal city would seem like one of the least likely places to allow Islam to permeate public life. But for some residents, the book is part of a subtle shift toward increasingly public religiosity that has gone hand-in-hand with the ascent of the party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The phenomenon is complex: The party has not ordered changes, but sets examples through a growing network of observant teachers and public servants who have been hired since it came to power in 2002. The mayor, Nihat Zeybekci, a charismatic businessman and a member of Erdogan's party, strongly disputes claims that the party has limited freedoms. Alcohol is still sold near mosques. His party has women in local government. The opposition parties do not.

"I get offended when a lady says to me, 'When you have absolute control, will I still be able to swim at the beach?' " he said. "It's like asking if I'm a thief." But secular residents say that they see changes, and that they are the inevitable outcome of several decades of economic transformation. "In a very quiet, deep way, you can sense an Islamization," said Bedrettin Usanmaz, a jewelry shop owner in Denizli. "They're not after rapid change. They're investing for 50 years ahead."

But secular Turks argue that Islam will always seek more space in people's lives, and therefore should be reined in. They look to the military as secularism's final defender. "Islam is not like other religions," said Kadim Yildirim, a history teacher in Denizli from an opposition labor union. "It influences every part of your life, even your bedroom."

"Education is where the religious communities concentrate their efforts," said Gulay Keysan, a 31-year-old English teacher in Denizli. In a school in the city's Karaman district, where she taught several years ago, a quarter of her students lived in hostels.

Perhaps the most sensitive point for teachers like Yildirim are the changes they say are occurring in textbooks. Changes were already under way, part of an upgrade needed to join the European Union, but some officials say that as the nationalism is taken out, a new conservatism is being put in.

Seasoned investigative reporter and former FBI consultant Paul Williams reveals the alarming potential for nuclear terrorism on U.S. soil and the sinister connections among organized crime, illegal immigrants, and al-Qaida.

Recently, FBI Director Robert Mueller, in an interview with NewsMax, confirmed Williams' main claim. Mueller said al-Qaida's paramount goal is clear: to detonate a nuclear device that would kill hundreds of thousands of Americans. Mueller told NewsMax that at times, the threat feels so real he lies awake at night thinking about the prospect.

Williams maintains that al-Qaida is not content on blowing up one nuclear device or even simply a "dirty" nuke, but wants to explode real nuclear devices in seven U.S. cities simultaneously. WILLIAMS SAYS THESE CITIES ARE NEW YORK, WASHINGTON, D.C., LAS VEGAS, MIAMI, BOSTON, HOUSTON, AND LOS ANGELES.

Mueller seems to confirm this claim of multiple attacks, saying both New York and Washington would be likely targets. Already Williams says the U.S. government has Washington webbed by "choke" points to detect nuclear material. Bin Laden and his adherents believe this nuclear cataclysm will usher in "The Day of Islam," the dream of radical Muslims to see all of humankind fall in submission before the throne of Allah as the "Great Satan," America, is brought to her knees.

Williams is not surprised at all that bin Laden has planned to launch such nuclear attacks, suggesting his delay is consistent with his past pattern of activities. For sure, it is a plan that has been long in its hatching.

Although both countries deny they are engaged in a 21st century re-run of the 1960s race to the moon between the cold war superpowers, their haste to launch suggests more than casual interest in the other's progress.

China said this month that it expected to launch its first unmanned lunar orbiter, the Chang'e-1 (named after China's mythological (lady in the moon) before the end of this year, while India this week announced that it could send up a similar space probe as early as April 2008.

The two lunar programmes should be scientifically complementary, with Chinese scientists stressing Chang'e's goal of improving understanding of the geochemistry of the moon's surface and India focusing on three-dimensional mapping.

Under Beijing's three-stage plan, the Chang'e orbiter will be followed by a lunar landing and then by a mission to bring back rock and soil samples. India is building a two-legged robot for a possible follow-up mission to the moon's surface in 2011.However, the Chang'e programme will have to compete for resources with the high-profile manned space programme and Beijing's push to develop its military space assets.