The latest challenge to Israel's hold over the enclave comes just days after its naval commandos shot dead nine pro-Palestinian activists on a Turkish vessel that attempted to run the blockade last week. Iran's intervention added an additional and unwelcome complication for Israel.

A senior Iranian Red Crescent official insisted that the planned mission was purely peaceful and humanitarian in its goals. "One ship will carry donations made by the people (of Iran) and the other will carry relief workers," Abdolrauf Adibzadeh said. Yet there seems to be little doubt that the Iranian government is the real driving force behind the mission.

Although it is a member of the international Red Cross movement, the Iranian Red Crescent is widely viewed as a tool of the regime and even Mr Adibzadeh conceded that the decision to sail was taken in conjunction with the Iranian foreign ministry. Over the weekend, Iran even suggested that its elite Revolutionary Guards force could escort aid flotillas to Gaza.

Iran's sudden intervention appeared to reflect growing concerns that it is being eclipsed by Turkey as the Middle East's principal opponent of Israeli policies towards Gaza. "The Turks are trying to rain on their parade," said Meir Javedanfar, an Israeli analyst of Iranian origin, adding that many in Gaza would prefer Turkey as their champion because it commands greater international respect and is dominated by fellow Sunnis.

Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division, explains what it's all about:

"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity. At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we're getting together to discuss."

The National Academy of Sciences framed the problem two years ago in a landmark report entitled "Severe Space Weather Events - Societal and Economic Impacts." It noted how people of the 21st-century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity. A century-class solar storm, the Academy warned, could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.

Much of the damage can be mitigated if managers know a storm is coming. Putting satellites in 'safe mode' and disconnecting transformers can protect these assets from damaging electrical surges. Preventative action, however, requires accurate forecasting - a job that has been assigned to NOAA.

"Space weather forecasting is still in its infancy, but we're making rapid progress," says Thomas Bogdan, director of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

Bogdan sees the collaboration between NASA and NOAA as key. "NASA's fleet of heliophysics research spacecraft provides us with up-to-the-minute information about what's happening on the sun. They are an important complement to our own GOES and POES satellites, which focus more on the near-Earth environment. I believe we're on the threshold of a new era in which space weather can be as influential in our daily lives as ordinary terrestrial weather." Fisher concludes. "We take this very seriously indeed."

A police source said the fox apparently entered the house through an open ground-floor door before attacking the twins in an upstairs room. Both girls suffered arm injuries and one is thought to have facial injuries.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Officers and the London Ambulance Service attended and found two nine-month-old girls with injuries. Both babies were taken to an east London hospital where their condition is described as serious but stable."

In 2002, mother Sue Eastwood reported that her baby boy, Louis, was left injured after a fox crept into their house in Kent while she slept. The fourteen-week-old suffered bite marks on his head after the animal darted into the sitting room of the house in Dartford. His parents say the fox tried to drag the baby out before Louis' father Peter chased it away. Trevor Williams, director of the Fox Project based in nearby Tunbridge, said this was the first case of its kind that he had heard of.

Original story - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2078419.stm

Mr Hague said he would be urging Europe to act more decisively in international affairs, backing further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear policy and wanting firm action in the Balkans where old animosities, particularly in Bosnia, threaten to re-surface. BBC Europe editor Gavin Hewitt says that in what some may regard as a strange twist, the foreign secretary is urging the European Union not to lose confidence as it battles with the crisis that threatens the euro.

But the UK will not contribute to any bailing out of the eurozone and will not agree to measures that co-ordinate tax and spending policies. Mr Hague's tour takes in Paris, Rome, Berlin and Warsaw.

Several people were taken to hospitals as the storm left an eight-mile (13km) path of destruction, hitting Lake Township particularly hard. The extreme weather also affected parts of Illinois and Michigan. The high school in Lake Township was among the hardest-hit buildings.

Some buses were thrown across the school car park, Superintendent Jim Witt said. Lake Township Police Chief Mark Hummer described the affected area as "like a war zone". He said a child was among the victims.

Mr Hummer said later that the authorities had finished searching damaged buildings and he was not aware of anyone being reported missing, but fields and woods were still being searched.

Asked if Muslims had a positive impact on British society, four out of 10 disagreed with the statement while seven out of 10 said the religion encouraged the repression of women. Half linked Islam with terrorism, just 13% thought it was based on peace and 6% associated it with justice.

BBC home editor Mark Easton says the survey, conducted by YouGov for the foundation, paints a negative picture of British attitudes to Islam. The foundation has been established to challenge what it calls "damaging stereotypes" and misconceptions about the religion.

It represents part of an international liberal Islamic movement that has developed to challenge negative views among non-Muslims and counter those Muslims who claim Western cultural values are a threat. The foundation's campaign stresses the ways in which Muslims balance religious tradition with contemporary human rights and social responsibility.

The document was made public Sunday, the final day of Pope Benedict's visit to the island of Cyprus, and reflected the Church's concern about the flight of Christians from the Holy Land as they leave to look for more opportunities and fewer problems elsewhere.

"The Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories is creating difficulties in everyday life, inhibiting freedom of movement, the economy and religious life," the document said. "Moreover, certain Christian fundamentalist theologies use Sacred Scripture to justify Israel's occupation of Palestine."

Many Evangelical Christians, especially Americans, have thrown their total and unwavering support behind the Jewish state in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

After the welcome ceremony at the International Airport of Paphos, the Pontiff traveled directly to the Church of Agia Kiriaki Chrysopolitiss to participate in an ecumenical celebration with Cypriot Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos II and other leaders of Christian faiths, such as Armenians, Lutherans and Anglicans. "The unity of all Christ's disciples is a gift to be implored from the Father in the hope that it will strengthen the witness to the Gospel in today's world," he said. "The Lord prayed for the holiness and unity of his disciples precisely so that the world might believe."

The Cypriot Orthodox Archbishop, Chrysostomos II, also gave an address in which he welcomed Benedict XVI to Cyprus, the "island of saints and martyrs," and "founded by the Apostles Barnabas, Paul and Mark."

"It was in this town that the first miracle of the Apostles was performed, as recorded in the New Testament," the archbishop recalled. "It was here that the first European citizen was baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity. It was here that the first official citadel of idolatry fell and in its place the glory of the Cross was raised in all its splendor, and would gradually spread to cover the whole of Europe and shape its historical future."

"It is here," he continued, "that the Christian roots of Europe took seed and from here its spiritual shoots first burst forth. The foundations of the edifice of Christian civilization in Europe were laid on this very spot where we now stand, deeply moved by the sense of history. It is for this reason that Cyprus is justly called 'the Gate of Christianity in Europe.'"

The Tories have traditionally taken a sceptical approach to so- called 'Frankenstein foods', and at present no GM varieties are cultivated commercially in the UK. Labour ministers shied away from promoting GM foods in recent years over concerns about a public backlash.

But Mrs Spelman insisted last night they could bring 'benefits to food in the marketplace'. Her intervention drew fierce criticism from anti-GM campaigners, who accused her of getting her facts wrong and highlighted her background as a lobbyist for biotechnology.

Mrs Spelman set up a food and biotechnology lobbying company Spelman, Cormack and Associates with her husband, Mark Spelman, in 1989. Although she resigned as a company director last year, the firm remains in the hands of her husband.

Paul Flynn, the Labour MP charged with investigating the handling of the swine flu outbreak for the Council of Europe, described it as 'a pandemic that never really was'. The report accuses the World Health Organisation of grave shortcomings in the transparency of the process that led to its warning last year.

The MP said that the world relied on the WHO, but after 'crying wolf', its reputation was in jeopardy. The report questions whether the pandemic was driven by drug companies seeking a profit. Mr Flynn said predictions of a 'plague' that would wipe out up to 7.5 million people proved to be 'an exaggeration', with fewer than 20,000 deaths worldwide.

Pharmaceutical companies, however, profited to the tune of 4.6 billion pounds from the sale of vaccines alone. Mr Flynn said: 'There is not much doubt that this was an exaggeration on stilts. They vastly over-stated the danger on bad science and the national governments were in a position where they had to take action. In Britain, we have spent at least 1 billion pounds on preparations, to the detriment of other parts of the health system. This is a monumental failure on the WHO's part.'

There is no suggestion that he acted improperly or had prior knowledge that the company was to face the biggest setback in its history. His decision, however, means he avoided losing more than 423,000 pounds when BP's share price plunged after the oil spill began six weeks ago.

Since he disposed of 223,288 shares on March 17, the company's share price has fallen by 30 per cent. About 40 billion pounds has been wiped off its total value. The fall has caused pain not just for BP shareholders, but also for millions of company pension funds and small investors who have money held in tracker funds. The spill, which has still not been stemmed, has caused a serious environmental crisis and is estimated to cost BP up to 40 billion pounds to clean up.

The crisis has enraged US politicians, with President Obama yesterday forced to cancel a trip to Indonesia amid a row over the White House's response. Mr Hayward, whose position is thought to be under threat, risked further fury by continuing plans to pay out a dividend to investors next month.

Asked by Rabbi David Nesenoff of RabbiLive.com if she had "any comments on Israel," Thomas replied, "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine." Thomas went on to say that the Palestinian people "are occupied and it's their land" and that Israelis should "go home" - to Poland, Germany, America "and everywhere else."

In a written statement issued Friday, Thomas apologized, saying, "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians." She said the comments "do not reflect" her "heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance."

"May that day come soon," she added.

Erdogan reportedly said Hamas, the legitimate winner of the Palestinian elections, was fighting for its land. "You are always talking about democracy. You'll never let Hamas rule. What kind of democracy is this?" he reportedly said, apparently addressing the Israeli leadership.

In his speech, Erdogan also slammed Turkish media reports which were critical of his party's support of Hamas, saying the "columnists" had a slanted view of the events. Earlier on Friday, Turkey's deputy prime minister said his country would work to reduce its military and economic cooperation with Israel. Existing contracts, he said, would be reviewed and reworked or canceled

Hungary's bonds fell after a spokesman for Prime Minister Viktor Orban said talk of a default is "not an exaggeration" because a previous administration "manipulated" figures. The country was bailed out with a 20 billion-euro ($24 billion) aid package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund in 2008.

"The comments out of Hungary have really spooked the market," said Rajeev Shah, a credit strategist at BNP Paribas SA in London. "Investors are interpreting it as a bad sign for trying to tackle Europe's debt crisis." The euro dropped below $1.21 for the first time since April 2006, stocks tumbled and the cost of insuring against corporate default rose on speculation Hungary will weaken the EU's willingness to rescue the region's indebted nations.

"Are we on the brink of something more serious?" Deutsche Bank AG strategist Jim Reid wrote in a note to clients today. "We've little doubt that the authorities have no appetite for imminent peripheral defaults but we do see the situation getting worse before it gets better. This leaves markets vulnerable until there is more certainty surrounding the structure of the peripheral funding bail-out."

The euro sank, with traders citing official comments on Hungary's woes and rumors of derivative problems at Societe Generale. "We won't comment on market rumors," a spokeswoman for France's third-largest bank said, adding, "if we had something to say, we would have said it." Its stock fell 7.6%.

HSBC Bank caused jitters with a research note to clients in which it downgraded Europe excluding the UK to "underweight" from "neutral."

The Hungarian prime minister's spokesman declined to comment on remarks by Lajos Kosa, managing vice president of Hungary's ruling Fidesz party, that Hungary is facing a Greece-like sovereign-debt crisis and will need crisis-management measures. But the spokesman, Peter Szijjarto, said the new government won't let the country's economy go the same way as Greece.