The 63-year-old, most famous for playing the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, said Britain risks losing the importance of Christianity in our multi- cultural society. In an interview for Woman's Weekly magazine, he said: "I do feel that Christianity is being marginalised by other religions in Britain."

"I won't tell you the name of it, but a charity I work for got TURNED DOWN FOR GOVERNMENT FUNDING RECENTLY, BECAUSE IT WAS A CHRISTIAN CHARITY, even though it had been funded by the Government for several years. Don't misunderstand me. We should embrace all religions and marginalise none. BUT WE SEEM MORE CONCERNED WITH MARGINALISING CHRISTIANITY, AND NOT OFFENDING OTHER FAITHS. We are in danger of losing the importance of the Christian faith in our own country."

Earlier this year the Archbishop of Canterbury said it was "depressing" that an academic report claimed Christianity was being sidelined in Britain because LABOUR IS CONCENTRATING ON MINORITY RELIGIONS SUCH AS ISLAM. Dr Rowan Williams complained to Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, about the decline of religious content on television and radio.

The scientists called for a 30 per cent reduction in the number of farm animals bred for meat to prevent rising temperatures and rising sea levels. But the backing of VEGETARIAN MR BENN'S DEPARTMENT, which is specifically responsible for promoting farming, drew strong criticism from farmers and scientists who said cutting meat consumption was not the way to combat climate change.

Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers' Union, said: 'Farmers will be angry that yet again we have an ILL-INFORMED AND SIMPLISTIC REPORT which appears to completely misunderstand agriculture's emissions and its role in climate change.

Professor Ian Crute, chief scientist at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, which advises the meat industry, said: 'A large fall in meat eating or turning vegetarian is not the solution to climate change - it would make only a marginal difference to greenhouse gas emissions.'

They claim aliens are currently answering 30 questions posed to them. Lachezar Filipov, deputy director of the Space Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, confirmed the research.

He said the centre's researchers were analysing 150 crop circles from around the world, which they believe answer the questions. "ALIENS ARE CURRENTLY ALL AROUND US, AND ARE WATCHING US ALL THE TIME," Mr Filipov told Bulgarian media. "They are not hostile towards us, rather, they want to help us but we have not grown enough in order to establish direct contact with them." Mr Filipov said that EVEN THE SEAT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, THE VATICAN, HAD AGREED THAT ALIENS EXISTED.

He said humans were not going to be able to establish contact with the extraterrestrials through radio waves but through the power of thought. "The human race was certainly going to have direct contact with the aliens in the next 10 to 15 years," he said. "EXTRATERRESTRIALS ARE CRITICAL OF THE PEOPLE'S AMORAL BEHAVIOR referring to the humans' interference in nature's processes."

The effort appears to be part of a wider drive to counter opposition groups and other pro-reform factions that have been emboldened by the unprecedented protests after June's disputed presidential election. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi strongly attacked the Revolutionary Guard in a new statement Wednesday, accusing the elite corps of using brutal force to crush the massive street protests.

Authorities have recently emphasized the need to battle the reach of Western media, viewpoints and culture — which resonate strongly in a country where nearly half the population was born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Officials also have stepped up blocks on Internet links and closures of the few remaining liberal-leaning news outlets, while expanding state-run media arms and giving hard-liners more sway over education.

"Now, the enemy has put soft war on its agenda and THE TOP PRIORITY TODAY IS TO FIGHT THE SOFT WAR," Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on state television Wednesday during a meeting with Revolutionary Guard commanders and its affiliate paramilitary Basij forces.

The FDIC also said ITS FUND TO BACKSTOP DEPOSITS FELL INTO NEGATIVE TERRITORY for just the second time in its history, pushed down by a wave of bank failures. The decline in total loans showed how banks remain reluctant to lend, despite the hundreds of billions of dollars the government has spent to prop up ailing banks and jump-start lending. The issue has taken on greater urgency with the U.S. unemployment rate hitting 10.2% in October, even as the economy appears to be stabilizing.

"There is no question that credit availability is an important issue for the economic recovery," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair told reporters Tuesday. "We need to see banks making more loans to their business customers."She said large banks -- which account for 56% of industry assets and received a large share of the government's bailout funds -- accounted for 75% of the decline.

James Chessen, chief economist at the American Bankers Association, an industry trade group, said, "IT'S A VERY RISKY TIME FOR ANY LENDER BECAUSE THE PROBABILITY OF LOSS IS GREATER, and they are being prudent in their approach to lending. Their regulators are demanding it." The FDIC said its deposit-insurance fund, which backstops trillions of dollars in deposit accounts, FELL TO A NEGATIVE $8.2 BILLION AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER, an $18.6 billion drop from the end of June. The FDIC said one reason for the decrease was that the agency shifted $21.7 billion from the fund into reserves for bank failures over the next 12 months.

The move would follow a surge in bank lending in the first half of this year, encouraged by the central government under its broader 4 trillion yuan economic stimulus plan. But now the regulator, WORRIED ABOUT A LENDING BUBBLE, is cautioning banks to ensure their capital is adequate.

Three of the country's top four listed banks, Bank of China Ltd (601988.SS) (3988.HK), China Construction Bank (601939.SS) (0939.HK) and Bank of Communications (601328.SS) (3328.HK) have already started work on fundraising proposals, a source told Reuters on Monday. "There's no doubt there will be a massive wave of fund raising from Chinese banks, but the key question is when, where and how," said Fan Kunxiang, analyst at Haitong Securities Co. "If banks all rush to sell shares within a short period, it would unavoidably be a blow to the stock market."

The Chinese lenders aren't the only ones in Asia looking to raise capital. Japan's banks, for instance, could be raising tens of billions of dollars to meet stricter capital rules. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T), Japan's top bank, said last week it would raise $11 billion to meet coming regulations.

Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases in China's southern Guangdong province, said the presence of both viruses in China meant they could mix and become a monstrous hybrid - A BUG PACKED WITH STRONG KILLING POWER THAT CAN TRANSMIT EFFICIENTLY AMONG PEOPLE. "China, as you know, is different from other countries. Inside China, H5N1 has been existing for some time, so if there is really a reassortment between H1N1 and H5N1, it will be a disaster," Zhong said in an interview with Reuters Television.

"This is something we need to monitor, the change, the mutation of the virus. This is why reporting of the death rate must be really transparent." The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that H5N1 had erupted in poultry in Egypt, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, posing once again a threat to humans.

"First, it places those in direct contact with birds - usually rural folk and farm workers - at risk of catching the often-fatal disease. Second, the virus could undergo a process of 'reassortment' with another influenza virus and produce a completely new strain," it said. "The most obvious risk is of H5N1 combining with the pandemic... (H1N1) virus, PRODUCING A FLU VIRUS THAT IS AS DEADLY AS THE FORMER AND AS CONTAGIOUS AS THE LATTER."

The US earlier announced that President Obama would pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions in several stages, beginning with a 17% cut by 2020. However, BBC North America editor Mark Mardell says many environmentalists regard the US targets as disappointing.

UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said Mr Obama's presence in Copenhagen would "be critical to a good outcome". Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said that Mr Obama's visit "emphasises the president's will to contribute to an ambitious global deal in Copenhagen". President Obama will arrive at the summit on 9 December, two days after it opens. But he will not stay for the end of the 12-day meeting, when delegates are hoping to pull together a deal.

The UN summit aims to draw up a new treaty to supplant the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, although OBSERVERS SAY THIS IS UNLIKELY. Hu Jintao, president of the world's largest polluter, China, is yet to commit to attending. The US is the second largest polluter after China.

THE STATEMENT ROCKED CREDIT MARKETS AROUND THE WORLD and prompted analysts to question whether Dubai, the most populous of the United Arab Emirates, will be able to meet its obligations. The concern is that Nakheel will be unable to continue developing the Palm and neighbouring projects, leaving Dubai and its coastal waters an ugly, unfinished construction site.

When the 2,000 villas and townhouses on the Palm went on sale in 2002, they sold out in a month. Passing through en route to the World Cup in Japan and Korea were the England football team, and several players stopped off to sign up for £1 million properties on the artificial island, with Michael Owen, David James, Joe Cole, Andy Cole and Kieron Dyer, it was reported, joining Beckham on the beaches. Pitt and Angelina Jolie are also said to have bought homes.

Joe Cole was one of the few who got out in time. The Chelsea player sold his villa for about $3.5 million (£2.1 million) last summer as Dubai's property bubble approached bursting point. Altogether, THE DUBAI GOVERNMENT AND ITS COMPANIES HAVE MORE THAN $80 BILLION OF DEBT. The emirate, which has A POPULATION OF ONLY TWO MILLION, has been forced twice to approach its oil-rich neighbour in Abu Dhabi for the funds to bail it out. The federal Government has approved $15 billion in bonds and more will have to follow if Dubai's state-owned businesses are to survive until an economic recovery can take hold.

The study published as the Government embarks on a major review of the current restrictions on GM crops, suggests opponents are motivated by "ideological" considerations while others take a "pragmatic" line. It portrays those against the controversial technology as being sceptical about science in general, relying on "emotive language" to make their case, often drawn from "popular press slogans".

Campaigners dismissed the report as "patronising" and an attempt to "pigeonhole" opposition. But the study, carried out by a research group on behalf of the agency, is set to play a key role in a major national consultation exercise on possible changes to the current laws on GM crops. Opponents fear that the so-called "GM Dialogue" will be an attempt to soften up public opinion to efforts to lift restrictions on the technology. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that the findings would inform the Government's food strategy although rules on labelling and approving GM crops are set at European level.

Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association, said: "This Government-ordered exercise is a huge waste of public money designed to keep the GM industry quiet." Emma Hockridge, the group's policy manager, added: "THE LAST TIME THE PUBLIC WERE CONSULTED ON GM, THE MESSAGE WAS A LOUD AND CLEAR NO. THIS RESEARCH CLEARLY SHOWS THAT PEOPLE'S FEARS OVER THE TECHNOLOGY ARE STILL THERE, AND FOR GOOD REASON."

Parties also face demands to ensure at least half the MPs leaving Parliament at the next election - in what is expected to be the biggest exodus since 1945 - are replaced by women. The proposals have emerged from a crossparty review set up by former Commons Speaker Michael Martin - and taken forward by his successor, Mr Bercow - on how to make the chamber more representative.

In an interim report published yesterday, the panel said parties must be made to be more transparent about the people putting themselves forward as would-be MPs. The report said: 'The fact remains that, at present, the House of Commons continues to be largely white, male, middle-aged and middle-class: people from under-represented groups who are putting themselves forward for selection are still proportionately less likely to be selected.' The report goes on to call for half of the MPs leaving Parliament at next year's election to be replaced by women and to support a big increase in black, Asian, disabled and gay MPs.

But the proposals were condemned by Miss Widdecombe. She said: 'THE CONCEPT OF MERIT IS GOING OUT OF THE WINDOW. I don't care whether an MP is male or female, black or white, rich or poor, old or young. It doesn't matter. IT'S FRANKLY INSULTING BECAUSE IT SUGGESTS WOMEN AND ETHNIC MINORITIES CANNOT GET THERE ON THEIR OWN MERIT.'

The three, all members of the Navy's elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral's mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial. Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it. Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.

United States Central Command declined to discuss the detainee, but a legal source told FoxNews.com that the detainee was turned over to Iraqi authorities, to whom he made the abuse complaints. He was then returned to American custody. The SEAL leader reported the charge up the chain of command, and an investigation ensued.

They found that advertising aimed at consumers did not actually increase the use of the drug. However, because of the increased expenditure for advertising, the price of the drug increased, and so did the reimbursement cost of Plavix for Medicaid patients.

The researchers examined data from Medicaid programs in 27 states. Despite all of that advertising, the use of Plavix by patients in those states' programs did not change. More precisely, since Plavix sales were growing, THE AD CAMPAIGN DID NOT ACCELERATE THAT GROWTH.

HOWEVER, THE PRICE OF A PLAVIX PILL INCREASED BY 40 CENTS, OR 12%, AFTER THE AD CAMPAIGN BEGAN.

WORRIED ABOUT SOURING MORTGAGES AND OTHER TOXIC ASSETS, the more than 8,000 banks with deposits backed by the FDIC sharply raised the amount they set aside to cover loan losses, dampening their profitability. The agency keeps the names of banks on this list under wraps to protect them from debilitating runs by depositors, which could destabilize them further. However, the FDIC does publish aggregate figures derived from its examinations of their books.

Tough credit conditions persisted, with charge-offs and past-due loans reaching record highs, "and we expect that it will be at least a couple of more quarters before we see a meaningful improvement in that trend," said Chairman Sheila Bair in a statement. In response, banks are cutting back on making new loans, the FDIC said. Total loans and leases on their books fell 2.8% during the quarter.

The troubled bank list represents 6.8% of all banks covered by the FDIC's deposit insurance fund, which safeguards accounts with $250,000 or less. REGULATORS HAVE ALREADY CLOSED 124 BANKS THIS YEAR, including Colonial Bank, taken over by BB&T in August, which, with $25 billion in assets, RANKS AMONG THE BIGGEST BANKS' FAILURES IN US HISTORY.

It says much about BRITAIN'S RAPIDLY DISAPPEARING 'SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP' WITH AMERICA that when I happened to mention to some of our senior military officers that I was visiting Washington, they begged me to find out what the Obama administration was thinking about Afghanistan. It is not just that the transatlantic lines of communication, so strong just a few years ago, have fallen into disuse. There is now a feeling that, even if we reached the Oval Office, there would be no one willing to take Britain's call.

Why is it that the Foreign Office and our senior military commanders are as much in the dark as anyone else as to what the strategy for Afghanistan is to be? WE DON'T KNOW, BECAUSE MR OBAMA IS TOO BUSY COSYING UP TO HIS NEW CHUMS IN MOSCOW AND BEIJING TO TELL US. And as we stumble around in the policy darkness, there is the inevitable tendency to make it up as we go along.

There will, though, inevitably come a time when Obama discovers who America's true friends really are. Sooner or later he will have to deal with the considerably more taxing issues of Islamist militancy, rogue nuclear states and other tangible threats to the West's security. At that point, Obama will discover a simple but essential truth. The world divides between those who support American values of freedom and democracy, and those who seek to destroy them.

Few nations have been more committed to supporting those values with both blood and treasure than Britain. THIS COUNTRY, AND ESPECIALLY THOSE BRITISH TROOPS FIGHTING ALONGSIDE THEIR AMERICAN COUNTERPARTS, DESERVE FAR BETTER THAN THIS PRESIDENT'S DISREGARD.