Delegates largely backed a US-led climate deal which included limiting temperature rises to less than 2C. But the 193-nation summit ended with delegates taking "note" of the deal. The accord, reached between the US, China and a small group of other countries, was recognised by delegates on Saturday afternoon. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the agreement must be made legally binding next year.

The pact did not win unanimous support, amid opposition from some developing nations. Mr Miliband said "sticking points" had led four or five countries to almost "dump the agreement completely" at 4am on Saturday morning. He said he had been in his hotel room, "in his underwear", when he was called back for "hours of wrangling" to stop a deal being blocked.

He said some developing countries, such as China, did not want targets to be under international legally-binding obligations. "They have doubts about whether we should, as a world, commit to a kind of bigger target, to say, for example - as the scientists say - we should cut our carbon emissions by 50% by 2050."

The "mass" throng actually consisted of only 200 Jews, but the reports set off panic among Arabs and left Jews outside the site as police blocked their entrance, as has happened several times in the past after Arab clerics spread fears of a "Jewish takeover." A spokesman for the activists said, "THE POLICE PROVIDED NO REASON FOR THEIR ARBITRARY DECISION. At one point police claimed that the Mount was closed due to the Moslem new year, which occurs on Friday and not on Thursday."

UPI reported that the planned "pilgrimage" would test the "shaky calm" in Jerusalem and quoted a report that Jewish activists" intentions to ascend the Temple Mount were interpreted by Arab clerics as "as a plan to invade the site or build a synagogue there." The news agency also recalled riots during the Sukkot holiday in October, when Arabs also spread rumors of a "Jewish takeover."

This was a comparison made by Benedict XVI today when he addressed a delegation from Belgium, which provided the Christmas tree for St Peter's Square this year. "In the forest," the pope said, "the trees are close together and each one of them contributes to making the forest a shadowy, sometimes dark, place."

"But here," he continued, "chosen from among this multitude, the majestic tree that you offered us is today lit up and COVERED WITH BRILLIANT DECORATIONS that are like so many marvelous fruits. Leaving aside its dark garments for a brilliant explosion, it has been transfigured, becoming a beacon of light that is not its own, but rather gives testimony to the true Light that comes to this world," the Pope suggested.

Benedict XVI said the Christmas tree, in its spot beside the Nativity scene, "shows in its own way the presence of the great mystery present in the simple and poor site of Bethlehem. To the inhabitants of Rome, to all the pilgrims, to all who will go to St Peter's Square by way of the televisions of the whole world, it proclaims the coming of the Son of God."

THE TREE IS DECORATED IN GOLD AND WHITE - THE COLORS OF THE VATICAN.

Though we ought to have that freedom as a matter of course, it would be more use as a deterrent than in practice. The solution lies in a political change at the top – THE EXPULSION FROM GOVERNMENT OF THE SOCIALISTS AND LIBERALS who have taken over all three major parties and driven justice from our country.

THIS LIBERAL ELITE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT BURGLARY IS WRONG, so they won't punish burglars properly. They think burglars steal because they are deprived, or because they were abused as children, or because they cannot get 'treatment' for their disgusting criminal drug habits. SO MANY OF OUR LEADERS NOW ARE UNREPENTANT ILLEGAL DRUG-TAKERS THEMSELVES THAT THEY SHOULDN'T BE TRUSTED NEAR THE MAKING OF LAWS.

The comments by Zhu Min, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, referred to the overall situation globally, not specifically to China, the biggest foreign holder of US government bonds. CHINESE OFFICIALS GENERALLY ARE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT COMMENTING ON THE DOLLAR AND TREASURIES, GIVEN THAT SO MUCH OF ITS US$2.3 TRILLION RESERVES are tied to their value, and markets always watch any such comments closely for signs of any shift in how it manages its assets.

China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange reaffirmed this month that the dollar stands secure as the anchor of the currency reserves it manages, even as the country seeks to diversify its investments. In a discussion on the global role of the dollar, Zhu told an academic audience that IT WAS INEVITABLE THAT THE DOLLAR WOULD CONTINUE TO FALL in value because Washington continued to issue more Treasuries to finance its deficit spending.

He then addressed where demand for that debt would come from. "The US current account deficit is falling as residents' savings increase, so its trade turnover is falling, which means the US is supplying fewer dollars to the rest of the world," he added. "THE WORLD DOES NOT HAVE SO MUCH MONEY TO BUY MORE US TREASURIES."

Officials from both countries have said they want a diplomatic solution. The Iranian troops are believed to have now left the Fakkah oil field, which is close to the Iranian border. Similar incidents have happened before along the border, which has never been properly defined since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s - although relations between the two neighbours are now cordial.

"All of us are concerned about the influence of Iran," Adm Mullen told a news conference in Baghdad. "I worry a great deal about Iran's view of destabilising this region as well and specifically… focusing on an oil field." He continued: "But my understanding is this is sovereign Iraqi territory and is something for leaders in Iraq to resolve."

Earlier, Iran's armed forces apparently confirmed the incursion, in a statement quoted by Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam satellite television. "Our forces are on our own soil and, based on the known international borders, this well belongs to Iran," they said. Oil prices rose on Friday amid reports about the commandeered well in Maysan province.

In a statement released last week, the Europol police agency said Europe's cap-and-trade system has been the victim of organized crime during the past 18 months, RESULTING IN LOSSES OF ROUGHLY $7.4 BILLION. The agency, headquartered in the Netherlands, estimated that in some countries up to 90 percent of the entire market volume was caused by fraudulent activities.

"These criminal activities endanger the credibility of the European Union Emission Trading System and lead to the loss of significant tax revenue for governments," Rob Wainwright, Europol's director, said in a statement. Launched in 2005, the Emission Trading System seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions - which many scientists believe contribute to global warming - by allocating carbon pollution allowances to member states to fulfill its obligations under the UN's Kyoto Protocol. Companies that emit less than their allowance can sell the difference on the trading market to firms that exceed their established limits.

But, according to a diagram of the scheme provided by Europol officials, the accused traders would open an account in a national carbon registry and then purchased emission allowances without value added taxes from other companies in other countries. Those allowances were then transferred to the country where they were registered before the accused trader moves them to an unregulated broker, selling the allowances on a trading exchange, often through various buffer companies. Finally, the accused trader charges the value added tax on the transaction but does not submit that money to authorities.

The detective said companies should anticipate a shooting and hostage-taking raid "involving a small number of gunmen with handguns and improvised explosive devices". The warning — the bluntest issued by police — has underlined an assessment that A TERRORIST CELL MAY BE PREPARING AN ATTACK ON LONDON EARLY NEXT YEAR.

During a "commando-style" raid by 10 gunmen on hotels and cafes in Mumbai in November 2008, 174 people were killed and more than 300 injured over three days. OFFICIALS NOW REPORT AN INCREASE IN "INTELLIGENCE CHATTER" — COMMUNICATIONS CAPTURED BY ELECTRONIC EAVESDROPPING AGENCIES. One senior security adviser said the police warnings had intensified and become much more specific over the past two weeks.

After intense overnight wrangling, delegates from 192 countries on Saturday passed a motion simply "noting" a loose deal aimed at limiting temperature rises to less than 2C, which was agreed by the US and four other large-scale polluting nations.

However, critics warned the "Copenhagen Accord", the result of two weeks of negotiations in the Danish capital, was full of holes and lacked a timetable – AND ENVIRONMENT AGENCIES BRANDED IT TOOTHLESS AND A FAILURE. A new United Nations-backed conference could be held in Mexico in the first half of 2010, several months earlier than planned, sources suggested.

FOX NEWS - The global warming debate appears as polarized as you can get: One side fears environmental ruin unless we quickly cut carbon emissions even if that severely disrupts our way of life. The other predicts ECONOMIC RUIN FROM TRILLION-DOLLAR PLANS TO RE-ORDER THE GLOBAL ECONOMY AND REDISTRIBUTE THE WORLD'S WEALTH.

The politically sensitive strikes Thursday, first reported by ABC News, supplement efforts already under way by the government of Yemen to go after Al Qaeda in the country, the officials told Fox News, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the operation.

Such an operation is particularly sensitive in Yemen. "It's very difficult for Yemen to ask the US for help given the nature of their population and its views about the West," one official said. "And the US doesn't want to compromise their ability to ask for help." The United States has faced similar concerns in Pakistan, where reports of US drone attacks on militants are common - but never acknowledged publicly by the US or by Pakistan.

In the new attacks, cruise missiles on Obama's orders hit a suspected Al Qaeda training camp north of Sanaa, the capital, and another site, where terrorists were thought to be plotting an attack on the US, ABC News reported, citing unnamed administration officials. A Yemeni official contacted by ABC News insisted that the attacks were carried out by Yemen, not the United States. Yemeni forces also reportedly have targeted Al Qaeda in raids conducted at three locations.

THAT MEANS MILITANTS HAVE THE ABILITY TO SEE THROUGH THE EYES OF ALL KINDS OF COMBAT AIRCRAFT — from traditional fighters and bombers to unmanned spy planes. The problem is in the process of being addressed. But for now, AN ENORMOUS SECURITY BREACH IS EVEN LARGER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT.

The military initially developed the Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver, or ROVER, in 2002. The idea was let troops on the ground download footage from Predator drones and AC-130 gunships as it was being taken. Since then, nearly every airplane in the American fleet — from F-16 and F/A-18 fighters to A-10 attack planes to Harrier jump jets to B-1B bombers has been outfitted with equipment that lets them transmit to ROVERs. Thousands of ROVER terminals have been distributed to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But those early units were "fielded so fast that it was done with an unencrypted signal. It could be both intercepted (e.g. hacked into) and jammed," e-mails an Air Force officer with knowledge of the program. In a presentation last month before a conference of the Army Aviation Association of America, a military official noted that the current ROVER terminal "receives only unencrypted L, C, S, Ku [satellite] bands." So the same SECURITY BREACH THAT ALLOWED INSURGENTS TO USE SATELLITE DISHES AND $26 SOFTWARE TO INTERCEPT DRONE FEEDS can be used the tap into the video transmissions of any plane.

That compares with bailout costs worth just 30 per cent of gross domestic product in the Euro Zone and 50 per cent in the United States. The staggering numbers, contained in the Bank's biannual Financial Stability Report, underline the terrible price the British public has paid following a binge of risk-taking in the City.

The official aid includes injections of cash into banks, state guarantees of their debts, and central bank interventions. And despite receiving such vast quantities of taxpayer help, banks' finances remain hugely over-stretched and vulnerable to economic setbacks, the report warned. The Euro Zone figures are an average, which hides variations in the state aid between individual countries. BUT BRITISH LENDERS WILL HAVE TO FIND THE MONEY TO RE-FINANCE £1TRILLION OF THEIR DEBTS IN THE COMING YEARS.

Similar discussions, it appears, have also been taking place for several months inside the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the world's current environmental watchdog.

According to documents obtained by Fox News, a high-level group of dignitaries from 38 countries, including a bevy of environment ministers and other top environmental bureaucrats, held their first meeting under UNEP auspices last June in the Serbian capital of Belgrade to begin hammering out details of the task of "IMPROVING INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE."

The so-called Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janiero in 1992, is universally regarded as the kick-start to environmental activism that has culminated in the Copenhagen effort to drastically cut global carbon emissions and also begin a dramatic re-ordering of the world economy. "THE SCALE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE MANDATES US TO ACT SWIFTLY," Steiner declared, according to a copy of his speaking notes obtained by Fox News.

US President Barack Obama will join more than 120 other world leaders on the final day of the climate talks, designed to strike a deal to boost international efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions widely blamed for heating up the planet. The draft still under discussion proposed limiting a rise in global average temperatures to within two degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, the sources, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.

Low-lying countries worried about rising seas want a tougher target of 1.5 degrees. Temperatures have already risen half that level over the past century, the UN climate panel says. Two sources said the draft pledged rich countries to donate $100 billion annually by 2020 to poor nations to help them adapt their economies and cope with climate change that threatens to bring chaotic weather and crop failures.

But any deal will have to be agreed by unanimity. Some small island states and African nations - most vulnerable to climate change - say they will not agree a weak deal. "We are moving out of the valley of death. We are beginning to see the outlines of a compromise, helped by the US offer on finance," said Kim Carstensen, head of the WWF environmental group's global climate initiative

However, it said the commercial banks still had to do more to improve their long-term stability. The Bank is spending £200bn under QE to boost lending in the banking sector. The Bank is using new money to buy assets from banks and other companies, in order to stimulate both bank lending and the wider economy in general.

It cautioned that the banks would still need further time to recover from the crisis in the financial system, and that in the meantime, they "remain vulnerable to the risk of less than expected economic recovery". It added that the root cause of the crisis in the global financial sector over the past year had been "excessive risk-taking in the upswing of the credit cycle and insufficient resilience in the subsequent downturn".

The Bank said these two factors had to be tackled to prevent a similar crisis happening again in the future.