The appointment will cause dismay among the Christian churches. Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams raised concerns over the prospect of a Muslim head of religious broadcasting during a meeting with the corporation's director general Mark Thompson in March. It comes at a time of deepening worries among Christian leaders that THEIR FAITH IS BEING SIDELINED AND DOWNGRADED BY AUTHORITIES.

Both Dr Williams and Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu have made repeated public complaints over the INDIFFERENCE AND OCCASIONAL HOSTILITY TO CHRISTIANITY shown in Whitehall and from other authorities. The Church of England points out that 70 PER CENT OF THE POPULATION OF BRITAIN PROFESSES TO BE CHRISTIAN, BUT ONLY 3 PER CENT ARE MUSLIMS.

Christina Rees, a member of the Church's 'Cabinet', the Archbishops' Council, said: 'It is important that the Christian faith continues to receive coverage that accurately reflects its significance in the lives of most people who live in Britain, the overwhelming majority of whom regard themselves as Christian.'

After eight years in which Egypt felt unappreciated and bullied by the Bush administration, Egyptian officials were gleeful about Cairo's selection last week for the president's address to the Muslim world. They said that IT PROVED EGYPT REMAINED THE CAPITAL OF THE ARAB WORLD and that it eased concerns that Washington might undermine its Arab allies in exchange for a grand deal with their rivals in Iran.

"The aptest choice was Cairo," the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Abul Gheit, told the state-owned daily newspaper Rose Al-Yousef. "IT IS THE CAPITAL OF MODERATION IN ISLAM AND THE CAPITAL OF CULTURAL SWAY IN THE ARAB AND MUSLIM WORLDS."

Still, President Obama's decision to address a deeply skeptical Arab audience from Cairo is fraught with potential land mines, according to political analysts, human rights advocates and government officials. He has selected an authoritarian state where political and economic reform has stalled under President Hosni Mubarak, 82, who has been in power for nearly 30 years.

People here want results, a challenge made all the more complicated for Mr. Obama by recent regional developments: the splintering of the Palestinian leadership; the empowerment of militant groups like Hezbollah and Hamas; lingering anger over Israel's offensive in Gaza; and the aggressive foreign policy of Iran. Still, THERE WILL BE AN EXPECTATION THAT MR. OBAMA DRIVE REAL CHANGES, initially by having Israel freeze settlements, dismantle checkpoints and open the crossings to Gaza, officials here said.

The King yesterday sidestepped reports that he had been asked by the Americans to clarify the Arab proposals on making East Jerusalem the capital of a Palestinian state and the Palestinian right of return, the two most contentious issues in Israel. Mr Netanyahu has frequently said these were not negotiable.

JERUSALEM WAS NOT AN INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM BUT AN "INTERNATIONAL SOLUTION", he insisted. A symbol of conflict for centuries, it was now desperately needed to become a symbol of hope. And hinting at the Arab demand for international control of the old city, he said that Islam, Christianity and Judaism should make it a "PILLAR FOR THE FUTURE OF THIS CENTURY".

He sensed a lot more understanding in these times of cultural and religious suspicions that "JERUSALEM COULD BE THE BINDER THAT WE NEED". The Pope's visit, he said, was timely. HIS SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE WITH A MESSAGE OF PEACE sent a signal of hope to back up the reconciliation that politicians in the region were planning. "It is all part of one major effort."

He saw Mr Netanyahu's meeting with President Obama next week as the turning point: "A lot is on his shoulders as he goes to Washington." THE KING SAID THAT MR OBAMA WAS COMMITTED TO THE TWO-STATE SOLUTION, WHICH HAD TO BE IMPLEMENTED NOW.

In a direct appeal to the Israeli public, he said they could either do a deal THAT WOULD LEAD TO PEACE AND RECOGNITION BY THE 57 MUSLIM COUNTRIES — A THIRD OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION; or they could maintain "Fortress Israel" for another ten years, which would be a calamity for everyone. The alternative was bleak — war, death and destruction. The King added: "THIS IS A CRITICAL MOMENT."

Obama makes repeated allusions to his own biography, which is not only rooted in the Christian world. "I HAVE MUSLIMS IN MY FAMILY. I HAVE LIVED IN A MUSLIM-MAJORITY COUNTRY," is something he has said many times. His core message to the Muslim world, which he reiterated on his recent visit to Turkey, is that the US "is not at war with Islam."

HOWEVER THIS POLICY OF DÉTENTE HAS LED TO AN INCREASE IN TENSIONS WITH ISRAEL. From his first day in office Obama made it clear to the government in Jerusalem that HE WOULD NOT BE CONTINUING GEORGE W. BUSH'S OVERLY FRIENDLY POLICY. Now Obama wants to revive it and he is doing so by keeping his distance from Israel. THE OUTING OF ISRAEL AS A NUCLEAR POWER was just the pinnacle of a strategy that is aimed at giving America back its capability to act in the Middle East.

THE WHITE HOUSE HAD ALREADY MADE IT CLEAR THAT IT WOULD BE MAKING DEMANDS ON THE ISRAELIS. The new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should make sure there is a complete halt to the building of settlements in the West Bank. During his recent visit to Turkey, Obama declared that the US "STRONGLY SUPPORTS THE GOAL OF TWO STATES, ISRAEL AND PALESTINE, LIVING SIDE BY SIDE IN PEACE AND SECURITY." Ever since, relations between the US and Israel have become decidedly frosty. Israeli Environment Minister Gilad Erdan even went so far as to say that "Israel does not take orders from Obama." THE OLD FRIENDS HAVE NEVER SEEMED SO FAR APART.

There are, however, many who find it difficult to understand the harsh tone toward Jerusalem and the more indulgent one toward Tehran. US historian Jeffrey Herf, who has close ties to the US Democrats, says THAT THE POLICY THE WHITE HOUSE IS PURSUING IS BOTH "NAÏVE AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS."

International coffee prices last week hit a seven-month high, rising to $1.28 per pound, up 22 per cent from their December low, in New York trading. Meanwhile, the spot price of Colombian coffee – which commands a premium because it is sought by gourmets – jumped to almost $2.20 a pound, a 12-year high, due to supply constraints. THE CROP IN COLOMBIA WAS DAMAGED BY HEAVY RAINS and the scarcity of supplies from the country is now "absolute", says Néstor Osorio, head of the International Coffee Organisation.

Separately, sugar prices in New York and London rose last week to their highest in almost three years. White sugar prices rose above $450 a tonne, a 52 per cent gain from mid-December, as traders bet that India, the world's largest consumer, will REQUIRE HEFTY IMPORTS TO COMPENSATE FOR THE FAILURE OF THE LOCAL CROP. Swings in Indian sugar output, which move the country back and forth from exporter to importer, are a critical factor in global prices. Traders forecast that the country's output will drop 40 per cent to about 15m tonnes in the 2008-09 season, well below the country's consumption of about 23m tonnes a year.

Budget office figures released Monday would add $89 billion to the 2009 red ink - increasing it to more than four times last year's all-time high as the government hands out billions more than expected for people who have lost jobs and takes in less tax revenue from people and companies making less money.

The unprecedented deficit figures flow from the deep recession, the Wall Street bailout and the cost of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus bill - as well as a seemingly embedded structural imbalance between what the government spends and what it takes in.

As the economy performs worse than expected, the deficit for the 2010 budget year beginning in October will worsen by $87 billion to $1.3 trillion, the White House says. The deterioration reflects lower tax revenues and higher costs for bank failures, unemployment benefits and food stamps.

Asked whether Pakistan would tell US intelligence officials where all its nuclear weapons are located, to allow for a joint strategy to keep them secure, Zardari said Pakistan is a sovereign country. "Why don't you do the same with other countries yourself?" Zardari said in the interview taped May 7. "I think this is a sovereignty issue, and we have a right to our own sovereignty."

President Barack Obama said last month that, while Pakistan's civilian government is "very fragile," he is confident that the country's nuclear arsenal is secure. He also said that Pakistan's military is taking the threat of internal enemies seriously and recognizes the hazard of nuclear weapons "falling into the wrong hands. We have confidence in their security procedures and elements and believe that the security of those sites is adequate," General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, said today on "Fox News Sunday."

EUobserver notes that "Merkel did not specify to whom her comments were addressed, but they were largely understood AS TARGETING THE BRITISH CONSERVATIVES AND THEIR LEADER, DAVID CAMERON." The meeting was also attended by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, marking the first time a French politician has campaigned in Germany ahead of an election, with Merkel expected to pay a return visit to France before the end of the month.

EUobserver quotes Sarkozy saying, "Angela Merkel is right... With Angela Merkel we want a Europe with institutions worthy of the name. Europe cannot keep changing presidents every six months [and] agreeing on the minimum, while the world expects it to agree on the maximum." Merkel and Sarkozy also repeated their opposition to further EU enlargement, in particular to Turkey. "We cannot take in everyone in Europe as a full member," said Merkel.

Le Monde notes that Paris and Berlin are concerned by the "INCREASINGLY EUROSCEPTIC TONE" OF THE CONSERVATIVES and their decision to leave the European People's Party grouping in the European Parliament.

Taking the podium after the pope without being on the original list of speakers scheduled for the evening, Tamimi accused Israel of murdering women and children in Gaza and making Palestinians refugees, and declared Jerusalem the eternal Palestinian capital. Following the diatribe and before the meeting was officially over, the pope exited the premises. Army Radio reported that the pope shook Tamimi's hand before walking out.

Minutes after the embarrassing occurrence, Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See press office, released a response to the incident. "The intervention of Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi was not previewed by the organizers of the interreligious meeting that took place at Notre Dame Centre in Jerusalem," the message read. "In a meeting dedicated to dialogue, this intervention was a direct negation of what [it] should be," it continued.

"We hope that such an incident will not damage the mission of the Holy Father AIMING AT PROMOTING PEACE AND INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE, as he has clearly affirmed in many occasions in this pilgrimage," Father Lombardi added.

He will be taken by helicopter to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem after being met at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport by the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, and prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. But he will not visit the museum itself. One exhibit includes a photograph of the Pope's wartime predecessor, Pius XII, with a caption accusing him of remaining silent in the face of the Holocaust.

During his three days in Jordan, he was warmly received by King Abdullah but failed to satisfy the demands of Islamist groups who expected him to apologise for a long-standing row over a speech he gave in Germany three years ago. Attitudes in Israel are even more ambivalent. He was a member of the Hitler Youth in the war, though he has said he had no choice but to join. He also lifted the excommunication of a British bishop who had been accused of denying the Holocaust.

He insists that his tour is principally an act of pilgrimage, and also intended to act as a focus of hope for the region's dwindling Christian population.

The figure is higher than 2007, when it just hit 50 per cent, and consistent with a steady upwards trend since the Government started its controversial Teenage Pregnancy Strategy in 1999. Figures out on May 21 will also show that for the first time the number of abortions performed on women living in England and Wales topped 200,000.

The teenage pregnancy strategy, which has cost taxpayers more than £300million, was meant to halve the number of conceptions among girls under 18 in England between 1998 and 2010. Ministers have tried to slash teenage pregnancies by freely handing out contraceptives and expanding sex education. But the fall in pregnancy rates has not met Government targets, and in 2007 the rate actually rose.

Critics labelled the Government scheme the 'Teenage Abortion Strategy'. Tory MP Julian Brazier said: 'This is A FURTHER SICKENING INDICATOR OF A SOCIETY THAT HAS BROKEN DOWN AND LOST ITS MORAL COMPASS.' Phyllis Bowman, of the Right to Life group, said: 'CONTRACEPTION CAMPAIGNERS AND CLINICS DEPEND FOR THEIR LIVING ON PROVIDING CONTRACEPTION AND ABORTION TO UNDERAGE GIRLS. The Government listens to them, but they are responsible for this disaster.'

'We have the highest level of sexually transmitted disease in Europe and the highest level of sexual activity among teenagers in Europe. Unicef says we have the unhappiest teenagers in Europe. The young have been deliberately sexualised in A CULTURE WHICH SNEERS AT THE IDEA OF TELLING TEENAGERS THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE SEX.'

A US official this week broke a long-standing taboo by REFERRING TO ISRAEL'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS in a speech at the United Nations, and Joe Biden, vice-president, delivered a message to the biggest US pro-Israel lobby group that he warned they were "not going to like".

Mr Netanyahu is due in Washington on May 18 for talks with Mr Obama, who is also due to meet the Egyptian and Palestinian leaders. A clearer picture of administration policy will not emerge until after that round of meetings. However, Mr Biden set the tone last week when he told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) Israel had to work towards a two-state solution.

He told the lobby group's annual conference: "You're not going to like my saying this, but [Israel should] not build more settlements, dismantle existing outposts, and allow the Palestinians freedom of movement… " On the same day, Rose Gottemoeller, US assistant secretary of state, told a non-proliferation meeting at the UN: "Universal adherence to the NPT [nuclear non-proliferation treaty] – including by India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea – remains a fundamental objective of the United States."

Urging the four non-signatory nuclear weapon states to join the worldwide treaty did not represent a radical change in policy from previous administrations, but one expert said naming Israel marked a "major shift". Since the US discovered Israel's nuclear weapons programme in the 1960s, Israel has consistently refused publicly to confirm or deny that it has a nuclear arsenal.

"This is a very big issue to take on," Stephen P. Cohen, a former Middle East adviser to the US National Intelligence Council told the Financial Times. He said encouraging Israel at least to acknowledge the existence of its nuclear weapons might be part of a strategy to persuade Iran to be more forthcoming and even to claim some credit if it led to reducing nuclear tension in the Middle East.

The monarch does not conceal his feelings about the Israeli leader. He described their last encounter – 10 years ago when he had just come to the throne – as the "least pleasant" of his reign. But he, and President Mubarak of Egypt, are expected to meet the Israeli leader before his trip to Washington, where the future course of the region could be decided.

The King said that he was prepared to believe what Israelis have told him — that a right-wing Government in Israel is better able to deliver peace than the Left. "All eyes will be looking to Washington," he said. "If there are no clear signals and no clear directives to all of us, THERE WILL BE A FEELING THAT THIS IS JUST ANOTHER AMERICAN GOVERNMENT THAT IS GOING TO LET US ALL DOWN."

If Israel procrastinated on a two-state solution, or if there was no clear American vision on what should happen this year, the "tremendous credibility" that Mr Obama had built up in the Arab world would evaporate overnight. And IF PEACE NEGOTIATIONS WERE DELAYED, THERE WOULD BE ANOTHER CONFLICT BETWEEN ARABS OR MUSLIMS AND ISRAEL IN THE NEXT 12-18 MONTHS, with implications far beyond the Middle East. "If the call is in May that this is not the right time or we are not interested, then the world is going to be sucked into another conflict in the Middle East," the King said.

Jerusalem was not an international problem but an "international solution", he insisted. A symbol of conflict for centuries, it was now desperately needed to become a symbol of hope. And hinting at the Arab demand for international control of the old city, he said that Islam, Christianity and Judaism should make it a "pillar for the future of this century". He sensed a lot more understanding in these times of cultural and religious suspicions that "Jerusalem could be the binder that we need". The Pope's visit, he said, was timely. His spiritual pilgrimage with a message of peace sent a signal of hope to back up the reconciliation that politicians in the region were planning. "It is all part of one major effort."

Emphasising again the urgency now felt by all Arab governments of making the most of Mr Obama's commitment to a settlement, he said this was a final opportunity. "I think we're going to have to do a lot of shuttle diplomacy, get people to a table in the next couple of months to get a solution". THE ALTERNATIVE WAS BLEAK — WAR, DEATH AND DESTRUCTION. THE KING ADDED: "THIS IS A CRITICAL MOMENT."

I was at the dinner and I began by laughing at Sykes's gentle teases about the press loving Obama so much they never capture him on film smoking but often seem to get him on the beach. But the speech took a very ugly turn when she laid into Limbaugh. This is what she said: "Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails, so you're saying, 'I hope America fails', you're, like, 'I don't care about people losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq'. HE JUST WANTS THE COUNTRY TO FAIL. TO ME, THAT'S TREASON".

"He's not saying anything differently than what Osama bin Laden is saying. You know, you might want to look into this, sir, because I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on OxyContin he missed his flight." She then concluded: "Rush Limbaugh, I hope the country fails, I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? He needs a good waterboarding, that's what he needs." OBAMA SEEMED TO THINK THIS BIT WAS PRETTY HILARIOUS, GRINNING AND CHUCKLING AND TURNING TO SHARE THE "JOKE" WITH THE PERSON SITTING ON HIS RIGHT.

There's not much room for differing interpretations of what Sykes said. SHE CALLED LIMBAUGH A TERRORIST AND A TRAITOR, SUGGESTED THAT HE BE TORTURED AND WISHED HIM DEAD. WHAT WAS HIS CRIME? HOPING THAT OBAMA'S POLICIES - WHICH HE VIEWS AS SOCIALIST - WILL FAIL. Imagine if a comedian "joked" that Obama was a terrorist who was guilty of treason and should be tortured and allowed to die. There would justifiably be an outcry.

But when the "joke" comes from a liberal, Obama-supporting comedienne and the target is A RIGHT-WINGER then the likes of Hilary Rosen and Donna Brazile are on CNN saying it's just comedy and Limbaugh is "fair game" - And Obama laughing when someone wishes Limbaugh dead? Hard to take from the man who promised a new era of civility and elevated debate in Washington.

The combined value of these two European Space Agency programmes is 1.9bn euros (£1.7bn; $2.5bn). More than that, the effort put into the missions by some scientists and engineers stretches back over 20 years. The destination for both telescopes is a remarkable position in space known as the second Lagrangian point (L2).

It is one of five gravitational "sweet-spots" around the Sun-Earth system where satellites can maintain station by making relatively few orbital corrections. L2 is some 1.5 million km from Earth on its "night side". The observatories will circle this point, keeping the Earth and our star in a near-straight line. Currently, only one spacecraft inhabits L2: the US space agency's WMAP probe.

In the years ahead, however, many more astronomical spacecraft will choose to sit at this location because of the very stable conditions it enjoys. It does not experience, for example, the big swings in temperature and light endured by space telescopes positioned much closer to Earth. That is very important for Herschel and Planck which will both be investigating aspects of the "cold Universe". It will take a little over six weeks to get both telescopes into their final science orbits. The super-satellites can then be handed over to the world's researchers.

PLANCK SPACE TELESCOPE
Planck will need three correction manoeuvres in total
Planck will survey the famous Cosmic Microwave Background
This ancient light's origins date to 380,000 years after the Big Bang
It informs scientists about the age, shape and evolution of the cosmos
Planck's measurements will be finer than any previous satellite

HERSCHEL SPACE TELESCOPE
The Herschel concept has been in development for over 20 years
The observatory is tuned to see the Universe in the infrared
Its 3.5m diameter mirror will be the largest ever flown in space
Herschel can probe clouds of gas and dust to see stars being born
It will investigate how galaxies have evolved through time