That is one of the main problems facing Clinton on A SEVEN-NATION JAUNT MEANT VARIOUSLY TO SPREAD WASHINGTON'S GOOD GOVERNANCE MESSAGE and shore up relationships with its key oil suppliers on the continent. US officials are keen to trumpet a 28 percent jump in 2008 in trade with sub-Saharan Africa to $104 billion, even if the increase is attributable mainly to the high price of oil, which accounts for more than 80 percent of US imports from Africa.

However, there is another statistic that says more about the direction of development on the poorest continent: THIS DECADE'S TENFOLD INCREASE IN TRADE WITH CHINA TO $107 BILLION LAST YEAR, NARROWLY ECLIPSING THE UNITED STATES.

The financial and then economic crisis that has pushed US and European economies into recession and forced their companies to crimp overseas expansion is only likely to accelerate the trend, analysts say, despite the regional goodwill toward US President Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan.

Producers, supermarkets and consumers are being encouraged to submit their ideas on how a secure food system in the UK should look in 2030. Some of the findings are expected to be published in the autumn. As well as launching the consultation process, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published a scorecard-style assessment of the current state of the UK's food supply.

"It is to stimulate a debate within the UK on what a food policy should be, and how do we define and look at food security more broadly," said Defra's chief scientific adviser Professor Robert Watson. "Food is absolutely essential, and over the past few years we did see a food price increase - not only in the UK, but across the globe," he told BBC News.

"We think it is time to have a debate with consumers, farmers, the private sector... on what the food policy should be for the UK. We are clearly food secure in the UK today," he observed. "We produce about 60-65% of our own food [and] import about 20% from Europe. So the [test] for us will be, as the Earth's climate changes, what will be the challenges not only in the UK but throughout the world?"

While the Bank of England expanded its quantitative easing plan to £175 billion on Thursday, comments from Fed officials suggest the US central bank's $300-billion program to buy longer-dated Treasuries is likely to expire on schedule in September. Investors are already pricing in a chance of an interest rate hike as early as December with some arguing that the Fed's efforts to mend credit markets have sown seeds for inflation.

The Federal Reserve meets on Tuesday and Wednesday to review the outlook for growth. The Fed is seen opting not to prolong Treasury buying, while officials are expected to reinforce their message of no imminent exit from bold policy steps to end the US recession.

But the authors warn that such attempts to control the climate could also cause major changes in precipitation. They want the effect on rainfall to be assessed before any action is taken.

Gabriele Hegerl of the Grant Institute at University of Edinburgh and Susan Solomon of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at Boulder, Colorado, write that "if geo-engineering studies focus too heavily on warming, critical risks associated with such possible "cures" will not be evaluated appropriately". They argue that climate change is about much more than changes in temperature. So using temperature alone to monitor the effects of geo-engineering could be dangerous.

They cite the powerful effects on rainfall of volcanic eruptions which also prevent solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface, albeit by throwing up dust rather than reflecting the radiation back into space. For example in 1991, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo not only reduced global temperatures but also led to increases in drought. The pair correlated 20th Century weather records with data for the increase in greenhouse gases and dates for major volcanic eruptions.

The so-called English and Welsh Defence League and Casuals United formed after British soldiers were abused by Islamic radicals at a homecoming parade in Luton earlier this year. But Unite Against Fascism claim that the Casuals are made up of members of far-right groups and had planned to cause racial unrest in the city.

Two people were injured, according to West Midlands Police, and there were several reports of criminal damage including a car. A force spokesman said the majority of the arrests were for disorder. Scores of officers were involved in policing the rival protests, which had gathered near Birmingham's Bullring shopping complex around 7pm. Gary Nichols watched the disturbances from his city centre flat and said he was unable to go outside for about two and a half hours.

He told the BBC: 'It started off with a group of white guys who were chanting, 'England, England'. I thought they were just football fans, but then a larger group of black and Asian people turned up and it all kicked off. You had people burning the Union flag. People were being kicked - some of them weren't anything to do with the protests.'

The most widely eaten species is known locally as Kapuku, gray in color and with a shorter tail than the more common rat. The mouth of the pot is smeared with fried corn husks. As some of the mice fight for the husks, they fall into the pot and drown. Malawi, with a population of 12 million, is among the poorest countries in the world, with rampant disease and hunger, aggravated by periodic droughts and crop failure.

"What we would do is TAKE THIS WHEAT FIELD AND RESTORE IT TO A NATIVE GRASSLAND which would sequester carbon from the atmosphere which we could potentially sell," said Sutton, an environmental specialist with the city. Potential projects in the emerging carbon market are sprouting like wheat after a good rain across the United States in anticipation of "cap and trade" provisions in a climate bill that has narrowly passed the US House of Representatives but could see significant revision in the Senate.

They could be part of a strategy to meet the bill's current target to cut US greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent of 2005 levels by 2020. A cap and trade inspired market in Europe has been in place since 2005 and is the biggest by far. Carbon trading and projects are already underway in various versions in the United States and contribute to a global voluntary market that last year saw turnover more than double to $705 million, according to Ecosystem Marketplace and New Carbon Finance, which track such trends.

But some environmentalists feel trading in pollution is ultimately a ruse. "By using offsets, industry will be able to sidestep emissions reductions. It is a get out of jail free card," says Damon Moglen, the Global Warming Campaign Director for environment group Greenpeace. Trees store carbon while they grow and release it back into the atmosphere when they rot. So in the vocabulary of carbon markets a healthy forest is a "carbon sink." Tree growth in the United States currently sucks up about 12 percent of the country's greenhouse gas emissions — a huge total.

The lengthy quake, felt across the capital just before 8 pm (7 am EDT), prompted railway services to halt some high-speed services briefly while tracks were checked, national broadcaster NHK said, but there were no immediate reports of damage. The tremor was centred 340 km (210 miles) deep under the sea south of Tokyo but, based on a Japanese scale of ground shaking from the Japan Meteorological Agency, it was unlikely there was much damage.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. In October 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck the Niigata region in northern Japan, killing 65 people and injuring more than 3,000.

But rising levels of immigration from Muslim countries and low birth rates among Europe's indigenous population mean that, by 2050, the figure will be 20 per cent, according to forecasts.

The UK, which currently has 20 million fewer people than Germany, is also projected to be the EU's most populous country by 2060, with 77 million people. The findings have led to allegations that policy-makers are failing to confront the widespread challenges of the "demographic time bomb".

Experts say that there has been a lack of debate on how the population changes will affect areas of life from education and housing to foreign policy and pensions. Although some polls have pointed to a lack of radicalisation in the Muslim community, little attention is being given to the integration of migrants, it is claimed, WITH FEARS OF SOCIAL UNREST IN YEARS TO COME.

A working paper delivered recently by the Vatican to the leaders of American nuns was interpreted by many as a sign that the hierarchy in Rome is worried about A LIBERAL DRIFT AMONG THEM. The sisters are increasingly anxious about what that might mean. Nuns once worked mainly in Roman Catholic schools and hospitals, but since the sweeping reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the late 1960s they have decided for themselves how best to do good in the world.

But many nuns believe the investigation is intended to rein them in, while others warn that a male hierarchy wants to regain control of them as women and as a free workforce. There could be consequences for those who disappoint the Vatican.

Some 473,000 residents of Zhejiang province have been evacuated as well as 480,000 from Fujian, Xinhua reports. More than 35,000 boats have been called to shore. MORAKOT DUMPED 2.5M OF RAIN ON TAIWAN as it crossed the island. The flooding in Taiwan was the worst to hit some of the southern counties in half a century.

Morakot has also contributed to heavy rains in the Philippines, where at least 10 people were killed in flooding and landslides in the north. Provincial authorities have sent more than 8m mobile phone text messages to residents warning them of the typhoon's approach, the Chinese state news agency reports.

Typhoons are frequent in the region between July and September.

On the eve of Mr Obama's 200th day as president, his ratings slumped to 50 per cent, while a series of public meetings called by Democrats to promote the reforms have degenerated into mob scenes and a congressman received a death threat. With progress of a health bill - which the White House had hoped for in July - stalled on Capitol Hill and rising concern over Mr Obama's handling of the economy, his national approval rating fell by seven per cent from last month. The new low is a far cry from the stratospheric ratings of his heady first days in office.

Democratic congressmen charged with selling Mr Obama's controversial plans to reform the US health care system have become a target of public anger over fears that middle income Americans will be hit hardest by rising insurance premiums to cover the cost of improving care for the poor. They have been confronted by jeers, catcalls and accusatory rhetoric at the start of the summer recess - and worse.

Representative Brad Miller of North Carolina said he would not be hosting any "town hall" events this month and would instead make himself available to constituents for private one-on-one discussions about health care reform after his life was threatened. "The call to the DC office was, 'Miller could lose his life over this'," LuAnn Canipe, Mr Miller's communications director, told the Talking Points Memo website.

Ziketan, a remote town in a Tibetan area of Qinghai province, has been locked down since Saturday in an effort to contain the spread of the highly virulent disease. One patient was in critical condition and eight others were infected, most of them relatives of the first fatality, a 32-year-old herdsman, or local doctors, Xinhua news agency said.

Initial tests had shown that the herdsman's dead dog was the likely origin of the outbreak, Xinhua reported late Wednesday, quoting professor Wang Hu, director of the Qinghai disease control bureau. Wang said it was likely that the dog died after eating a plague-infected marmot and that the man became infected when he was bitten by fleas while burying the dead dog. He died three days later.

"The first victim buried the dead dog without any protection. After he became infected, his relatives and neighbours were in close contact with him without taking any protective measures, leading to their infection," Wang was quoted as saying. The World Health Organization says the bacteria which causes the plague is endemic in some rodents in the region, such as marmots.

Led by minority whip Eric Cantor from Virginia, the only Jewish Republican in Congress, the delegation of 25 Republicans say their weeklong mission to Israel is designed to show solidarity with the Jewish state and promote Mideast peace. A group of Democratic congressmen are expected to visit next week.

Cantor said that instead of focusing on issues such as Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, Obama should concentrate on "the primary issue of import… and that is the existential threat that Iran poses not only to the state of Israel but to the United States." The congressman said he is "concerned about what the White House has been signaling of late." Israel believes Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons that could one day be used against the Jewish state. Iran says its nuclear program is meant only for energy production.

Cantor and others supported Israel's handling of the eviction of two Arab families from a house in east Jerusalem earlier this week, a move criticized by the European Union and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "I don't think we, in America, would want another country telling us how to implement and execute our laws," Cantor said. The Obama administration is pressuring Israel to freeze all settlement activity on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to hold peace talks with Israel until such a freeze is implemented.

The mounting price tag for the rescue of Fannie and its government-sponsored sibling, Freddie Mac, is surpassed only by insurer American International Group Inc, which has received $182.5 billion in financial support from the government so far. Fannie Mae's new request for $10.7 billion from the Treasury Department will bring the total for Fannie and Freddie to nearly $96 billion. Freddie is expected to report its quarterly results on Friday.

The government has pledged up to $400 billion in aid for the two companies, which play a vital role in the mortgage market by purchasing loans from banks and selling them to investors. They have been under government control since last September, when their near-collapse helped set off the financial crisis.

Together, Washington-based Fannie and McLean, Virginia-based Freddie own or guarantee almost 31 million home loans worth about $5.4 trillion. That's about half of all US home mortgages.