The shareholder activist, which has made renewed attacks on HSBC's strategy since last year, accused the bank of failing to apply the same conservative accounting standards to measuring sub-prime debt as rivals.

Knight Vinke said: "If HSBC's accounting for its sub-prime assets had been as conservative as that of other banks its cumulative write down for sub-prime and related losses would now stand at approximately $50 BILLION in total rather than $25 billion - WHICH MAKES HSBC THE BIGGEST CASUALTY OF THE SUB-PRIME CRISIS SO FAR."

Britain's scorching weather sparked a burning gorse FIRE yesterday which ripped through dry moorland as PEOPLE IN MERSEYSIDE WERE STRANDED IN THEIR HOMES DUE TO STORMS WHICH CAUSED FLASH FLOODING and torrential rain. The fire, near Yelverton on Dartmoor in Devon, broke out yesterday morning and an investigation is underway.

Thunder storms broke the spell of scorching weather and Liverpool's John Lennon Airport was evacuated as the deluge caused flooding in Childwall, Dovecot, Broadgreen and Gateacre. Some residents piled sandbags against their homes while others watched in despair as water flooded in through their front door.

People flocked to beaches, parks and rivers at the weekend as temperatures reached a scorching 27C yesterday - well above the May average of 18C. As Britain basked in its hottest day of the year so far, holiday makers in the Med endured rain in Spain and temperatures as low as 16C.

Last week I wrote about the difficulties of reporting from Burma. As you may know, since last Tuesday, my colleague Paul Danahar has been reporting from Rangoon and elsewhere, against the wishes of the Burmese authorities. IT'S A STORY THE GENERALS WHO RULE THE COUNTRY WOULD RATHER YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT. Paul was not alone in defying the wrath of the generals. A number of reporters are also operating inside Burma.

But don't believe everything you see on television! While the BBC and most other UK broadcasters are reporting from Rangoon or the Irrawaddy delta, this weekend ONE NEWS CHANNEL SET FOOT ACROSS THE THAI BORDER, MANY HUNDREDS OF MILES AWAY FROM THE AREAS WORST HIT BY THE CYCLONE, and claimed to be reporting from "inside Burma". It's not a lie - but it is misleading. Burma is a big place - "day-trippers" are allowed to go to some tourist parts of the country. But it doesn't equip those who travel there to comment on what's going on elsewhere. THE TRUTH IS NOT ALWAYS AS IT APPEARS.

It's a bizarre turn of events since the government undertook the review after concerns were raised polygamists were milking the welfare system. It's a measure of just how nervous politicians were about the decision taken at the end of last year that they didn't make it public. It was left to The Sunday Telegraph to break the news this month that not only will polygamists be able to collect welfare for all their wives, the payments will be made directly into the husbands' - not the wives' - bank accounts.

Further, the British government agreed the estimated 1,000 polygamists are now also eligible for additional housing and council tax benefits. Most British polygamists are Muslims. Their holy book, the Koran, allows men to take up to four wives with the stipulation they can only do so if they're able to adequately provide for all of them. Now, British taxpayers will be helping those men, paying millions of pounds each year to support their larger-than-average families.

As in Canada, polygamy is illegal in Britain. The punishment here is seven years in jail - it's five in Canada. The U.K.'s immigration law - like Canada's - doesn't allow men to bring multiple wives into the country. "It sets a precedent that will lead to more demands for the culture of other countries to be reflected in U.K. law and the benefits system," Conservative critic Chris Grayling told the Telegraph.

"I heard that Obama is a Muslim and his wife's an atheist," said Mr Simpson, drawing on a cigarette outside the fire station in Williamson, a coalmining town of 3,400 people surrounded by lush wooded hillsides. Mr Simpson's remarks help explain why Mr Obama is trailing Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival, by 40 percentage points ahead of Tuesday's primary election in the heavily white and rural state, according to recent opinion polls.

A landslide victory for Mrs Clinton in West Virginia will do little to improve her fading hopes of winning the Democratic nomination, because Mr Obama has an almost insurmountable lead in the overall race. But Tuesday's contest is likely to reinforce Mrs Clinton's argument that she would be the stronger opponent for Mr McCain in November, and raise fresh doubts about whether the US is ready to elect its first black president.

Most people questioned said they mistrusted Mr Obama because of doubts about his patriotism and "values", stemming from his cosmopolitan background, his exotic name and the controversy surrounding "anti-American" sermons by Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor. Several people said they believed he was a Muslim - an unfounded rumour that has circulated on the internet for months - despite the contradiction with his 20-year membership of Mr Wright's church in Chicago. Others mentioned his refusal to wear a Stars and Stripes badge and controversial remarks by his wife, Michelle, who described America as "mean" and implied that she had never been proud of the US until her husband ran for president.

At least 47 people have died in five days of violence. The BBC's Jim Muir says the country is gripped by fear. Eleven people died in the latest fighting in the mountain town of Chouweifat, the Associated Press reports, but details of casualties from other towns where clashes took place were not available. The fighting has pitched the Syrian-backed Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah and its allies against the governing Western-backed Sunni, Christian and Druze alliance.

Violence erupted after the government moved to shut down Hezbollah's telecoms network and remove the chief of security at Beirut airport for alleged sympathies with Hezbollah. According to reports in some Lebanese papers, one proposal being discussed is the idea that the current Western-backed government should resign and had over to a military council.

The army has emerged as the only factor preventing a complete collapse, and it is generally agreed that its commander, Gen Michel Suleiman, should be the next president. It has been reported also that the American guided missile destroyer the USS Cole has crossed back into the eastern Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. Our correspondent says that prompted a warning from sources in the Hezbollah-led opposition that any hint of US intervention would lead the opposition to abandon the few red lines they have been observing in their campaign to undermine the government.

The quake struck 57 miles (92km) north-west of Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu, at 1428 (0628 GMT), according to the US Geological Survey. China's state-run media says troops have been sent to the disaster area.

Workers were evacuated from swaying buildings in several cities, but the extent of the damage is not clear. Tremors were felt as far afield as Beijing, the Thai capital, Bangkok, and Hanoi in Vietnam. Workers in the Chinese capital, Beijing - about 930 miles from Chengdu - said buildings shook for about two minutes.

Latest:- (2200 GMT) - A powerful earthquake has killed at least 8,500 people in China's south-western Sichuan province, up to 5,000 of them in just one county. Many more are feared killed and injured in other parts of the country after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck at 1428 local time (0628 GMT).

GERMANY HAS LONG PAINTED ITSELF AS THE GOOD EUROPEAN. But German policymakers in Berlin and Brussels are taking a different tack altogether. Why is this? In part it is because political leaders at least as far back as Helmut Kohl, chancellor between 1982 and 1998, know that TALKING A GOOD GAME ABOUT BRUSSELS IS A POLITICALLY SAVVY MOVE AND EVIDENCE OF GOOD WILL. But they also understand that GERMANY IS A GLOBAL POWERHOUSE IN ITS OWN RIGHT - THE WORLD'S LARGEST EXPORTER OF GOODS - with little need or desire for the kind of bureaucracy Brussels imposes on its enormous industrial and manufacturing sectors

"In Germany, unlike in other countries, THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT DEFENDS GERMAN PRIVATE COMPANIES, rather than the common interest," says Claude Turmes, a member of the European Parliament from Luxembourg.The result is a sharp divide between Berlin's rhetoric and policymaking, both in Berlin and in Brussels. German industries' experience, says Regine Günther, head of the WWF-Germany's climate-change program, is that "WITH THEIR POWER THEY CAN STEER POLICY, AND THAT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO."

Merkel repeatedly reassured the EU she will not continue the close relationship with Russia fostered by her predecessor, Schröder. Yet Merkel was the first EU leader to head to Moscow to congratulate Dmitry Medvedev for his victory in the dubious March presidential election. But more often, Berlin wins. Indeed it is an open secret that IF GERMANY DOESN'T LIKE SOMETHING PROPOSED IN BRUSSELS, IT'S TIME FOR BRUSSELS TO RECONSIDER. And RIGHT NOW, GERMANY SEEMS TO DISLIKE A LOT OF WHAT COMES OUT OF BRUSSELS - no matter what its politicians like to say.

Instead he called her a political descendant of Adolf Hitler and German fascism."Ms. Chancellor, you can go to ...," he said, pausing for effect and eliciting giggles from the audience, a group of military officers, cabinet ministers and government officials. "Because she's a woman I won't say anything else."

The leftist leader, who famously called U.S. President George W. Bush "the devil" at a United Nations assembly, slammed Merkel for calling on Latin American leaders to distance themselves from Chavez. "She is from the German right, the same that supported Hitler, that supported fascism, that's the Chancellor of Germany today," he said.

But other aid groups warned of a growing catastrophe. "It's really crucial that people get access to clean water sources and sanitation to avoid unnecessary deaths and suffering," Sarah Ireland, Oxfam regional chief, said. She said the death toll from the May 3 cyclone could go up to 100,000, a figure also suggested by other aid groups.

"There are all the factors for a public health catastrophe which could multiply that death toll by up to 15 times," she said.

Both President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, spoke on Saturday of their dismay at Myanmar's stance, with each having pressed the United Nations Security Council to intervene. The UN has itself said that a week after Cyclone Nargis hit, only one-quarter of the victims have received any help at all, and it has called the relief effort "a race against time."

A tornado severely damaged the north-eastern Oklahoma town of Picher before hitting the Missouri town of Seneca 15 miles (24km) away. At least six people died in Picher and a total of 12 in Missouri. An emergencies official in Picher said A 24-STREET AREA OF THE TOWN HAD BEEN "VIRTUALLY DESTROYED".

Michelann Ooten warned that the death toll could climb as rescuers sifted through the rubble looking for survivors. Television images showed overturned cars, homes ripped from their foundations and trees stripped of their leaves.

Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry has ordered National Guard troops to arrive in Picher by Sunday morning to help in rescue and recovery operations, Ms Ooten added. At least three of the people killed in Missouri died in Seneca. "THE LAST TWO YEARS WE'VE HAD FLOODS AND TORNADOES - IT'S JUST ONE RIGHT AFTER ANOTHER," said Susie Stonner of the State Emergency Management Agency. Mr Henry, who plans to visit the area later on Sunday, said a major emergency response was under way.

Perhaps the greatest legacy of the 20th century has been the war on motherhood and biblical patriarchy. FEMINISTS, MARXISTS, AND LIBERAL THEOLOGIANS HAVE MADE IT THEIR AIM TO TARGET THE INSTITUTION OF THE FAMILY AND DIVEST IT FROM ITS BIBLICAL STRUCTURE AND PRIORITIES. The results are androgyny, A RADICAL DECLINE IN BIRTHRATE, ABORTION, FATHERLESS FAMILIES, AND SOCIAL CONFUSION. By leaving the home, the experience and reality of childhood, family life and femininity were fundamentally redefined, and the results have been so bad that if this one trend is not reversed, our grandchildren may live in a world where both the true culture of Christian family life and the historic definition of marriage are the stuff of fairy tales.

Less than one hundred years ago, the architects of THE ATHEISTIC COMMUNIST SOVIET STATE ANTICIPATED THE DEATH OF THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY. They explained the need for destroying the Christian family with its emphasis on motherhood, and replacing it with a vision for a "new family." In his 1920 International Working Women's Day Speech, Lenin emphasized: "The chief thing is to get women to take part in socially productive labour, to liberate them from 'domestic slavery,' to free them from their stupefying [idiotic] and humiliating subjugation to the eternal drudgery of the kitchen and the nursery. This struggle will be a long one, and it demands a radical reconstruction, both of social technique and of morale. BUT IT WILL END IN THE COMPLETE TRIUMPH OF COMMUNISM."

To defeat motherhood the enemies of the biblical family MUST SEAR THE CONSCIENCE OF AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF WOMEN. This is done through the doctrines of SOCIAL EMANCIPATION FROM THE HOME, SEXUAL LIBERATION, BIRTH CONTROL, AND ABORTION - all four of which cause a woman to war against her created nature. Instead of being the blessed guardian of domesticity for society, she is taught that CONTENTMENT CAN ONLY BE FOUND BY ACTING, DRESSING, AND COMPETING WITH MEN. Instead of being an object of respect, protection, and virtue, she sells herself cheaply, thus devaluing her womanhood. Instead of glorying in a fruitful womb she cuts off the very seed of life. SOMETIMES SHE EVEN KILLS THE LIFE.

To defeat motherhood, the enemies of the biblical family must do more than make it a social inconvenience, they must teach women to despise themselves by viewing their own wombs as the enemy of self-fulfillment. But even this is not enough. YEARS OF PLAYING THE PART OF A MAN HARDENS A WOMAN. It trains women to find identity in the corporation, not the home. It teaches them to be uncomfortable around children and large families - the mere presence of which is a reminder of the antithesis between God's design for womankind and the norms of post-Christian societies.

BUT WOMEN ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES WITH SEARED CONSCIENCES. MEN HAVE THEM TOO. Consider that fifty years ago a man would have winced to think of female soldiers heading into combat. TODAY'S MAN HAS A SEARED CONSCIENCE. He no longer thinks of himself as a protector of motherhood, and a defender of womankind. HE HAS LOST HIS MANHOOD. This is why the attack on motherhood has produced a nation of eunuchs - socially and spiritually impotent MEN WHO HAVE LITTLE CAPACITY TO LEAD.

Delays in delivering relief to the victims, the inaccessibility of the stricken areas and the poor state of Burma's infrastructure and health systems mean that number is sure to rise. With as many as 1 million people still at risk, IT IS CONCEIVABLE THAT THE DEATH TOLL WILL, WITHIN DAYS, APPROACH THAT OF THE ENTIRE NUMBER OF CIVILIANS KILLED IN THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR.

SO WHAT IS THE WORLD DOING ABOUT IT? NOT MUCH. The military regime that runs Burma initially signaled it would accept outside relief, but has imposed so many conditions on those who would actually deliver it that barely a trickle has made it through. Aid workers have been held at airports. U.N. food shipments have been seized. U.S. naval ships packed with food and medicine idle in the Gulf of Thailand, waiting for an all-clear that may never come.

Burma's rulers have relented slightly, agreeing Friday to let in supplies and perhaps even some foreign relief workers. The government says it will allow a US C-130 transport plane to land inside Burma Monday. But it's hard to imagine a regime this insular and paranoid accepting robust aid from the U.S. military, let alone agreeing to the presence of U.S. Marines on Burmese soil - as Thailand and Indonesia did after the tsunami. The trouble is that the Burmese haven't shown the ability or willingness to deploy the kind of assets needed to deal with a calamity of this scale - and the longer Burma resists offers of help, the more likely it is that the disaster will devolve beyond anyone's control.

"We're in 2008, not 1908," says Jan Egeland, the former U.N. emergency relief coordinator. "A lot is at stake here. If we let them get away with murder we may set a very dangerous precedent." THAT'S WHY IT'S TIME TO CONSIDER A MORE SERIOUS OPTION: INVADING BURMA. Some observers, including former USAID director Andrew Natsios, have called on the U.S. to unilaterally begin air drops to the Burmese people regardless of what the junta says.

Calls for his resignation came from left, right and center although all acknowledged that by vowing, as he did Thursday night, to resign if charged, Olmert had won himself time. The investigation will probably take another month or two. "The public doesn't have too much more patience," Colette Avital, a member of Parliament from the Labor Party, a partner in the governing coalition with Olmert's Kadima party, asserted in a typical comment. "He is simply discredited. It may take some more weeks or even months, but he won't be able to go on."

But this inquiry is widely viewed as the most serious, involving allegations that hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes were passed to him by a New York businessman, Morris Talansky, over the course of a decade. Olmert said that they were legal campaign contributions and that his name would be cleared.

Numerous analysts argued that Israel's intense security challenges could not effectively be met by a leader benefiting from such low public confidence. Peace negotiations with the Palestinians, a process that President George W. Bush is hoping to bolster by coming here next week, and moves toward Syria require hard decisions, especially in the wake of the violent Hezbollah takeover of parts of Beirut on Friday.

Now a window has been opened on faith and religion in a country where six decades of Communist philosophy and rule might seem to have pushed those subjects into obscurity. In a recent report the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has analyzed available surveys, some a few years old, and concluded that 31 PERCENT OF THE CHINESE POPULATION CONSIDERS RELIGION TO BE VERY OR SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT IN THEIR LIVES, with only 11 percent rating it as meaningless. Even the exact STARTING TIME OF THE SUMMER OLYMPICS IS ROOTED IN CONFUCIANISM and Chinese folk religions, the report adds, where the numeral 8 is revered for its luck and power. The games will start on the 8th day of the 8th month of '08 at precisely 8 minutes and 8 seconds past 8 o'clock.

This does not mean that religious affiliation is high in China. Only one in five adults has an active connection, the report says, with one of the country's five major religions - Buddhism (by far the largest single group), Protestantism, Catholicism, Islam and Taoism. That compares to 8 in every 10 adults in the United States who claim a religious affiliation. But a recent report from East China Normal University in Shanghai appearing in state-approved media said that about 300 million Chinese over 16 - slightly less than a third of the population in that age group - are religious, perhaps indicating the government has given recognition to the depth of religious sentiment.

The question is whether China's modernization brought about by its economic engine will bring religion into society in a bigger way. The report notes that Hu Jintao, general secretary of the country's Communist Party, earlier this year told the Chinese Politburo the leadership should try to "CLOSELY UNITE RELIGIOUS FIGURES AND BELIEVERS to build an all-around prosperous society while quickening the pace toward the modernization of socialism."