The world will experience global cooling this year, according a leading climate scientist. The prediction - which follows a bitterly cold winter in China and the Arctic - is prompting some sceptics to question the theory of climate change.

However, the World Meteorological Organisation insists that this year's cooling has nothing to do with global climate change. In fact, this year's temperatures could still be way above the average - and it is possible that 2008 will exceed the record year of 1998 because of global warming induced by greenhouse gases.

The Met Office predicts that 2008 will be around 0.4C warmer than the average for 1961-1990. It said temperatures are influenced by a range of variables - including changes in the sun's output, pollution and weather cycles such as La Nina. But most scientists argue that the long-term temperature rises since 1880 can only be explained by carbon dioxide from human activity.

New crime statistics released by the South African Police Service (SAPS) make grim reading: 19,202 murders; 52, 617 rapes; 12,761 home invasions; 13,599 carjackings; 92,021 aggravated robberies - and all of that just in the past year. And writers trying to make sense of that violent social landscape are turning increasingly to the crime genre. During the apartheid years, most would have found it unconscionable to write from a pro-police point of view, but the demise of apartheid has changed the equation. One of the new crime authors, Andrew Brown, whose Coldsleep Lullabye won the 2006 Sunday Times Literary Award for Fiction, was repeatedly arrested during the 1980s as a militant anti-apartheid activist. Twenty years on, he is a police reserve officer.

"Crime has become de-politicized," says Kunzmann, because unlike in the apartheid era where the law served the ends of racial domination, there is now a social consensus over what constitutes a crime. "Police officers [today] are officers of a law we all recognize."

Other crime writers concur: "It's now OK to write crime novels featuring the very cops who before had been seen as the soldiers of an invading army," says Mike Nicol, co-author with Joanne Hichens of Out to Score. "Crime writing is first and foremost about the two great human issues: mortality and morality. If you write about those two subjects you get to the heart and soul of a country, and so local crime writing is trying to make sense of this particularly vicious period of our history."

The rain clouds that had threatened all week were nowhere to be seen, and the Black Sea, usually choppy at this time of year was preternaturally still, providing the perfect backdrop for the two leaders to be photographed walking off into the sunset.

The chemistry between Bush and Putin was warm and sentimental - clearly, the continuing coolness in the relationship between Washington and Moscow is nothing personal. "I want to repeat and confirm that working with the U.S. President has always been pleasant and interesting for me," said Putin, praising his American counterpart's integrity and reliability. For his part, Bush did not spare words to heap up praise on the man whose soul he claimed to have glimpsed back in 2001, when they first met in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, and decided he could trust.

And what of politics? Consumed with his global war on terrorism, Bush has tended to look the other way as Putin has curtailed whatever feeble political freedoms Russia enjoyed eight years ago. President Bush only laughed when an American correspondent asked who would now represent Russia at international forums and Putin answered that it would be his successor, Dmitri Medvedev, who once he becomes President, will, "under the Russian Constitution define foreign policies." Bush may have had reason to laugh: he knows as well as anyone who will hold the hand of the new Russian President once Medvedev is inaugurated next month.

The jury, which had spent almost six months listening to more than 250 witnesses from around the world, reached their decision on Monday after deliberating for four days in a case that had sparked worldwide media interest. A decade after the death of the world's most photographed woman at 36, Britain's former police chief John Stevens said he hoped this would bring closure to the tragedy and lay to rest conspiracy theories swirling around the case.

On the evening they died, Diana and Dodi fled from the back entrance of the Ritz Hotel in Paris in a futile effort to avoid swarms of paparazzi photographers. They pursued the couple on high-powered motorbikes into the Alma tunnel and took pictures of the dying princess in the wrecked Mercedes after it smashed into pillar 13. Dodi's father, luxury store owner Mohamed al-Fayed, had accused Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip, Diana's former father-in-law, of ordering British security services to kill her and stop her marrying a Muslim and having his baby.

It was delayed for 10 years because Britain had to wait for the French legal process and then the British police investigation to run their course before it could begin. Both police inquiries concluded the crash was a tragic accident caused by Paul being drunk and driving too fast.

The news came after Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who launched a crackdown on Sadr's Mehdi Army late last month, ordered the cleric to disband his militia or face exclusion from the Iraqi political process. Black-masked Mehdi Army fighters have been principal actors in Iraq's five-year-old war and the main foes of U.S. and Iraqi forces in widespread battles over recent weeks.

Senior Sadr aide Hassan Zargani said Sadr would seek rulings from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric, and senior Shi'ite clergy based in Iran, on whether to dissolve the Mehdi Army, and would obey their orders. "If they order the Mehdi Army to disband, Moqtada al-Sadr and the Sadr movement will obey the orders of the religious leaders," Zargani told Reuters from neighboring Iran, where U.S. officials say Sadr has spent most of the past year.

However, Sadr's spokesman in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, Salah al-Ubaidi, said the idea of disbanding the militia was not new and there was no plan to seek a ruling from top clerics. "Sadr is willing to dissolve the Mehdi Army if the higher religious authorities order him to do so. (But) this is an old idea and didn't come in response to Maliki's orders," he said.

Criminals are also targeting social networking sites, according to a web security firm report into online crime. Symantec says EU identities sell for more than American ones because they can be used across the EU.
Investigators say criminals are turning from online banking to social networks because their users are less careful.

According Symantec's latest twice-yearly Internet Security Threat Report, UK bank account details were the most advertised items on black-market forums used to trade stolen information. The most frequently targeted accounts belonged to high-value businesses, as the details could be sold for more than those of accounts with lower balances belonging to consumers.

Symantec also saw bulk-buying of personal details which had been packaged up in bargain bundles. In the final half of 2007, the security firm saw 50 credit card numbers for sale at £20 (£0.40 each), and 500 credit card numbers for £100 (£0.20 each). After credit cards, full identities were the third most common item advertised for sale - making up 9% of all advertised goods, an increase from 6% in the first half of 2007.

Seven Pro-Tibet demonstrators were arrested in San Francisco after tying anti-Chinese banners to the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge. The flame is due to arrive in the city shortly following a troubled relay through Paris and London. The torch was put out three times in Paris because of pro-Tibetan protests. But the flame itself was kept alight in a safety lantern.

The flame was lit in Olympia, Greece, on 24 March and is being relayed through 20 countries before being carried into the opening ceremony at the Beijing Games on 8 August. Demonstrators are protesting at China's security crackdown in Tibet after recent unrest against Chinese rule. Tibetan exile groups say Chinese security forces killed dozens of protesters. Beijing says about 19 people were killed in rioting.

Condemning the disruption to the relay in Paris and London, Beijing Olympic organising committee spokesman Sun Weide told reporters the torch relay would continue as planned. "No force can stop the torch relay of the Beijing Games," he said in Beijing. Chinese state TV said the protesters in London and Paris were a "handful of Tibetan separatists".

Not long after making the prophetic proclamation above, Marcus Tulius Cicero, a Roman senator, was assassinated. It's not always easy telling the hard truths. It's not always safe. It's not always profitable. But tell them we must. They say those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I believe the U.S. is slouching toward Rome - and a Cicero is nowhere to be found.

WHERE ARE WE TODAY COMPARED TO THE EMPIRE THAT LASTED 500 YEARS?
- National debt: $10 trillion
- U.S. federal budget over $3 trillion. That's 50 percent higher than it was in 2000.
- Trade deficit: $58 billion
- No meaningful borders, with record immigration levels and no chance for assimilation
- Total breakdown of education system
- No common faith or unifying moral principles that bind the nation together
- Even age-old institutions like marriage and parenthood are being redefined
- In a time of relative peace, our military forces are stationed in more than 100 foreign nations

And now America finds itself in an election year in which there are plenty of Mark Antonys but no Ciceros - no wise old voices of reason, common sense and good judgment. THE POWER OF THE STATE IS ON THE RISE, AND THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE IS ON THE DECLINE.

We have our own versions of the Colosseum, albeit somewhat more humane. The American people are kept distracted by bread and circuses - NASCAR, the NFL, "American Idol." Votes are being purchased by foolish promises of free health care and nebulous pledges of "change" and "hope." THERE ISN'T MUCH TO BELIEVE IN ANY MORE, so politicians invent new religions - like "global warming." If only we pay our tithes in "carbon credits," the gods of climate change will be merciful to us, we are assured. But if we do not reach deep into our pockets now and make sacrificial offerings, doom will be upon us all in the coming decades.

This was the nation that gave the world the concepts of self-government, removing the shackles from the people and placing them on the government, individual rights as unalienable gifts from God. This was the nation that welcomed and rewarded personal achievement - recognizing that it was a blessing not just to the one honored, but to all. TODAY THE HIGHEST VIRTUES ARE LITTLE MORE THAN MEANINGLESS, EMPTY WORDS - "TOLERANCE," "DIVERSITY," "PLURALISM," "MULTICULTURALISM." There is no right and no wrong. Up is down, black is white, left is right. It's a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world - except for Jesus. WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED THE GREATEST AND LONGEST-LASTING EXPERIMENT IN FREEDOM AND SELF-GOVERNMENT WOULD END LIKE THIS?

WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED A NATION THAT RAISED UP SO MANY GREAT MINDS OF POLITICS, SCIENCE, BUSINESS AND PHILOSOPHY COULD BE SO EASILY LED ASTRAY? Who would have believed a nation built of sacrifice and honor would give up its birthright for a mess of pottage? Do I sound a tad pessimistic? I believe I have every reason to play that note. Yet, because I am an American, I remain hopeful our nation's better angels will yet prevail. THERE'S A REMNANT OUT THERE WHO WILL UNDERSTAND EVERY WORD I WRITE. IT IS IN THEM MY HOPE IS KINDLED. IT IS IN THEM - AND THE ONE THEY SERVE.

A record number of far-right attacks were perpetrated in Germany last year, according to a former government spokesman turned campaigner. Uwe-Karsten Heye, the founder of pressure group Gesicht Zeigen! (Show your Faces), said about 600 people were attacked by neo-Nazis last year.

Speaking in Berlin Monday, Heye warned about a rise in right-wing extremism, particularly in eastern Germany. According to Heye, there were 11 attacks on businesses run by immigrants in the eastern state of Brandenburg in 2007. "Behind the attacks is a strategy by neo-Nazis to destroy livelihoods and drive out immigrants," he said.

So alarmed are Laotians that the communist government, which rarely explains its actions to the population, is being forced to do just that, with what passes for an unprecedented public relations campaign. The "Chinese City" is a hot topic of talk and wild rumor, much of it laced with anxiety as well as anger that the regime sealed such a momentous deal in virtual secrecy. The rumblings are being heard even among some government officials, and foreign organizations operating in Laos are being told to refer to the venture as a "New City Development Project" rather than a "Chinese city."

Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad insists the deal poses no threat. "This is not unusual. Almost every country in the world has a Chinatown, so why shouldn't Laos have one?" he told Laotian reporters. According to an artist's impression in state-run media, it will have a Manhattan-like skyline. There is no word on how many Chinese will live there. The figure of 50,000 families is widely speculated but Somsavat denied any such number had been agreed upon.

The idea of 50,000 newcomers to a city of 460,000 is one factor causing unease. Another is location: The complex is to go up on the That Luang marsh, an area pregnant with nationalist symbolism and also ecologically important. The area is now a mix of marshes, rice fields and creeping urbanization despite substantial international aid to preserve it as a wetland. A 2003 study by the Switzerland-based World Wide Fund for Nature said the marsh is the main runoff for flash floods, a "sewage tank" for a city with no central waste water system, and a source of edible fish and plants for the poor. "My major concern is that the new city will have an impact on these three factors," says the study's author, Pauline Gerrard.

It comes at a time when China is rapidly becoming the No. 1 foreign economic and political power in Laos. As migrants, money and influence roll across the frontier, northern areas of the country are beginning to look like a Chinese province.

The flame was being carried down a road along the Seine River amid demonstrators carrying Tibetan flags when the relay was stopped. It is not immediately clear what police plan next: despite the torch then being relit, officials have now had to put it out for a second time. The incident came one day after anti-Chinese demonstrators made its journey through London more like running the gauntlet than a journey of celebration.

About 500 protesters congregated at the Trocadero Square, which faces the Eiffel Tower, the relay's start-point. They carried signs reading "Save Tibet," and "Act fast, Tibet is dying." Across town, City Hall was draped with a banner reading, "Paris defends human rights around the world." In London on Sunday, police repeatedly scuffled with protesters. One tried to grab the torch, while another tried to snuff out the flame with what appeared to be a fire extinguisher. Thirty-seven people were arrested.

Beijing Olympic organizing committee spokesman Sun Weide denounced Sunday's protests as 'sabotage'. "A few Tibetan separatists attempted to sabotage the torch relay in London, and we strongly denounce their disgusting behavior," said Sun. The flame's round-the-world trip is the longest in Olympic history, and it is meant to shine a spotlight on China's economic and political power - though activists have seized upon it as a backdrop for their cause.

The judge even called the effort "proper," but organizers have been summoned to appear at 1 PM in the District Court after an animal rights groups filed another last-minute suit. The slaughter is planned as part of A CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO STUDYING AND RESTORING THE JEWISH OBSERVANCE OF THE KORBAN PESACH, AS IT WAS CALLED SINCE IT WAS FIRST OBSERVED IN EGYPT. At the time of the Exodus, Jews slaughtered a sheep per family group, despite its status as a deity to the Egyptian oppressors. The blood was then applied to the doorposts of the Jewish homes.

Animal rights group "Tnoo Lachayot Lichyot" ("Let the Animals Live") had argued that THE PLANNED SLAUGHTER CONSTITUTED ILLEGAL CRUELTY TO AN ANIMAL. Although the slaughter will be identical to any correctly-performed kosher slaughter, and the animal consumed in a manner resembling the popular Israeli pastime - the mangal (barbecue) - THE ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUP COMPARED IT TO DOG-FIGHTING AND OTHER SPECTATOR EVENTS PERFORMED AT THE EXPENSE OF ANIMALS' PAIN.

In her ruling, judge Hagit Mac-Kalmanovich said, "I was not convinced by the argument that the given event would cause the animal more pain and suffering than the accepted methods of slaughter in slaughterhouses." She rejected the group's comparison of the planned slaughter to illegal fights between animals, pointing out that only one animal was involved, and that it would not be harmed in any way prior to the actual slaughter. THE EVENT MUST BE ALLOWED UNDER LAWS PROTECTING FREEDOM OF RELIGION, SHE CONCLUDED.

Strong-armed tactics by Mr. Mugabe's police, threats of violence by his loyal armed militias, and an unwillingness to concede defeat in what African observers claim was a "free and fair" election are now putting the international community into a difficult spot. If Mugabe refuses to give up power, what will or can the outside world do?

"I think besides the [United Nations], the region - including members of the Southern African Development Community - is going to take an increasing role in Zimbabwe," says Chris Maroleng, a Zimbabwe expert at the Institute for Security Studies in Tshwane, as Pretoria, South Africa is now called. "[Mugabe] has lost the plot. He has always given the seeming appearance of legality in the past, but with claiming that his own ZEC has rigged the elections against him, he's overstepped himself."

For years, African leaders have told the world they can solve their own problems through regional bodies such as the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). But critics say that African leaders have been quite reluctant to confront one of their own, especially a liberation-era leader such as Mugabe, and that regional mediation efforts such as those instigated by South African President Thabo Mbeki have generally encouraged a continuation of the status quo rather than a pursuit of justice or democratic principles.

If Mugabe overturns the results of the elections to remain in power, the key test of African regional problem solving will be to see what his neighbors - all avowed proponents of democracy - will do.

"The ethical judgement of the Church on divorce and abortion is clear and well-known," he told participants in a Catholic congress on marriage and the family. "They are serious offences... which violate human dignity, inflict deep injustice on human and social relations and offend God himself, guarantor of conjugal peace and origin of life," he said. However he added that there were people who had committed such "errors" but "suffered from wounds to the soul" and "sought peace."

"The Church has the duty to be close to these people with love and delicacy," the pope added. "Divorce and abortion are choices... which sometimes develop in difficult and dramatic circumstances... and are a source of profound suffering for those who take such decisions. They also affect innocent victims, the barely-conceived and unborn infant, the children caught up in divorces."

The rise in prices - 50 per cent in two weeks - threatens upheaval and has resulted in riots and soldiers overseeing supplies in some emerging countries, where the grain is a staple food for about 3bn people.