Overall, 70 PER CENT WERE SCEPTICAL OF THE BABY'S BIRTH IN A MANGER TO A VIRGIN MOTHER, according to the poll of 1,000 people by the British Marketing Research Bureau. Almost a quarter of those questioned who described themselves as Christians admitted they did not believe certain aspects of the Bible's teaching about Jesus.

Simon Gathercole, a new testament scholar at Cambridge University, said people were sceptical because they were not aware the origins of Christianity were anchored in real history. He added: "Jesus was born while Augustus was emperor of Rome just before Herod died. We're talking about events that are anchored in real history not in ancient Greek myths."

A separate study by Mothers' Union, a Christian charity, showed that MORE PARENTS ENCOURAGE THEIR CHILDREN TO BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS THAN IN THE NATIVITY.

About 1,900 people, some dressed in cloaks and robes, saw the sunrise at the prehistoric site. The Summer Solstice can attract more than 20,000. Rupert Irving, 28, from Cirencester, said Stonehenge was "spectacular" and that the "sky was beautiful".

"It was a shame the sun was not up but the sky was really nice with shades of blue and orange. It was a really nice backdrop to the stones," he said. "It's a religious festival for some people and it's great to be a part of it, and they don't mind, there's such a great atmosphere."

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) has agreed to scale down its calculation for the amount of harmful carbon dioxide emission that can be eliminated by using wind turbines to generate electricity instead of burning fossil fuels such as coal or gas. The move is a serious setback for the advocates of wind power, as it will be regarded as a concession that TWICE AS MANY WIND TURBINES AS PREVIOUSLY CALCULATED will be needed to provide the same degree of reduction in Britain's carbon emissions.

A wind farm industry source admitted: "It's not ideal for us. It's the result of pressure by the anti-wind farm lobby." For several years the BWEA – which lobbies on behalf of wind power firms – claimed that electricity from wind turbines 'displaces' 860 grams of carbon dioxide emission for every kilowatt hour of electricity generated. However it has now halved that figure to 430 grams, following discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Hundreds of wind farms are being planned across the country, adding to the 198 onshore and offshore farms - a total of 2,389 turbines - already in operation. Another 40 farms are currently under construction. Experts have previously calculated that to help achieve the Government's aim of saving around 200 million tons of CO2 emissions by 2020 - through generating 15 per cent of the country's electricity from wind power - would require 50,000 wind turbines. But the new figure for carbon displacement means that twice as many turbines would now be needed to save the same amount of CO2 emissions.

David Cairns, a former Roman Catholic priest who resigned as a minister at the Scotland Office two months ago in protest at Gordon Brown's leadership, said the current position was "untenable". He said, "The vast majority of Labour MPs would support disestablishment. I would." Mr Cairns said a repeal of the Act of Settlement could trigger the process. "It is simply untenable in this day and age that should the heir to the throne want to marry a Roman Catholic he would have to renounce his rights. It's absurd."

"But you can't just unpick that one thing. You have to think through the consequences. If Prince William married a Catholic what happens if their children are Catholic? You can't have a Roman Catholic head of the Church of England. So you have to have some way of resolving the issue of the head of state being the titular head of the established Church. If the Archbishop himself is raising the prospect of disestablishment why not do something about it?"

Nick Herbert, the shadow justice secretary, said: "The Government are pulling blindly at the wires of the constitution without having a clue about what they might disconnect. You would think they would have something better to do at this time than indulge themselves in another round of constitutional vandalism."

When he was asked by the BBC yesterday to expand on his thoughts, Dr Williams said he was not in favour of disestablishment "at the moment". He added: "I certainly don't think that the Church would be destroyed by disestablishment. I believe the Church exists because of God, not because of the state."

In Beijing's neighboring city of Tianjin, all flights were canceled at the Binhai International Airport due to heavy snow, which also sealed off road and rail links, state television said. In parts of northeastern China the temperature plummeted to minus 26 degrees Celsius

The national weather forecaster said steep temperature falls, snow and sleet would continue to hit parts of central, eastern and southern China for the next two days. Unseasonably cold weather and ice storms across central and southern China earlier this year killed at least 129, caused transport chaos and cut off power and water for millions as people struggled to get home for Chinese New Year.

THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT THAT THE DOLLAR PRINTING PRESSES ARE AND HAVE BEEN RUNNING and will pump out as much currency as is needed to avoid deflation and make credit available at a stimulative rate. There is no question of the Fed not being able to re-ignite inflation in the U.S. economy; if they print money fast enough, prices will go up. The issue is more about the collateral damage possible when a major debtor nation takes these steps, even if it is doing it for all the right reasons in support of the best possible cause.

In the short term the risk is that foreign holders of the dollar and Treasuries are spooked by the whirring of the presses, and, reasoning that the Fed cannot fail in its quest to re-ignite inflation, decide to hold something less, well, risky. But the risk is higher now than last week, and much higher than earlier this year. The value of a dollar against a trade-weighted basket of currencies fell sharply after the Fed's announcement and is down about 10 percent in the past month.

"THE RISKS FOR THE DOLLAR ARE PRETTY CLEAR," said Michael Hart, a foreign exchange strategist at Citigroup in London. "It is going one way and the only question is how uni-directional it is going to be and how many starts and stops we are going to see."

Reader comment - The system is made up of smoke and mirrors. Gold is about the only option I can see. And at that, in your hand! or it might get confiscated. Paper money might just turn out to be, well, paper! There is serious trouble on the way, and few will survive with their savings intact.

INSOLVENCY EXPERTS EXPECT SEVERAL LEADING RETAILERS TO FAIL to pay basic costs over the next two weeks and to collapse at the start of January. As families are eating their dinner on Christmas Day, landlords will demand three months rent in advance – multi-million pound bills that some well-known chains will not be able to pay.

In the past week, the discounting together with the Chancellor's emergency cut in VAT from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent, have tempted more shoppers back on to the high street. For some, however, the upturn will not be enough to survive. LANDLORDS WILL SEND BAILIFFS INTO THE SHOPS AT THE START OF JANUARY TO SEIZE GOODS on the shelves in payment rather than wait for the banks to seize the companies.

Looking forward to 2009, Dan Knowles, the director of selling operations at John Lewis, said: "Fasten your seatbelts. No doubt there will be more businesses finding life very tough and I think we will see more closures in January. Those businesses that do not have a strong brand or are not financially sound will struggle." Julia Reynolds, chief executive of the internet retailer Figleaves, said: "JANUARY AND FEBRUARY WILL BE A BLOODBATH, IT WILL BE VERY TOUGH." The corporate rescue specialist Begbies Traynor has put 323 UK RETAILERS ON A "CRITICAL LIST", suggesting they have a 70 per cent chance or more of failing.

BRITAIN NO LONGER HAS ANY STAKE IN THE PRODUCTION OF ITS NUCLEAR WARHEADS after the Government secretly sold off its shares in the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston. Ministers agreed to sell the remaining one-third ownership to a Californian engineering company. The announcement, which means that Americans will now produce and maintain Britain's independent nuclear deterrent, was slipped out on the eve of the parliamentary Christmas holiday. Officials refused to say how much the deal raised.

Opposition MPs last night expressed concern that the stake may have been sold off below market value to raise much-needed money for the Treasury. They accused the Government of trying to conceal the sale of the stake in AWE Management Limited by failing to make an announcement in Parliament. There was also anger that Britain would no longer directly control the site where Britain's nuclear warheads are produced and maintained.

Under the White House plan, the companies are required to extract enough financial concessions from workers, suppliers, dealers and other stakeholders to demonstrate their long-term viability by the end of March. The deal's ambitious targets for the companies include replacing two-thirds of their debt with stock; using more stock instead of cash to fund retiree health-care obligations; eliminating much-criticized union "jobs banks" that pay laid-off auto workers; and establishing wage structures and workplace rules that are more competitive with foreign rivals.

BUT ALL THOSE TARGETS ARE NONBINDING, and the agreement appeared to be much more porous than legislation that the administration and Democratic congressional leaders failed to pass earlier this month. The loan package also requires the administration to drain what remains in the first half of the Treasury Department's $700 billion bailout fund, originally intended to aid the financial industry. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said lawmakers should release the final $350 billion "to support financial-market stability," a request likely to set up another battle with Congress.

But the bailout is just the first step in what could be a long and painful revamping of the three Detroit companies during a recession. THE LOANS MAY NOT KEEP THEM OUT OF BANKRUPTCY COURT in the long run as U.S. car sales have plunged to 1982 levels, consumer spending has fallen and buyers continue to have trouble obtaining vehicle financing.

"THE ECONOMY IS IN MUCH WORSE SHAPE THAN WE THOUGHT IT WAS IN," Biden said during an interview - his first since becoming vice president-elect. "There is no short run other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking. That's the only short run." Biden said he has canvassed Republican and Democratic members of Congress about a second "big" and "bold" stimulus package . He said the Obama team is focused on creating jobs and spending on energy and information technology infrastructure.

"Every single person I've spoken to agrees with every major economist. There is going to be real significant investment, whether it's $600 billion or more, or $700 billion, the clear notion is, it's a number no one thought about a year ago," he said. The future vice president said the struggling economy will be the number one priority for the Obama Administration next year.

From the BBC, UK - 'No recovery soon' in bank credit. Consumers and companies will continue to find it DIFFICULT TO ACCESS CREDIT FOR THE NEXT ONE TO TWO YEARS, the boss of Barclays bank, John Varley, has said.

"WIDESPREAD CIVIL VIOLENCE INSIDE THE UNITED STATES would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security," said the War College report. The study says economic collapse, terrorism and loss of legal order are among possible domestic shocks that might require military action within the U.S.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned Wednesday of economy-related riots and unrest in various global markets if the financial crisis is not addressed and lower-income households are hurt by credit constraints and rising unemployment. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson brought up a worst-case scenario as he pushed for the Wall Street bailout in September. Paulson, former Goldman Sachs CEO, said that MIGHT EVEN REQUIRE A DECLARATION OF MARTIAL LAW.

Nick Dranias, director of constitutional government at the libertarian Goldwater Institute, said a declaration of marital law would be an extraordinary event and give military control over civilian authorities and institutions. Dranias said the Posse Comitatus Act restricts the U.S. military's role in domestic law enforcement. But he points to a 1994 U.S. Defense Department Directive (DODD 3025) he says allows military commanders to take emergency actions in domestic situations to save lives, prevent suffering or mitigate great property damage.

"Today's approval brings us a decisive step forward towards setting up A TRUE EUROPEAN DEFENCE EQUIPMENT MARKET," Guenter Verheugen, EU commissioner responsible for enterprise and industry and one of the initiators of this directive said after the vote. THE PROPOSAL DRAFTED BY GERMAN green MEP Heide Ruhle and endorsed by the plenum on Tuesday provides a European system of licences which will be uniform and applicable throughout the 27 member states.

"We shall not build Europe without the [nation] states. As European as you may be, Europe is not the enemy of nations," Mr Sarkozy told MEPs gathered for a plenary session in Strasbourg. "Wanting to pass above the heads of those who have been elected in their countries, it is not a mistake, it is a fundamentalism… WANTING TO BUILD EUROPE AGAINST THE [SOVEREIGNTY OF] NATIONS WOULD BE A HISTORICAL MISTAKE," he said in a speech presenting the outcomes of France's six months at the EU helm.

A strong Europe cannot be built on weak states, Mr Sarkozy stressed. "Europe is strong when it leans on strong and responsible states… The mistake is to believe that we need weak states to build a strong Europe," he told MEPs. In addition, and in order to have a more "political Europe," it should also be made clear that all EU member states enjoy the same rights.

"The big [EU] countries do not have greater rights than the smaller ones," he said, adding: "but perhaps [they have] more responsibilities." Mr Sarkozy has admitted that he has enjoyed the past six months and said his role would not stop there. "IT [THE EU] IS WITHOUT DOUBT THE BEST IDEA INVENTED IN THE 20TH CENTURY…"

LAST FRIDAY, THE WORLD CAME TO A STANDSTILL IN STUTTGART'S SINDELFINGEN DISTRICT. On normal days, about 1,500 trucks and 52 rail cars arrive at the Mercedes plant in Sindelfingen, carrying steel and glass, tires and dashboards, headlights and seats. More than 36,000 employees pass through the factory gates every day to develop new models and assemble the current ones - the Mercedes C, E and S classes. On normal days, at least 1,500 cars roll off the assembly lines at the plant. BUT WHAT IS NORMAL NOWADAYS, with new reports on the recession coming in each day?

Now the Mercedes plant is closed - until Jan. 11. Production facilities worth billions have been shut down. Everything, from the paint shop to the welding and production robots to the assembly line itself, has stopped moving. Daimler, like Ford (at its German plants), Opel, BMW and VW, has stopped production temporarily. The German auto industry, which is responsible for one in seven jobs, is putting itself into something resembling an artificial coma. Some companies are using working time accounts to keep their employees at home, while others have introduced a shortened workweek. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT YEAR.

And a ghostly silence it is, this national standstill. Order volume has plummeted across the board in German industry, and the markets are shrinking at a breathtaking pace. Planned investments are being cancelled or postponed. THE ECONOMY HAS ENTERED A RECESSION OF PREVIOUSLY UNIMAGINABLE PROPORTIONS. Will 2009 be more like 2001, the year of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, which was followed by only a brief downturn? Or like 1973, the year of the oil crisis, which marked the beginning of a decade of stagnation and inflation? Or will the future resemble 1929, the year the stock market crashed, LEADING TO A WORLDWIDE DEPRESSION THAT DID NOT, IN EFFECT, END UNTIL 16 YEARS LATER, WITH THE END OF WORLD WAR II?

The blanket shutdown marked a deepening of the financial crisis for the embattled U.S. auto industry and came as Chrysler and its larger rival General Motors Corp both seek to shore up cash as they seek a federal bailout they say they need to survive. The shutdown by Chrysler will idle plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico producing vehicles for its Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands.

The more than 30,000 Chrysler workers in the United States represented by the UAW receive nearly full benefits and wages during plant shutdowns, but labor costs represent only about 10 percent of the total cost of the average vehicle.

By idling plants, Chrysler and other automakers can cut costs on inventory, components and related charges such as utilities for operating large production facilities. Chrysler's sales plunged 47 percent in November and were down almost 28 percent for the first eleven months of 2008.