In an article in Le Monde, Valery Giscard d'Estaing writes, "IN THE LISBON TREATY, DRAWN UP EXCLUSIVELY FROM THE CONSTITUTIONAL TREATY, THE TOOLS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. ONLY THE ORDER HAS BEEN CHANGED IN THE TOOL BOX.

The box itself has been redecorated, using an old model, which has three compartments in which you have to rifle around to find what you are looking for." He takes two examples - the appointment of a permanent EU President, and the election of the European Parliament - comparing their article numbers in the two different texts and showing that the words are the same in both.

He describes the few changes there are - the disappearance of the word Constitution and the flag and the anthem as "ridiculous" and "thankfully destined to remain unapplied." HE NOTES THAT THE NEW TREATY "IS UNREADABLE FOR CITIZENS", and asks, "What is the point of this subtle manoeuvre? First and foremost to avoid the constraint of referendums."

He continues, "Let's lift up the cover, and look in the box: the tools really are there, such as they were carefully elaborated by the European convention", citing the EU President, the EU Foreign Minister and "the most advanced Charter of Fundamental Rights on the planet."

The study released Wednesday by the Asia Foundation said that the peace process in Mindanao, the region in the southern Philippines where Islamic separatists have been fighting for self-determination since the 1970s, would have a better chance of succeeding if clan violence - called "rido" by Filipino Muslims - were addressed.

The study said "rido" is a "type of conflict characterized by sporadic outbursts of retaliatory violence between families and kinship groups as well as between communities. It can occur in areas where government or a central authority is weak and in areas where there is a perceived lack of justice and security." Two common causes of this type of conflict are political disputes and quarrels over land.

The project's researchers, which included Islamic scholars and anthropologists, found that, from the 1930s to 2005, there had been 1,266 cases of clan violence in Mindanao, in which 5,500 people were killed and thousands were displaced. Of these cases, 64 percent have not been solved, the perpetrators never identified nor brought to justice.

While clan conflict is common in many societies around the world, "rido" is unique in that it has, according to the study, "wider implications for conflict in Mindanao, primarily because it tends to interact in unfortunate ways with separatist conflict and other forms of armed violence."

The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main Islamic separatist group, have been engaged in peace negotiations since 1997 but no substantial agreement has been reached.

The British newspaper reported that in the past nine months about 60 Iranians had been admitted to study postgraduate courses considered "proliferation-sensitive" by the British security services. The courses ranged from nuclear physics to some areas of electrical and chemical engineering and microbiology.

Additionally, the newspaper continued, figures obtained by David Willetts, shadow secretary for innovation, universities and skills, showed that in 2005-06, 30 Iranians were doing postgraduate degrees in subjects covering nuclear physics and nuclear engineering.

The Sunday Times quoted Willetts as saying: "Given that we need to have tougher sanctions against Iran, it does seem extraordinary that the government is not yet stopping Iranians coming here to study nuclear physics. There is legitimate concern about what some students have been studying."

The evidence from the £12m four-year project will end years of debate and is likely to overturn government advice that eating organic food is no more than a lifestyle choice.

THE STUDY FOUND THAT ORGANIC FRUIT AND VEGETABLES CONTAINED AS MUCH AS 40% MORE ANTIOXIDANTS, which scientists believe can cut the risk of cancer and heart disease, Britain's biggest killers. They also had higher levels of beneficial minerals such as iron and zinc.

Professor Carlo Leifert, the co-ordinator of THE EUROPEAN UNION-FUNDED PROJECT, said the differences were so marked that organic produce would help to increase the nutrient intake of people not eating the recommended five portions a day of fruit and vegetables. "If you have just 20% more antioxidants and you can't get your kids to do five a day, then you might just be okay with four a day," he said.

This weekend the Food Standards Agency confirmed that it was reviewing the evidence before deciding whether to change its advice. MINISTERS AND THE AGENCY HAVE SAID THERE ARE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ORGANIC AND ORDINARY PRODUCE.

Researchers grew fruit and vegetables and reared cattle on adjacent organic and nonorganic sites on a 725-acre farm attached to Newcastle University, and at other sites in Europe. THEY FOUND THAT LEVELS OF ANTIOXIDANTS IN MILK FROM ORGANIC HERDS WERE UP TO 90% HIGHER THAN IN MILK FROM CONVENTIONAL HERDS.

As well as finding up to 40% more antioxidants in organic vegetables, they also found that organic tomatoes from Greece had significantly higher levels of antioxidants, including flavo-noids thought to reduce coronary heart disease.

Leifert said the government was wrong about there being no difference between organic and conventional produce. "THERE IS ENOUGH EVIDENCE NOW THAT THE LEVEL OF GOOD THINGS IS HIGHER IN ORGANICS," he said.

Mr Putin quickly qualified his remarks, made after a summit with European Union leaders in Portugal, by saying that US-Russian relations had moved on since the Cold War and that he and George W. Bush, the US president, had a good personal relationship.

But Mr Putin's deliberate evocation of one of history's most dangerous episodes did little to soothe the nerves of his European hosts who, like their US allies, are struggling to stabilise a relationship with Russia that has more points of friction than at any time since the Soviet Union's demise in 1991.

Mr Putin has never disguised his hostility to the US proposal to station a missile defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland, a plan that he says threatens Russia but which the US says is intended to counter a possible missile threat posed by Iran.

Earlier, Mr Putin eased the atmosphere of the EU-Russia summit by saying he would allow observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe to monitor December's parliamentary elections. EU leaders praised the move, even though some election specialists say the OSCE observers should have been allowed into Russia much sooner in order to make a proper assessment of the election campaign.

A ship off Kauai fired a target missile at 9:15 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time Friday, or 3:15 a.m. EDT Saturday. Minutes later, soldiers with the U.S. Army's 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade launched an interceptor missile from Kauai that destroyed the target over the Pacific, according to the agency.

The military says it already can shoot down missiles in their last stage of flight by using Patriot anti-missile batteries. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system would be able to protect larger areas than the Patriot system because it intercepts targets at a higher altitude. The new system had its first successful test last year at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and two more successful tests earlier this year at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai.

Saturday's announcement said the most recent test was the 31st "hit to kill" intercept in 39 tests since 2001 by ground and sea-based interceptors against short, medium and long-range ballistic missile targets.

Indonesia's Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation raised the alert on Mount Anak Krakatau to the second-highest level on Friday after it threw up showers of ash. The volcano, which lies in the Sunda strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra, is about 130 km west of the capital Jakarta. It gradually formed after the famous Krakatau volcano blew up in a massive eruption in 1883, triggering tsunamis and killing thousands of people.

Saut Simatupang, a senior official at the centre, said that volcanic tremors at Anak Krakatau, which is a popular tourist attraction, had increased in the past two days. Officials are also monitoring two other volcanos. Mount Kelud volcano in East Java has been on the highest state of alert for several days as it appears to be very close to erupting. The volcano, which has a lake in its crater, is about 90 km southwest of Surabaya, Indonesia's second-biggest city.

Mount Soputan, in North Sulawesi, erupted last week spewing columns of ash 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) into the air, but its activity has since decreased, Simatupang said. Indonesia has the highest number of active volcanoes in any country, sitting on a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire".

On Friday, Australian Treasurer Peter Costello had warned of an approaching INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL "TSUNAMI", with China at its epicentre. "We are entering a more difficult time of economic management. There are storm clouds on the international economic horizon," Howard told Channel 9 television on Sunday.

"I don't think its panicking anybody to say that the subprime meltdown in the United States, which has already had an impact on market interest rates, because of the globalized nature of our economy, is going to have an effect," Howard said.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday, Costello said global financial markets faced a "huge tsunami". The U.S. economy would weaken in the wake of its subprime mortgage meltdown, and the breakneck pace of Chinese growth also could not continue, Costello said.

At some stage, likely to coincide with a move to a floating of the Chinese currency, CHINA WOULD UNLEASH GREATER INSTABILITY ON GLOBAL MARKETS than the United States had, he said. "That will be a wild ride when that happens. That will set off a huge tsunami that will go through world financial markets," said Costello, one of Australia's longest-serving Treasurers.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is warning that 27 sub-Saharan countries now need help. But what appear as isolated disasters brought about by drought or conflict in countries like Somalia, Malawi, Niger, Kenya and Zimbabwe are - in reality - systemic problems.

It is African agriculture itself that is in crisis, and according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, this has left 200 million people malnourished. It is particularly striking that the FAO highlights political problems such as civil strife, refugee movements and returnees in 15 of the 27 countries it declares in need of urgent assistance. By comparison drought is only cited in 12 out of 27 countries.

The implication is clear - Africa's years of wars, coups and civil strife are responsible for more hunger than the natural problems that befall it. The result is that a continent that was more than self sufficient in food at independence 50 years ago, is now a massive food importer. The book The African Food Crisis says that in less than 40 years the sub-continent went from being a net exporter of basic food staples to relying on imports and food aid.

In 1966-1970, net exports averaged 1.3 million tons of food a year, it states. "By the late 1970s Africa imported 4.4 million tonnes of staple foods a year, a figure that had risen to 10 million tonnes by the mid 1980s." It said that since independence, agricultural output per capita remained stagnant, and in many places declined.

An epic drought in Georgia threatens the water supply for millions. Florida doesn't have nearly enough water for its expected population boom. The Great Lakes are shrinking. Upstate New York's reservoirs have dropped to record lows. And in the West, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster each year.

The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess. "Is it a crisis? If we don't do some decent water planning, it could be," said Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of the Denver-based American Water Works Association. Water managers will need to take bold steps to keep taps flowing, including conservation, recycling, desalination and stricter controls on development.

The price tag for ensuring a reliable water supply could be staggering. Experts estimate that just upgrading pipes to handle new supplies could cost the nation $300 billion over 30 years. "Unfortunately, there's just not going to be any more cheap water," said Randy Brown, Pompano Beach's utilities director.

It's not just America's problem - it's global.

Australia is in the midst of a 30-year dry spell, and population growth in urban centers of sub-Saharan Africa is straining resources. Asia has 60 percent of the world's population, but only about 30 percent of its freshwater
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations network of scientists, said this year that by 2050 up to 2 billion people worldwide could be facing major water shortages.

Heavy rain caused waterways to burst their banks, washing away roads and bridges and knocking down power lines. Some of the victims were electrocuted, others drowned or were crushed when their homes collapsed. Officials said the number of people killed could rise as relief workers reach districts cut off by the floods.

The torrential rain began falling late on Thursday and continued until Friday morning. Government officials have set up a committee to deal with the crisis. A particularly heavy rainy season across a broad stretch of Africa since June has led to the worst floods in 30 years, the United Nations has said.

The latest floods in the DR Congo brings the number killed to more than 400. Two million people across the continent have been affected, with many requiring shelter and food aid.

This is a very long and diverse list, including:

- wood, wood chippings and straw
- pellets or liquids made from wood
- biogas (methane) from animals' excrement
- ethanol, diesel or other liquid fuels made from processing plant material or waste oil

In recent years, the term "biofuel" has come to mean the last category - ethanol and diesel, made from crops including corn, sugarcane and rapeseed.

Bio-ethanol, an alcohol, is usually mixed with petrol, while biodiesel is either used on its own or in a mixture.

Pioneers such as Henry Ford and Rudolph Diesel designed cars and engines to run on biofuels. Before World War II, the UK and Germany both sold biofuels mixed with petrol or diesel made from crude oil; the availability of cheap oil later ensured market dominance.

Ethanol for fuel is made through fermentation, the same process which produces it in wine and beer. Biodiesel is made through a variety of chemical processes. There is interest in trying biobutanol, another alcohol, in aviation fuel.

In principle, biofuels are a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional transport fuels. Burning the fuels releases carbon dioxide; but growing the plants absorbs a comparable amount of the gas from the atmosphere. However, energy is used in farming and processing the crops, and this can make biofuels as polluting as petroleum-based fuels, depending on what is grown and how it is treated.

What are the downsides?

From the environmental point of the view, the big issue is biodiversity. With much of the western world's farmland already consisting of identikit fields of monocultured crops, the fear is that a major adoption of biofuels will reduce habitat for animals and wild plants still further. Asian countries may be tempted to replace rainforest with more palm oil plantations, critics say. If increased proportions of food crops such as corn or soy are used for fuel, that may push prices up, affecting food supplies for less prosperous citizens.

The mixed picture regarding the climate benefit of biofuels leads some observers to say that the priority should be reducing energy use; initiatives on biofuels detract attention from this, they say, and are more of a financial help to politically important farming lobbies than a serious attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

A team of UK-based scientists suggested that reforestation and habitat protection was a better option. Writing in Science, they said forests could absorb up to nine times more CO2 than the production of biofuels could achieve on the same area of land. The growth of biofuels was also leading to more deforestation, they added.

"The prime reason for the renewables obligation was to mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions," said Renton Righelato, one of the study's co-authors. "In our view this is a mistaken policy because it is less effective than reforesting," he told BBC News.

Dr Righelato, chairman of the World Land Trust, added that the policy could actually lead to more deforestation as nations turned to countries outside of the EU to meet the growing demand for biofuels.

For environmental groups like Friends of the Earth, it's a no brainer. "If you start to fuel cars with crops," says Ed Matthew, "you are instantly putting the world's one billion starving people in competition with the world's one billion motorists. It's as simple as that."

Green groups and aid agencies cite biofuels as forming part of the "perfect storm" of poor harvests, rising oil prices and a surge in demand for food from China and India that are all pushing up the price of everything from pasta to a loaf of bread.

In fact, the first flashpoint in the food versus fuel conflict has already happened. Mexican anger at more expensive corn flour led to the so called "tortilla riots" at the beginning of the year. The price rises were attributed to the United States' large-scale switch from food to fuel production, meaning less maize exported to its southern neighbour.

The UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, said he feared biofuels would bring more hunger. The growth in the production of biofuels has helped to push the price of some crops to record levels. He complained of an ill-conceived dash to convert foodstuffs such as maize and sugar into fuel, which created a recipe for disaster.

IT WAS, HE SAID, A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY TO DIVERT ARABLE LAND TO THE PRODUCTION OF CROPS WHICH ARE THEN BURNED FOR FUEL. He called for a five-year ban on the practice. Within that time, according to Mr Ziegler, technological advances would enable the use of agricultural waste, such as corn cobs and banana leaves, rather than crops themselves to produce fuel.

The growth in the production of biofuels has been driven, in part, by the desire to find less environmentally-damaging alternatives to oil. The United States is also keen to reduce its reliance on oil imported from politically unstable regions.

But the trend has contributed to A SHARP RISE IN FOOD PRICES as farmers, particularly in the US, switch production from wheat and soya to corn, which is then turned into ethanol. Mr Ziegler is not alone in warning of the problem. The IMF last week voiced concern that the increasing global reliance on grain as a source of fuel could have serious implications for the world's poor.