Airbus stands to lose an £18 billion contract to build tankers for the US Air Force, awarded only four months ago, after aggressive lobbying by US politicians, including the presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. The contract was cancelled by the Pentagon, WHICH CITED IRREGULARITIES WITH THE BIDDING PROCESS. Boeing will be allowed to rebid and is expected to secure the contract.

Unions reacted with fury. John Wall, general secretary of the Confederation of Ship Building and Engineering Unions, which represents the Airbus workers, said: "AIRBUS BEAT BOEING IN EVERY SINGLE MAJOR FEATURE IN THIS COMPETITION and I don't see that changing, but what has changed is the political pressure to buy American.

"This win was very, very important for the UK as it ensured we would stay right at the top of the world aerospace league and was critical to securing jobs and our industrial capability. As the US economy gets worse the POLITICIANS HAVE WRAPPED THEMSELVES IN THE FLAG AND BACKED BOEING, which is very frustrating."

A message on Paradise's Web site by the town manager urged a speedy exit: "Citizens need to immediately evacuate by gathering personal belongings that will fit in your vehicle."

The so-called Butte Lightning Complex fire near Paradise, 86 miles (138 km) north of Sacramento, is one of more than 300 wildfires burning across California after lightning storms swept across the state last month sparking blazes in wilderness areas thick with bone-dry brush and trees.

The Butte fire has burned 49,000 acres (19,829 hectares) since starting June 21, destroyed at least 50 structures including 40 homes and NOW THREATENS AN ESTIMATED 3,800 MORE RESIDENCES, according to firefighting agency Cal Fire.

With financial services contracting and the international flow of capital that funded a debt binge in an almost total freeze, Britain's economy, housing and financial markets are in a headlong race lower THAT MAKES PROBLEMS IN THE UNITED STATES SEEM SLOW MOVING IN COMPARISON.

Britain's famously open economy has had a stunning run of uninterrupted growth over 15 years, as it successfully transformed itself into a services and consumer society. The City of London financial centre boomed, arguably winning pre-eminence over New York, while international capital from Russia, Asia and the Middle East found a base in London.

At the same time Britain's regions enjoyed smaller-scale but still buoyant growth, much of it connected in one way or another with a near tripling in property prices over a decade. Now the shutdown of the flow of international capital to its banks and borrowers has brought that to a halt, while a spike in the cost of energy and food hurts consumers. It is really rather difficult to give a sense for exactly HOW QUICKLY BRITAIN'S ECONOMY IS COMING UNGLUED.

In a letter to be published in this week's edition of Britain's Catholic Herald newspaper, Anglican Bishop Andrew Burnham of Ebbsfleet said "traditional Anglo-Catholics now face the decision of staying in the Church of England in what, for a while, will be a protected colony - where the sacramental ministry of women bishops and priests is neither acknowledged nor received - or to leave."

In a vote Monday, the general synod of the Church of England decided to allow the ordination of women bishops. Though a "code of practice" was discussed for those who do not in conscience accept the ordination of women bishops, it was not clearly defined. Bishop Burnham acknowledged that the decision is not easy.

"You don't become a Catholic, for instance, because of what is wrong with another denomination or faith," he said. "You become a Catholic because you accept that the Catholic Church is what she says she is and the Catholic faith is what it says it is. In short, some Anglo-Catholics will stay and others will go." The bishop mentioned the similar decision already faced in 1992, when the Church of England decided to ordain women priests.

"As for those who choose to go, like in the early 1990s these will include some of the finest Anglican clergy," he wrote. "Most of them are not motivated in the least by gender issues but by a KEENNESS TO PURSUE CATHOLIC UNITY AND TRUTH."

The Bishop of Ebbsfleet, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, has called on the Pope as well as Catholic leaders in England and Wales to help him and his parishioners defect to Rome. He hopes entire parishes under his control will convert but be allowed to remain worshipping in their existing churches, while guided by Catholic bishops.

Bishop Burnham, one of the three "flying bishops" in England who look after parishes which do not want women priests, has already been to the Vatican to discuss a possible move. He said his decision had been forced by the vote on Monday night by the Church of England's governing body, the General Synod, to introduce women bishops without any special provisions for Anglo-Catholics and conservative evangelicals who believe bishops must be male as Jesus and his apostles were.

The bishop claimed he could not trust the as-yet-unwritten code of practice which has been promised as a safeguard to opponents of the historic step, after tougher proposals were turned down for new "men only" dioceses or a more powerful form of flying bishop dubbed "super bishops". HIS DECISION COULD TRIGGER AN EXODUS OF TRADITIONALISTS WHO BELIEVE THEY NO LONGER HAVE A PLACE IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Two attempts to bail the business out with new cash have collapsed and the company is now in the middle of a third attempted rescue plan. Its biggest shareholders and six high street banks have agreed to take part in a £400 million emergency fundraising operation, buying shares which will be priced at 55p each. But the shares have crashed since then, falling nearly 20 per cent yesterday alone. Today they were trading at just 36p.

But their Bradford & Bingley losses are nothing compared, relatively, to those of the 850,000 small shareholders who have seen the value of their shares collapse from more than 450p a year ago.

City regulator, the Financial Services Authority, is working hard to avoid a repeat of the Northern Rock crisis. It has pointed out that, because the £400 million rescue money has been absolutely guaranteed, Bradford & Bingley will be saved. Analysts say the most likely long term outcome is that Bradford & Bingley will be bought by another bank.

The National Children's Bureau, which receives £12 million a year, mainly from Government funded organisations, has issued guidance to play leaders and nursery teachers advising them to be alert for racist incidents among youngsters in their care.

THIS COULD INCLUDE A CHILD OF AS YOUNG AS THREE WHO SAYS "YUK" IN RESPONSE TO BEING SERVED UNFAMILIAR FOREIGN FOOD. The guidance by the NCB is designed to draw attention to potentially-racist attitudes in youngsters from a young age.

Staff are told: "No racist incident should be ignored. When there is a clear racist incident, it is necessary to be specific in condemning the action." Warning that failing to pick children up on their racist attitudes could instil prejudice, the NCB adds that if children "reveal negative attitudes, the lack of censure may indicate to the child that there is nothing unacceptable about such attitudes".

Wednesday's war games were being conducted at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 40 percent of the world's oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked.

The report showed footage of at least three missiles firing simultaneously, and said the barrage included a new version of the Shahab-3 missile, which officials have said has a range of 1,250 miles and is armed with a 1-ton conventional warhead. THAT WOULD PUT ISRAEL, TURKEY, THE ARABIAN PENINSULA, AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE.

The tests occurred at a time of increased tension between Iran and Israel over Tehran's nuclear programme, which the West fears is aimed at making bombs. Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, says its programme is only for electricity.

A New York Times report in June said Israel had practised an attack on Iranian nuclear sites, and the tension has rattled financial markets. U.S. and London Brent crude oil futures rose by more than a dollar on news of Iran firing the missiles. "The aim of holding this manoeuvre is to show (Iran's) will and authority to the enemies that have threatened Iran with harsh language in recent weeks," state broadcaster IRIB quoted a Revolutionary Guards commander as saying.

"We launch these missiles in honour of Iran, to show that this is only a small part of Iran's capability and defensive power," said the commander, Hossein Salami. Israel, believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, has vowed to prevent Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb. The United States says it wants to resolve the dispute by diplomacy but has not ruled out military action.

"Israel does not threaten Iran, but the Iranian nuclear programme combined with their aggressive ballistic missile programme is a matter of grave concern." Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said after the tests. The U.S. dollar weakened on Wednesday and U.S. treasuries trimmed their losses over news of the missile tests.

They have asked supermarkets to make contingency plans "IN CASE THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE COUNTRY BREAKS DOWN". Among those who have taken part are farmers, dairies, bakeries and supermarkets. At least four government departments are involved. The operation is being led by Bruce Mann, director of civil contingencies at the Cabinet Office.

The government has commissioned IGD, a company that collects intelligence on international food and grocery chains, to supply data about how food is moved around the country and where stocks are held. The information has been used to put together a "map" of depots and supply lines.

The move comes as hauliers warn that direct action over soaring fuel prices is a "very strong possibility". UNTIL THE EARLY 1990S THE GOVERNMENT HELD SECRET FOOD STOCKS, typically biscuits, flour and other dry foodstuffs, in grain sheds around the country. It now relies on retailers and suppliers to have plans in place. Normally supermarkets operate on the basis of "just in time" deliveries, designed to cut waste by ensuring supplies just match demand. The government is keen to ensure stocks of essentials do not run out if the system is derailed because lorries cannot make their usual deliveries.

Tesco, which has played a key part in the discussions, wants the government to allow it and other suppliers to sit in on the cabinet's emergency committee, Cobra, in the event of a crisis. A Defra spokesman said plans were put in place during a strike by Shell tanker drivers last month, drawing on experience of the strikes in 2000. "We are in contact with producers and retailers, to know what food supplies are where, at any given time . . . SHOULD THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE COUNTRY BREAK DOWN."

The alert comes from columnist Jeffrey Downing, who wrote that not only has a Canadian company proposed such a product and is advertising it, the U.S. government has put its interest in writing. "It is conceivable to envision a use to improve air security, on passenger planes," said the letter posted on the company's website. It was purported to come from Paul S. Ruwaldt, of the Department of Homeland Security.

According to a company video on the website for Lamperd Less Lethal, the bracelets would be a help to the pilots and crew members on commercial air carriers, the "last line of defense" against terror attacks. The video says passengers could be fitted with such "electronic ID bracelets" that they would wear until they disembark their flights. It is promoted as being able to replace a ticket, carry passenger information, track passengers through terminals, and track carryon luggage. BUT THE BEST PART IS THAT THE BRACELETS COULD BE DISCHARGED, AS A GUN, AND LEAVE THE WEARER "IMMOBILE FOR SEVERAL MINUTES" ALTHOUGH WITHOUT CAUSING "PERMANENT INJURY."

"For a businessman on his way home, to a young family going south for a winter holiday, wearing an EMD bracelet during flight is a small inconvenience to assure their safe arrival," says the company. "Many, if not most, passengers would happily opt for the extra security. We believe that all passengers will welcome deliverance from a hijacking, as will the families, carriers, insurance providers etc. THE F-16 ON THE WINGTIP IS NOT TO REASSURE THE PASSENGERS DURING A HIJACKING BUT RATHER TO SHOOT THEM DOWN.

Lebanese student Jihad Hamad, 20, came to Cologne in the spring of 2006. On July 31 of the same year, he and a fellow Lebanese national took two suitcase bombs they had made and placed them on regional trains. Fortunately the bombs were not assembled correctly and failed to go off. However, the nation was shaken by PRESS REPORTS ALLEGING TIES TO AL-QAIDA and evoking scenes that could have been reality if the attack had succeeded - huge balls of fire, wrecked trains, dozens of dead and injured.

Then in September 2007, Fritz Gelowicz, a 28-year-old German who had converted to Islam while still in high school, was arrested in Oberschledorn, a small town in Germany's Sauerland region, along with two fellow Muslims. The three men, known as the Sauerland cell, had purchased 12 barrels of hydrogen peroxide for the apparent purpose of making bombs. Once again the police, the press and the government SPECULATED ABOUT CONNECTIONS TO OSAMA BIN LADEN and the scale of the disaster an attack of this kind could have caused.

These two cases are repeatedly cited as reasons for controversial security plans proposed by Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. Schäuble is increasingly creating the impression that he wants to combat jihadism using the methods of a police state - USING BIG BROTHER TO FIGHT BIN LADEN, so to speak.

In September 2006, in the wake of the attempted bomb attacks of Cologne, the state interior ministers, who up until then hadn't been able to agree on much of anything, reached an accord on the creation of A GIGANTIC CENTRAL DATABASE that would bring together bank, telephone, Internet and driver's license information to which police, customs and, under certain circumstances, the intelligence agencies would have access. News of this monster database failed to elicit much media interest. A HORROR VISION OF ISLAMIST ATTACKS HAD SUPPLANTED OLDER FEARS OF BIG BROTHER.

The 18-month coalition fell on Monday (7 July) after the centre-right People's Party pulled out of the government saying it could no longer work with the social democrat chancellor, Alfred Gusenbauer. The difficulties in the coalition, which has often suffered strained relations, came to a head over the weekend when both parties failed to agree health reforms.

In addition, last month, the Social Democrats infuriated the People's Party by appearing to undermine the coalition's consensus on European policy. In an open letter to the Kronen Zeitung - a eurosceptic tabloid - Mr Gusenbauer said that in the future there should be referendums on European treaties, including the Lisbon Treaty if it is substantially altered following the Irish rejection of it in June.

The difficulties in the coalition, which has often suffered strained relations, came to a head over the weekend when both parties failed to agree health reforms. Their flagging popularity could benefit THE FAR-RIGHT ANTI-IMMIGRATION PARTY, THE FREEDOM PARTY, which could be a potential partner in the next government.

The proposal was presented by French interior minister Michele Alliot-Marie as she hosted an informal meeting with her European counterparts in Cannes, France. In practice, the proposal would allow for police officers from Germany - for example - to be stationed with Czech police forces in Prague in order to assist German citizens - something that could also be applied for big sport events.

According to Euronews, France is set to launch a pilot project in the pilgrim city of Lourdes when the Pope comes to visit in September. French and Italian police will be operating in Paris, Versailles and Nice ahead of and during the papal visit.

"That's part of what Europe is about," the French minister said, reflecting Paris' efforts to revive a positive vision of the EU among French citizens. Critics suggest that temporary multi-national police stations could eventually become permanent and result in a clash over powers between foreign and national police officers.

"The economic, political and military situation will not lead Mr Bush to do that, everybody knows this fact," Ahmadinejad told reporters on the sidelines of an Islamic summit in the Malaysian capital. "The Iranian people are ready to defend their own land." Asked if he was willing to meet Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama during his planned trip to the Middle East, Ahmadinejad said he was prepared to meet both U.S. presidential candidates in front of the media.

Earlier, in a letter written to a Japanese newspaper, Ahmadinejad lashed out at the Group of Eight wealthy nations, saying their policies would "accelerate them along the road to a precipice," and reiterated he would not accept demands to halt uranium enrichment. Last month, six major world powers offered a package of economic incentives in return for a halt to Tehran's nuclear activities.

Separately, an aide to Iran's Supreme Leader was quoted as saying that his country will target "vital interests" of the United States around the world if it attacks the Islamic state over its disputed nuclear activities.