THE POPE'S CHIEF ASTRONOMER SAYS THAT LIFE ON MARS CANNOT BE RULED OUT. Father Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory near Rome, is a respected scientist who collaborates with universities around the world. The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God. The official Vatican newspaper headlines his article 'ALIENS ARE MY BROTHER'.

Just as there are multiple forms of life on earth, so there could exist intelligent beings in outer space created by God. AND SOME ALIENS COULD EVEN BE FREE FROM ORIGINAL SIN, HE SPECULATES. Asked about the Catholic Church's condemnation four centuries ago of the Italian astronomer and physicist, Galileo, Father Funes diplomatically says mistakes were made, but it is time to turn the page and look towards the future.

Science and religion need each other, and many astronomers believe in God, he assures readers. To strengthen its scientific credentials, the VATICAN IS ORGANISING A CONFERENCE NEXT YEAR TO MARK THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE AUTHOR OF THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, CHARLES DARWIN.

The father of relativity, whose previously known views on religion have been more ambivalent and fuelled much discussion, made the comments in response to a philosopher in 1954. As a Jew himself, Einstein said he had a great affinity with Jewish people but said they "have no different quality for me than all other people".

"The WORD GOD IS FOR ME NOTHING MORE THAN THE EXPRESSION AND PRODUCT OF HUMAN WEAKNESSES, THE BIBLE A COLLECTION OF HONOURABLE, BUT STILL PRIMITIVE LEGENDS WHICH ARE NEVERTHELESS PRETTY CHILDISH. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this," he wrote in the letter written on January 3, 1954 to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, cited by The Guardian newspaper.

In it, the renowned scientist, who declined an invitation to become Israel's second president, rejected the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people. "For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions," he said. Previously the great scientist's comments on religion - such as "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" - have been the subject of much debate, used notably to back up arguments in favour of faith.

The 0.5% rise in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) to 3% is the biggest monthly jump since July 2002 and follows surging gas and electricity bills, food prices, and Budget tax hikes on alcohol and tobacco. The gloomy figure - far higher than the 2.6% expected by City economists - brings the Bank of England's Governor Mervyn King to the brink of writing a second open letter to the Chancellor to explain the rise in inflation. The Bank is charged with keeping inflation within a 1% range of its 2% target but Mr King must write a letter if CPI hits 3.1%, as it did in March 2007.

There was also pain at the supermarket with big rises in bread, cereals, meat and fish adding more than 0.1% to the CPI, while mortgage arrangement fees were on the rise this year compared with falls seen 12 months earlier. Motorists, meanwhile, are suffering at the petrol pump from oil prices above 120 dollars a barrel.

The purchase allows the Rome-based Finmeccanica, ITALY'S LEADING DEFENSE COMPANY, TO ACQUIRE A KEY ROLE IN THE U.S. MARKET. DRS hopes that the new company will be able to bid on large-scale projects in the United States and abroad. UNDER THE AGREEMENT, DRS WILL OPERATE AS A WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY. It will maintain its current management and headquarters, located in Parsippany, New Jersey. "Today's transaction is a perfect fit," said Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, chairman and chief executive of Finmeccanica. "The merger furthers Finmeccanica's tradition of investing in the U.S. and supporting the American warfighter with superior technology and value."

Finmeccanica's core competencies include the design and manufacture of helicopters, civil and military aircraft, satellites, space infrastructure, missiles and defense electronics. DRS is a leading supplier of integrated products, services and support to military forces, government agencies and prime contractors worldwide. "This investment in DRS - with an increased emphasis on research and development - will mean the combined company will be able to compete for and win additional contracts around the world, accelerating growth and expanding opportunities at our facilities in the U.S.," said Mark S. Newman, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of DRS.

A report by a cross-party group of Christian MPs SAYS THE COUNTRY IS WALLOWING IN MISERY DESPITE INCREASING WEALTH AND EMPHASIS ON HAPPINESS IN SCHOOLS. Their study states: "One impetus behind this project was our sense that there is a strong feeling of disaffection among the inhabitants of these islands. It seemed to us that our national sense of wellbeing is at a low ebb; people are wanting something more out of life.

"Given all the advances of recent years, we seek to understand why a sense of human wellbeing - happiness if you like - is not more widespread." They claim SOCIETY LACKS A SENSE OF WELL-BEING BECAUSE OF A LOSS OF FAITH IN GOD AND RELIGION. The authors claim everyone's wellbeing would improve if CHRISTIAN VALUES WERE TAKEN MORE SERIOUSLY IN SOCIETY.

Gary Streeter, a Conservative MP and a member of the working party, said: "I think many policymakers sense these things, but don't know what to do about it. The faith communities have a great opportunity to lead here, but only if they stop carping and being against everything and start to be more positive. It is as much a message to the faith communities as other opinion formers."

She and the Duke of Edinburgh will visit Ankara, Bursa and Istanbul during the four-day trip, according to the British Consulate General in Istanbul. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, will join them as the accompanying minister.

The British ambassador to Turkey, Nick Baird, said: "THIS SHOWS HOW IMPORTANT TURKEY IS FOR US - A MODERNISING AND DEMOCRATIC TURKEY WHICH WILL BECOME A MEMBER OF THE EU." The visit has been interpreted by the Turkish media as a further sign that Britain supports the accession of Turkey as an EU country.

The speed of his forces was widely credited with allowing Ibrahim's men to reach the outskirts of Khartoum to launch an attack Saturday without being detected by government troops. They set out from the Darfur and Kordofan regions under cover of night in vehicles similar to those used by the army, racing across the vast arid terrain of central Sudan. "The government can't keep up with the JEM," Ibrahim said. "It will be exhausted - we can move from the north, south, west and east freely."

The attack shocked the government, which was pursuing a full-scale manhunt for Ibrahim and cracking down on other opposition figures. Ibrahim's movement has emerged as the most effective rebel group in Darfur, where ETHNIC AFRICANS TOOK UP ARMS AGAINST THE ARAB-DOMINATED GOVERNMENT IN 2003 TO FIGHT DISCRIMINATION.

Fires in Palm Bay in Brevard County damaged about 50 homes and scorched 3,500 acres, or about 5 1/2 square miles; students at two schools were released early as a precaution. "Everytime I turn around another house is on fire. WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH RESOURCES ON OUR OWN TO DO A JOB LIKE THIS," Palm Bay spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez said.

The Florida Highway Patrol shut down a 34-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in Brevard County. U.S. Highway 1 also was closed in that area, and it was not known when it will reopen, FHP spokeswoman Kim Miller said. "The fires have picked up in Malabar so it's just heavy, thick black smoke and it's right at driver level," Miller said.

One person may be responsible for the blaze, said Ernie Dieble, an arson investigator with the Palm Bay Police Department. A witness saw someone in a car drop something into an open field, and the fire started shortly afterward, he said. GOV. CHARLIE CRIST DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY MONDAY. The move allows Florida to use federal funds and the National Guard, brings local emergency workers under state control and allows Florida to call on other states for help.

"Of course I'll bring it up to him," Bush said in a CBS News radio interview. However, he added that the capacity of the Saudis to raise production - and thus help lower prices - is limited. "When you analyze the capacity for countries to put oil on the market it's just not like it used to be," Bush said. "THE DEMAND FOR OIL IS SO HIGH RELATIVE TO SUPPLY THESE DAYS THAT THERE'S JUST NOT A LOT OF EXCESS CAPACITY."

However, Saudi Arabia has considerable additional production capacity. It's pumping a little over 8.5 million barrels a day, compared with about 9.5 million barrels a day two years ago, and has acknowledged the ability to produce as much as 11 million barrels a day.

Bush also said that, while he was a "big supporter" of energy conservation, he would not issue a specific appeal to the public to ease up on driving and not use as much fuel. "I think they can figure out how to do that," he told CBS. "I mean, the market has a way of convincing people to drive less, depending on their ability to afford."

The idea of designer babies is that someday, scientists may insert particular genes into embryos to produce babies with desired traits like intelligence or athletic ability. Some people find that notion repugnant, saying it turns children into designed objects, and WOULD CREATE AN UNEQUAL SOCIETY WHERE SOME PEOPLE ARE GENETICALLY ENRICHED WHILE OTHERS WOULD BE CONSIDERED INFERIOR.

THE STUDY APPEARS TO BE THE FIRST REPORT OF GENETICALLY MODIFYING A HUMAN EMBRYO. Rosenwaks and colleagues did the work with an embryo that had extra chromosomes, making it nonviable. Following a standard procedure used in animals, they inserted a gene that acts as a marker that can be easily followed over time. The embryo cells took up the gene, he said. The goal was to see if a gene introduced into an abnormal embryo could be traced in stem cells that are harvested from the embryo, he said.

Marcy Darnovsky, associate executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society, said the Cornell SCIENTISTS WERE DEVELOPING TECHNIQUES THAT OTHERS MIGHT USE TO MAKE GENETICALLY MODIFIED PEOPLE, "AND THEY'RE DOING IT WITHOUT ANY KIND OF PUBLIC DEBATE."

"THE DEATH TOLL AND DAMAGE ARE MORE SERIOUS THAN WE EXPECTED AND WE NEED MORE PEOPLE HERE TO HELP," Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said today at disaster relief headquarters in the town of Dujiangyan near the epicenter, in comments broadcast on state television.

The 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck 90 kilometers (56 miles) from the central city of Chengdu, home to 11 million people and the capital of Sichuan province. There's no contact from the city of Wenchuan, which has a population of 118,000 and is 14 kilometers from the epicenter, state-run Xinhua News Agency said. The quake, at 10 kilometers below the surface, was shallow, "which means it released more destructive energy," Zhang Guomin, a researcher at the China Seismology Bureau, told Xinhua.

Prime Minister Wen, who flew to the disaster zone yesterday, ordered rescue workers to open roads to Wenchuan and other areas by midnight today, Xinhua said. He spoke after an emergency meeting at 7 a.m. Sichuan and surrounding areas are among the most populous in the country, while the province has 40 percent of China's gas deposits and its largest panda reserve.

Two people were killed and about 40 injured during the attack on Sunday. A crowd of local people attacked migrants from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, telling them to leave. Police have arrested 15 people. People from across the continent have been attracted to South Africa by its relative peace and prosperity. This has led to an increased number of attacks on migrants by those who say THE FOREIGNERS ARE TAKING LOCAL JOBS AND CONTRIBUTING TO CRIME.

The economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe has lead to an influx of migrants into South Africa. Earlier this year, two foreigners were killed and 1,000 left homeless when their houses were burnt down outside the capital, Pretoria. Around 600,000 people live in Alexandra township, which attracts migrants from across southern Africa.

Neria Malefetse from Johannesburg police said her officers are working to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control. "I BELIEVE THAT XENOPHOBIA EXISTS IN SOUTH AFRICA," she says. "But we need to find other means of dealing with problems than resorting to violence." President Thabo Mbeki has condemned the acts of violence.

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.