Sir Michael Doughty said in a letter to a newspaper that there was little evidence that GM crops could be used to balance global food shortages with environmental concerns. Last week, ministers signalled that it was time to reopen the debate on GM crops in Britain and Europe, in the face of the global food crisis.

The organisation said that the crops, most of which are engineered to be resistant to strong weedkillers, could damage British wildlife. The comments sparked official evaluations of GM beet, oilseed rape and maize. In 2003, the subsequent report found that weedkillers used with GM beet and oilseed rape caused far more damage to wildlife than conventional herbicides.

Natural England is due to put a policy document, Biotechnology in the Natural Environment, before its board on Wednesday. It reads: "Because GM can be used to develop organisms with radically different properties, we are particularly concerned about potential impacts on biodiversity that could be caused by changes in crop, tree, or animal husbandry."

Saudi Arabia said Sunday it would produce more crude oil this year if the market needs it. The kingdom announced a 300,000 barrel per day production increase in May and said before the start of the meeting in Jeddah that it would add another 200,000 barrels per day in July, raising total daily output to 9.7 million barrels.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery traded up $1.42 at $136.78 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe. On Friday, the contract rose $2.76 to settle at $135.36 a barrel.

Total worldwide crude production is about 85 million barrels per day, but analysts say supplies remain tight amid disruptions to production from Nigeria, Africa's largest producer. "The oil summit really has not done much to temper oil pricing," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "It was a modest output increase and hardly really compensates for the disruption out of Nigeria." With expectations fading that the Saudi moves would drive the market downward, analysts suggested present high levels were here to stay, at least for the short term.

But oil prices might find some relief from Sunday's announcement by Nigeria's main militant group that it would halt attacks starting at midnight Tuesday. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta declared a unilateral cease-fire, saying elders in the restive southern region had asked the fighters to allow peace efforts to go ahead.

Research by the Orthodox Jewish organisation Aish found that just over a third of people thought religions like Christianity and Judaism would still be practiced in Britain in 100 years' time. Although four in 10 people said they would choose to be a member of the Christian religion, almost the same number said they would rather practice no religion at all. Buddhism however, proved more attractive than both Islam and Judaism, and was chosen by nine per cent of those questioned.

Aish UK's executive director Rabbi Naftali Schiff said "It clearly demonstrates that religion, including Judaism, is becoming unattractive to the British public. Research published earlier this year suggested that church attendance is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation.

According to Religious Trends, an analysis of religious practice in Britain, the huge drop off in attendance means that the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, CATHOLICISM AND OTHER DENOMINATIONS WILL BECOME FINANCIALLY UNVIABLE. In contrast, the number of actively religious Muslims is predicted to increase from about one million today to 1.96 million in 2035.

THE CAN-DO, BOOTSTRAP APPROACH EMBEDDED IN THE AMERICAN PSYCHE IS UNDER ASSAULT. Eroding it is a dour powerlessness that is chipping away at the country's sturdy conviction that destiny can be commanded with sheer courage and perseverance. Recent natural disasters around the world dwarf anything afflicting the U.S. Consider that more than 69,000 people died in the China earthquake, and that 78,000 were killed and 56,000 missing from the Myanmar cyclone. Americans need do no more than check the weather, look in their wallets or turn on the news for their DAILY REALITY CHECK ON A WORLD GONE HAYWIRE.

Floods engulf Midwestern river towns. Is it global warming, the gradual degradation of a planet's weather that man seems powerless to stop or just a freakish late-spring deluge? It hardly matters to those in the path. Just ask the people of New Orleans who survived Hurricane Katrina. They are living in a city where, 1,000 days after the storm, ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOODS REMAIN ABANDONED, A NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT THAT EVOKES DISBELIEF FROM VISITORS.

FOOD IS BECOMING SCARCER and more expensive on a worldwide scale, due to increased consumption in growing countries such as China and India and rising fuel costs. That can-do solution to energy needs - turning corn into fuel - is sapping fields of plenty once devoted to crops that people need to eat. Shortages have sparked riots. IN THE U.S., RICE PRICES TRIPLED AND SOME STORES RATIONED THE STAPLE. Residents of the nation's capital and its suburbs repeatedly lose power for extended periods as mere thunderstorms rumble through. In California, leaders warn people to use less water in the unrelenting drought. Want to get away from it all? THE WEAK U.S. DOLLAR MAKES TRAVEL ABROAD FORBIDDINGLY EXPENSIVE. To add insult to injury, some airlines now charge to check luggage.

But there's always sports, right? The moorings seem to be coming loose here, too. Bonds and Roger Clemens stand accused of enhancing their heroics with drugs. Basketball referees are suspected of cheating. Stay tuned for less than pristine tales from the drug-addled Tour de France and who knows what from the Summer Olympics.

Why the vulnerability? After all, this is the 21st century, not a more primitive past when little in life was assured. Surely people know how to fix problems now. Maybe. AND MAYBE THIS IS WHAT THE 21ST CENTURY WILL BE ABOUT - A GREAT UNRAVELLING OF SOME THINGS LONG TAKEN FOR GRANTED.

Since September 11, tension in U.S.-Saudi relations has provided the Chinese with an opportunity to win the heart of the House of Saud. To Washington's dismay CHINA HAS ALSO SET ITS SIGHTS ON IRAN, ANNOUNCING THAT IT WILL NOT SUPPORT SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN IN THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL.

No doubt that as China's oil demand grows, so will its involvement in Middle East politics. China is likely to provide the region's energy exporters not only with diplomatic support but also with weapons, including assistance in the development of WMD.

GPs in England are handing out prescriptions for anti-psychotic drugs for children as young as seven at the rate of 250 a day, according to figures obtained by The Independent on Sunday. Latest data compiled for the NHS show that tranquillisers designed to treat serious conditions including schizophrenia in adults were prescribed to young people 57,000 times in 2003. But the total had risen to more than 90,000 by 2006 - a 59 per cent rise in three years.

The figures do not include drugs dispensed in hospitals. Experts believe the increase is partly down to early detection and treatment of serious mental health problems in children, but there is also concern they are being used inappropriately to treat psychological and learning difficulties. Shortage of staff and resources are further factors.

Psychiatrists and mental health charities have warned against using anti-psychotic drugs on developing minds. Paul Corry, director of public affairs for the mental health charity Rethink, said: "IT IS WORRYING THAT THESE VERY POWERFUL DRUGS DESIGNED FOR ADULTS ARE BEING GIVEN IN SUCH HIGH NUMBERS TO CHILDREN BEFORE THEIR BRAINS ARE FULLY DEVELOPED.

The concerns come as the world suffers for the first time since 1973 from the confluence of record oil and food prices. Corn, soyabean and meat prices jumped this week to all-time highs, while oil prices hit a record of almost $140 a barrel.

This shift toward a national security concern will become apparent at Sunday's oil meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where ministers are expected to warn that developing countries are cracking under the burden of record oil and food costs. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer and the only country able to raise output, has recognised the danger after developing countries, including US-ally Pakistan, pleaded for a reprieve from oil payments. Morocco was forced last month to ask for an $800m loan from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates to cushion the impact of oil and cereal imports.

One Washington official said: "What we have been watching is behaviour [that indicates] China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam [and] Malaysia simply can't bare the burden on the central budget and that the medium to long-term confluence of oil and food prices is just too much." He added: "It is leading to a real security issue where the streets are talking to the president."

The floods, which began at the end of May, have killed 24 people and caused damage estimated at billions of dollars. THEY HAVE ALSO DASHED HOPES OF A BUMPER HARVEST IN THE MIDWEST. Donnie Miller, who has farmed in Iowa for three decades, said he had never known such a disastrous year. Ever since the Iowa River, a tributary of the Mississippi, flooded three weeks ago, much of his 1,400-acre maize and soya bean farm near Solon has been waterlogged.

"If the floods don't go away, nothing will get planted and it's getting very late," said Mr Miller, who now estimates his MAIZE HARVEST WILL BE DOWN 50 PER CENT ON LAST YEAR. "Anything that's growing is stunted. Normally it's chest-high at this time of year. Now, it's five inches." Bad weather - a cold spring followed by heavy rain - had already prompted fears of a poor harvest even before the Mississippi broke its banks so spectacularly that even President George W Bush came to see. This year's maize (known in the US as corn), soya bean and rice crops were all planted late because of the rain, increasing the likelihood of a poor yield.

Now, the flooding that has swept through Iowa, Illinois and Missouri may lead to the loss of up to five million acres of crops. Some agriculturalists say that by the time the water recedes in the next week or two, it will be too late for crop recovery or replanting. Maize farmers aren't the only ones struggling. WHEAT FARMERS IN OKLAHOMA AND SOUTHERN KANSAS face storm forecasts that could make it difficult for them to harvest their winter crop.

Druids, hippies and sun-worshippers were among those who gathered to watch the sun rise at the ancient stone circle at 0458 BST on the longest day. Rainy conditions obscured the sunrise but the turnout was still the highest in five years. Police said the event was peaceful, with 15 arrests overnight for public order offences. As the dawn broke a cheer went up from revellers who gathered at the Heel stone - a pillar at the edge of the prehistoric monument.

A man, dressed in a black hooded top, who gave his name as Cathbad, said: "It's a beautiful experience. It's about celebrating nature, life and what makes the world go round. It's all about the feeling you get when the sun bursts through the stone."

More than 100 Israeli fighter jets took part in manoeuvres over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece in the first week of June, US officials said. Iran insists its programme is peaceful, but Israel sees Iran's development of the technology as a serious threat. Tehran is defying a demand from the UN that it stop the enrichment of uranium. The UN Security Council approved a third round of sanctions against Iran over the issue in March 2008.

Several US officials briefing the New York Times said the exercise was intended to demonstrate the seriousness of Israel's concern over Iran's nuclear activities, and its willingness to act unilaterally. "They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know," a Pentagon official is quoted as saying by the newspaper. "There's a lot of signalling going on at different levels."

The exercise involved Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots, the newspaper reported. The helicopters and refuelling tankers flew more than 1,400km (870 miles), roughly the distance between Israel and Iran's main uranium enrichment plant at Natanz.

The declaration, to be agreed at an EU summit in Brussels, will note that the Czechs cannot complete ratification for the moment, officials said. The Czech parliament's ratification has been suspended, after the Senate demanded that the constitutional court decide whether the treaty conformed with the constitution. With growing opposition from Euro-sceptics, and key elections due in October, the future of the treaty in the Czech Republic looks uncertain, says the BBC's Oana Lungescu at the summit in Brussels.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said leaders agreed Lisbon should survive. But a senior UK judge warned that the UK's ratification should be suspended until he rules on a challenge to it. The treaty passed through British parliament this week, but has still to complete formal ratification.

A Euro-sceptic businessman has launched a High Court challenge to the British government's decision to ratify the treaty without a referendum. Lord Justice Richards said: "The court is very surprised that the government apparently proposes to ratify while the claimant's challenge... is before the court."

Tom Harris, a junior transport minister, claimed people are spending money on food and clothes in sums "that would have made our parents gasp". He raised comparisons with the former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's famous claim that Britain had "never had it so good" by saying OUR CITIZENS HAVE NEVER BEEN SO WEALTHY. "We live longer, eat healthier, have better access to forms of entertainment never imagined a generation ago, the majority of us have fast access to the worldwide web, which we use to enable even more spending and for entertainment. Crime is down. So why is everyone so bloody miserable?"

The comments were seized upon by the Conservatives, who said hard-working families were struggling with soaring living costs, stagnant earnings and falling house prices. Britain's largest mortgage lender, Halifax, warned that homeowners will see £18,000 wiped off the value of the average home by the end of the year. Tory Treasury spokesman Philip Hammond said: "Tom Harris's breathtaking comments raise Labour's arrogance and complacency to a whole new level."

An EU summit in Brussels has been overshadowed by divisions over the reform treaty - which was rejected by Irish voters in a referendum last week. A DECISION ON WHAT TO DO NEXT IS EXPECTED TO BE POSTPONED UNTIL OCTOBER. The EU leaders, who continue talks on Friday, did agree to scrap diplomatic sanctions against Cuba imposed in 2003.

Mr Sarkozy's comments about EU expansion came after clear divisions emerged over the future of the treaty and the meeting decided that the Irish should report back in October on possible ways out of the impasse. "Without the Treaty of Lisbon there won't be any enlargement," he said. "You can't say no to reforms and yes to enlargement."

The BBC's Jonny Dymond says ONE DIPLOMAT DESCRIBED MR SARKOZY'S COMMENTS AS A THREAT - and the wrong signal to send to the Irish people - and those of Croatia and Turkey, who hope to join the 27-member bloc.

The name suggests a mysterious netherworld of misinformation and mind control. But military chiefs say that psy-ops - psychological operations - are a routine feature of modern conflict, as old as warfare itself. The term replaced a phrase that had even murkier connotations - propaganda.

However, the Ministry of Defence defines psy-ops simply as a way of getting "the enemy, or other target audience, to think and act in a way which will be to our advantage". Leaflets dropped from aircraft, radio broadcasts, loudspeaker vans and face-to-face conversations with civilians are all devices used by armed forces to win hearts and minds or damage opponents' morale.

Col Bob Stewart, who commanded the British peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, said, "There are two types of propaganda - white and black," he says. "White is when you tell things as they are, while black is putting more devious stuff about. The value of psy-ops can be immense - but whatever you say must be believable, and preferably the truth."

THE U.S. KEEPS AN ESTIMATED 350 THERMONUCLEAR BOMBS IN SIX NATO COUNTRIES. In four of those - Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands - the weapons are stored at the host nation's air bases, where they are guarded by specially trained U.S. military personnel.

But according to an internal U.S. Air Force report, the sites are falling short of Department of Defense requirements, with fencing and security systems in need of repair, thin rotations that often lead to staffing shortages, and responsibilities falling to inadequately trained foreign security personnel. "In some cases," the report said, "conscripts, whose total active duty commitment is nine months, provide security manpower, while other locations have the challenge of working with unionized security personnel."

In Brussels, a NATO official said there is no alliance-wide policy on weapons security: "Security arrangements for U.S. nuclear weapons are made bilaterally between the U.S. and the host country. Any improvements that would be deemed necessary should be discussed between those two governments and not in a NATO context."