Speaking on his weekly television show, President Chavez also said Venezuela's embassy in Colombia would close. Mr Chavez said Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was a "criminal". He said the killing of Raul Reyes, a top commander of the left-wing Farc rebels, just inside Ecuador on Saturday was a "cowardly murder".

Mr Chavez has been mediating with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - or Farc - to secure the release of hostages the rebels hold, and six have so far been freed under this initiative. But he lamented the killing of Reyes - whom he called a "good revolutionary" - and at least 16 other Farc rebels when he spoke on his show, "Alo, President".

While Mr Chavez is a vociferous critic of the US, Colombia's government has received billions of dollars in aid from Washington to fight the guerrillas - the US, along with the EU, views Farc as a terrorist organisation.

The suspension came amid demonstrations in Gaza and fresh clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert vowed to carry on the assault, which came in response to militant rocket attacks on Israel. The violence intensified on Saturday, when nearly 70 people were killed in one of Gaza's bloodiest days in years.

Local doctors said at least 13 of the Palestinians were civilians, including eight children. The fighting has drawn international calls for restraint, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the US urging both sides to halt the violence. But Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said his country needed to prepare for an escalation of its air and ground operations in Gaza.

Rocket attacks on Israel have continued despite the assault on Gaza. Uri Bar Lev, police chief in southern Israel, told the BBC that the border town of Sderot had been targeted by 15 rockets on Sunday. He added that about 50 rockets were falling on the town each day. One Israeli died in an attack earlier this week. Palestinian rockets have reached as far as the Israeli town Ashkelon, 16km (10 miles) from the Gaza Strip.

Britain is throwing away half of all the food produced on farms, according to the starkest estimate yet of the amount of edible produce we waste. About 20m tons of food is thrown out each year: equivalent to half of the food import needs for the whole of Africa. Some 16m tons of this is wasted in homes, shops, restaurants, hotels and food manufacturing. Much of the rest is thought to be destroyed between the farm field and the shop shelf.

The total bill to the nation is estimated to be more than £20bn. The issue has come to the fore as supermarkets fight off criticism over billions of plastic carrier bags handed out free each year. Lord Haskins of Skidby, a former government adviser on rural affairs and chairman of Northern Foods, said yesterday that tackling the mountain of food wasted in this country every year would help to preserve the environment and go some way towards feeding an expanding global population in the face of unprecedented food shortages.

Lord Haskins, whose former employer is one of Britain's largest food suppliers, urged governments to press their citizens to help "avoid disaster by dramatically reducing the ... unacceptable levels of food waste, which are a shameful feature of most modern consumer societies". He called recent controversy over supermarkets' free distribution of plastic bags "a red herring".

Instead, it was a nation in crisis. "Britain is in a very, very uncomfortable place," he said. In a wide-ranging speech on the country's "broken society", the Ugandan-born archbishop called for Britain to regain the values of "mission and enterprise" that had made it so effective when it had an empire. His comments follow weeks of debate between political and religious leaders over the impact of multiculturalism on Britain, which has centred on claims from fellow senior bishops that the country has no-go areas for non-Muslims and will adopt aspects of Islamic sharia law in due course.

Speaking at Cambridge University, the archbishop accused the Government of trying to put a positive spin on the impact of its policies when, in fact, Britain had lost its standing abroad and was in crisis domestically because it no longer had a "vision for coherence or purpose".

"The loss of purpose has led to a crisis in Britain and a crisis for Christianity," he said. "At the heart of the empire was very strong mission and enterprise. British goods used to be very good, but not any more. Something has gone wrong. Britain needs a bigger vision." He stressed the importance of Britain not losing its Christian heritage which, he said, could be a "medicine" for the nation's ills.

Without an agreement, the Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies will begin implementing a water-sharing plan of their own, Kempthorne said in a letter to the governors."Regrettably, it will necessarily be a solution being directed to the states instead of our much hoped for solution coming from the states," he wrote in the letter, released Saturday. Kempthorne said the talks, which began last fall, yielded more progress in three months than at any time during the last 18 years.

But he said the negotiators could not reach a comprehensive agreement and called it "unfortunate" that the states are moving forward with ongoing litigation."It is our hope that developments in the courts will not frustrate further progress in resolving the remaining technical issues we face together," he said.

The three states have been feuding for nearly two decades over water rights in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint and the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa river basins, which run south through Georgia into Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Georgia is fighting to hold back more water in federal reservoirs around Atlanta to serve its growing population. Florida and Alabama argue that Georgia hasn't adequately planned for growth. The extra withdrawals, they argue, would damage the environment and dry up river flows into their states that support smaller municipalities, power plants, commercial fisheries and industrial users like paper mills.

With a record drought creating a critical water shortage last fall, President Bush dispatched Kempthorne to try to settle the dispute. But the talks appeared doomed from the start, with Florida almost immediately backing away from an initial agreement to allow Georgia to temporarily hold back more water in Lake Lanier outside Atlanta as the governors worked toward a longer-term pact by Feb. 15. Then Georgia lost a major court ruling in a case that raised questions about whether the federal government can allocate the state more water from the river basins without first getting approval from Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court.

After a series of meetings, the governors missed the Feb. 15 deadline but said they would continue talking until March 1. The talks appeared to unravel further in recent days, with Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue saying the water problems facing Florida and Alabama are not as critical as Georgia's and accusing the other states of approaching the talks without the same urgency as Georgia.

The visit gives Ahmadinejad a chance to highlight the improved relationship his nation has with post-Saddam Hussein Iraq while also serving as an act of defiance toward the U.S., which accuses Iran of aiding Shiite extremists in Iraq.

Among the delegation of Iraqi officials gathered at Baghdad international airport was Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who told The Associated Press that Ahmadinejad plans to leave Monday morning. Upon Ahmadinejad's arrival, the group piled into a military convoy headed for a meeting at Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's residence.

Security was tight along the airport road, once among the most dangerous in this war-torn city, with Iraqi army patrols stationed every 100 yards or so. The U.S. has said it would not be involved in providing security for Ahmadinejad's visit. Iran and Iraq are both led by Shiite Muslims. The two countries were hostile to each other during Saddam's regime and fought a long and destructive war during most of the 1980s. But Ahmadinejad sought to reassure Iraqis ahead of the trip that Iran is not fueling violence in Iraq.

Dr Muawiya Hassanein, head of Gaza emergency medical services, told AFP at least 61 people were killed as a "great number of rockets fired by Israeli planes" slammed into the northern Gaza Strip. At least seven civilians were among the dead and about 100 people were wounded, several of them critically, he said. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed on Saturday in Gaza, the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel reported, but there was no immediate confirmation from the army.

Tanks supported by helicopters moved into the area in and around the crowded town and refugee camp of Jabaliya and nearby Tufah in northern Gaza just after midnight, witnesses said. By midday troops had pushed nearly three kilometres (two miles) inside the Gaza Strip, according to witnesses. The urban battlefields were littered with debris as frightened residents hid inside their homes and imams read Koranic verses over mosque loudspeakers.

"We are in the middle of a total war. We hear the rockets and the explosions everywhere - we cannot leave our homes," Jabaliya resident Abu Alaa, 40, told AFP by telephone as he and his children took cover. Since the talks were formally revived at least 275 people have been killed, the vast majority of them militants in Gaza, where Abbas no longer has any power, according to an AFP tally. The latest deaths brought to at least 6,236 the total number of people killed in Israeli-Palestinian violence since 2000, most of them Palestinians, according to an AFP count.

New advice to teachers will also give them the green light to tell children about homosexuality as part of Sex and Relationship Education lessons. Ministers are attempting to canvass pupils' views on sex education as part of a national review of the subject at primary and secondary level.

THE DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES' TEENAGE PREGNANCY UNIT HAS FUNDED A BOOKLET, KNOWN AS A "TOOLKIT", WHICH IS AIMED AT SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. It was developed by the Sex Education Forum, which represents 50 organisations including children's and parents' groups. The forum is run by the National Children's Bureau, a children's rights charity that receives state funding.

Pupils are supposed to make up their own minds but the document also provides teachers with the answers ministers believe are correct. These answers should be read aloud to pupils after they have finished the exercise, the document states.

They include:
- Homosexuality can be discussed as part of school lessons. Agree.
- You don't have to be married to have a strong and supportive relationship. Agree.
- Schools should only teach Christian values. Disagree.
- Schools should tell young people not to have sex. Disagree.

Critics yesterday attacked the publication, claiming that it promotes the view that there are "no rights and wrongs" when it comes to sexual relationships. They have already warned that the review is an underhand attempt to bring in compulsory sex education for primary pupils. These fears were compounded by a Times Educational Supplement survey yesterday, which revealed that two thirds of primary teachers support compulsory sex education. Many want it for seven-year-olds.

Norman Wells, director of Family and Youth Concern, accused the forum of trying to manipulate impressionable youngsters. "It's verging on brainwashing," he said. "The forum is committed to promoting the view that there are no rights and wrongs when it comes to sexual relationships. The authors of this toolkit are clearly aiming to steer children away from a belief in moral absolutes and encouraging them to think everything is relative. The only truly safe and healthy choice is to follow a clear moral code that keeps sexual intimacy within the context of a faithful and lifelong marriage."

The ruling came in a case brought against Jonathan and Mary Long over the education being provided to two of their eight children. They are considering an appeal to the state Supreme Court, because they have homeschooled all of their children, the oldest now 29, because of various anti-Christian influences in California's public schools. The decision from the 2nd Appellate Court in Los Angeles granted a special petition brought by lawyers appointed to represent the two youngest children after the family's homeschooling was brought to the attention of child advocates.

The father, Jonathan Long, said the family is working on ways to appeal to the state Supreme Court, because he won't allow the pro-homosexual, pro-bisexual, pro-transgender agenda of California's public schools, on which WND previously has reported, to indoctrinate his children. "We just don't want them teaching our children," he told WND. "They teach things that are totally contrary to what we believe. They put questions in our children's minds we don't feel they're ready for. When they are much more mature, they can deal with these issues, alternative lifestyles, and such, or whether they came from primordial slop. At the present time it's my job to teach them the correct way of thinking," he said.

Two Al Qaeda-affiliated websites are calling on jihadists to "slaughter" the third in line to the throne. There will now be an urgent review of his security and the prince may have to curb his fondness for nightclubs. Taliban insurgents were already vowing to step up attacks on British forces. The prince was said to be bitterly disappointed that his posting to Helmand had to be cut short after a U.S. website broke an international media agreement not to reveal it. Security sources said the terrorist threats against Harry were being taken seriously.

Concerns about Harry's safety were deepened when firebrand preacher Anjem Choudhary, of the extremist Al Muhajiroun group, accused him of endorsing an "illegal war". He said: "I think it is inevitable that anyone who engages in these activities is going to draw attention to themselves. He will be seen as part of the enemy and so he is a target. For Harry to participate has absolutely no justification. For people to say he is being brave and doing his job is simply wrong. Many wiser and braver men have decided not to participate and have objected and demonstrated against these wars. They should be the ones declared as heroes."

In their first public reaction, the Taliban said Harry's presence in Helmand meant the Royal Family had joined the "aggression against Muslims" and encouraged their fighters to launch more attacks.

Barak, during a series of meetings at the Defense Ministry, said, "We should be prepared for an upswing in hostilities in Gaza. The big ground operation is a reality and it is tangible. We are not eager to embark upon such an operation, but we are not put off by it either."

According to defense sources, the goals of such an operation - reportedly in the planning stages for weeks if not months - would not "merely" be to reduce the threat of rocket fire and rocket manufacturing in the Gaza Strip, but would also likely entail paralyzing the Hamas government's ability to operate, and even include "regime change."

Barak spoke with Quartet envoy Tony Blair and Egyptian intelligence head Omar Suleiman and said Israel could not tolerate the current level of rocket fire in the South without offering a wider response. Barak also offered hints as to his plans, telling local community leaders gathered at Sapir Academic College outside Sderot that "the solution to Kassams will be a lot quicker than many people think." And the Foreign Ministry, in talking points sent to its representatives abroad, instructed them to say that when Israel left the Gaza Strip in 2005 it did so without the intention of ever returning, but that the continuation of terrorist attacks was likely to place the country in a position where it may have no other choice.

Several of the vaccinations included the controversial mercury-based preservative thimerosal, points out the National Autism Association, which sees the ruling as confirmation of the claims of many parents.

"This case echoes the stories of thousands of children across the country," said NAA President Wendy Fournier. "With almost 5,000 similar cases pending in vaccine court, we are confident that this is just the first of many that will confirm what we have believed for so long - vaccines can and do cause children to regress into autism." Fournier called on the Centers for Disease Control "to acknowledge that the current vaccine schedule is not safe for every child and as with the administration of any medicine, individual risks and susceptibilities must be considered for each patient."

A CDC panel, meanwhile, voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend flu shots for all school-age children. The move would compel private insurers to cover the costs and require the CDC to make the vaccine available to anyone who can't afford it. The NAA criticized the CDC decision, noting thimerosal is still found in flu shots recommended for children and pregnant women. Thimerosal in vaccines is suspected of causing brain damage and weakening the immune system, making some children susceptible later to infection from measles, mumps and rubella shots.

Prices were supported by comments Thursday from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the American economy is not immediately threatened with stagflation, a combination of economic weakness and rising inflation. Investors chose to see the comments as confirmation of their beliefs that the Fed will continue cutting interest rates to try to shore up the economy.

Lower U.S. interest rates tends to weaken the dollar, and crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar. "Due to the weakening dollar and the rising fear of inflation, investors have put money into commodities, oil included," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "Commodities, as tangible assets, do not face as much inflationary threat as opposed to holding a currency," Shum said. "Even though the value of money is changing, the asset continues to have an intrinsic value."

The dollar has been plagued by uncertainty about the course of the U.S. economy even after U.S. Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that the American economy was not "anywhere near" the dangerous situation of the 1970s. With the economy slowing and inflation rising, fears have grown that the country could be headed for the dreaded twin evils of stagnant growth and rising prices known as stagflation.
The euro's peak Friday was above the previous record of $1.5229 that it reached on Thursday.

The euro topped $1.50 for the first time since its 1999 introduction early Wednesday, then surged above $1.51 after markets took comments from Bernanke as a sign that yet more U.S. rate cuts are on the way. Lower interest rates can jump-start a nation's economy, but can weigh on its currency as traders transfer funds to countries where they can earn higher returns.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the deployment should not be viewed as threatening or in response to events in any single country in that volatile region. "This is an area that is important to us, the eastern Med," he said when asked about news reports of the ship movements. "It's a group of ships that will operate in the vicinity there for a while," adding that "it isn't meant to send any stronger signals than that. But it does signal that we're engaged, we're going to be in the vicinity and that's a very, very important part of the world."

Another military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because full details about the ship movements are not yet public, said a Navy guided missile destroyer, the USS Cole, was headed for patrol in the eastern Mediterranean and that it is accompanied by two refueling ships. The Cole is equipped to engage in a variety of offensive actions, including anti-aircraft and land attack missions.

The decision to send the ships appeared to be a not-too-subtle show of U.S. force in the region as international frustration mounts over a long political deadlock in tiny, weak Lebanon. The U.S. blames Syria for the impasse, saying Syria has never given up its ambitions to control its smaller neighbor.