Billions of tons of methane hydrate, frozen chunks of chemical-laced water buried in sediment some 3,000 feet under the Pacific Ocean floor, may help Japan win energy independence from the Middle East and Indonesia. Japanese engineers have found enough "flammable ice" to meet its gas use demands for 14 years.

The trick is extracting it without damaging the environment. Japan is joining the U.S. and Canada in test drilling for methane even as scientists express concerns about any uncontrolled release of the frozen chemical. Some researchers blame the greenhouse gas for triggering a global firestorm that helped wipe out the dinosaurs.

"Methane hydrate was a key cause of the global warming that led to one of the largest extinctions in the earth's history," says Ryo Matsumoto, a University of Tokyo scientist who has studied frozen gas since 1987. "By making the best use of our wisdom, knowledge and technology, we should be able to utilize this wisely as a new energy." If successful, the gas drilling project could help Japan reduce a liquefied natural gas import bill that last year was 2.66 trillion yen ($23.3 billion). The country's LNG imports totaled 62.2 million metric tons, equivalent to 3.03 trillion cubic feet, according to the Ministry of Finance's trade report.

The missile blasted off from the Chandipur-on-Sea testing site, 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of Orissa state capital Bhubaneswar and hit a flying target successfully, a defence ministry official. The 700-kilogramme (1,540-pound) Akash, meaning "sky" in Hindi, can track 100 targets simultaneously with onboard radar, move at 600 metres (yards) a second and deliver a 55-kilogramme warhead across 27 kilometres in 50 seconds.

The test came a day after India announced plans to increase its nuclear prowess with a ballistic missile capable of hitting targets up to 6,000 kilometres (3,800 miles) away. New Delhi also announced two tests this month of Indian manufactured interceptor missiles, saying they performed better than Patriot air-defence batteries manufactured by US defence group Raytheon.

The missile development project is also to counter the acquisition of newer missiles by Pakistan which carried out tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests after India conducted a series of atomic detonations in 1998.

The test-firing was conducted on Tuesday in southern Israel as "part of series of improvements conducted in the missile's operational system towards a new radar system that allows a wider cover and detection ranges". The experiment launched the missile at a target imitating an airplane flying on an operational mission.

In August, it was reported that the Israeli air force was to buy advanced Patriot PAC-3 missiles, made in the United States and capable of intercepting aircraft and long-range ballistic missiles, to upgrade the air defence system. The Patriot PAC-3 was reportedly capable of intercepting missiles possessed by Syria, Israel's arch enemy to the north. The missile, weighing 320 kilos (700 pounds), increases the firepower of the Patriot battery, as 16 of them fit on a launcher, compared with four PAC-2s.

The SM-3 Block IA missile engaged and destroyed a medium-range ballistic missile target more than 60 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Personnel at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai launched the ballistic missile target while the crew of the Japanese destroyer JS KONGO (DDG-173) fired the intercepting missile.

"Today's intercept truly paves the way for Japan to deploy a sea-based ballistic missile defense system," said Ed Miyashiro, Raytheon Missile Systems vice president. "The U.S. has gained an important ally that can now defend itself against the threat of ballistic missiles."

During the test, the Japanese crew exchanged track information via satellite with U.S. naval assets, demonstrating missile defense interoperability between the two countries. This test was the 12th successful intercept for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system's SM-3.

The RS-24 missile was launched from the Plesetsk launch facility in northern Russia and its test warheads successfully hit designated targets on the Kura testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula some 4,340 miles east, Strategic Missile Forces spokesman Alexander Vovk told The Associated Press. Vovk said that the missile carried multiple test warheads, but refused to say how many. The Interfax news agency said the RS-24 is capable of carrying at least three warheads. The Strategic Missile Forces said in a statement that the missile was launched from a mobile launcher.

"The RS-24's deployment will strengthen the Strategic Missile Forces' capability to penetrate missile defense systems and strengthen the nuclear deterrent potential of Russia's strategic nuclear forces," the statement said. "The RS-24 will form the backbone of the Strategic Missile Forces and safely ensure the security of Russia and its allies through the mid-century."

President Vladimir Putin has used windfall oil revenues to modernize Russia's military arsenals amid increasing tensions with the West. The Kremlin has fiercely opposed U.S. plans to deploy missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying they threaten Russia's security.

At his year-end news conference, Mr. Bush stated with optimism that the economy is fundamentally sound, despite the housing downturn and the sub-prime credit crunch. The very next day, that optimism was reinforced with news of the best consumer spending in two years. The prophets of recessionary doom, such as a former Fed chairman, Alan Greenspan, Republican advisor Martin Feldstein, ex-Democratic Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, and bond-maven Bill Gross have been proven wrong once again.

Calendar year 2007 looks set to produce 3 % growth in real GDP, nearly 3 % growth in consumer spending, and over 3 % growth in after-tax inflation-adjusted incomes. Meanwhile, headline inflation (including food and energy) will have run at 2.5 %, with only 2 % core inflation. Jobs are rising over 100,000 per month and the stock market is set to turn in a respectable year despite enormous headwinds. Low tax rates, modest inflation, and declining interest rates continue to boost Goldilocks, which is still the greatest story never told.

Bush's optimism is well-earned, in Congress too. He has stopped a lot of bad legislation on higher taxing and spending. He won on S-CHIP and the alternative minimum tax. He mostly prevailed on domestic spending. And he got much of what he wanted on war funding without any pullout dates.

Science advisers told the European official Stavros Dimas that Bt corn was "unlikely" to pose a risk. He suggested banning it. THE VAST MAJORITY OF RESEARCH INTO SUCH CROPS IS CONDUCTED BY, OR FINANCED BY, THE COMPANIES THAT MAKE SEEDS FOR GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS.

IN THE UNITED STATES, WHERE ALMOST ALL CROPS ARE NOW GENETICALLY MODIFIED, THE DEBATE IS LARGELY CLOSED. Within the European scientific community, there are passionate divisions about how to apply the growing body of research concerning genetically modified crops, and in particular Bt corn. That strain is based on the naturally occurring soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis and mimics its production of a toxin to kill pests.

The environmental commissioner, Stavros Dimas, said he had based his decision squarely on SCIENTIFIC STUDIES SUGGESTING THAT LONG-TERM UNCERTAINTIES AND RISKS REMAIN in planting the so-called Bt corn. But when the full EUROPEAN COMMISSION takes up the matter in the next couple of months, commissioners will have to decide WHAT MIX OF SCIENCE, POLITICS AND TRADE TO APPLY. And they will face the ambiguous limits of science when it is applied to public policy.

For a decade, the European Union has maintained itself as the last big swath of land that is mostly free of genetically modified organisms, largely by sidestepping tough questions. It kept a moratorium on the planting of crops made from genetically altered seeds while making promises of further scientific studies. But Europe has been under increasing pressure from the WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION AND THE UNITED STATES, which contend that there is plenty of research to show such products do not harm the environment. THEREFORE, THEY INSIST, NORMAL TRADE RULES MUST APPLY.

Having reviewed the science, INSURANCE COMPANIES HAVE BEEN UNWILLING TO INSURE BT PLANTING BECAUSE THE RISKS to people and the environment are too uncertain, said Duncan Currie, an international lawyer in Christchurch, New Zealand, who studies the subject. Part of the reason that science is central to the current debate is that European law and World Trade Organization rules make it much easier for a country or a region to exclude genetically modified seeds IF NEW SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE INDICATES A RISK.

Lacking that kind of justification, a move to bar the plants would be regarded as an unfair barrier to trade, leaving the European Union open to penalties. But the science probably will not be clear-cut enough to let the European ministers avoid that risk.

Only the biodiversity of tropical rainforests rivals that of the deep sea - our planet's largest wilderness - an aquatic wonderland that is now being systematically razed by what is likely the world's most environmentally destructive business. The fishing occurs mostly around the ocean's most unique topographical formations - submarine canyons, mid-oceanic ridges and tens of thousands of seamounts (most are extinct volcanoes) - which support a stunning profusion of endemic species, many of which are yet to be discovered.

Trawlers reduce these habitats to rubble in minutes, undermining the viability of the very fish that brought the vessels there in the first place. A "rapidly growing number of scientific studies documenting [deep-sea] trawling impacts led to the unmistakable conclusion that bottom trawling is the world's most harmful method of fishing," says the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, which comprises leading environmental NGOs around the world and advocates an immediate moratorium on the practice.

"All fisheries are turning gradually into deep-sea fisheries because they have fished themselves out of the shallow waters," says Robert Steneck, a marine ecologist at the University of Maine. "The solution is not going into the deep sea, but better managing the shallow waters, where fish live fast and die young but where the ecosystems have greater potential for resilience."

"For the last several hundred years we have had freedom to fish on the high seas, without constraints, but clearly for deep-sea bottom trawling this can't continue. And I am reasonably optimistic it can be stopped," says Matthew Gianni, Deep Sea Coalition co-founder, who became a conservation advocate 20 years ago, after a decade of trawl fishing off U.S. coasts. "If there is going to be a turning point I think the concerns and the process of negotiation that played out at the General Assembly will prove to be that point."

Benedict delivered his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" speech - Latin for "to the city and to the world" - from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, blessing thousands of people gathered in the square below under a brilliant winter sun. Wearing gold-embroidered vestments and a bejeweled bishops' hat, or miter, Benedict urged the crowd to rejoice over the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth, which he said he hoped would bring consolation to all people "who live in the darkness of poverty, injustice and war."

He mentioned in particular those living in the "tortured regions" of Darfur, Somalia, northern Congo, the Eritrea-Ethiopia border, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Balkans. "May the child Jesus bring relief to those who are suffering and may he bestow upon political leaders the wisdom and courage to seek and find humane, just and lasting solutions," he said.

Beyond those conflicts, Benedict said he was turning his thoughts this Christmas to victims of other injustices, citing women, children and the elderly, as well as refugees and victims of environmental disasters and religious and ethnic tensions. He said he hoped Christmas would bring consolation to "those who are still denied their legitimate aspirations for a more secure existence, for health, education, stable employment, for fuller participation in civil and political responsibilities, free from oppression and protected from conditions that offend human dignity."

Such injustices and discrimination are destroying the internal fabric of many countries and souring international relations, he said. In a nod to his engagement with environmental concerns, the pontiff also noted that the number of migrants and displaced people was increasing around the globe because of "frequent natural disasters, often caused by environmental upheavals."

He was officially declared dead after vanishing while canoeing in the sea near Hartlepool in 2002. He was arrested, and police said they will look at the possibility of extraditing Mrs Darwin, who emigrated to Panama. It was an extraordinary piece of deception. In fact Mr and Mrs Darwin were photographed together in Panama last year, the picture posted on the website of a Panama company specialising in helping expatriates relocate to the central American state. Hours later he would be arrested at his son's home in Hampshire.

HOW WOMAN FOUND DARWIN PICTURE (mirror.co.uk)

The woman who uncovered the picture of missing John Darwin with his wife FOUND IT WITH A SIMPLE SEARCH ON GOOGLE. She typed in the words John, Anne and Panama, clicked on images and up it popped - complete with date. The single mum, who does not want to be named, said: "I'D LIKE TO NOMINATE THEM FOR 'WORLD'S DUMBEST' AWARDS.

"Not only were they photographed but the date was actually on the picture. It was just too good to be true." The photo of John and Anne was taken in July 2006 for a "Move to Panama" website. It has now been removed. After finding the picture, the mum said: "I just blinked - and there they were. I rang police in Cleveland. The man on the other end said, 'You're joking'!"

The "Ode to Joy" is more than just a universally popular piece of classical music that has become something of a cliché during the holiday season (especially, oddly, in Japan, where it has achieved cult status). It has also been, for more than a century, what literary theorists call an "EMPTY SIGNIFIER" - A SYMBOL THAT CAN STAND FOR ANYTHING.

In early 20th-century France, the Nobel laureate Romain Rolland declared it to be the great humanist ode to the brotherhood of all people, and it came to be called "the Marseillaise of humanity." In 1938, it was performed as the high point of the Reichsmusiktage, THE NAZI MUSIC FESTIVAL, and was later used to celebrate HITLER'S BIRTHDAY. In China during the Cultural Revolution, in an atmosphere of total rejection of European classics, it was redeemed by some as a piece of progressive class struggle.

IN THE 1950S AND '60S, WHEN THE WEST GERMAN AND EAST GERMAN OLYMPIC SQUADS WERE FORCED TO COMPETE AS A SINGLE TEAM, GOLD MEDALS WERE HANDED OUT TO THE STRAINS OF THE "ODE TO JOY" IN LIEU OF A NATIONAL ANTHEM.

There is, however, A WEIRD IMBALANCE IN THIS PIECE OF MUSIC. In the middle of the movement, after we hear the main melody (the "joy" theme) in three orchestral and three vocal variations, SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS that has bothered critics for the last 180 years: at Bar 331, THE TONE CHANGES TOTALLY, and, instead of the solemn hymnic progression, the same "joy" theme is repeated in the "marcia turca" ( OR TURKISH MARCH) style, a conceit borrowed from MILITARY MUSIC for wind and percussion instruments that 18th-century European armies adopted from the Turkish janissaries.

The mode then becomes one of a carnivalesque parade, A MOCKING SPECTACLE. After this point, such critics feel, EVERYTHING GOES WRONG, the simple solemn dignity of the first part of the movement is never recovered.

But what if these critics are only partly correct - what if things do not go wrong only with the entrance of the marcia turca? What if they go wrong from the very beginning? Perhaps one should accept that there is SOMETHING OF AN INSIPID FAKE IN THE VERY "ODE TO JOY," so that the chaos that enters after Bar 331 is a kind of the "return of the repressed," a symptom of what was errant from the beginning.

AND DOES THE SAME NOT HOLD FOR EUROPE TODAY? The second stanza of Friedrich Schiller's poem that is set to the music in "Ode to Joy," coming on the heels of a chorus that invites the world's "millions" to "be embraced," ominously ends: "BUT HE WHO CANNOT REJOICE, LET HIM STEAL WEEPING AWAY."

Now that it has been established that there is no such thing as an Iranian nuclear bomb, how exactly would the Israeli spin machine conjure up a nuclear threat from Iran? It is in the best interest of Israel to convey the image that it is threatened and therefore is in dire need of defense. The Israeli government will even buy air time in America to convince us to send them more money!

Each Israeli settler family that had to leave Gaza was given two hundred and twenty seven thousand dollars for giving up their claim and for moving! The Israeli government got that money by asking the U.S. Congress for more money. All this comes out of our tax pocket and is real money. The Iran threat will continue to be hyped as is and without any noticeable decrease in rhetoric. We will continue to see more stories by the Israelis claiming an almost immediate Iranian threat which can be combated with more money to Israel!

Msgr. Pietro Sambi - the Vatican's nuncio to Washington said, "the current impasse in the negotiations seems strange not only to the Holy See, the Christian world and many countries friendly to Israel, but also to many Jews, honorable citizens of Israel or denizens of other countries."

What are the underlying issues on each side? Beyond the specific cases of requested tax exemptions for religious institutions and non-profit activities connected therewith (mostly already conceded by Israel), the Vatican is concerned that whatever agreements are reached could be overturned by a future edict.

As an example, they point to the December 2002 law in which the Israeli government restricted the application of tax exemption statuses. Previously, dating back to the British mandate in 1938, RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS were exempt from paying all taxes, including those for services such as garbage disposal, utilities, etc. Now these services must be paid for, although in other respects the Catholic community still enjoys greater tax exemptions than all others.

Red tape regarding the acquisition of Israeli visas for priests and nuns is another source of discontent for the Catholic Church. The situation has worsened, because now individual visas are necessary, whereas in the past group visas were issued. It has become obvious that the solutions are not all to be found exclusively in Israel's camp, as both parts recognize that there are inherent difficulties in the expectations of each side.

AT THE BASE ARE THE CONFLICTING VIEWS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S STATUS IN ISRAEL. One view is that Catholicism is just one of the recognized religions and therefore cannot be awarded greater privileges than others. The OPPOSING VIEW IS THAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS REPRESENTED BY THE HOLY SEE, WHICH IS A STATE, and since the 1993 Fundamental Agreement is an agreement between states, it holds international validity that goes beyond Israeli laws applying to its various religious communities.

But while Jesus' place remains secure, the three kings - the wise men who followed the Star of Bethlehem to his manger - may need some help. In Spain it is these three, who, upholding the tradition they began when delivering gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus' bedside, bring presents to children on the Epiphany, January 6. THE FAT GUY IN THE RED SUIT who visits on Christmas Eve (Papa Noel as he is called here) is A FOREIGN IMPORT, PROMOTED BY HOLLYWOOD AND INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES EAGER TO EXPAND THE GIFT SEASON. And for many Spaniards, Santa - and the cultural imperialism he represents - must be stopped.

La Despensa, a local boutique marketing firm, appears to be leading the charge. The company's small band of Santa-detractors has blanketed the city with posters bearing slogans like "Down with the Fat Red Capitalist." They have issued a blunt manifesto (example: "REINDEERS DON'T FLY. CAMELS DO WALK. ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE FRAUD.") and urged Kings' defenders to sign it.

"When we were kids, there was no question - IT WAS THE KINGS WHO BROUGHT PRESENTS," says Miguel Olivares, co-director for La Despensa. "So who is this guy in the red suit? Clearly the Kings are losing their market share, they're not getting as many letters as before. As marketing specialists, we could see they needed to communicate better, and to modernize their image."

Is the call to arms working? At the Christmas market in Madrid's Plaza Mayor, vendors were doing a brisk business in Papa Noel dolls attached to ladders (IN SPAIN, HE COMES IN THROUGH THE APARTMENT WINDOW, NOT DOWN THE CHIMNEY). But Nicholas, age 4, whose grandmother was hustling him into the car for a family gathering, was having none of it. Asked whether he'd side with Santa or the Kings, he was adamant: "The Kings, of course-? they're the ones who bring the presents!"

DIGITAL IMAGES OF FACES, FINGERPRINTS AND PALM PATTERNS ARE ALREADY FLOWING INTO FBI SYSTEMS IN A CLIMATE-CONTROLLED, SECURE BASEMENT HERE. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES AROUND THE WORLD will be able to rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even the unique ways people walk and talk, to solve crimes and identify criminals and terrorists.

The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with the law. Employers could ask the FBI to keep employees' fingerprints in the database, subject to state privacy laws, so that IF EMPLOYEES ARE EVER ARRESTED OR CHARGED WITH A CRIME, THE EMPLOYERS WOULD BE NOTIFIED.

"Bigger. Faster. Better. That's the bottom line," said Thomas E. Bush III, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division, which operates the database from its headquarters in the Appalachian foothills. Intelligence agents could exchange biometric information worldwide. THE FBI IS BUILDING ITS SYSTEM ACCORDING TO STANDARDS SHARED BY BRITAIN, CANADA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

In the world's first large-scale, scientific study on how well face recognition works in a crowd, the German government this year found that the technology, while promising, was not yet effective enough to allow its use by police. The study was conducted from October 2006 through January at a train station in Mainz, Germany, which draws 23,000 passengers daily. The study found that the technology was able to match travelers' faces against a database of volunteers more than 60 percent of the time during the day, when the lighting was best. But the rate fell to 10 to 20 percent at night.

To achieve those rates, the German police agency said it would tolerate a false positive rate of 0.1 percent, or the erroneous identification of 23 people a day. In real life, those 23 people would be subjected to further screening measures, the report said. Accuracy improves as techniques are combined, said Kimberly Del Greco, the FBI's biometric services section chief. THE NEXT GENERATION DATABASE IS INTENDED TO "FUSE" FINGERPRINT, FACE, IRIS AND PALM MATCHING CAPABILITIES BY 2013, SHE SAID.

Privacy advocates worry about the ability of people to correct false information. "UNLIKE SAY, A CREDIT CARD NUMBER, BIOMETRIC DATA IS FOREVER," said Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley technology forecaster. He said he feared that the FBI, whose computer technology record has been marred by expensive failures, could not guarantee the data's security. "If someone steals and spoofs your iris image, you can't just get a new eyeball," Saffo said.