Société Télévision Française 1 and M6-Metropole Télévision, the largest commercial broadcasters in France, may benefit from increased ad spending as a result of the change. TF1 shares rose the most in almost six weeks, while M6 had the biggest gain in three weeks.

"By suppressing advertising, we want to give our public television the means of a greater freedom," Sarkozy said in the speech at Élysée Palace. "For viewers, things will change from Jan. 1, 2009." All advertising will be phased out by Dec. 1, 2011, he said. The tax will apply to both fixed-line and mobile operators. The panel, headed by Jean-François Copé, the governing party leader in the National Assembly, had suggested the ban take effect Sept. 1, 2009.

"Texas is like our home," said Garza, 45, who joined hundreds of Mexicans poring over lists of Texas properties at the four-day event. Garza, who owns manufacturing sites and other land in Mexico, said he and five partners may invest as much as $8 million in Texas. "We believe there can be some opportunities."

A rising peso and an economy growing faster than the U.S. have given some Mexicans the buying power to take advantage of the housing slump in Texas, which the U.S. annexed in 1845 after Texans gained independence from Mexico nine years earlier. A three-year war followed and ended with Mexico ceding about half its territory, including Arizona, Nevada and California, to the U.S. under an 1848 treaty.

Mexico is better known for providing the U.S. with cheap labor than investment. The U.S. is home to an estimated 12 million Mexican-born residents, about half of them living there illegally, according to the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington.

The bad news came as a key farm group ESTIMATED U.S. CROP DAMAGE THIS YEAR HAD HIT $8 BILLION NATIONWIDE, most of it in the key Midwest growing areas of the world's biggest grain and food exporter amid the worst flooding in 15 years.

The new storms that soaked Missouri on Wednesday closed roads and sent smaller streams out of their banks, pushing more water into the basin that feeds both the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, just as the Mississippi was cresting or about to in areas upstream from St. Louis.

The Midwest storms and torrential rains have killed 24 people and caused billions of dollars in damage since late May. More than 38,000 people have been displaced, mostly in Iowa.

Obama's representative Carolyn Sauvage-Mar on Tuesday received A GOLD-PLATED TWO-FEET-HIGH IDOL which she will pass it on to Obama after it is sanctified. The idol is being presented to Obama as he is reported to be a Lord Hanuman devotee and carries with him a locket of the monkey god along with other good luck charms.

An hour-long prayer meeting to sanctify the idol was earlier organised at Sankat Mochan Dham and by Congress leader Brijmohan Bhama, Balmiki Samaj and the temple's priests. "OBAMA HAS DEEP FAITH IN LORD HANUMAN and that is why we are presenting an idol of Hanuman to him," said Bhama.

However, questions on Obama's religious beliefs elicited just a smile from Sauvage-Mar, apparently to avoid controversy back home where the Democrat senator is pitted against the Republican Party's John McCain in the Presidential polls.

Routine tests by Anglian Water found cryptosporidium in a sample from supplies to Northampton, Daventry and surrounding villages at about 0100 BST. The parasite causes stomach upsets and the most common symptom is diarrhoea. Anglian Water is now conducting further tests to track down the source of the bug and then they will flush it out.

The original tests found the bug in a sample taken from Pitsford Water Treatment Works which serves the area in Northamptonshire. Twenty schools in the area that rely on tap water for drinking fountains have now shut. About 108,000 homes across 85 communities in the north of Northamptonshire are affected by the contamination.

Some supermarkets in Daventry ran out of bottled water because of PANIC BUYING in the morning.

The fenced-off military compound has been set up just south of the Olympic Sports Center Stadium, a venue for football and modern pentathlon. It is also within a half mile of the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest National Stadium, the £225 million showpiece venue of the games. At least two Hongqi 7 missile launchers were visible behind a 7ft fence, with military hardware and vehicles hidden under camouflage netting.

Dozen of soldiers guarded the compound on Tuesday with a notice posted on the fence: "Military Administrative District No Admittance." The Beijing Olympics are intended to showcase the country's rising political and economic power. But THE INTENSE MEDIA SCRUTINY is also giving environmentalists and political activists with grievances a potential stage for protest, which COULD LEAD TO A PUBLIC-RELATIONS DISASTER FOR THE IMAGE-CONSCIOUS COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT.

Many foreign security experts question the scale of the threat while rights groups say Beijing may be using terrorism as cover for crackdowns on legitimate peaceful dissent. Last week Beijing said it had mobilized a 100,000-STRONG ANTI-TERRORISM FORCE to guard against threats to the Olympics.

The Queen has approved the annulment of the honour on the advice of the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, in protest at Mr Mugabe's misrule. "This action has been taken as a mark of revulsion at the abuse of human rights and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe over which President Mugabe has presided," the Foreign Office said. The move came as it emerged Nelson Mandela is planning to speak out about the situation in Zimbabwe tonight.

Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose and others are selling vegetables and fish exported amid the violence. Foreign currency from such deals is understood to be propping up Robert Mugabe's regime. Governments around the world are under pressure to impose tough economic sanctions on the country. And Prime Minister Gordon Brown has made clear he would ban the Zimbabwean cricket team from participating in Test and one-day matches here next year.

However, there is no sign of any ban on the sale of produce or limits on the commercial activities of other British firms who have dealings in Zimbabwe. These include Barclays, British American Tobacco, Standard Chartered bank, the advertising agency WPP, insurerance company Old Mutual and mining conglomerate Rio Tinto. Tesco apparently pours millions of pounds of foreign currency into Zimbabwe through purchases of fresh produce. Products on its shelves include sugar snap peas and mange tout. At different points in the year runner beans, fine beans, corn and broccoli are also available. Britain's biggest retailer insists the deal plays a very positive role in supporting the ordinary people of Zimbabwe.

Wilf Mbanga, editor of The Zimbabwean, a UK-based newspaper, said he was shocked that food from Zimbabwe is being sold here. "HOW CAN ZIMBABWE BE EXPORTING FOOD WHEN PEOPLE ARE STARVING? Food is not available to a large section of the population. When it is, the price is beyond the reach of many," he said.

Anglo will invest $400 million (£200 million) to build a platinum mine in Zimbabwe - a move that has raised concern among some of the company's shareholders and been condemned by politicians. The Foreign Office was investigating tonight whether the company's investment breached sanctions against Zimbabwe. Anglo insisted that its involvement in the country did not break the law.

The decision, which was criticised roundly as likely to give succour - and possibly money - to the Mugabe regime, is in stark contrast to the policy of nearly all other main British corporations in Zimbabwe. They are either withdrawing from the country or waiting for Mr Mugabe to be deposed before expanding their businesses.

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed the declining importance of the church was creating a "double jeopardy" situation where faith was being challenged at a time when society would most benefit. He said believers needed to "recover their nerve" and spread the Gospel again. The outspoken bishop, who earlier this week told those who tolerate homosexuality in the clergy to repent, also said he was "frustrated" that decisions which had been made in the church had not been stuck to.

Dr Nazir-Ali was greeted with a standing ovation as he gave a speech to A BREAKAWAY SUMMIT IN JERUSALEM OF MORE THAN 1,000 TRADITIONALISTS FROM ACROSS THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION who oppose gay priests and the blessing of same-sex unions. He did not say that divisions over sexuality would lead to a schism in Anglicanism, and referred to unity being a "very precious thing".

THE PAKISTAN-BORN BISHOP REPEATED HIS CLAIM THAT THE CHURCH BEGAN ITS DECLINE IN INFLUENCE WHEN PARENTS STOPPED PASSING THE FAITH ON TO THEIR CHILDREN. "DON'T BLAME ANYONE ELSE," he said. Dr Nazir-Ali added, returning to the theme of parents not passing on religion to their children: "Many of society's problems particularly in young people are related to the fact that so many have not experienced a stable family life. So many have grown up without a recognisable father figure."

THE TWO WARS HAVE LEFT THE FORCES "STRETCHED BEYOND THE CAPABILITIES WE HAVE," Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said. It is the first time the most senior officer in the British military has expressed such grave doubts about the struggle faced by troops fighting wars on two fronts. There are 4,000 British troops in Iraq and numbers in Afghanistan will soon exceed 8,000.

Ten British service personnel have been killed in Afghanistan in little over two weeks, fuelling fears that the UK has been sucked into a long and unwinnable struggle in the country. Sir Jock admitted that Britain could face decades more involvement in Afghanistan, which he called a "mediaeval" state lacking even basic government structures. Labour ministers have repeatedly denied suggestions that the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left the Forces overstretched, and opposition MPs said Sir Jock's candid remarks have made that position untenable.

Sir Jock was speaking after being asked why, after seven years in Afghanistan and five in Iraq, British forces still do not have enough helicopters.

Israel condemned the attack as a "gross violation" of the truce, but did not say whether it would retaliate. The barrage wounded two people and capped a day of violence that presented the truce with its first serious test. Just before midnight, Palestinian militants fired a mortar shell into an empty area in southern Israel. And in a pre-dawn raid, Israeli troops killed two Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Islamic Jihad, a small armed group backed by Syria and Iran, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. Although the West Bank is not included in the truce, the group said the Nablus raid had soured the atmosphere of calm. "We cannot keep our hands tied when this is happening to our brothers in the West Bank," the militant group said.

The Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect Thursday. The immediate aim was to end fighting that has killed seven Israelis and more than 400 Palestinians - many of them civilians - since Hamas gained control of Gaza a year ago. It also obliges Israel to ease a punishing blockade of the coastal strip. In a final stage, the sides are to address Hamas' demand to reopen a major border passage between Gaza and Egypt and Israel's insistence that Hamas release an Israeli soldier it has held for two years. The cease-fire is meant to avert an Israeli invasion of Gaza, a tiny, impoverished seaside territory of 1.4 million people that Israel evacuated in 2005 after a 38-year military occupation.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei spoke on Al-Arabiya television on June 20, discussing Iran's nuclear program, and the potential for the Middle Eastern country to produce a nuclear weapon. "If Iran wants to turn to the production of nuclear weapons, it must leave the NPT, expel the IAEA inspectors, and then it would need at least, considering the number of centrifuges and the quantity of uranium Iran has? it would need at least six months to one year," ElBaradei said.

"Therefore, Iran will not be able to reach the point where we would wake up one morning to an Iran with a nuclear weapon," he said. His interviewer then asked "If Iran decides today to expel the IAEA from the country, it will need six months to produce [nuclear] weapons?" The IAEA chief answered, "It would need this period to produce a weapon, and to obtain highly-enriched uranium in sufficient quantities for a single nuclear weapon."

"Whether it is anecdotal or statistical evidence, I SEE INFLATION EVERYWHERE, and this is where the financial tsunami cometh," Sedacca wrote in a report published yesterday. "A battered, over-indebted consumer, if forced to retrench, could create even more problems for the banking system as loan delinquencies would begin to rise even further. All sorts of delinquencies are rising. This is now a systemic issue."

Sedacca wrote that current financial-market conditions remind him of - "someone standing on a lonely beach, armed with only a small bucket, trying to stop a rare tsunami that hits the shores. It is how I feel about our markets and the tools being utilized by the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and other regulatory bodies. They are overmatched for what they are facing and, worse yet, THEY HELPED CREATE THE MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE by being far too easy with money and debt creation."

In a statement on its Web site Tuesday, the Kuwait Investment Authority said it agreed to invest $3 billion in Citigroup's $12.5 billion offering and $2 billion in Merrill Lynch's $6.6 billion offering. The two U.S.-based banks had announced in January how much they were raising in total, but did not give details about how much Kuwait's fund in particular had invested.

Government of Singapore Investment Corp. also participated in Citigroup's January offering, and Korean Investment Corp. participated in Merrill Lynch's. The cash-raising efforts were aimed at shoring up the banks' finances after huge losses in risky debt.