Populations of land-based species fell by 25%, marine by 28% and freshwater by 29%, it says. Humans are wiping out about 1% of all other species every year, and one of the "great extinction episodes" in the Earth's history is under way, it says. Pollution, farming and urban expansion, over-fishing and hunting are blamed.

The Living Planet Index, compiled by the society in partnership with the wildlife group WWF, tracks the fortunes of more than 1,400 species of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, using scientific publications and online databases. It said numbers had declined by 27% in the 35 years from 1970 to 2005. Some of the worst hit are marine species which saw their numbers plummet by 28% in just 10 years, between 1995 and 2005.

Colin Butfield, head of campaigns at WWF UK, said: "Biodiversity underpins the health of the planet and has a direct impact on all our lives, so it is alarming that despite an increased awareness of environmental issues we continue to see a downward trend." Director general James Leape said: "Reduced biodiversity means millions of people face a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and disease and where water is in irregular or short supply. No-one can escape the impact of biodiversity loss because reduced global diversity translates quite clearly into fewer new medicines, greater vulnerability to natural disasters and greater effects from global warming."

"THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN OUR GOVERNMENTS IS UNBREAKABLE," Bush said in remarks prepared for an address to the Israeli parliament marking the 60th anniversary of the creation of Israel, an event the Palestinians regard as a "catastrophe." "Israel's population may be just over seven million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because America stands with you."

Bush planned to tell Israel's Knesset that the United States and its allies will keep up the battle against extremist groups, including Al-Qaeda, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip. "The president will reiterate that the United States is Israel's closest friend and ally," said US national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe. Bush, who is in Israel at the start of a five-day visit to the region, also WARNED THAT ALLOWING ARCHFOE IRAN TO OBTAIN NUCLEAR WEAPONS WOULD BE "AN UNFORGIVABLE BETRAYAL OF FUTURE GENERATIONS."

The goal is to increase the proportion of Torah-observant lawyers into Israel's legal system. Dr. Aviad Cohen, Dean of the College, explained, "Having invested much thought and discussions regarding the challenges facing the Jewish Nation and the State of Israel, we have decided that the time is ripe to climb up to the next level and found a Beit Medrash (Torah study hall) within the college. The integration of people with values, whose strengths are nourished from Jewish sources and the eternal values of the Jewish people, can and should have an influence on the character of the State of Israel for many years to come."

"Given this recognition," Cohen continued, "we wish to raise a generation of jurists for whom the Torah and the values of Jewish tradition are the center of their lives, and who excel academically, and who will be the front line of the jurists in Israel."

The college wishes to attract more religious youths into Israeli law, in light of the perceived loss of rabbinical court authority over the past several years. The absence of religious and hareid-religious faces on the Supreme Court is also an impetus for the new program.

Shas, Israel's Sephardic-hareidi-religious party, is the party on which the government coalition is currently most dependent. Until now, it HAS THREATENED TO QUIT ONLY IF NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY DEAL WITH THE PARTITION OF JERUSALEM. Despite much evidence that such talks have, in fact, begun, Shas has maintained that no such talks are underway - while continuing to insist that IT WOULD QUIT THE MOMENT THEY BEGIN.

Now, however - just before the arrival of U.S. President George Bush in honor of Israel's 60th birthday - SHAS SAYS THAT ANY AGREEMENT WITH THE PA IS DANGEROUS ENOUGH TO WARRANT QUITTING THE GOVERNMENT. Other religious elements are similarly suspicious of Olmert, and leading rabbis have written to Bush himself, asking him not to meet with the Israeli premier.

"The Prime Minister is prepared to betray his country and homeland in order to save himself from the law," the Yesha Rabbis Council writes in a particularly strong letter. "Do not let yourself be engraved in history as Nebuchadnezzar or Titus [who destroyed Jerusalem 2,500 and 2,000 years ago, respectively]." Also signed on the letter are Rabbis Yaakov Yosef, David Druckman, Shmuel Eliyahu and Shalom Dov Wolpe.

"In the name of the Nation of Israel, the Land of Israel, the Torah of Israel, and the G-d of Israel, we demand of your honor to cease pressuring Israel to give land to the Arabs. We ask that you do not meet with Mr. Olmert on these matters, and certainly not during this period. Mr. President, do not be engraved in history as Nebuchadnezzar and Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem. You certainy recall that America does not benefit from causing harm to the Jewish People and its land. If you work on behalf the integrity of the Land of Israel, we guarantee you and your country endless blessings."

The paper accuses Independent MEP Tom Wise, and Conservative MEPs Robert Atkins, David Sumberg, Roger Helmer and Conservative leader in the European Parliament Giles Chichester of exploiting the system by making exorbitant claims for expenses such as flights, daily allowances, staff allowances and office costs. Sumberg reportedly paid his wife £95,000 a year to work as his secretary and Chichester employed his wife on a part-time basis at £30,000 a year.

The main feature focuses on comments from Tom Wise, who told an undercover reporter: "It's cushy - £60,000 a year! Thank you very much indeed! WHAT HAVE WE GOT TO DO FOR IT? NOT A LOT! I don't know what an MEP's job is. NO ONE'S EVER GIVEN ME A JOB DESCRIPTION. I've no idea what an MEP should or shouldn't do. So you make it up as you go along."

When the News of the World asked Sir Robert Atkins about his staffing allowance, he said: "It's very complicated and I don't suppose any of your readers would understand it." The paper's leader describes THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AS A "MONEY-PIT FOR CASH-GRABBING FREELOADERS WHO CYNICALLY MILK OUR TAXES FOR THOUSANDS OF POUNDS A WEEK EACH."

The article quotes a senior Commission official saying, "The French use [chlorine washing] for exports to Saudi Arabia. This fact has been concealed. Not once has it been mentioned in all the Commission meetings on this subject. This is all about protecting vested interests." The European Food Safety Agency has found that chlorine washing "does not indicate a safety concern" and Commission lawyers say the import bar breaches World Trade Organisation rules.

"IN TODAY'S WORLD, THERE ARE 2 BILLION PEOPLE UNDER THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS, 90 percent of which come from development countries," said Du Ying, vice chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission. "With poor infrastructure and vulnerable ecosystem, developing countries are most vulnerable to the adverse effects of drought, desertification and climate change," Du told a ministerial roundtable during the 16th meeting of the Commission on Sustainable development.

ON FOOD SECURITY, Du noted that there are still 850 MILLION PEOPLE in the world hardly getting enough to eat. He called for more efforts to address food security, including increasing food supply, managing demand AND BUILDING A NEW INTERNATIONAL TRADE ORDER.

THE SHIP WILL NOT, BE CARRYING OIL OR PETROLEUM. It is the first of many shipments of DRINKING WATER that form part of a program to slake the thirst of this drought-plagued city. Other proposals, such as a controversial plan TO DIVERT WATER FROM THE EBRO RIVER, have pitted the Catalan capital against farmers and other cities, in a mild foretaste of the WATER-WARS that some have darkly predicted will afflict major regions of the planet in the coming years.

Spain is in the grip of its worst drought in a century, this year's total rainfall, for example, has been 40% lower than average for the equivalent period, and the country's reservoirs are, on average, only 30% full. The reservoirs serving Barcelona are only 20% full, and without significant rainfall, supplies of drinking water will likely run dry by October. "WE'RE IN CRISIS," says Joan Armengol, professor of ecology at the University of Barcelona. "AND YOU CAN'T LEAVE 5.5 MILLION PEOPLE IN CRISIS. The government has to take the bull by the horns."

Even the farmers to the north of the city are suffering from the city's all-consuming thirst. "Already, some FARMERS IN THE TER AREA ARE PROHIBITED FROM IRRIGATING BECAUSE THE WATER IS NEEDED FOR BARCELONA," says Peasants' Union spokesman Felip Domenech. "THIS DIVERSION COULD CAUSE ENTIRE HARVESTS TO FAIL."

The most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol - problems often linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Experts say the data reflect not just worsening public health but better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors. For example, more people are now taking blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medicines because they need them, said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.

In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry's relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow. "Unless we do things to change the way we're managing health in this country - things will get worse instead of getting better," predicted Jones, a heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi's medical school.

MEDCO'S DATA SHOW THAT LAST YEAR, 51 PERCENT OF AMERICAN CHILDREN AND ADULTS WERE TAKING ONE OR MORE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FOR A CHRONIC CONDITION, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most of the drugs are taken daily, although some are needed less often. Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco, said he sees both bad news and good in the findings. "Honestly, a lot of it is related to obesity," he said. "We've become a couch potato culture (and) it's a lot easier to pop a pill" than to exercise regularly or diet.

Teams of 15 officers will be deployed across the 10 boroughs in London that have recorded the most knife crime. Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin, head of territorial policing in the capital, said officers would be deployed in areas blighted by stabbings to stop and search teenagers suspected of carrying weapons.

Police admit the "in your face policing" is expected to raise community tensions in some areas. But they say they are getting significant support from communities desperate for them to crack down on the problem.
Officers will use contentious Section 60 powers to enforce effective "no-go" areas for people carrying knives.

The powers enable officers to stop people and search them without the need to have "reasonable suspicion" that they are engaged in wrong doing. There has been criticism of the powers because research has found it hits black communities disproportionately. Search teams of officers are using a total of 550 metal-detecting wands and 244 airport-style detection arches.

The ants - formally known as "paratrenicha species near pubens" - have spread to five Houston-area counties since they were first spotted in Texas in 2002. The newly recognized species is believed to have arrived in a cargo shipment through the port of Houston. The good news? They eat fire ants, the stinging red terrors of Texas summers.

But the ants also like to suck the sweet juices from plants, feed on such beneficial insects as ladybugs, and eat the hatchlings of a small, endangered type of grouse known as the Attwater prairie chicken. They also bite humans, though not with a stinger like fire ants. Worse, they, like some other species of ants, are attracted to electrical equipment, for reasons that are not well understood by scientists.

They have ruined pumps at sewage pumping stations, fouled computers and at least one homeowner's gas meter, and caused fire alarms to malfunction. They have been spotted at NASA's Johnson Space Center and close to Hobby Airport. Exterminators say calls from frustrated homeowners and businesses are increasing because the ants, which are starting to emerge by the billions with the onset of the warm, humid season, appear to be resistant to over-the-counter ant killers.

Its Astrium division has designed a variant of its space station freighter that could also transport astronauts. Limited details were released in Bremen, Germany, on Tuesday; further information and a mock-up are expected at the Berlin Air Show this month.

Europe does not currently possess its own human space transportation system and is reliant on the Americans and the Russians to get its people into orbit. European Space Agency (Esa) boss Jean-Jacques Dordain has spoken frequently of his desire to see an independent system; and the US space agency (Nasa) chief, Mike Griffin, has also urged Europe to build its own crew carrier.

Astrium senior executive Evert Dudok and DLR boss Johann-Dietrich Worner told German journalists that the concept could be realised without spending billions of euros. They envisage a version ready for unmanned testing by 2013, with the first manned flight four or five years later.

THE UNITED NATIONS' WEATHER CENTER IS TRACKING A NASCENT TROPICAL STORM that is likely to become a cyclone, said Amanda Pitt, the spokeswoman of the world body's humanitarian relief program, in Bangkok, Thailand. Pitt said if the cyclone warnings come true, the inadequate relief efforts for survivors of Nargis will be jeopardized. "This is always a worry when you have further hazards affecting people," she said, adding that it "impacts people's ability to survive and cope with what happened to them. They are already weak. This is a great problem and impacts on how we can help people," she said.

The U.N. is leading the international relief effort, which is trying to supplement the Burma junta's aid delivery that has been criticized by aid groups and survivors as woefully inadequate. YET, THE ISOLATIONIST JUNTA HAS REFUSED TO LET INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS HELP who have experience in managing humanitarian crises, saying it is capable of dealing with it on its own.

MEANWHILE, SOME 2 MILLION PEOPLE ARE LIVING IN MISERABLE CONDITIONS, MANY OF THEM DEPENDING ON RAIN FOR FRESH DRINKING WATER, AND MEAGER FOOD RATIONS. Most water sources such as rivers and canals, which are littered with bodies and animal carcasses, are also contaminated by fecal matter and bacteria. Aid agencies have warned that a humanitarian and medical catastrophe is building in the absence of a full-fledged relief program.

A "seismic event provoking a strong explosion was recorded Tuesday at 0424 GMT (6:42 am local) in parts of the peak of the volcano," the National Geophysics and Vulcanology Institute in Sicily's Catania region said in a statement. The explosion on Etna, Europe's tallest active volcano at 3,295 metres (10,810 feet), was followed by a rain of ash on the southeast crater, "where significant gas emissions are occurring," the statement said.

The institute dispatched experts on Tuesday to the site, but "the phenomenon currently represents no danger to people or property," it said. Saturday's eruption, accompanied by streams of lava, was also at the volcano's southeast crater. The last eruption of Mount Etna was in November 2007, two months after another eruption forced a temporary closure of nearby Catania airport due to flowing lava and clouds of ash.

The last major eruption was in 2001.

It is the second time within less than three years that the Iranian president predicted the eradication of the Jewish state. The first time was in 2005 when Ahmadinejad hoped that Israel would be eradicated from the Middle East map. "This terrorist and criminal state is backed by foreign powers, but this regime would soon be swept away by the Palestinians," Ahmadinejad said in a press conference in Tehran.

Referring to worldwide celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Israel's foundation, he said that "it would be futile to hold a birthday ceremony for something which is already dead. As far as the regional countries are concerned, this regime does not exist," Ahmadinejad added. The Iranian president said last week that the anniversary feasts could not save this "rotten and stinking corpse."