Approved in this medieval French border city, which is home to a significant population of North Africans and Turks, the legislation establishes common rules for expelling foreigners who are detained on EU territory without permission to be there. Described by critics like Amnesty International as "severely flawed" and an erosion of human rights standards, but by supporters as a balanced approach, the so-called return directive passed in the European Parliament by a vote of 369 to 197, with 106 deputies abstaining.

"The member states must decide whether they need them - if so, then please legalize them," Manfred Weber, the German center-right legislator from Bavaria who shepherded the measures through the European Parliament, said of undocumented migrants in Europe. "If you don't need them for your labor markets, then send them home."

Europe, which has freedom of movement within its 25 Schengen states but no overarching policy on immigration, sees the law as a means to unify a patchwork of systems governing treatment of migrants who overstay their visas or who, in far lesser numbers, slip clandestinely across its borders.

A last-ditch Tory bid to delay the process for four months was defeated by a margin of 93, and peers later gave the EU Amendment Bill a third reading. Royal Assent is expected within 24 hours, as EU leaders are set to meet in Brussels to discuss the crisis caused by the Irish "No" vote. The PM says the treaty must be ratified by all 27 EU states to be accepted. During the Lords debate four protesters were removed from the public gallery after voicing their demands for a referendum.

The prime minister said he respected the Irish people's referendum vote, but the Irish government had asked for more time to discuss what to do in the wake of its outcome.

"Just as we have respect for the Irish, we should have respect for the other countries that are processing the treaty and ratifying the treaty as well," he said. "And perhaps we should also have respect for this House, which has also voted for ratification of the treaty." Mr Cameron hit back that he did not understand why Mr Brown could not bring himself to say the treaty was "dead". "THIS IS NOT A TREATY THAT BRITAIN WANTED OR NEEDED," HE SAID. "IT'S A TREATY YOU WERE SO ASHAMED OF YOU HAD TO SIGN IT IN A ROOM ALL ON YOUR OWN."

Under the terms of the truce, Israel will ease its blockade on Gaza and talks to release an Israeli soldier held by Hamas are expected to resume. Israeli PM, Ehud Olmert, has warned that the truce, which started at 0600 (0300 GMT), will be fragile. At least 40 rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza at Israel on Wednesday and Israel carried out air strikes. Another militant group, Islamic Jihad, who lost several members to Israeli air strikes in recent days, claimed responsibility for some of the attacks.

Mr Olmert has said the truce will be fragile and could be short-lived. He said Israel would abide by the ceasefire but its armed forces were ready to act if cross-border rocket attacks continued. "WE SHOULD NOT HAVE ILLUSIONS. THE TERROR ORGANISATIONS, AND HAMAS AMONG THEM, HAVE NOT CHANGED THEIR GOALS." The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, said: "The calm is going to bring stability to Israel if they commit themselves to it."

After two weeks, talks will start involving Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and the EU on reopening the Rafah crossing into Egypt. And negotiations on the return of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by militants in Gaza in June 2006, are supposed to resume within a few days, say Israeli security sources.

A total of 1.66 million people have been evacuated, the ministry said. The disaster knocked down 67,000 houses, damaged crops on 1.02 million hectares of farms and caused a direct economic loss of 14.45 billion yuan (2.06 billion U.S. dollars).

THE FRENCH PROPOSAL WOULD SEE A BRITISH AIRCRAFT CARRIER PLACED AT THE HEART OF A NEW EU NAVAL GROUP. The prospect of such close co-operation between two navies whose clashes include the Battle of Trafalgar is likely to outrage eurosceptics and is already said to have caused concern among British admirals. The plan for an EU naval force is being put forward by Nicholas Sarkozy, the French president.

Britain's multibillion pound plan to buy two new aircraft carriers has been hit by delays and budget troubles. France is also building a single new carrier. There is extensive Anglo-French industrial co-operation on the massive construction project, and there has been speculation that the two countries could save money by sharing a carrier.

The Conservatives plan to press defence ministers about the French proposal in a Commons debate on Thursday. Gerald Howarth, the Tory defence spokesman, said: "We need to know if this is an attempt by the Government to ingratiate itself with EU allies and in so doing SELL THE ROYAL NAVY DOWN THE RIVER."

IN 2006 U.S. FARMERS USED MORE THAN 21 MILLION TONS OF NITROGEN, PHOSPHORUS AND OTHER FERTILIZERS TO BOOST THEIR CROPS, and all those chemicals have consequences far beyond the immediate area. When the spring rains come, fertilizer from Midwestern farms drains into the Mississippi river system and down to Louisiana, where THE AGRICULTURAL SEWAGE POURS INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO.

Just as fertilizer speeds the growth of plants on land, the chemicals enhance the rapid development of algae in the water. When the algae die and decompose, the process sucks all the oxygen out of the surrounding waters, leading to a hypoxic event - better known as a "dead zone." The water becomes as barren as the surface of the moon. What sea life that can flee the zone does so; what can't, dies.

Unfortunately, the dead zone isn't simply an environmental failure, but also a consequence of our national agricultural policy, which subsidizes farmers to grow vast, heavily fertilized quantities of corn and other grains. "We have to decide how much we're willing to spend to save the Gulf fisheries," says Daigle. "Right now, we don't seem to be willing to invest much." PUT SIMPLY, THE GULF IS RUNNING OUT OF AIR - AND WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME TO FIX IT.

The latest shoppers: Abu Dhabi for New York's Chrysler Building and a Belgian-Brazilian brewery for Anheuser-Busch. "IT'S THE SINGLE BIGGEST TRANSFER OF WEALTH IN THE SHORTEST PERIOD OF TIME IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND," says Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, a group of mostly small manufacturers worried by their loss of business to foreign companies. "WE CAN'T CONTINUE TO TRANSFER US WEALTH AT THIS RATE." In 2007, foreigners bought $255 billion of the worldwide existing assets of US businesses, up 72 percent from 2006. They spent another $22 billion, up 29 percent, to establish new enterprises in the US. In a sense, America is for sale.

"We are basically selling off the furniture to pay for Thanksgiving dinner," says Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland's business school in College Park. He roughly calculates that at the present rate of deficits, foreigners could own in a decade more than a fifth of the nation's total $35 trillion or so in assets of every kind - corporations, businesses, and real estate. "WE ARE VERY VULNERABLE NOW," says Mr. McMillion. To finance the trade deficit, the US must borrow money or sell assets worth $2 billion a day - a shift that will eventually erode American living standards, he argues.

The decision to allow him to return to his home in London - where he will receive around £1,000 per month in state benefits - made a mockery of the government's promise to crack down on terror suspects, and embarrassed the Home Office, which had pledged to deport Qatada to Jordan to face terror charges. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, said she was "extremely disappointed" at the court's decision to bail Qatada, while the Conservatives branded the decision "offensive".

Mr Justice Mitting signed an order to release Qatada on bail, with strict conditions, following an earlier Court of Appeal decision to refuse his deportation on the grounds that it would breach human rights law. Because Qatada has never been convicted of a criminal offence in the UK, and because he cannot be deported, the judge ruled that he had to be freed. Police are expected to maintain a constant presence outside Qatada's home to protect him from vigilante attacks, at an annual cost of tens of thousands of pounds. The taxpayer will also fund at least £12,000 per year in benefits for Qatada, his wife and five children.

Qatada, 47, has been accused of helping to inspire the September 11 attacks after videos of his sermons were found in the flat used by three of the hijackers, including their leader Mohammed Atta.

It could become the most productive copper mine anywhere on earth. Now it belongs, in effect, to China. When open-cast mining begins, in three or four years, a Chinese mining company, Chinalco, will send the copper back home to be turned into electrical wire. The plan is to use it to carry out the electrification of the whole of China.

The Peruvian government is happy with the $3bn (£1.53bn) that Chinalco will invest in the Toromocho mines. The Chinese will be even happier. They have got themselves a bargain. The copper Chinalco extracts from Toromocho will cost something like US$410 (£210) per ton. Today, the price for copper on the London Metal Exchange was $8,255 (£4,220) - 20 times more. Chinalco stands to make a 2,000% profit on its investment.

There is only one problem. In order to dig out the copper ore, the company will have to shift the inhabitants of an entire town, and move them across the valley. Morococha is a poor and depressing place. Many of the inhabitants lead the most basic of lives. But that makes them all the more willing to accept the compensation which Chinalco is offering. Two thousand dollars plus the promise of a small house or apartment is a powerful inducement if you live in a shanty with an open fire.

That is the verdict of an expert panel whose leaked report warns of dire consequences like the loss of wetlands, vegetation and some fish species. AUSTRALIA REMAINS IN THE GRIP OF ITS WORST DROUGHT IN A CENTURY. The hope is for heavy winter rainfalls.

The Murray-Darling is Australia's most important river system. Crossing much of southeast Australia, it irrigates much of the country's food bowl. So when scientists warn that parts of the basin will be "BEYOND THE POINT OF RECOVERY" unless they receive water by October, it becomes a matter of serious national concern.

In stark language, the leaked report raises the spectre of an ecological disaster in the lower reaches of the Murray River - wetlands drying out, vegetation lost, some fishes species forced into extinction. Some might already have died out. PARTS OF THE ECOSYSTEM COULD TAKE DECADES TO RECOVER - PARTS MIGHT BE IRREVERSIBLY LOST.

Abdullah al-Obaid, the deputy agriculture minister, told the Financial Times the government was planning to set up projects of at least 100,000 hectares in several countries to grow crops such as wheat, corn, rice, soyabeans and alfalfa, a feed for livestock. The move, which is also aimed at building up strategic reserves, comes as food prices have doubled over the past two years and a series of trade restrictions by exporting countries have limited the oil-rich kingdom's ability to secure supplies. Saudi Arabia, the region's largest economy and the most populous state in the Gulf, buys in most of its food products. It is the world's largest importer of barley and one of the five largest importers of rice.

The main exception is wheat, of which it produces around 2.5m tonnes per year - the result of a heavily subsided project started in the 1970s, which has cost the government billions of dollars. However, THE KINGDOM DECIDED EARLIER THIS YEAR TO PHASE OUT WHEAT BY 2016 TO PROTECT ITS FINITE WATER RESOURCES, REALISING THE PROJECT WAS UNSUSTAINABLE. Officials are also concerned about farmers growing alfalfa - which consumes a huge amount of water - to feed dairy cattle. Saudi Arabia will be set to become one of the world's top wheat importers when it phases out domestic production of the grain.

Corn futures in Chicago this week rose to record highs of more than $8 a bushel on fears that up to 5m acres of the crop could be lost, while soyabean prices hit a record of $15.93 a bushel. The increase in the cost of corn and soyabeans - the two main feed crops for farm animals such as cows and chickens - increased the price of live cattle yesterday for the second day in a row, to the highest level in 22 years.

Mr Jennings said that the impact of the heavy rains was "dramatic". After weeks of heavy rains and low temperatures, the US Department of Agriculture said that ONLY 57 PER CENT OF THE COUNTRY'S CORN CROP IS IN GOOD OR EXCELLENT CONDITION. Local farmers in Illinois said that the bad weather had delayed planting by up to five weeks, which would result in a much reduced crop of corn and soyabeans. Some farmers expected their corn production to be down by as much as 50 per cent from last year's level.

They added that expensive nitrogen fertiliser - critical for the plants' development - has now been washed out from the fields by the rains. For that reason, some farmers are likely to leave their land fallow and, instead, cash in their crop insurance policies, further reducing supply.

The worst flooding in the Midwest in 15 years has closed 300 miles of the Mississippi River to commercial traffic. SEVERAL BRIDGES AND UNKNOWN MILES OF RAILROAD TRACK HAVE BEEN DAMAGED OR WASHED AWAY. "It may turn out that the biggest disruptions come from rail rather than the barge side," said Diana Klemme, vice president of Grain Services Corp, an agricultural brokerage and risk management firm. "We don't know what conditions the bridges and tracks are in. You just don't replace that overnight."

Barge traffic is expected to resume in two to three weeks as water levels drop and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reinstalls electrical equipment that had been moved. The Mississippi River is the main channel for grain flowing from Midwest farms to the export terminals at the Gulf of Mexico. THE RIVER TRANSPORTED 68 MILLION TONNES OF FARM GOODS in 2006, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. THE MISSISSIPPI ALSO MOVED 48 MILLION TONNES OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS AND 5 MILLION TONNES OF COAL.

The Mississippi River at St. Louis is forecast to crest on the evening of June 21 at 39 feet, making it the 10th or 11th worst flood at that location, said Army Corps spokesman Alan Dooley.

A broad consensus in favor of a military strike against Tehran's nuclear facilities - without the Americans, if necessary - is beginning to take shape. The one question over which Israel's various political groups disagree is the timing of an attack. The doves argue that diplomatic efforts by the United Nations should be allowed to continue until Iran is on the verge of completing the bomb. That way, Israel could at least argue convincingly that all non-military options had been exhausted.

The hawks, on the other hand, believe time is running out. They stress that there is now A "FAVORABLE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY" THAT WILL CLOSE WITH THE US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN NOVEMBER, and that Israel can only depend on American support for as long as current US President George W. Bush is still in charge in Washington. They are convinced that the country cannot truly depend on any of the candidates to succeed Bush in office.

President Bush, however, has recently been sending out signals that are suspiciously reminiscent of the run-up to the Iraq war. Then, as today, he insisted that "all options are on the table." And then, as today, he sought to appease the Europeans by saying that all diplomatic channels would be exhausted first. But during his recent visit to Slovenia, Bush said: "There's a lot of urgencies when it comes to dealing with Iran, and the Israeli political folks - if you go to Israel and listen carefully, you'll hear that urgency in their voice."

An Iranian nuclear bomb would overshadow all other threats that Israel has faced during the 60 years of its existence. As costly as its wars have been, and as horrific the suicide bombings of radical Islamists may be, they can never pose a serious threat to the existence of the Jewish state. But A SINGLE NUCLEAR STRIKE WOULD HAVE DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES FOR THIS SMALL COUNTRY, which is only about half the size of Switzerland. In fact, international strategists commonly refer to Israel as a "one-bomb country."

Former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who travels regularly to Jerusalem and Washington for political talks, warns that Israel could see the Bush presidency as its last chance to gain American support for a military strike. "POLITICALLY SPEAKING, THE WINDOW FOR ACTION IS NOW, IN THE LAST MONTHS OF GEORGE W. BUSH'S TERM IN OFFICE," FISCHER WROTE RECENTLY. "THE MIDDLE EAST IS HEADED FOR ANOTHER MAJOR CONFRONTATION."

IN ISRAEL IT IS NO LONGER A MATTER OF WHETHER THERE WILL BE A MILITARY STRIKE, BUT WHEN. Many Israelis still hope that the Americans will do the job for them. "It could still be the case," says Yatom, "that George W. Bush wants to guarantee himself a place in the history books with this last act."

He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them. He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights. Cut off all but "G" movies. He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects. Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.

He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails. So he hooked up the cable TV again but only let in the Disney channel and the weather channel. When asked why the weather channel he replied, so they will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs. He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value. When the inmates complained, he told them, "This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back."

With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record) James Zanzot, an inmate who has lived in the tents for 1 year said, "It feels like we are in a furnace.mIt's inhumane." Arpaio responded - "It's 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!" Maybe if all prisons were like this one there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Sheriff Joe was just re-elected as Sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona