In this particular case, Mr Kaczynski may well end up having the final say because, even though the Polish parliament has already approved it, he must sign it to complete the ratification process. But Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk - who actually shapes much of the country's foreign policy - says EU leaders should search for ways to implement the Lisbon Treaty.

Asked by the newspaper Dziennik whether he would ratify the Lisbon Treaty, Mr Kaczynski replied: "At this moment, it's pointless". He did not rule out ratifying it in the future. "It's difficult to say how this will end. However, it's not serious to say, 'if there is no treaty, there is no EU'? The EU worked, is working and will work," he told the newspaper.

"The president wants to position himself as the defender of the remnants of Polish sovereignty because it appeals to a quarter to a third of the electorate," said Pawel Swieboda, director of an EU think-tank, DemosEuropa. On the day France takes over the EU presidency, its leaders might be forgiven for wondering what is the official Polish policy.

This marks the third animal-human hybrid embryo licence to be issued by Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the first since the Commons voted in favour of this controversial research last month. An HFEA spokesman said it had approved an application from the Clinical Sciences Research Institute, University of Warwick, for the creation of hybrid embryos. The centre has been offered a 12 month licence with effect from today, July 1.

"We will take skin cells from patients who have a mutation for certain kinds of heart disease (cardiomyopathy, which makes the heart lose its pumping strength) and put them into pig eggs after their chromosomes have been removed. We will then make embryos so that we can attempt to derive embryonic stem cells which will allow us to study some of the molecular mechanisms associated with these heart diseases.

"Ultimately they will help us to understand where some of the problems associated with these diseases arise and they could also provide models for the pharmaceutical industry to test new drugs. We will effectively be creating and studying these diseases in a dish.

Dutch coffee shop owners claim the law, which has effectively put a stop to smoking the milder varieties of cannabis cigarette, threatens to put hundreds of them out of business. Mark Jacobsen, chairman of the BCD, a nationwide association of coffee shop owners, said proper implementation of it would require inspectors to check each cannabis joint for tobacco content.

He said: "It's absurd. In other countries they look to see whether you have marijuana in your cigarette, here they'll look to see if you've got cigarette in your marijuana." A catering industry spokesman said 1,600 coffee shops across the country have been put up for sale because their owners were convinced their businesses were doomed. Dutch coffee shops are licensed to sell small quantities of cannabis to adults over 18.

President Omar Bongo of Gabon, who has held power for 41 years and won a series of widely criticised elections, gave his public backing for Mr Mugabe as leaders met in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. "He was elected, he took an oath, and he is here with us, so he is President and we cannot ask him more," said Mr Bongo. "He conducted elections and I think he won."

Mr Mugabe has faced fierce criticism from some of his fellow Africans. The AU's election observers ruled that Zimbabwe's presidential contest did not meet democratic "standards", the first time they have ever denounced an African poll. Raila Odinga, Kenya's prime minister, urged the AU to respond by taking punitive steps against Mr Mugabe. "They should suspend him and send peace forces to Zimbabwe to ensure free and fair elections," he said.

While many are deeply unhappy about Zimbabwe's crisis, African leaders are unlikely to snub Mr Mugabe or pass judgement on his country's crisis at this summit. Instead, they will probably confine themselves to urging Mr Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to negotiate.

Well, yes. Soaring commodity and fuel prices are driving up costs for manufacturers; FACED WITH A CHOICE BETWEEN RAISING PRICES (which consumers would surely notice) OR QUIETLY PUTTING FEWER OUNCES IN THE BAG, CARTON OR CUP (which they generally don't) manufacturers are choosing the latter. This month, Kellogg's started shipping Apple Jacks, Cocoa Krispies, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks containing an average of 2.4 fewer ounces per box.

Similar reductions have recently happened or are on the horizon for many other products: Tropicana orange juice containers are shrinking from 96 ounces to 89; Wrigley's is dropping it's 17-stick PlenTPak in favor of the 15-stick Slim Pack. "PEOPLE ARE JUST MORE SENSITIVE TO CHANGES IN PRICE THAN CHANGES IN QUANTITY," says Harvard Business School Professor John Gourville, who studies consumer decision-making. "Most people can tell you how much a box of cereal costs, but they have no clue how much is actually in it."

When a product amount drops below a benchmark like "1 pound" or "1 gallon" consumers often take note, according to Gourville. But after that, it's much easier for manufacturers to further whittle down amounts. IT'S ALL ABOUT TAKING AWAY CONSUMERS' ABILITY TO COMPARE APPLES TO APPLES. The best way to compare food products if you're not sure if sizes have changed is to look at the "unit price," which breaks down the cost per ounce or per quart.

Suicides accounted for 55% of the nation's nearly 31,000 firearm deaths in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There was nothing unique about that year - gun-related suicides have outnumbered firearm homicides and accidents for 20 of the last 25 years.

In 2005, homicides accounted for 40% of gun deaths. Accidents accounted for 3 percent. The remaining 2% included legal killings, such as when police do the shooting, and cases that involve undetermined intent.

Speaking on national French TV, Mr Sarkozy warned that EUROPE'S CITIZENS WERE LOSING FAITH IN THE PROJECT. Correspondents say France's grandiose EU presidency plans are in doubt after the Irish Lisbon treaty No vote. Poland's president reportedly said it would be pointless for him to sign the treaty, given Ireland's rejection. Lech Kaczynski told Polish daily newspaper Dziennik he would not approve the document, even though it has been ratified by Poland's parliament, reported AFP news agency.

France has set out ambitious plans on immigration, the environment, agriculture and defence for its six months at the helm of the EU. But as he took over the presidency from Slovenia, Mr Sarkozy said HIS PRIORITY WOULD BE TO GET ALL THE OTHER EU STATES TO APPROVE THE TREATY and then see what could be done. The treaty cannot come into effect until it has been approved by all 27 member states. In Germany, ratification is also being delayed, with the President, Horst Koehler, saying he would wait to sign the treaty until after the country's highest court had delivered a ruling on legal challenges.

In their 2005 lawsuit, the couple said the loan's interest rate had more than doubled by their second monthly payment from the 1.95 percent rate they thought was locked in for five years. The interest rate rose well above the 5.75 percent fixed-rate loan they had refinanced to pay their children's college tuition. The Andrews filed the case seeking class action status; and in early 2007, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman ruled that THE BANK HAD VIOLATED THE TRUTH IN LENDING ACT, or TILA, and that thousands of other Chevy Chase borrowers could join them as plaintiffs.

The judge transformed the case from a run-of-the-mill class action to A POTENTIAL NIGHTMARE FOR THE U.S. BANKING INDUSTRY by also finding that the borrowers could force the bank to cancel, or rescind, their loans. That decision was stayed pending an appeal to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is expected to rule any day.

The idea of canceling tainted loans to stem a tide of foreclosures has caught hold in other quarters; a lawsuit filed last week by the Illinois attorney general asks a court to rescind or reform Countrywide Financial Corp mortgages originated under "unfair or deceptive practices."

THEY WILL NOT CLOSE IT... THEY WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO CLOSE IT," Vice-Admiral Kevin J. Cosgriff told a press conference in Bahrain, where the Fifth Fleet is based. His remarks followed comments by the chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, who issued a new warning last week against any attack against his country over its controversial nuclear drive.

"It is natural that when a country is attacked it uses all of its capabilities against the enemy, and definitely our control of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz would be one of our actions," Jafari said. The strait between Iran and Oman is a vital conduit for energy supplies, with as much as 40 percent of the world's crude passing through the waterway from Gulf suppliers. "Certainly if there is fighting... the scope will be extended to oil, meaning its price will increase drastically. This will deter our enemies from taking action against Iran," Jafari said.

Fire crews inched closer to getting some of the largest of 1,420 blazes surrounded, according to the state Office of Emergency Services. Some 364,600 acres - or almost 570 square miles - of forest, grass and brush had burned. A "RED FLAG WARNING" - REPRESENTING THE MOST EXTREME FIRE DANGER - was still in effect for extreme North Eastern California, northwest Nevada and eastern Oregon, the National Weather Service said. Lower-than-average rainfall and record levels of parched vegetation likely mean a long, fiery summer throughout northern California, according to the Forest Service's state fire outlook, released last week.

The fires were mostly started by lightning storms that were unusually intense for so early in the season. But summer storms will probably be even fiercer, according to the Forest Service. "Our most widespread and/or critical lightning events often occur in late July or August, and we have no reason to deviate from that," the agency's report said.

"The probability of an earthquake of a magnitude of up to six on the Richter scale, originating in Lebanon and being felt in Israel has increased," the health ministry said in a letter sent to medical officials in northern Israel. Since February, abnormal seismic activity has been noted in southern Lebanon, which had suffered some 500 minor earthquakes in a three-month period, health ministry director-general Avi Yisraeli said in the letter. "In May, the tremors have become more intense and were felt in northern Israel," he said adding that "should an earthquake of such magnitude hit northern Israel, it may cause substantial infrastructural damage in the area."

The secretary general of the centre, Moueen Hamz, told AFP in Beirut that 800 tremors ranging in magnitude from 2.3-5.1 degrees on the Richter scale had shaken the south Lebanon regions of Tyre and Nabatiyeh since February 12. "The tremors increased significantly in May and June," he said.

Some seismologists in Israel say that quakes have historically rocked the region every eight decades, and the last one was nearly 81 years ago. About 300 people were killed in Jerusalem and nearby Jericho by the July 11, 1927 temblor. A similar quake measuring seven on the Richter scale and with an epicentre in the Hula Valley, today in northern Israel, devastated the town of Safed and killed some 4,000 people in 1837.

In a widely expected move, Tehran said it would use the euro for all future commercial transactions overseas. The US, which accuses Tehran of supporting terrorism and trying to obtain nuclear weapons, has sought to limit the flow of dollars into Iran. It wants the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran.

Analysts said Tehran had been steadily shifting its foreign-held assets out of dollars since 2003 and that Monday's announcement was unlikely to affect the value of the dollar, which has weakened significantly in recent months.

An Iranian spokesman said all its foreign exchange transactions would be conducted in euros and its national budget would also be calculated in euros as well as its own currency. "There will be no reliance on dollars," said Gholam-Hussein Elham. "This change is already being made in the currency reserves abroad."

In an article posted on The Discovery Institute's evolution news website, Crowther wrote, "The law is needed for two reasons. First, around the country, science teachers are being harassed, intimidated, and sometimes fired for trying to present scientific evidence critical of Darwinian theory along with the evidence that supports it. Second, many school administrators and teachers are fearful or confused about what is legally allowed when teaching about controversial scientific issues like evolution. The Louisiana Science Education Act clarifies what teachers may be allowed to do."

Specifically, the act allows teachers in the state's public schools to present evidence both for and against Darwinian theories of evolution and allows local school boards to approve supplemental materials that may open critical discussions of evolution, the origins of life, global warming, human cloning and other scientific theories.

However - Marjorie Esman, state director of Lousiana's ACLU told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, "TO THE EXTENT THAT THIS MIGHT INVITE RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASSROOM, WE WILL DO EVERYTHING WE CAN DO TO KEEP RELIGION OUT."

Tensions were further heightened by a suggestion from former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton that the US and Israel could attack Iraq's fledgling program between the time a new president was nominated in November and the date the incumbent, George W. Bush, left office in January.

Mr Bolton's remarks signal the first time a regime figure from either country has been prepared to put a time frame on a mooted strike. They also mark a sharp escalation in Israeli - US rhetoric against the Islamic republic, which is refusing to bow to international demands that it stop its nuclear program, and its efforts to enrich uranium.

As the European Union moved Monday to suspend the operations of Iran's largest bank in Europe, Israeli policy-makers were putting in place a clear shift in their stance towards Iran. Politicians and defence officials are now openly bullish about the chance of a strike against Iran. Pentagon officials earlier this week provided apparently White House-sanctioned details about a large Israeli military operation in the eastern Mediterranean in June, in which more than 100 jets trained for long-range missions.

As mortgage foreclosures continue rising month on month, growing numbers of middle-class professionals are losing their homes and downsizing from four bedrooms to four wheels. With numbers rising, New Beginnings, a homeless agency in Santa Barbara, California, has launched a Safe Parking Programme, aiming to provide a refuge of sorts for those who have nowhere to go other than their vehicle.

Guy Trevor lost his job as an interior designer when the market contracted, thanks to the mortgage foreclosure crisis. With his furniture sold and his belongings in storage, he now lives in his car, spending the nights in one of the 12 gated parking lots in Santa Barbara run by New Beginnings.

Los Angeles has the highest number of homeless in the US, with an estimated 73,000 people living rough. Of more than 3,000 homeless people surveyed last year, around 250 were sleeping in their cars.