The top Vatican official in charge of relations with Islam, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, said he expected an advanced group of three Muslim representatives in February or March to lay the groundwork for the meeting.

"In a certain sense, (the meeting) can be defined as historic," Tauran told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, in an edition published earlier this week.

Some 138 Muslim scholars wrote to Pope Benedict and other Christian leaders in October, saying "the very survival of the world itself" might depend on dialogue. The Pope, who as head of the Catholic Church represents more than half the world's two billion Christians, responded in November by welcoming their call and inviting them to Rome.

The German-born Pontiff sparked Muslim protests in 2006 by making a speech hinting that Islam was violent and irrational. He repeatedly expressed regret for the reaction to the speech but stopped short of the clear apology sought by Muslims.

Ford Motor Company named Tata Motors Ltd the top bidder for its Jaguar and Land Rover brands on Thursday and entered into "focused negotiations at a more detailed level," meaning Tata was named preferred bidder for the storied British automakers.

"While no final decision has been made, we will proceed with further substantive discussions with Tata Motors over the forthcoming weeks," Lewis Booth, executive vice president of Ford's European units, said in a statement. Jaguar and Land Rover employees in the United Kingdom were told about the negotiations Thursday morning shortly before the company made the announcement. Ford executives have said they expect to sell the two British automakers early this year.

A single trader bid up the price by buying a modest lot and then sold it immediately at a loss, it was said. The New York Mercantile Exchange confirmed that US crude oil futures traded just once in triple figures. But prices have since remained below that historic level and market analysts questioned the validity of the trade.

Stephen Schork, a former floor trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the editor of an oil market newsletter, said one floor trader bought 1,000 barrels, the smallest amount permitted, and sold it immediately for $99.40 at a $600 loss. "They absolutely overpaid," he told Radio Four's Today Programme. "HE PAID $600 FOR THE RIGHT TO TELL HIS GRANDCHILDREN THAT HE WAS THE FIRST IN THE WORLD TO BUY $100 OIL."

Most trading in energy futures has shifted away from the trading floor and takes place on electronic platforms. The supporters of electronic trading claim that it is faster, cheaper, more efficient for users, and less prone to manipulation by market makers. The dwindling liquidity on the NYMEX trading floor has led to considerable speculation that the exchange will soon shut down the trading floor to cut costs.

"In 2008, we're going to see SOME MAJOR, GIANT FIRMS FALL and get hit by an economic 9/11."

"It's out of control! All of the currencies are going to be worth dimes on the dollars in the future, and the first one to go is going to be the American dollar. That's why one of our big trends for 2008 is 'Bye, Bye Bucks!'

"The history books will remember 2008 as the 'PANIC OF 2008.'"

"Watch for when one of the BIG FIRMS CRASHES - like a big bank, when that kind of thing happens. That's going to be THE FIRST SIGNAL."

"We're warning that there are very ROUGH TIMES AHEAD and for people to take precaution now. One thing is don't buy anything you don't need."

"The vacuum is so big right now - all of the institutions are failing. You name it - education, health care, military, economic, medical - THEY ARE ALL FAILING. When the vacuum is this big, it could be filled with anything. It could be filled with more Fascism, bigotry and hypocrisy."

"They (Feds) are going to balance it out by DEVALUING THE DOLLAR. That's the way they are going to do it, and the impact is going to be tremendous. There will be MASSIVE UNEMPLOYMENT. We're going to see the worst economic conditions in the United States in the years ahead that anyone living has ever seen."

IS A NEW SOLAR CYCLE BEGINNING?
The big question now - when will the next solar cycle begin? It could be starting now! Many forecasters believe Solar Cycle 24 will be big and intense. Peaking in 2011 or 2012, the cycle to come could have significant impacts on telecommunications, air traffic, power grids and GPS systems (and don't forget the Northern Lights!). In this age of satellites and cell phones, the next solar cycle could make itself felt as never before.

The furious storms won't start right away, however. Solar cycles usually take a few years to build to a frenzy and Cycle 24 will be no exception. "We still have some quiet times ahead," says Hathaway. Meanwhile, all eyes are on a promising little active region. Will it become the first sunspot of a new solar cycle? Stay tuned for updates from Science@NASA.

ASTEROID THREATENS TO HIT MARS
Astronomers funded by NASA are monitoring the trajectory of an asteroid named 2007 WD5 that is expected to cross the orbital path of Mars early this year. Calculations by NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory indicate that the 164-ft wide asteroid may pass within 30,000 miles of Mars at about 6 a.m. EST on Jan. 30, 2008. "Right now asteroid 2007 WD5 is about half-way between the Earth and Mars and closing the distance [to Mars] at a speed of about 27,900 miles per hour," said Don Yeomans, manager of the Near Earth Object Office at JPL. Because the asteroid has been tracked for little more than a month, there is still some uncertainly about the path it will take. "Over the next five weeks, we hope to gather more information from observatories so we can further refine the asteroid's trajectory," says Yeomans. More data could eliminate or confirm the possibility of an impact.

Dichter explained that government policy on the Mount is dictated by the wish to ensure that bloodshed not occur. He said that Jews MOVING THEIR LIPS IN PRAYER ON THE MOUNT, WHICH THE MOSLEMS HAVE SANCTIFIED AS THEIR OWN, can be seen as a Jewish provocation that could lead to bloodshed. Knesset Members Aryeh Eldad and Uri Ariel - both of the National Union party and both residents of Kfar Adumim in the Jordan Valley - had submitted a request to pray on the holy site, and Dichter's response was the result.

The New Jewish Congress responded with barely-controlled fury, issuing this statement:

"Minister Dichter's comments demonstrate his, and THIS GOVERNMENT'S, TOTAL DISCONNECT FROM THE REALITY OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT, from the Jewish people, and from the government's obligations towards both. This is yet another indication that the government of Ehud Olmert has ceased to be a Jewish government altogether, having not the slightest connection with the Jewish people."

Just two weeks ago, THE GOVERNMENT DID NOTHING WHEN FATAH ALLOWED HAMAS TO BROADCAST ITS ANTI-JEWISH INCITEMENT DIRECTLY FROM THE TEMPLE MOUNT. The New Jewish Congress noted the irony of the juxtaposition of the loud and clear Hamas broadcasts and the banned silent Jewish prayer emanating from the same site - that of the Holy Temple. "In reality," the statement continued, "the Jewish people enjoy freedom of religious expression, including prayer and Torah study, everywhere - except on the Temple Mount, their only holy site."

"Minister Dichter's comments convey hatred and discrimination towards the Jewish people," the New Jewish Congress stated. "IN DUE TIME, THIS GOVERNMENT WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ITS ACTIONS AND WILL STAND TRIAL IN A JEWISH COURT OF JUSTICE THAT WILL BE ESTABLISHED BY THE JEWISH PEOPLE."

Among these teenagers, pregnancies rose by 4 per cent in 2005 from the previous year, to 7,462. And more than half end in abortion. England and Wales has the worst teenage pregnancy rates in Western Europe - six times higher than Holland and three times that of France. And last month, ministers admitted they would not meet the 2010 target to halve teenage pregnancy rates.

There has been a reduction of only 11 per cent since 1998. Critics blame the Government for increasing access to sex education and making contraception more freely available. Underage girls can already get the morning-after pill from school nurses without their parents knowing. Ministers also want it to be made available to under-16s in pharmacies.

And experts warned that there is worse to come as oil surged through the $100-a-barrel mark for the first time. It means that the £5 gallon - once unthinkable - is now within reach in the UK. High fuel prices have a dramatic knock-on effect across the whole economy, raising the price of food and other essentials and effectively acting as a tax on household budgets. The milestone is particularly bad news for British drivers, who from yesterday faced paying a new high of 103.3p for a litre of petrol. And experts warned that there is worse to come as oil surged through the $100-a-barrel mark for the first time. It means that the £5 gallon - once unthinkable - is now within reach in the UK.

High fuel prices have a dramatic knock-on effect across the whole economy, raising the price of food and other essentials and effectively acting as a tax on household budgets. The milestone is particularly bad news for British drivers, who from yesterday faced paying a new high of 103.3p for a litre of petrol. Ray Holloway of the Petrol Retailers' Association said: "The Government had already enjoyed a £4billion windfall. It should remove the existing 2p a litre rise and scrap the next two rises it's planning."

The weak dollar, unrest in several spots across the world and fears over declining US oil stocks combined to raise prices to the record levels, analysts said. David Buik of BGC Partners said of the $100 dollar trade: "It's never been reached before, so it is a significant mark."

More than 100,000 people a week are catching norovirus, which causes sudden vomiting and diarrhoea, and the numbers contracting the disease will peak this month, it was reported last night. Thousands of workers and children who fell ill over the holiday period are due to return to jobs and classrooms in the coming days. Many have already called in sick and doctors warn them not to go back until they are fully recovered, such is the risk of spreading the disease.

Patients affected should stay at home for 48 hours after they last suffered from the symptoms, the NHS advised. The absences will cost the economy millions of pounds. So far this winter about two million people have fallen ill with the norovirus, the highest number for five years and double the amount of cases by this time last year, according to reports. Doctors warned people with the condition to stay away from GPs' surgeries and hospitals and to phone for advice to avoid further spread.

The bug usually lasts two days and can sweep through schools, offices, hospitals and prisons. It has struck passengers on the Queen Victoria cruise ship and cases have been found in more than a dozen hospitals. The disease can cost the NHS up to £100 million in an epidemic year as operations are cancelled when patients are struck down and agency staff have to cover staff sickness.

Sri Lanka plunged back into war after four years of relative peace almost as soon as President Mahinda Rajapaksa took power in late 2005, but both he and the Tigers had held off scrapping a Norwegian-brokered truce to avoid appearing the villain. With the pact formally ended, hopes of resurrecting collapsed peace talks any time soon are dead and investment in the $26 billion economy could suffer.

"This means all-out war," said Iqbal Athas, an analyst with Jane's Defense Weekly in Colombo. "The government has dropped the peace option and has opted for a fuller military onslaught on the rebels. One thing is certain, there'll be more confrontations. There'll be more violence now," he added. "The government perceives it to be end-game - It will be the most intense period of war Sri Lanka has seen." More than 5,000 people have been killed since early 2006, taking the death toll since the war erupted in 1983 to around 70,000.

The killing of the charismatic opposition leader has fuelled doubts about stability and the transition to democratic rule in nuclear-armed Pakistan, a key ally in the U.S. anti-terrorism drive. "In all the four provinces, for some days this election process came to a complete halt," Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq told a news conference. "Polling will now be held on February 18 instead of January 8."

President Pervez Musharraf, in a televised address to the nation, said army and paramilitary troops would deal forcefully with any renewed violence and appealed for national reconciliation leading to free and fair elections.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) said opposition parties should unite and demand that Musharraf and the election commission step down. "General Musharraf has failed to ensure law and order and the election commission has failed to hold elections on schedule," said spokesman Ahsan Iqbal. "... both must resign and we should have a neutral national unity government and an independent election commission."

In the capital alone the London Ambulance Service had to deal with its highest number of emergency calls since the Millennium - the majority related to excess alcohol. As midnight came and went there was mayhem as scores of drunken partygoers around the country tumbled into the streets, some wearing little more than their underwear.

Fights erupted and a string of dishevelled young men and women collapsed on benches and in doorways too inebriated to remember or care that the night was supposed to be a celebration. There to mop up the mess were thousands of emergency workers drafted in to provide cover on the busiest night of the year. In the first four hours of 2008, London Ambulance Service (LAS) dealt with an astonishing 1,825 calls alone, peaking at over 500 calls an hour between 2am and 4am. The volume of 999 calls was up 17 per cent on last year and four times worse than a normal night.

For anyone not used to the less than sober face of a British New Year the night was something of an eye-opener. Belgian Florence Meganck, 25, was out in Bristol and summed up the evening. "I saw a girl who looked like she wasn't older than 12 buy alcohol from a shop and then give it to even younger girls waiting outside. Even though I haven't drunk tonight I have had such fun laughing at all the drunken English people. But these drunks won't enjoy New Year's Eve, most of them won't even remember it."

Temperatures were expected to drop into the 20s and teens in parts of Florida by Thursday morning, following the 30-degree temperatures some northern parts of the state saw Wednesday. The cold spell could prove devastating to the state's citrus industry, which is the nation's largest and already has suffered from years of disease and hurricanes.

Crops can withstand some cold, but not for long. Thirty-two degrees for four hours will damage an orange, for example, but 28 degrees for that long can actually ruin the tree. Most of the citrus industry is situated south, for this very reason, and in those areas it was not expected to get as cold. But citrus crops were not the only ones at risk. A broad variety of plants and produce - from broccoli and cabbage in the north to strawberries, tomatoes and corn in the south - are also threatened. In Louisiana, strawberry farmers covered their crops with material in an attempt to protect them.

Following the snowiest December on record, many areas of New Hampshire got about a foot of snow on New Year's Day, with a couple of inches added during the night and a couple more likely Wednesday. Storm totals could reach 18 inches in parts of Maine and New Hampshire and up to a foot in Vermont.

But imprecision is a venerable US political tradition, according to FactCheck.org, an independent watchdog which aims to "hold politicians accountable" for what they say. "PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES KEPT US BUSY" over the past year, said Brooks Jackson, director of FactCheck, an arm of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The campaign trail produced "a bumper-crop of falsehoods and distortions," which the organization has threshed through for its new list of prize-winning whoppers.

Topping the list with not one but five bogus claims was former New York mayor and Republican contender RUDY GIULIANI. FactCheck demolishes each of them, especially Giuliani's assertion that New York City was suffering "record crime" until he became mayor. "In fact," says FactCheck's sober analysis, "the city recorded its highest rates of both violent crime and property crime years before he took office. The downward trend was well established before he was sworn in" as mayor, in 1994.

The Democrats were no slouches in the hokum department. SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON claimed in a TV spot that soldiers in the National Guard and Reserves did not enjoy health insurance until she took up their cause. But FactCheck researched the issue and demonstrated that most of them did have health care. "Clinton did help expand and enhance government health care coverage for reservists, but can't claim credit for creating coverage where none existed," it said.

Covering up for an exposed half-truth sometimes leads to more prevarication. ROMNEY claimed recently that as a youth he "saw" his father, who was governor of Michigan, walking in a protest with civil rights leader Martin Luther King. Challenged on it, Romney argued that "saw" didn't necessarily mean with his own eyes. "I 'saw' him in the figurative sense," Romney explained. "If you look at the literature or look at the dictionary, the term 'saw' includes being aware of -- in the sense I've described."

The 2008 presidential candidates are no better nor worse tellers of tall tales than their predecessors, Jackson said. "IT IS JUST A FUNCTION OF RUNNING FOR OFFICE," he said. "The incentive is to say things that get votes - TRUTH IS OF SECONDARY IMPORTANCE TO A CANDIDATE."

In his time, president JOHN F. KENNEDY boasted he could read 1,200 words a minute. President LYNDON JOHNSON claimed that he had an ancestor who died at the Alamo -- a heroic battle in Johnson's home state of Texas. In fact, Johnson great uncle took part -- but didn't die -- in another battle with Mexico, at San Jacinto.

Cannon, writing in the Atlantic magazine, also recalled that RONALD REAGAN boasted to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal that he had filmed the liberation of the Nazi death camps by US soldiers in World War II.

The problem with that story was, Reagan never served in Europe. FactCheck.org website

The 90,465-tonne German-registered vessel called LT Cortesia with 27 people on board ran into difficulties on the Varne Bank towards the middle of the Channel at 5am. The vessel was travelling from the Thames estuary westbound towards the Atlantic Ocean when it ran aground.

An MCA spokesman said none of the crew were injured and early indications suggest the ship is watertight with no reported pollution from the vessel. MCA spokeswoman Rosie Tapping said the container ship was registered as carrying hazardous cargo, but the exact nature of the materials on board was unknown.

A Dover Coastguard spokesman said it was a mystery why the container ship suddenly ran aground. He said: "We haven't a clue why it ran aground. The vessel had come down normally, made an alteration to its route and then went aground. The weather has been fine and its traffic pattern was OK until the last minute when it went aground. Until we get to speak to the people on board to find out what happened, we will not know."