State-owned Gazprom cut supplies by a further 25% on Tuesday, following a 25% cut a day earlier - thereby cutting supplies by half. Prior to the news, the EU called for an emergency internal meeting amid fears the row could hit European supplies. Much of the gas Russia sells to Europe passes through pipelines in Ukraine.

The EU said the meeting would ensure "a fully coordinated EU response to the situation," adding "we look to both parties to ensure that gas supplies to the EU remain unaffected". The news of the second cut was made after a 1700GMT deadline on Tuesday. "If the Ukrainian side does not return to the negotiating table, I do not exclude a further reduction in supplies," Sergei Kupriyanov, a Gazprom spokesman, said on state television.

The dispute started after Russia said Ukraine had not paid its debts for previous deliveries, which Gazprom says totals $1.5bn (£770m). But Ukraine maintains the payments have already been made.

It is claimed retrospective changes to the Highly Skilled Migration Programme (HSMP) in 2006 will mean thousands of non-EU migrants have to leave the UK. The HSMP Forum, which is seeking the judicial review, says 90% - 44,000 people - who entered under the HSMP no longer qualified. They claim the decision was unfair and in breach of their human rights.

Last year, MPs from the Joint Committee on Human Rights said the retrospective changes were harsh, unfair, and incompatible with the Human Rights Act. The HSMP Forum said the retrospective changes had affected the lives of thousands of non-EU nationals, who left well paid jobs, perks and families to make the UK home. Forum member Chandrasekar Elangovan said: "It is ironic that a government which boasts itself as champions of human rights around the globe is actually playing with the lives of thousands of skilled immigrants and their families."

There are robots serving as receptionists, vacuuming office corridors, spoon-feeding the elderly. They serve tea, greet company guests and chatter away at public technology displays. Now startups are marching out robotic home helpers.They aren't all humanoid. The Paro is a furry robot seal fitted with sensors beneath its fur and whiskers, designed to comfort the lonely, opening and closing its eyes and moving its flippers.

For Japan, the robotics revolution is an imperative. With more than a fifth of the population 65 or older, the country is banking on robots to replenish the work force and care for the elderly. In the past several years, the government has funded a plethora of robotics-related efforts, including some $42 million for the first phase of a humanoid robotics project, and $10 million a year between 2006 and 2010 to develop key robot technologies.

The government estimates the industry could surge from about $5.2 billion in 2006 to $26 billion in 2010 and nearly $70 billion by 2025. For Hiroshi Ishiguro, also at Osaka University, the key is to make robots that look like human beings. "One day, they will live among us," Ishiguro said. "Then you'd have to ask me: 'Are you human? Or a robot?'"

The Liberal Democrats, who hold the key to the vote, came under pressure to back a proposal for a "double referendum" on both the Lisbon Treaty and whether Britain should remain a member of the EU. An amendment to the Bill paving the way for a two-question referendum has been tabled by the Labour MP Ian Davidson and could unite about 30 rebel Labour MPs, most Tories and some Liberal Democrats - enough to defeat the Government. The Liberal Democrats want an "in or out" referendum on EU membership while the Tories want one on the treaty.

The Tories made a last-minute plea to the Liberal Democrats to honour their 2005 manifesto pledge to back a referendum on the EU constitution, the treaty's forerunner. They said the Government could be defeated if Mr Clegg's party joined them in voting for a public vote. "The LibDems have an absolutely pivotal position," said William Hague, the shadow Foreign Secretary.

The announcement comes a day after the U.S. Defense Department warned that China lacks openness about the buildup of its forces and is posing a threat to the stability of other countries. Jiang Enzhu, a spokesman for China's National People's Congress, or parliament, told reporters that the government will spend 417,769 million yuan (about $58.79 billion) on its military this year, but its aim is purely defensive. "China's limited military capability is solely for the purpose of safeguarding independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and it does not pose a threat to any country," he said.

The U.S. Defense Department on Monday released a report alleging that China spent as much as $139 billion upgrading its military last year, about three times more than it publicly announced. The Pentagon report said some of that spending has gone towards developing a new generation of nuclear submarines, missile technology, fighter aircraft and precision weaponry.

The Pentagon report says China's near-term military aim is to stop moves in Taiwan towards it formally declaring independence. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has threatened to attack if the self-governing island declares formal independence. The report says Beijing is developing a number of military options including an air and missile campaign, a blockade and an amphibious invasion of the self-governing democratic island.

Legislature spokesman Jiang declined to say how much of China's military budget is directed at Taiwan, but he made a veiled threat against Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, whom Beijing regards as a separatist. "We are fully prepared to repulse any activities aimed at Taiwan's independence and to prevent anybody from separating Taiwan from China. If the Chen Shui-bian authorities should stubbornly move down this path they will surely play a dear price," he said.

The U.S. Defense Department report suggests that Beijing is creating a military force which could operate far beyond Taiwan. It also voiced particular concerns about what it says are organized attacks by China's military against computer systems around the world, including government networks. China and the United States have formally agreed to set up a hot line between the two countries' militaries to improve communications. However, in what analysts say is a sign of the increased tensions between the two sides, Beijing has described U.S. allegations of Chinese military espionage as a return to a "Cold War mentality."

A number of economists and banking industry experts believe the subprime crisis could metamorphose into the biggest debacle to hit the sector since the savings and loan catastrophe of the 1980s, which caused some $500 billion in losses to the banking industry. And that means the future of a couple of name-brand financial institutions could be in jeopardy.

"The principal concern of the current credit crisis lies in the possibility that banks will eventually run out of capital," said Doug Duncan, chief economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association, in his updated 2008 forecast. Many believe the government will ultimately step in with a housing industry bailout to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars before it would allow a major bank to collapse.

Some industry analysts and investors see opportunity in the beaten-down financial stocks and battered mortgage-backed securities market. "There are double-A and triple-A subprime-backed securities that have a 25% or 30% collateral cushion below them that are trading at 50 cents on the dollar," Persky said. "This presents one of the best distressed opportunities I've seen in years." Sharon Haas, managing director of Fitch Ratings, admits investors "started to panic" and randomly slashed values on virtually all mortgage-backed securities, even those that aren't at risk. "The market just doesn't know how to value those securities," she said. It had better learn soon, or the price of that education will become astronomical.

According to a new study by France's National Institute of Consumption (INC), prices for foodstuffs rose from between 5% and 48% between November and January. And this after an earlier wave of inflation had already sent many prices up by double digits since July. Michel-Edouard Leclerc - president of the giant Leclerc supermarket chain - said he expects food inflation to continue at a quarterly rate of 4%. Shoppers are reeling: New polls show 81% say their overall purchasing power has shrunk in the past year. Many suspect that corporations are simply using high commodity prices as an excuse for sticking it to consumers. There's ample reason for suspicion.

France's Byzantine laws regulating the food supply create a troubling degree of price obscurity. That haziness, according to some producers - particularly tightly squeezed farmers - allows stores to add markups of over 300% to products bought at cut-rate wholesale prices. That same murkiness, suggests French Secretary of State for Consumption and Tourism Luc Chatel, could be how the recent 30% increase in market prices for milk has sent yogurt prices up by over 25%, even though yogurt's lactic content would justify only a 10% hike.

"I suspect distributors are taking advantage of the situation to further pad their profit margin," comments Pauline Martin, referring to the tight global market for some basic foods. "The increases in prices have been too high, and too general, for there not to be some exploitation at work." Martin's suspicions are widely shared. Although there are signs of food-price inflation throughout the world, right now, French government studies indicate that prices here are, on average, 5% higher than elsewhere in Europe.

On Wednesday, Le Figaro reported France is officially investigating price-fixing allegations against nine European and U.S. household product companies - including Unilever and Procter & Gamble. If found guilty of that offense, those groups could be fined up to 10% of their annual global revenue - a financial sting sure to be compounded if consumers retaliate via boycotts.

People who enrolled in the settlement by this past Friday could be eligible to receive an interim payment later this year. Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck has said it will withdraw from the agreement unless at least 85 percent of people in different groups of claimants join in the settlement.

Those thresholds would be met - and exceed 93 percent of eligible claims in each of four key categories - if all of the more than 44,000 submissions are verified, the company said. "We are very pleased with the large number of enrollments we are seeing and are confident that when the enrollments are verified, all 85 percent thresholds will be met and exceeded within the timeframes in the agreement," Ted Mayer, a lawyer for Merck, said in a statement.

Lawyers for Merck and thousands of people who blamed Vioxx for their heart attacks or strokes announced the settlement in November 2007 during a court hearing in New Orleans. The deal was expected to end an estimated 45,000 to 50,000 state and federal lawsuits. Merck voluntarily pulled Vioxx off the market in 2004 after its own study showed the painkiller doubled the risk of heart attack when taken for at least 18 months. Vioxx accounted for $2.5 billion of Merck's 2003 sales and an estimated 15 percent of the company's profit that year.

Dozens of sex workers marched to demand the decriminalization of adult prostitution, securing social recognition of sex work as a valid profession and establishing sex workers' right to self-determination. The movement started in India in 2001 when 25,000 sex workers mobilized together to raise awareness of the violence directed at sex workers and their lack of rights.

Palestinians say Israel's pilotless planes have been a major weapon in its latest offensive in Gaza, which has killed nearly 120 people since last week. "Our experience is that the drone missile is successful in hitting its targets, and it's deadly," said Dr. Mahmoud Assali, a Palestinian physician who works in the emergency room of a northern Gaza Strip hospital that has often treated Palestinian gunmen hit by Israeli drones. "The drone has a zone of around 15 meters (50 feet) where it decimates everything. It targets people and leaves them in pieces," Assali said. Israel is at the forefront of the drone technology that is increasingly being used in hotspots around the world.

The unmanned craft provide a deadly and cost-effective alternative for armies to target enemies, without risking their own pilots' lives and reducing civilian casualties in heavily populated areas. Damian Kemp, an aviation desk editor at Jane's Defence Weekly, said Israel is probably the first country in the world to use unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, for both surveillance and to fire missiles. Israel is a world leader in the field and "capable of doing everything from the very small to the very large," he said.

He said drones were likely more accurate, cost-effective and safer than manned F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters. "The key thing in a UAV is it does missions that are dull, dirty and dangerous," Kemp said. "They can be up there for a long time and in areas where you don't need to put a pilot at risk."

Venezuela also said it was expelling all Colombian diplomats in the wake of the raid, which killed senior Farc rebel Raul Reyes and 16 others. Venezuela and Ecuador have deployed troops to their borders amid calls for restraint led by the head of the UN. Latin American powers including Chile, Mexico and Brazil have offered to mediate in the dispute.

An emergency meeting of the Organisation of American States will be held on Tuesday to discuss the crisis. Farc - the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - has been fighting for more than four decades with the declared aim of a fairer wealth distribution in Colombia. They fund themselves largely through the cocaine trade, analysts say, while holding hundreds of kidnapped hostages for ransom and political ends.

Meanwhile, Colombia accused Ecuador and Venezuela of having ties with the Farc and said the rebels had tried to buy uranium. The Colombian authorities said the information had come from documents found during Saturday's raid on the rebel camp in Ecuador. "When they mention negotiations for 50 kilos of uranium, this means that the Farc are taking big steps in the world of terrorism to become a global aggressor. We're not talking of domestic guerrilla but transnational terrorism," said Colombian national police chief Oscar Naranjo at a news conference in Bogota. Other documents showed that President Chavez had provided $300m (£151m) to the Farc, and had received funds from them many years earlier, he said.

Hungarian Ludwig von Wohl persuaded senior intelligence figures that he could replicate the forecasts of the Nazi leader's personal astrologer. He claimed that if London knew what astrological advice Hitler was getting, then they would know his next move.

De Wohl came up with his proposal to examine the astrological advice being given to Hitler by Swiss stargazer Karl Ernst Krafft. De Wohl claimed that as Hitler relied heavily on Krafft's predictions, which were based on mathematics surrounding birthdates, the British could gain a unique insight into his thinking if they knew the astrological advice he was receiving. The plan appealed to some leading figures, including the Director of Naval Intelligence Admiral John Godfrey, who found Hitler's erratic strategic moves hard to work out.

Another MI5 officer said none of de Wohl's predictions had come true, apart from his forecast of Italy's entry into the war, which he made when it was "quite patent to anybody with the slightest knowledge of international affairs". Historians now say that Hitler took no notice at all of astrological forecasts.

Israel said the operation was launched to defend itself against rocket attack. Medical sources say at least 114 Palestinians have been killed since Wednesday, when Israel intensified its campaign in Gaza. Three Israelis have died - a civilian killed by a rocket on Wednesday, and two soldiers since.

There has been widespread international alarm at the scale of the Israeli action and West Bank-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has formally suspended contacts with Israel in protest. He has even donated his blood to help victims in Gaza - a highly symbolic move after Hamas seized control of the territory from his ruling party by force last June.

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon told Army Radio: "This operation has run its course. The main goal of the Israeli government is to end the firing [of rockets] at targets in the south. There were dozens of deaths among the Hamas terrorists - this is certainly deterrence." The administration of US President George W Bush joined international calls for a halt to the fighting in Gaza, saying: "The violence needs to stop and the talks need to resume."

Five representatives from each side will meet on Tuesday for two days in Rome to work out the details of a larger meeting that will include Pope Benedict later this year. "We have to bring the dialogue up to date following the great successes of the pontificate of John Paul II," said Yahya Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, vice-president of the Italian Islamic Religious Community.

Catholic-Muslim relations nosedived in 2006 after Benedict delivered a lecture in Regensburg, Germany, that was taken by Muslims to imply that Islam was violent and irrational. Muslims around the world protested and the Pope sought to make amends when he visited Turkey's Blue Mosque and prayed towards Mecca with its Imam. After the fallout from the Regensburg speech, 138 Muslim scholars and leaders wrote to the German-born Pontiff and other Christian leaders last year, saying "the very survival of the world itself" may depend on dialogue between the two faiths.

"Terrorism is one thing that has to be discussed," he said. "All religious leaders must renew a message of peace in their faith. Then it will be easier to isolate extremists and avoid the wrong use of religion," he said.
Although Benedict repeatedly expressed regret for the reaction to his speech in Regensburg, he stopped short of a clear apology sought by Muslims. Pallavicini said the enlarged meeting would likely take place either at the Vatican before the summer or at Benedict's summer residence south of Rome in August.

The weaker dollar that has propelled oil and other commodities prices higher sent light, sweet crude for April delivery past $103.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the level many analysts consider to be the true record high for oil, after its $38 barrel price from 1980 is translated into 2008 dollars. Futures later retreated from that high to settle up 61 cents at $102.45 after Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it would resume oil shipments from Nigeria that had been disrupted by rebel attacks.

Oil's most recent run into record territory has been driven by the greenback's slump against other world currencies. Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is falling. Gold, copper and wheat are among the other commodities that have rallied as the dollar has fallen. "It's coming down to another commodity price rally," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp., in Chicago.

As for where oil goes from here, analyst estimates vary widely, with some predicting an eventual decline to the $65 or $70 range as supplies continue to grow and demand falls, and others seeing oil rising as high as $120 as investment capital continues to flow into oil markets from overseas.