"Constant monitoring of the situation will be maintained," said a statement from Colombia's Interior Ministry. The volcano, in the province of Huila, is not located near any major coffee plantations integral to the economy of this part of the Andean country.

Nevado del Huila erupted at the start of 2007 after laying dormant for hundreds of years. A 1985 eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Caldas province triggered mudslides killing 25,000 people in Colombia's worst natural disaster.

In recent years, the US Catholic Church has been hit by a wave of accusations that clergy abused children and has paid some $2bn (£1bn ) in settlements. During his trip, the Pope will address the UN, celebrate two masses, pray at Ground Zero and visit a synagogue. "We will absolutely exclude paedophiles from the sacred ministry," the Pope told reporters on board the flight to Washington.

The sexual abuse by clergy had been a great suffering for the US Catholic Church, the Church in general and for him personally, the Pope said. "I am deeply ashamed and will do whatever is possible so that this does not happen in the future," he said. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound."

The Pope has been asked to meet some victims of clerical abuse and their families during his visit but has so far declined to do so, the BBC's Rome correspondent David Willey says. The Pope will celebrate his birthday during the trip, turning 81 on Wednesday.

He says: "The fact that we are going to have a real president, a permanent president of the continent, will be a particular achievement I think. A prominent representative for foreign affairs, I think, will change the face of Europe, especially in the eyes of the rest of the world." Returning to the subject of EU President he added, "Today we have Commissioners, we have members of the European Parliament, but we have no real leader in fact. An EU president will be a real leader and will change the face of Europe."

EUobserver reports that the President will get a salary of around €270,000, a chauffeured car, a housing allowance and a personal staff of around 20. These are equivalent to the perks received by the Commission President.

Writing on his Telegraph blog, Bruno Waterfield comments that none of the proposals relating to the discussions are in the public realm. He says: "There are no public minutes and at a dinner engagement this week no one was even taking notes... These discussions are doubly hush, hush because of the political sensitivity surrounding the Treaty - its ratification is still going on. Officials are implementing a Treaty that in most of the EU has not been ratified and because of the rush to force it through, quickly and conveniently, without pesky popular votes, there is not much time."

Since then, the spectacle of hunger sparking revolutionary violence has been the stuff of Broadway musicals rather than the real world of politics. And yet, the headlines of the past month suggest that SKYROCKETING FOOD PRICES ARE THREATENING THE STABILITY OF A GROWING NUMBER OF GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD. Ironically, it may be the very success of capitalism in transforming regions previously restrained by various forms of socialism that has helped create the new crisis.

HAITI is in flames as food riots have turned into a violent challenge to the vulnerable government; Egypt's authoritarian regime faces a mounting political threat over its inability to maintain a steady supply of heavily subsidized bread to its impoverished citizens; COTE D'IVOIRE, CAMEROON, MOZAMBIQUE, UZBEKISTAN, YEMEN AND INDONESIA are among the countries that have recently seen violent food riots or demonstrations. World Bank president Robert Zoellick noted last week that WORLD FOOD PRICES HAD RISEN 80% over the past three years, and warned that AT LEAST 33 COUNTRIES FACE SOCIAL UNREST AS A RESULT.

The sociology of the food riot is pretty straightforward: The usually impoverished majority of citizens may acquiesce to the rule of detested corrupt and repressive regimes when they are preoccupied with the daily struggle to feed their children and themselves, but WHEN CIRCUMSTANCES RENDER IT IMPOSSIBLE TO FEED THEIR HUNGRY CHILDREN, NORMALLY PASSIVE CITIZENS CAN VERY QUICKLY BECOME MILITANTS WITH NOTHING TO LOSE.

THAT'S ESPECIALLY TRUE WHEN THE SOURCE OF THEIR HUNGER IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF FOOD SUPPLIES BUT THEIR INABILITY TO AFFORD TO BUY THE AVAILABLE FOOD SUPPLIES. And that's precisely what we're seeing in the current wave of global food-price inflation. As Josette Sheeran of the U.N. World Food Program put it last month, "WE ARE SEEING FOOD ON THE SHELVES BUT PEOPLE BEING UNABLE TO AFFORD IT."

Soon after the bombs fell on Baghdad, the topic came up in April 2003 as Ratzinger talked with fellow Cardinals Carlo Maria Martini of Italy and Paul Poupard of France at an intimate Vatican diplomatic reception. A Church official present that evening remembers the typically soft-spoken German shaking his fists, and blurting out in Italian: "Basta! Basta!" Enough! Enough!

Ratzinger did not elaborate then, nor since becoming Pope, about his opposition to the American military campaign, though he has spoken out about the Iraqi people's suffering. The intellectually rigorous Pope rarely sounds off on subjects that are not in his purview, say those close to him. "He's not an armchair politician," says one German scholar who's known Ratzinger for years. "He's not an armchair anything." STILL, BEING POPE, ESPECIALLY THE SUCCESSOR OF THE DIPLOMATICALLY ADROIT JOHN PAUL II, MEANS BENEDICT IS EXPECTED TO MAKE HIS MARK ON WORLD POLITICS.

As he arrives for his first papal visit to the world's lone Superpower, geopolitics remains the great open question in Benedict's three-year reign. The six-day visit to the United States - which includes a White House visit, an address at the United Nations and a prayer at Ground Zero - may be the best opportunity for the theologian pontiff to define his leadership in international relations. "The Pope per se is simply the custodian of the Catholic tradition," says a senior Vatican official. "HE CAN BECOME A GLOBAL LEADER IF HE MANAGES TO EMBODY A BATTLE OF IDEALS THAT IS PRESENT IN THE WORLD."

The fiery sermon, DELIVERED BY YUNIS AL-ASTAL AND AIRED ON HAMAS' AL-AQSA TV, predicted that Rome would become "an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread though Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, even Eastern Europe. Allah has chosen you for Himself and for His religion," al-Astal preached, "so that you will serve as the engine pulling this nation to the phase of succession, security and consolidation of power, and even to conquests through da'wa and military conquests of the capitals of the entire world."

"VERY SOON, ALLAH WILLING, ROME WILL BE CONQUERED, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our prophet Muhammad," he added. Al-Astal last June preached how it was the duty of Palestinian women to martyr themselves by becoming homicide bombers. "The most exalted form of jihad is fighting for the sake of Allah, which means sacrificing one's soul by fighting the enemies head-on, even if it leads to martyrdom," he said in a June 23, 2007 interview.

The pope will meet with about 150 leaders of other religions on Thursday as he visits Washington, and he plans to visit a synagogue in New York on Friday. Since his 2005 election, the pontiff has provoked concern and anger among Hindus, Muslims and Jews with highly publicized missteps. But leaders of those faiths said they are optimistic that interfaith dialogue will advance during his papacy.

"There have been a lot of positive steps," said Ravi Gupta, a religion professor at Centre College in Kentucky, a Hindu leader who will meet with the pope. "I'm hopeful ... in terms of what the possibilities are."

The main driver of crude's rally was a decline in the greenback relative to the euro on Monday, analysts said. Crude oil's recent run above $100 a barrel has been largely attributed to a steadily depreciating U.S. currency because a weakening dollar prompts investors to seek a safe haven in hard commodities such as oil and gold.

"We've seen another swing down in the U.S. dollar so I think we saw short-term traders go back into oil as a hedge against the falling dollar," said Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist at the ANZ Bank in Melbourne, Australia. Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose to $112.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange midmorning Tuesday in Singapore, surpassing the previous trading record of $112.21 set last week.

"This is just a time bomb," said hydrologist Wouter Buytaert at a meeting of geoscientists in Vienna. Those areas most at risk from a lack of water for drinking and agriculture include parts of the Middle East, southern Africa, the United States, South America and the Mediterranean. Rising global temperatures mean the melt water is occurring earlier and faster in the year and the mountains may no longer be able to provide a vital stop gap.

"In some areas where the glaciers are small they could be gone in 30 or 50 years time and a very reliable source of water, especially for the summer months, may be gone." Buytaert, from Britain's Bristol University, was referring to parts of the Mediterranean where her research is focussed but she said this threat also applies to the entire Alps region and other global mountain sources.

Daniel Viviroli, from the University of Berne, believes nearly 40 percent of mountainous regions could be at risk, as they provide water to populations which cannot get it elsewhere. He says the earth's sub-tropic zones, which are home to 70 percent of the world's population, are the most vulnerable. And with the global population expected to expand rapidly, there may not always be enough water to drink, let alone to water crops, which use about 70 percent of melt-water.

Mr Berlusconi, who is due to return to Rome from his home in northern Italy on Tuesday, won control of both the senate and lower house of parliament. The decisive victory gives him a third term as prime minister. Fter being congratulated by defeated rival Walter Veltroni, the media mogul said he would work with the opposition to pass much needed economic reforms. The polls were held three years ahead of schedule following the collapse of Romano Prodi's centre-left coalition.

Mr Berlusconi's new government will be Italy's 62nd since World War II. Mr Berlusconi said his immediate priorities would be the sale of the loss-making national airline Alitalia and the crisis caused by uncollected mountains of rubbish in Naples. His government also faces the task of reviving Italy's ailing economy, with zero growth forecast for the coming year. Although Italy is saddled with a massive public debt, he has promised tax cuts and handouts to voters.

Mr Berlusconi has served two terms as prime minister, last resigning in May 2006. One of Italy's richest men, he is the head of a business empire that spans media, advertising, insurance, food and construction, and includes the top flight football club AC Milan.

This target will rise to 5% by 2010. The move is aimed at making transport fuels more environmentally friendly and will not change how cars work. But some scientists and green groups say biofuels contribute more greenhouse gases than they save.

The idea behind the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) is to reduce the climate change emissions from transport - which produce more than a quarter of overall greenhouse gases in the UK - by using renewable fuels instead of fossil fuels. But some critics say the biofuels' carbon benefits may be outweighed by negative effects from their productions.

For example Oxfam said millions of indigenous people faced clearance from their land to make way for biofuel plantations such as palm oil. The aid agency is also concerned that the switch to energy crops from food production - including a large-scale drive in the US to produce bioethanol from maize - is contributing to rising food prices. Oxfam joined campaigners from Friends of the Earth and the RSPB for a protest outside Parliament on Monday aimed at urging the government not to go ahead with the new rules.

The research suggests the country's greenhouse gas emissions have been underestimated, and probably passed those of the US in 2006-2007. The University of California team will report their work in the Journal of Environment Economics and Management. They warn that unchecked future growth will dwarf any emissions cuts made by rich nations under the Kyoto Protocol. The team admit there is some uncertainty over the date when China may have become the biggest emitter of CO2, as their analysis is based on 2004 data. Until now it has been generally believed that the US remains "Polluter Number One".

If it becomes widely accepted that China's future emissions are likely to be much higher than previously estimated, that will have to factored into any future global climate agreement if the Chinese are to be persuaded to take part. In brief, although this study looks bad for China's reputation, it may be good for China's negotiating position. The Chinese - and the UN - insist that rich countries with high per capita levels of pollution must cut emissions first, and help poorer countries to invest in clean technology.

He is expected to discuss the credit crunch and its effect on the UK. The meeting, with figures including heads of major lending banks, comes a day after Mr Brown insisted keeping the economy on track was his "sole focus". Downing Street said the talks were not a crisis summit and had been on the diary for some time. They come as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is reporting a fall in the cost of property during March.

The Treasury's inflation figures for March are also due out - February's rate of 2.5% was above the Bank of England's 2% target. Mr Brown will travel to the US this week to meet finance chiefs to discuss the global credit crisis.

That changes this week, and President Bush is pulling out all the stops: driving out to a suburban military base to meet Pope Benedict XVI's plane, bringing a giant audience to the South Lawn and hosting a fancy East Room dinner. These are all firsts. Bush has never before given a visiting leader the honor of picking him up at the airport. In fact, no president has done so at Andrews Air Force Base, the typical landing spot for modern leaders.

A crowd of up to 12,000 is due at the White House on Wednesday morning for the pope's official, pomp-filled arrival ceremony. It will feature the U.S. and Holy See anthems, a 21-gun salute, and the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. Both men will make remarks before their Oval Office meeting and a send-off for his popemobile down Pennsylvania Avenue. The White House crowd will be the largest of Bush's presidency. It even beats the audience last spring for Queen Elizabeth II, which numbered about 7,000.

"One, he speaks for millions. Two, he doesn't come as a politician; he comes as a man of faith," Bush told the EWTN Global Catholic Network in an interview aired Friday. He added that he wanted to honor Benedict's conviction that "there's right and wrong in life, that moral relativism has a danger of undermining the capacity to have more hopeful and free societies."