After a Toronto skeptic tipped NASA this month to one flaw in its climate calculations, the U.S. agency ordered a full data review. Days later, it put out a revised list of all-time hottest years. THE DUST BOWL YEAR OF 1934 NOW RANKS AS HOTTEST EVER IN THE U.S. ? NOT 1998. More significantly, the agency reduced the mean U.S. "temperature anomalies" for the years 2000 to 2006 by 0.15 degrees Celsius.

But the revisions have been seized on by conservative Americans, including firebrand radio host Rush Limbaugh, as evidence that climate change science is unsound. Said Limbaugh last Thursday: "What do we have here?

We have proof of man-made global warming. THE MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING IS INSIDE NASA ... IS IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY WITH FALSE DATA."

THE 1922 ARTICLE goes on to mention 'great masses of ice have now been replaced by moraines of earth and stones,' and 'at many points well-known glaciers have entirely disappeared.' "This was one of several such articles I have found at the Library of Congress for the 1920s and 1930s," says Mr. Lockwood. "I HAD READ OF THE JUST-RELEASED NASA ESTIMATES, THAT FOUR OF THE 10 HOTTEST YEARS IN THE U.S. WERE ACTUALLY IN THE 1930S, WITH 1934 THE HOTTEST OF ALL."

Reacting yesterday to word that certain European governments and officials are suddenly trying to abandon their costly "global warming" policies, Royal Astronomical Society fellow Benny Peiser, of the science faculty at Liverpool John Moores University in Great Britain, recalls the teachings of Marcus Aurelius: "The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."

David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country's future in a report that lays out what he called "CHILLING LONG-TERM SIMULATIONS". THESE INCLUDE DRAMATIC TAX RISES, SLASHED GOVERNMENT SERVICES AND THE LARGE-SCALE DUMPING BY FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS OF HOLDINGS OF US DEBT.

Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned "THERE WERE STRIKING SIMILARITIES BETWEEN AMERICA'S CURRENT SITUATION AND THE FACTORS THAT BROUGHT DOWN ROME, INCLUDING DECLINING MORAL VALUES AND POLITICAL CIVILITY AT HOME, AN OVER-CONFIDENT AND OVER-EXTENDED MILITARY IN FOREIGN LANDS AND FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITY BY THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT."

"Sound familiar?" Mr Walker said. "In my view, it's time to learn from history and take steps to ensure the American Republic is the first to stand the test of time - I'm trying to sound an alarm and issue a wake-up call," he said. "As comptroller general I've got an ability to look longer-range and take on issues that others may be hesitant, and in many cases may not be in a position, to take on."

"One of the concerns is obviously we are a great country but we face major sustainability challenges that we are not taking seriously enough," said Mr Walker, who was appointed during the Clinton administration to the post, which carries a 15-year term. The fiscal imbalance meant the US was "on a path toward an explosion of debt".

"With the looming retirement of baby boomers, spiralling healthcare costs, plummeting savings rates and increasing reliance on foreign lenders, we face unprecedented fiscal risks," said Mr Walker, a former senior executive at PwC auditing firm. CURRENT US POLICY ON EDUCATION, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT, IMMIGRATION AND IRAQ ALSO WAS ON AN "UNSUSTAINABLE PATH".

"Our very prosperity is placing greater demands on our physical infrastructure. BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WILL BE NEEDED TO MODERNISE EVERYTHING FROM HIGHWAYS AND AIRPORTS TO WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEMS. THE RECENT BRIDGE COLLAPSE IN MINNEAPOLIS WAS A SOBERING WAKE-UP CALL."

The four-week cruise of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy starts Friday and aims to map the sea floor on the northern Chukchi Cap, an underwater plateau that extends from Alaska's North Slope some 500 miles northward. So why are the countries with Arctic coastlines all heading northward now?

Under the U.N. Law of the Sea treaty, every coastal state that has the potential to claim some part of the Arctic's undersea mineral wealth must make a claim to the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. The United States is not now a party to the sea treaty, but Mayer and Andy Armstrong, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, held out hope that Washington might join.

Armstrong, who will also be aboard the U.S. cutter, acknowledged that this cruise will "map the location of features that would have a role in the U.S. extension of the continental shelf." The mission will look for features specified by the treaty, including the place where the slope turns into the flat plain of the deep sea bottom, Armstrong said on the same phone call.

Coastal states have rights to resources of the sea floor of their continental shelves. Under the Law of the Sea, a country gets 200 nautical miles of continental shelf automatically but may extend that if it meets certain geologic criteria, the oceanic administration said in a statement.

The measure is only permitted by the European Union in exceptional cases. The fires were started on Wednesday in the Valladolid area of Castilla-Leon region, to prevent the rodents devastating beet and potato crops. Agricultural officials say they are not sure what caused the surge in vole numbers. Fields will also be burnt soon in Avila, Palencia and Segovia.

The farm union COAG says about 400,000 hectares of land (988,000 acres) is affected by the infestation, Reuters news agency reports. Castilla-Leon's Agriculture Minister, Silvia Clemente, said agronomists, veterinarians and biologists had been asked to explain the plague but nobody really knew, she told Spain's Cadena Ser radio.

"There has never been a plague like the one we have now," she said.

The rain had flooded tens of thousands of hectares of farmland and destroyed more than 30,000 homes, official news agency KCNA said. At least 800 public buildings, more than 540 bridges and sections of railway were reportedly destroyed by the rain.

"This unceasing heavy rain destroyed the nation's major railways, roads and bridges, suspended power supply and cut off the communications network," the agency said. Experts believe that deforestation has made seasonal flooding in North Korea worse.

Farmers have extended arable land into hills and forests in order to grow more food, removing the foliage that prevents erosion and landslides. North Korea does not produce enough food to feed its population and is reliant on foreign food aid.

Heavy rain also caused flooding in the northern and eastern states of Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony and Thuringia, as well as in Hamburg and Berlin. In the south, near the Swiss border, water reached 10.81 meters near Waldshut-Tiengen, forcing the evacuation of summer campers. A local official told the news agency DPA that the situation "remains critical."

Switzerland is largely in the clear following two days of massive rains that shut down roads, railways and caused hundreds of millions of euros' worth of damage. Nearly 10 centimeters (4 inches) of rain fell within 24 hours in Zurich from Wednesday to Thursday. The cantons of Bern, Freiburg and Schwyz were also hard hit, with the army called in to help with pumping out water. Eight people were injured in the clean-up.

"I am not exaggerating when I say there are no basics: No flour, no maize meal, no cooking oil, no margarine, no matches, no fuel, no meat no eggs. On top of this, there are widespread shortages of water and electricity. I simply do not know how people are surviving."

Thousands of Zimbabweans have been victimized, beaten and killed by government soldiers, police and thugs. Millions suffer under the iron control that President Robert Mugabe, an avowed Marxist, exerts on the entire economy and society.

WHEN ZIMBABWE WAS BRITISH RHODESIA, IT WAS THE BREADBASKET OF AFRICA, FEEDING ITSELF AND MILLIONS THROUGH EXPORTS. IT HAD A THRIVING ECONOMY, AN EXCELLENT INFRASTRUCTURE, EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, MEDIA, LIVING STANDARDS, MEDICAL FACILITIES, RECREATION, TOURISM AND MORE.

Independence as Zimbabwe in 1980, and Robert Mugabe as president, brought the beginning of the end - an end many fear is at hand. THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS GONE, AS ARE COMMERCIAL FARMS. THE MEDICAL, EDUCATIONAL, MEDIA, COMMERCIAL, RELIGIOUS, HOUSING, TOURISM, AVIATION, MINING AND ALL OTHER BUSINESS VENTURES ARE RUINED AND PILLAGED. THOUSANDS ARE HOMELESS. PEOPLE ARE STARVING, EATING GRASS AND FACING WATER SHORTAGES. THE SANITATION SYSTEM IS VIRTUALLY NON-EXISTENT; DISEASE THREATENS.

Last month, Mugabe ordered businesses to cut prices 50 percent and more - supposedly, so people could shop. At least 5,000 resisting business owners and managers were fined and jailed; taxi drivers had vehicles impounded. When stores sold out, producers couldn't afford to import or produce more, so shelves stayed empty. Businesses closed; commerce stopped.

A civil servant might earn $22 a month; that's $4-million Zimbabwe dollars. Fuel, if available, costs up to Z$500,000 a liter; people walk. Maize is Z$300,000 for 10 kg. if available. There's no meat or rice. All food is rationed. Prisoners go hungry. Police and soldiers are reportedly looting. Outside of Zimbabwe, almost no one knows what's happening, and those who do know ignore it.

The West talks sanctions but does nothing, even as Mugabe flirts with Libya, Cuba, China, Russia and Iran.

WHEN THE WEST WANTED TO RID SOUTH AFRICA OF WHITE APARTHEID, THE WORLD UNITED - AGAINST THE WHITES. In Zimbabwe it's worse - racism against whites, brutality against blacks and the intentional destruction of a country. BUT THIS TIME, UNDER A BLACK, MARXIST LEADER, THE WORLD IS SILENT.

It's racist, immoral and dangerous.

The comments, made to the Xinhua news agency by an unidentified central bank official, follow a report last week by a British newspaper suggesting that Beijing could dump its vast dollar holdings if a trade war broke out with Washington.

"U.S. dollar assets, including American government bonds, are an important component of China's foreign exchange reserves as the dollar enjoys a major position in the international monetary system based on the large capacity and high liquidity of U.S. financial markets," Xinhua quoted the official as saying. Britain's Daily Telegraph said on Wednesday that "the Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States," and was hinting that it might liquidate its holdings of U.S. Treasuries if Washington imposed trade sanctions.

The story caused a stir in global markets. U.S. President George W. Bush said China would be foolhardy to dump dollars, while the top Republican on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee wrote to the Chinese ambassador seeking clarification.

Asked about the newspaper report, the central bank official said: "China is a responsible investor in the international capital markets." His comments follow concerted liquidity injections on Thursday and Friday by global central banks to soothe investors' fears that spreading losses stemming from investments in subprime U.S. mortgages could snowball into a global credit crunch.

Restating official policy, the official said Beijing's priorities in managing its $1.33 trillion in foreign currency reserves were safety, liquidity and investment returns.

HE NOTES THAT THE "TREATY' MAKES IT CLEAR THAT A PURELY BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY WILL BE A THING OF THE PAST AS SOON AS BROWN PUTS PEN TO PAPER. Britain 'SHALL', orders the treaty, have THE EU REPRESENTED AT THE SECURITY COUNCIL BY ITS NEW FOREIGN MINISTER TO SPEAK FOR IT ON ANY ISSUE ON WHICH THE EU HAS TAKEN A POSITION. Not 'may', or 'should consider', but 'shall'.

Why bother with Brown or his Foreign Office when they are no longer players at the Security Council? HE ARGUES THAT IF THE CONSTITUTION CAME INTO FORCE IT WOULD MAKE 'A MOCKERY OF BROWN'S SUPPORT FOR TRIDENT, AND HIS AGREEMENT TO PROVIDE A BASE IN NORTH YORKSHIRE FOR AMERICA'S NEW MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEM. Once the EU has control of British foreign policy, THE NEW TREATY PROVIDES IT WITH THE TOOLS TO DECLARE SUCH MOVES INCONSISTENT WITH EU POLICY. And the European court will surely agree.'

A leader in the Business argues that 'IT WOULD BE A GREAT MISTAKE FOR BRITAIN TO CONTINUE SLEEPWALKING EVER DEEPER INTO THE EUROPEAN PROJECT, a process that will be hugely accelerated if the new Constitution is ratified... As Britain's experience with trade policy - where Brussels negotiates for the European Union collectively - demonstrates, Britain would often find itself at odds with its European partners and reluctantly supporting a policy that it really opposes.'

The report argues that the first phase of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) was a failure, and that the second phase (which begins in 2008) will see important new problems emerging. It notes that the ETS is unlikely to reduce emissions or spur low carbon investment, as the scheme will be HEAVILY RELIANT ON THE 'IMPORT' OF VAST NUMBERS OF WHAT ARE ESSENTIALLY CARBON OFFSETS from developing countries, rather than enforcing real reductions in emissions in Europe. IT ARGUES THAT THESE OFFSETS ARE OFTEN NOT REDUCING EMISSIONS, AND IN SOME CASES ARE EVEN SUBSIDISING POLLUTERS.

Open Europe Director Neil O'Brien appeared on the BBC Today programme discussing the report with Green MEP Caroline Lucas. Neil argued that there were "pretty fundamental problems with this system". Caroline Lucas agreed, branding the first stage "pretty disastrous" and arguing that whilst the ETS may be a "business-friendly option", it was "not necessarily the most effective option" when it comes to combating climate change.

Neil was quoted in a trailer piece appearing in the Telegraph, arguing that it is disingenuous for politicians to argue that the fight against climate change should make ratifying the EU Constitution a necessity. He said, "INSTEAD OF OBSESSIVELY TRYING TO RAM THROUGH THE REJECTED EU CONSTITUTION IT SHOULD BE SORTING OUT ITS CHRONIC FAILURES ON THE ENVIRONMENT.

Under the Emissions Trading System emissions have gone up, not down. THE LAST THING WE SHOULD DO IS REWARD A FAILING ORGANISATION BY GIVING IT EVEN MORE POWER."

Lucy Jones, of the U.S. Geological Survey says it's not a question of where but when a big quake will strike the Coachella Valley, sandwiched between the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults. Jones says that region is long overdue, and the seismic clock is ticking.

Jones says a magnitude 7.8 quake or more could collapse major freeways, knock down buildings in Downtown L.A., kill thousands of people and cause hundreds of billions of dollars in damage. Officials in the Coachella Valley say they're taking her warning very seriously.

At 500 PM HST- 0300z - the center of Hurricane Flossie was located near latitude 14.0 north - longitude 147.0 west or about 665 miles southeast of Hilo Hawaii and about 875 miles east-southeast of Honolulu Hawaii.

Flossie is moving toward the west-northwest near 14 mph - and this motion is expected to continue during the next 24 hours. Maximum sustained winds are near 135 mph with higher gusts. Some weakening is forecast during the next 24 hours.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 40 miles from the center?and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 105 miles.

Everyone in the Hawaiian islands is urged to continue monitoring the progress of Hurricane Flossie. The current forecast brings tropical storm force winds to the southern Big Island late Tuesday. However...a northward shift in the track could potentially bring hurricane conditions to The Big Island.

The China National Space Administration said on Friday that the first lunar orbiter, Chang'e I, and the carrier rocket, a Long March 3-A, have both passed testing. The launch site, testing system and ground application system have also been completed for launch.

"The project will be a milestone in our space technology," Zhang Yunchuan, minister of the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defence, told the meeting. "It is our first attempt in exploring the Moon with technology wholly developed on our own."

The Moon orbiter, Chang'e I, will provide 3D images of the Moon's surface, probe the distribution of 14 usable elements on the Moon, study lunar microwaves and estimate the thickness of the Moon's soil, earlier reports said. This is only the first phase of China's Moon probe program.

The entire program is divided into three phases - "circling the Moon", "landing on the Moon" and "back to Earth". After the launch of the orbiter in the first phase, China will launch a Moon rover in the second phase, and launch another rover in the third phase, which will land on the Moon and return to earth with lunar soil and stone samples.

China has also set a goal of landing spacemen on the Moon within 15 years, Xinhua News Agency quoted a leading scientist as saying in March. China carried out its maiden piloted space flight in October 2003, making the country the third in the world following the former Soviet Union and the United States to have put men into space. In October 2005, China sent its second manned spacecraft into space, with two astronauts on board.

China is one of the few countries that are capable of developing navigation satellite systems on its own.

Previous reports quoted by Xinhua News Agency said it will provide clients with positioning accuracy within 10 meters, velocity accuracy with 0.2 meter per second and timing accuracy within 50 nanoseconds.

But yesterday forecasters warned the wet weather which has blighted the country for the past few months is still not over. The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for the whole country on Tuesday and Wednesday, with many areas likely to experience further torrential downpours and gale force winds. Some Western parts could see as much as three inches of rain, with wind speeds on the coast topping 60mph. There could be localised flooding in some areas.