China will host the Summer Olympics and world leaders are facing pressure from human rights activists to boycott the opening ceremony in Beijing. The U.N. spokeswoman said Ban told China some months ago he might not be able to accept the invitation because of "scheduling matters."

"The secretary-general has conveyed to the government (of China) some months ago that he may not be in a position to accept the invitation to attend this important event due to scheduling issues," U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe told a regular news conference. She later explained that he would definitely not attend the ceremony, but would make an official visit to China at another time. She declined to give any details about the scheduling conflict.

China has come under harsh criticism from Western governments for a bloody crackdown in Tibet and has been accused by human rights groups of not doing enough to pressure Sudan's government to end the bloodshed in its Darfur region. U.S. President George W. Bush is facing pressure from the three presidential candidates to boycott the ceremony. Bush said this week he plans to attend the opening ceremony and to speak out on religious freedoms. Separately, THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT URGED EUROPEAN UNION LEADERS ON THURSDAY TO BOYCOTT THE OPENING CEREMONY AT THE BEIJING Olympics unless China starts talks with the Dalai Lama over the situation in Tibet.

ALARMED BY THE UNFOLDING CRISIS IN THE FINANCIAL MARKETS, he once again began trading for his giant hedge fund - and won big while so many others lost. "I CONSIDER THIS THE BIGGEST FINANCIAL CRISIS OF MY LIFETIME," Mr. Soros said during an interview Monday in his office overlooking Central Park. "A 'superbubble' that has been swelling for a quarter of a century is finally bursting", he said.

Mr. Soros began meeting with hedge fund managers like John Paulson, who was early to predict a crisis in the housing market. He interrogated his portfolio managers and external hedge funds that manage his fund's money, and he took on new positions to hedge where they might have gone wrong. HIS LAST-MINUTE STRATEGIES CONTRIBUTED TO A 32 PERCENT RETURN - OR ROUGHLY $4 BILLION FOR THE YEAR.

The more Mr. Soros learned about the crisis, the more certain he became that he should rebroadcast his theories. In the book, Mr. Soros, a fierce critic of the Bush administration, faults regulators for allowing the buildup of the housing and mortgage bubbles. He envisions a time, not so distant, WHEN THE DOLLAR IS NO LONGER THE WORLD'S MAIN CURRENCY and people will have a harder time borrowing money.

THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT is pulling out all the stops to protect Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to New York next week. From ROOFTOP SNIPERS TO HOVERING HELICOPTERS, it will all resemble the security operations used to protect the president. It's an operation that will involve virtually the entire NYPD. And if you're trying to move around Manhattan when the pope is here, it will affect you, too.

It begins for us next Friday with the papal arrival and a speech at the United Nations right at the start of the business day. As a city, this is when we'll feel the biggest traffic impact because the pope will leave the U.N. and visit both the Park East Synagogue on 67th Street and Fifth Avenue, and St. Joseph's Church on East 87th before retiring to the papal residence on 72nd Street. It will be like several things we've seen before.

"The closer you are to those locations, the more you are going to feel the effects of it," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said. When asked if will be like a U.N. general assembly followed by a parade followed by a presidential visit, Kelly said, "yes" to laughter. The NYPD, Secret Service and the Vatican Swiss Guard will all be on security duty when Pope Benedict is in town. Sunday will be the highlight when he goes down to ground zero and up to Yankee Stadium and officials warn the best way to get around will be mass transit.

"THE CRISIS IS A SPECULATIVE ATTACK AND IT WILL LAST," said Jose Graziano, the UN food and farm organization's regional representative for Latin America and the Caribbean. "This is not a conspiracy theory," he said. Across the globe foods from bread to milk have become more expensive and in some countries helped fuel inflation. High prices for rice, beans and other food staples provoked food riots in Haiti this week.

"The lack of confidence in the (U.S.) dollar has led investment funds to look for higher returns in commodities - first metals and then foods," Graziano told a news conference in the capital. "INVESTORS HAVE SPECULATED IN COMMODITIES INCLUDING WHEAT, CORN AND RICE because stocks in recent years have been drawn down by rising demand in emerging markets and supply shortages due to adverse climate in key producer nations," Graziano said.

"SPECULATIVE ATTACKS BECOME POSSIBLE WHEN YOU HAVE LOW RESERVES," Graziano said. Stocks of some food crops have fallen to their lowest levels in three decades, according to Brazilian farm experts.

"Pope Benedict won't necessarily touch upon specific crises in the world: unfortunately, they are too many to be dealt with in a few minutes," he told an audience of nongovernmental organizations and journalists. "But surely, coming to the U.N. AS A PILGRIM OF PEACE, he will say that we cannot base our relations on the false notion that might makes right, that we cannot build our future on a simple balance of power," Migliore said.

"No, our future must be based on respect for universal truths and our common humanity. It's quite normal to expect that, in the wake of his predecessors, POPE BENEDICT WILL SPEAK OF PEACE," Migliore said. The Vatican has observer status at the United Nations. Migliore told questioners it preferred that to full membership because IT ENABLED THE HOLY SEE TO STAY OUT OF DIRECT INVOLVEMENT IN POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND MILITARY ISSUES.

The archbishop noted that this year marked the 60th anniversary of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Benedict has often spoken of the need for respect for rights, including religious freedom. "The papacy ... works at the U.N. ... above all by highlighting and insisting on essential values and fundamental rights. I can anticipate that next week Pope Benedict will do just that," Migliore said.

THE AMOUNT OF WATER AVAILABLE PER PERSON IN THE ARID REGION WILL HALVE BY 2050, a report from the bank estimates. IT BLAMES CLIMATE CHANGE AND POPULATION GROWTH FOR NEW PRESSURES ON SUPPLIES. Governments in the region should tackle water waste, build more efficient networks and reduce water use - especially in farming, the bank says. The World Bank report suggests farmers could switch to crops that require less water.

According to its figures, declining water quality has already knocked around 1% off gross domestic product in Morocco, Algeria and Egypt, and nearly 3% in Iran. "We've simply got to reduce the amount of water used, especially in agriculture, which accounts for 85% of the total," said Julia Bucknall, natural resource management specialist at the World Bank, addressing reporters in Rabat, Morocco.

She added that water firms needed to cut water lost by evaporation. World Bank officials identified Tunisia and Jordan as being strong performers in managing water demand and making the most of available water resources.

Now investigators say they have evidence of emotional, physical and sexual abuse of young children. They also say they have evidence that there is a bed inside the sacred temple where young girls were forced to have sex with older men. The ranch and compound are owned and run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is a sect which broke away from the Mormon Church when it banned polygamy more than 100 years ago. Inside the ranch they still practice polygamy.

It was a frightened, whispered call from a 16-year-old girl, referred to as "Sarah", that led to the police raid on the compound last week. "Sarah" has identified her husband as Dale Barlow, a registered sex offender. IN THE PAST WEEK, MORE THAN 400 CHILDREN HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE COMPOUND. The police say most of the sect members who have left the ranch (the children were removed and MORE THAN 100 WOMEN WENT WITH THEM) are not communicating much with their investigators.

For now the women and children are hidden well away from prying eyes. Pictures taken earlier in the week show them wearing long, old-fashioned dresses, with high necklines. The only clue as to life inside the compound comes from former sect members. Flora Jessop is one. Even her name seems from another age. "I know that what this girl is saying is the absolute truth," she says. "She is in imminent danger."

Behind the gates, the sect says it is being persecuted. The men who remain cling on to their beliefs. But their days may be numbered.

Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Mugabe, who has held power since independence in 1980, would be ousted with the help of other African nations. "We'll manage to get Mugabe out. Mugabe is being deserted. No one wants to touch Mugabe in the region now. Eventually, we will ease him out," Tsvangirai told Time Magazine.

He spoke ahead of an emergency southern African summit called for Lusaka at the weekend to discuss growing fears the post election deadlock could lead to bloodshed in Zimbabwe, already suffering economic collapse. Tsvangirai's MDC accuses Mugabe, 84, of prolonging a long delay in issuing the results of a March 29 presidential election while he organizes a violent response to his biggest defeat since taking power after independence from Britain.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party lost control of parliament for the first time in the election but no results of the parallel presidential vote have been issued. "THIS IS, IN A SENSE, A DE FACTO MILITARY COUP. They have ROLLED OUT MILITARY FORCES ACROSS THE WHOLE COUNTRY, to prepare for a run-off and try to cow the population. It's an attempt to try to create conditions for Mugabe to win," Tsvangirai said.

It is the central bank's third cut in interest rates since early December. The Bank said that disruption in financial markets and tighter credit conditions could lead to a slowdown in the wider economy. The largest mortgage lenders say they will pass on the cut to their mortgage customers who pay variable rates.

Business groups welcomed the decision and called for further cuts to shore up growth. "It is vitally important to ensure that problems in the financial sector and in the housing market do not damage wealth-creating businesses," said David Kern, economic adviser to the British Chambers of Commerce. The cut had been widely forecast by economists. "So far the Bank's gradual approach to cutting rates has been the right one," said Martin Temple, chairman of the EEF manufacturers' group. "But, given how quickly the situation is changing, there are now greater risks to business and consumer confidence."

The finding by British scientists will put pressure on the Food Standards Agency to force manufacturers to stop using the "E-number" chemicals. The researchers believe that removing artificial colours from children's foods, including cakes, drinks and sweets, would bring significant health and social benefits. Thousands of children would avoid the blight on their education caused by hyperactive behaviour, which can mean they are labelled slow and disruptive.

Professor Stevenson and his team discovered that food chemicals caused "psychological harm" to normal healthy children. Two groups of children showed changes in behaviour when given the additives during controlled trials. They found it hard to sit still and concentrate, they had problems reading and became loud and impulsive. Professor Stevenson said: "We now have clear evidence that mixtures of certain food colours can adversely influence the behaviour of children.

The suspect colours are tartrazine (E102); quinoline yellow (E104); sunset yellow (E110); carmoisine (E122); ponceau 4R (E124); and allura red (E129). The Food Commission has set up a website - actiononadditives.com - which lists more than 900 products containing the chemicals.

"You must kill the bastards (criminals) if they threaten you or the community. You must not worry about the regulations," said Deputy Safety and Security Minister Susan Shabangu. "I want no warning shots, you have one shot and it must be a kill shot," she told police officers, according to the Star newspaper on Thursday.

South Africa suffers some of the highest levels of violent crime in the world, with murders, hijackings and rape an everyday occurrence. Police figures show nearly 20,000 people are murdered a year, sparking public anger at the inability of authorities to ensure safety. Shabangu told an anti-crime meeting in the capital Pretoria: "I want to assure the police station commissioners and policemen and women from these areas that they have permission to kill these criminals," she said.

"I will not tolerate any pathetic excuses for you not being able to deal with crime, you have been given guns, now use them... If criminals dare to threaten the police or the livelihood or lives of innocent men, women and children, then they must be killed."

Unlike its American friends, the Chinese have not blown hot and cold, although there have been challenges such as attacks on Chinese nationals in Pakistan, including the execution of three workers near Peshawar last year and concern that the Islamist fervour sweeping the northwest parts of Pakistan was spilling over to neighbouring Xinjiang, China's troubled, predominantly Muslim region.

But the Chinese do not give Pakistan lectures on democracy, the dangers of nuclear proliferation - which arguably isn't surprising since some of it is traced back to the Chinese, according to non-proliferation experts - or threaten to bomb them into the Stone Age, which is what Islamabad says the Bush administration did to enlist its support in its war on terrorism days after Sept 11.

The current U.S.-Pakistan relationship has been built on security interests and is already looking fragile following the outcome of the February elections when the party supported by ally Musharraf was routed. Pakistan's alliance with China, in contrast, is based on permanent strategic interests and immutable issues of geography, including China's desire for access to the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.

In Gush Etzion, the highest alert was declared after a truck filled with terrorists attempted to enter one of the communities there and was rebuffed, according to unconfirmed reports. Motorists are advised that traffic is jammed in the northern parts of the city, where checkpoints have been set up.

Both alerts come several days after Israel removed 50 roadblocks and barriers throughout Judea and Samaria in response to pressure from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The American Secretary has demanded that Israel ease restrictions on travel by Palestinian Authority Arabs despite an escalation of rock, firebomb and shooting attacks on Jewish drivers.

A spokeswoman said Mr Brown had never planned to attend the ceremony and was not boycotting the Games. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said Mr Brown "seems to do the right thing late in the day when he is forced to do so because of public opinion". Mr Clegg, speaking to Channel Four News, branded the move a "last-minute U-turn". The Olympics minister Tessa Jowell will represent the UK at the opening in Beijing in August.

Mr Brown - who has been under pressure to boycott the Olympics over China's human rights record - has never specifically said he will attend the opening ceremony. And BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said Downing Street felt it would not make sense for him to go to China twice. However he has talked of attending plural "ceremonies".

On 27 March, at a press conference during France's President Sarkozy's visit, he said: "We will not be boycotting the Olympic Games; Britain will be attending the Olympic Games ceremonies. At the same time, the president has said that the Dalai Lama has not called for a boycott of the Olympic Games." At his Downing Street news conference on 1 April, Mr Brown said: "I think President Sarkozy said himself that he expected Britain, because we are going to host the next Olympics, to be present at the Olympic ceremonies and I will certainly be there."

"Some believed that a prolonged and severe economic downturn could not be ruled out given the further restriction of credit availability and ongoing weakness in the housing market," minutes of the March 18 meeting said. Fed economists presented a somber picture of short-term prospects - central bank staff now fully expect negative growth over the first six months of the year - but held out the possibility of a modest rebound later.

"The staff projection showed a contraction of real GDP in the first half of 2008 followed by a slow rise in the second half," the report said, referring to gross domestic product, a broad measure of a country's output of goods and services. At the same time, Fed officials found recent inflation reports "disappointing," noting also with concern that some indicators of inflation expectations were edging higher.

Policy-makers said there were limits to what could be done through interest rate cuts to deal with problems underlying the housing and financial market turmoil, but agreed trimming borrowing costs might provide some help. However, Fed officials said it would be hard to calibrate policy responses because their aggressive rate cuts in recent months would take some time to show their effect on economic activity.