It was the same story in towns close to the Alps in Austria, Switzerland and even northern Italy where temperatures in May routinely climb into the 80s. In one Swiss valley, 3,000 were trapped in hotels and guest houses because trains could not reach them in the snow. Ironically, the weather follows one of the worst winters ever for snow at Alpine ski resorts.

On the Mediterranean island of Corsica, two hikers died in freezing fog and on its beaches a 19-year-old man was killed by a wave. Further north in cities like Berlin, tropical storms have brought four days of chaos, dumping hailstones as big as golf balls, uprooting trees and causing widespread flooding. There have been many fatalities across Germany from the weather, the most poignant being three workmen who sheltered beneath their bulldozer during a rainstorm only to die altogether from a single lightning strike.

Britain was drenched over the weekend in some of the worst rain of the year. The AA said thousands had to cut their long weekends short, to battle appalling conditions on motorways. Arctic winds hit the country on Monday at speeds of up to 50mph in what was described as one of the coldest Whitsun Bank Holidays.

First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple independent warheads, and it also successfully conducted a "preliminary" test of a tactical cruise missile that he said could fly farther than existing, similar weapons.

"As of today, Russia has new tactical and strategic complexes that are capable of overcoming any existing or future missile defense systems," Ivanov said, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. "So in terms of defense and security, Russians can look calmly to the country's future."

Ivanov is a former defense minister seen as a potential Kremlin favorite to succeed Putin next year. Both he and Putin have said repeatedly that Russia would continue to improve its nuclear arsenals and respond to U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic - NATO nations that were in Moscow's front yard during the Cold War as Warsaw Pact members.

Those expected to attend include DONALD GRAHAM, chairman and chief executive officer of the Washington Post, RICHARD N. HAASS, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, HENRY KISSINGER, DAVID ROCKEFELLER, JOHN VINOCUR, senior correspondent of the International Herald Tribune, PAUL GIGOT, editor of the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, NICHOLAS BEYTOUT, editor-in-chief of Le Figaro, GEORGE DAVID, chairman of Coca-Cola, MARTIN FELDSTEIN, president and chief executive officer of the National Bureau of Economic Research, TIMOTHY F. GEITHNER, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, VERNON JORDAN, senior managing director of Lazard Freres & Co., ANATOLE KALETSKY, editor at large of the Times of London and GENERAL WILLIAM LUTI, THE NEW "WAR CZAR."

According to reports from Turkey, Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions and global energy issues will be on the agenda - but only invitees know for sure. Welcome to the mysterious world of secret societies.

Since 1954, the Bilderberg group has convened government, business, academic and journalistic representatives from the U.S., Canada and Europe with the express purpose of exploring the future of the North Atlantic community. The first meeting was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg in the Netherlands - thus the name.

According to sources that have penetrated the high-security meetings in the past, the Bilderberg meetings emphasize a globalist agenda and promote the idea that the notion of national sovereignty is antiquated and regressive. "It's officially described as a private gathering," noted a BBC report in 2003, "but with a guest list including the heads of European and American corporations, political leaders and a few intellectuals, it's one of the most influential organizations on the planet."

But, counter participants, the secrecy is not evidence of a grand conspiracy, but only an opportunity to speak frankly with other world leaders out of the limelight of press coverage and its inevitable repercussions. "There's absolutely nothing in it," argues the UK's Lord Denis Healey, one of the four founders of Bilderberg. "We never sought to reach a consensus on the big issues at Bilderberg," he told the BBC. "It's simply a place for discussion."

GOD IS NOT GREAT: Why Religion Poisons Everything, although sweeping in its erudition, is a righteous harangue. When Ruth Gledhill of The Times recently interviewed Richard Dawkins about his scientific debunking of faith, The God Delusion, she found him less angry than his confrontational writing style suggested. But Hitchens is never far below boiling point. He is an evangelical secularist, an atheist warlord.

"RELIGION", HE WRITES, "IS VIOLENT, IRRATIONAL, INTOLERANT, ALLIED TO RACISM AND TRIBALISM AND BIGOTRY, INVESTED IN IGNORANCE AND HOSTILE TO FREE INQUIRY, CONTEMPTUOUS OF WOMEN AND COERCIVE TOWARD CHILDREN".

"Marx says criticism of religion is the beginning of all criticism," Hitchens says. "Philosophy starts where religion ends, just as chemistry starts where alchemy breaks off or astronomy starts where astrology runs out. It is the necessary argument. Not believing in the supernatural is the critical thing."

And yet, I suggest, doesn't it fulfil one function, an innate human desire for ritual? We are soothed by lighting candles or familiar hymns. Secularism, for all its logic, offers no substitute. Surprisingly, Hitchens agrees. "But I don't do Christmas because I can't stand it." What, no presents? "Well, you have to . . . A tree? Er, yup. We went to Kmart and bought a white tinsel one. Actually it's rather beautiful. Our annual ritual is screwing it together."

He was married to his first wife in a Greek Orthodox church, to his second, Carol Blue, by a rabbi. He had his son, Alexander, now 23, baptised. He educates his daughter, Antonia, 13, at a Quaker school, Sidwell Friends, alma mater of Chelsea Clin ton and Al Gore's son. He has taken her to Washington's Anglican cathedral to familiarise her with the liturgy. He worries that without the scriptures "which he can quote chapter and verse" she will never understand Milton or Shakespeare.

"The point is" he says, "religion should be private: I am not paying my taxes to support it. I'm not going to have children taught that metaphysical things are true. America, where secular education has come under protracted attack from Creationists, is the territory of contestation at the momen".

People [in the US] are fed up with the presumption of the religious and the demands they expect to have met. THERE ARE MANY, MANY MORE NONBELIEVERS AND SCEPTICS IN THE STATES AND THEY'VE JUST ABOUT HAD ENOUGH.

(God Is Not Great, by Christopher Hitchens, is published by Atlantic Books)

Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, spoke out against a threat from John Reid, the Home Secretary, after three terrorist suspects absconded despite being under control orders intended to restrict their movements. Mr Reid last week said he was prepared to "derogate" from the European Convention on Human Rights in order to impose tougher control orders, placing terrorist suspects under effective house arrest. Such sweeping orders have been ruled illegal by the High Court.

Lord Carlile, a QC who is given access to secret intelligence material, yesterday told a Whitehall security conference that it should be possible for Mr Reid to get his way without opting out of the convention. The control order laws should be "clarified" to reduce judges' scope to resist ministers' wishes, Lord Carlile suggested. He said: "Some statutory clarity should be considered to ensure that ministers can impose appropriate and effective controls."

Mr Reid is said to be open to a consensual approach, but that derogation remains an option. But Lord Carlile said: "It would lead to lengthy and testy litigation, and an unwelcome and scarring clash with the senior judiciary which, on balance, the judiciary would be likely to win."

The leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland denounced assurances made when the 1967 Abortion Act was passed - THAT ABORTION WOULD BE ALLOWED ONLY IN EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES - SAYING THEY WERE "LIES AND MISINFORMATION MASQUERADING AS COMPASSION AND TRUTH".

He says: "We were told that backstreet abortions were killing women and had to be decriminalised. We were told abortion would only be used in extreme cases. "We were told medical scrutiny would be rigorous. We were told lies and misinformation masquerading as compassion and truth." He went on to say that for many women abortions have become an alternative form of birth control.

The battle by David (now Lord) Steel, a Scottish Liberal, to legalise abortion proved to be the most controversial battle of his political life. HE WAS PARTLY INSPIRED BY A CHURCH OF ENGLAND REPORT WHICH ARGUED FOR ITS MODERATE USE AND HE EVEN ATTENDED AN ABORTION.

Introduced as a private member's bill, LORD STEEL'S MOVE WAS BACKED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND WAS PASSED ON 27 OCTOBER, 1967, coming into effect on 27 April, 1968. The act made abortion legal in the UK up to 28 weeks gestation, amended in 1990 to 24 weeks.

Wearing a white robe and a turban, Adam Yehiye Gadahn, who also goes by the name Azzam al-Amriki, said al-Qaida would not negotiate on its demands.

"Your failure to heed our demands means that you and your people will experience things which will make you forget all about the horrors of September 11th, Afghanistan and Iraq and Virginia Tech," he said in the seven-minute video.

Gadahn, who has been charged in a U.S. treason indictment with aiding al-Qaida, spoke in English and the video carried Arabic subtitles. The video appeared on a Web site often used by Islamic militants and carried the logo of al-Qaida's media wing, as-Sahab.

Gadahn, who appeared in an al-Qaida video last September in which he called on Americans to convert to Islam, demanded that Bush remove all U.S. military and spies from Islamic countries, free all Muslims from U.S. prisons and end support for Israel. He said a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq alone would not satisify al-Qaida.

The organisation, which certifies which foods are organic, says it is looking at a number of proposals because of concern about greenhouse gas emissions. It will outline a series of options, including an outright ban, in a consultation document next week. Other proposals include labels showing a product's country of origin as well as carbon offsetting schemes.

Flying produce into Britain from abroad is the fastest growing form of food transport. And the Soil Association says highly perishable or out-of-season produce make up the bulk of air-freighted organic produce. But due to growing demands to cut the environmental impact of food distribution, the organisation is now considering five options to reduce the carbon footprint of air-freighted food.

These include a campaign to partially or fully deny food imported into the UK by air the right to label itself organic and comprehensive labelling showing a product's country of origin as well as the air miles it has travelled. However, the Soil Association says that air transport can help developing countries with poor infrastructure to get their goods to markets. And any decision would have to take into account the impact on farmers in the developing world, it added.

A snap survey of the major supermarkets by the BBC's Breakfast programme found some organic versions of seasonal fruit and vegetables had been imported from as far away as Thailand and Argentina. But supermarkets say they stock local produce whenever possible.

Brian Maguire, an American who flew to Rome to attend the event, said: "Many Americans are understandably discouraged by the so-called vocations crisis here at home. THEY SHOULD GO TO ROME. THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT GOD IS RENEWING THE CHURCH FROM ITS HEART IN ROME.

"Saturday's ordinations showed not only that many young men are responding to this call, but that they are doing so generously and enthusiastically when it's presented to them as a lifelong surrender of self for others."

A chance meeting at a party at Cliveden in Berkshire in July 1961 sowed the seeds of a scandal that forever changed the way Britain was governed. Mr Profumo, the Secretary State for War, and Miss Keeler were from two different worlds. He was part of the inner circle of the British traditional establishment while she was part of the brash, new Britain rapidly taking shape around it.

Rumours began to circulate that secret information on nuclear weapons could have been passed via Miss Keeler to Captain Ivanov, and MR PROFUMO EVENTUALLY RESIGNED FROM THE GOVERNMENT AFTER ADMITTING HE HAD LIED TO THE COMMONS. What happened at and after Cliveden ripped open the whole way of ruling Britain. THE SECRETIVE ESTABLISHMENT CLIQUES WERE CONFRONTED BY THE IMPERTINENT, PUBLICITY-CRAZED, 1960S. And "the chaps" lost.

The Sixties is most remembered, however, as a mythical period of British history. THE COUNTRY TURNED FROM THE BLACK AND WHITE AUSTERITY OF THE 40S AND 50S INTO A TECHNICOLOR, PSYCHEDELIC GARDEN OF EDEN. A heady optimism was shared by people who had never enjoyed this kind of cultural power before. Not since before the Romans invaded had LONG-HAIRED PEOPLE wandered around in public WEARING SO LITTLE. And not since the early Christians HAD LOVE BEEN SO EARNESTLY DECLARED THE ANSWER TO ALMOST EVERYTHING.

A HEADY OPTIMISM was shared by people who had never enjoyed this kind of cultural power before - the children of dockers and factory workers bringing a transfusion of energy that pale, old Britain badly needed. Harold Wilson, the new prime minister, hailed the dawn of the classless society. A PERIOD WHICH LASTED 15 YEARS AND BEGAN DURING HIS PREMIERSHIP SAW MODERN BRITAIN STARTING TO RISE.

The look and shape of the country which was formed during 1964-79 is still here today, essentially unaltered - the motorways and mass car economy, the concrete architecture, the rock music, the high street chains. Here "modern" also means a belief in planning and management. This was the time of practical men, educated in grammar schools, sure of their intelligence, rolling up their sleeves and taking no nonsense.

THEY WERE GOING TO SCRAP THE OLD AND FUSTY, WHETHER THAT MEANT THE HUGE VICTORIAN RAILWAY NETWORK, THE GRAND EDWARDIAN PALACES OF GOVERNMENT IN WHITEHALL, REGIMENTS, TERRACED HOUSING, THE GRIM LAWS OF THEIR ANCESTORS - HANGING, THEATRE CENSORSHIP, THE PROHIBITIONS ON HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOUR AND ABORTION - OR THE ANCIENT COINAGE AND QUAINT COUNTY NAMES.

Bigger in general would be better. Huge comprehensive schools would be more efficient and fairer than the maze of selective and rubbish-heap academies. The many hundreds of trade unions would resolve themselves into a few leviathans, known only by their initials. Small companies would wither and combine and ever-larger corporations would arise in their place, ruthless, sleek and scientifically managed. These were years of increased social mobility, a time of impatience with the old class domination.

When Wilson talked of THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION that would transform Britain, his audience included tens of thousands of managers and engineers, in their off-the-peg tweed jackets and flannel trousers, who shared his vision entirely. In the early 60s, the wartime generation were still in control of the country. But a CASCADE OF REFORMS happened later in the decade, headed by the liberal Home Secretary Roy Jenkins, who detected an appetite for "A MORE CIVILISED SOCIETY".

SO DIVORCE BECAME EASIER, HANGING WAS ABOLISHED, HOMOSEXUALITY DECRIMINALISED FOR MEN OVER 21 AND ABORTION WAS LEGALISED. And the older Britons who grew up in a time characterised by deference and order thought the country was turning into a permissive and irresponsible society. One thing was certain. Britain was becoming a more divided one, on several fronts.

And among white Britons there were fears Britain was under siege from Commonwealth immigrants, a feeling stirred up by Tory outsider Enoch Powell in his famous "RIVERS OF BLOOD" speech in 1968. And THE SIXTIES ENDED AS THEY BEGAN, WITH PROTESTS. There were seven million working days lost to strikes in 1969. EVEN THE MINI, held up as a triumph for British design, provided a dark warning about the future of British business and manufacturing because it was SOLD TOO CHEAPLY.

THE OPTIMISM OF THE SIXTIES WAS STARTING TO EVAPORATE AND IT WAS CLEAR THERE WERE TOUGH TIMES AHEAD.

A leaked e-mail expresses sympathy for the environmental benefits of a mass switch to a vegan diet - a strict form of vegetarianism which bans milk, dairy products and fish. The change would need to be done "gently" because of a "risk of alienating the public", according to the document.

The extreme policy is being examined on the basis IT COULD MAKE A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO SLOWING CLIMATE CHANGE. FARM ANIMALS ARE BLAMED FOR PRODUCING HUGE AMOUNTS OF THE GREENHOUSE GASES METHANE AND CARBON DIOXIDE.

However, the National Farmers' Union has ridiculed the idea as "simplistic". THE E-MAIL, SENT TO A VEGETARIAN CAMPAIGN GROUP, COMES FROM AN OFFICIAL AT THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY, a Government advisory body. It states: "The potential benefit of a vegan diet in terms of climate impact could be very significant." However, it does recognise that it would be very difficult to win public support for such a move.

Consequently, it says the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is looking to encourage a gradual change that would be more palatable to the general public. The e-mail states: "It will be a case of introducing this gently as there is a risk of alienating the public majority." But the e-mail added: "Certainly encouraging people to examine their consumption of animal protein could be a key message."

The e-mail was sent to the campaigning vegetarian organisation Viva, which argues that it is more efficient to use land to grow crops for humans, rather than feeding them to farm animals and dairy cows. Viva director Juliet Gellatley said: "I think it is extraordinary that a Government agency thinks becoming a vegetarian or vegan could have such a positive impact for the environment yet it is not prepared to stand up and argue the case.

"There is a growing awareness that our diet directly affects the world around us - and that vegetarians and vegans contribute far less to the destruction of the environment. For our planet's sake there is an urgent need to move away from a meat and dairyobsessed Western diet."

The developments are among the most dramatic steps Beijing has publicly taken to address domestic and international alarm over shoddy and unsafe Chinese goods - from pet food ingredients and toothpaste mixed with industrial chemicals to tainted antibiotics.

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court convicted Zheng Xiaoyu for taking bribes in cash and gifts worth more than $832,000 when he was director of the State Food and Drug Administration, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The court then issued the death penalty, the report said. Concern over Chinese exports has been increasing as more instances of poor hygiene and the use of banned substances are uncovered.

Pet food ingredients, spiked with the chemical melamine and related compounds, have been blamed in the deaths of dogs and cats in North America. The U.S. government has stopped all Chinese toothpaste imports after reports that some products sold in Australia, the Dominican Republic and Panama were tainted with diethylene glycol, a chemical commonly used in antifreeze and brake fluid.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also warned consumers not to buy or eat imported fish from China labeled as monkfish because it might actually be pufferfish, which contains a potentially deadly toxin called tetrodotoxin.

"We have Israeli Arab brothers who are members of the Brigades who live in Israel and will make in the coming days and weeks shootings and suicide bombings," said the Brigades leader, who spoke on the condition his name be withheld. "Even in the case that there will be a cease-fire in Gaza, will keep attacking Israel. They will see the importance of our cells in Jerusalem with more attacks in the near future," the Brigades leader said.

The pagan conference will feature presentations on a variety of topics, including Magic and Witchcraft in the 21st Century, Pagan Parenting, Pagan Marriage, Pagan Symbolism and Practice and Ancient Greek magic. A workshop in tribal dance will be held at the university Student's Association.

"It will be an opportunity for people to listen to talks on various aspects of modern paganism and socialize with like-minded people in a relaxed, tolerant atmosphere," said John Macintyre, presiding officer of Pagan Federation Scotland. "Most people now recognize that the old stereotypes about witches and witchcraft are way off the mark and there is nothing remotely sinister about it."

In 2005, WND reported plans to begin banning Bibles from Edinburgh student halls of residence due to concern they are the source of discrimination against students of other faiths. The ban was a response to student association protests as well as an agenda to equally support all faiths, a university spokesman told the Times of London.

While a Gideon Bible had traditionally been placed in the room of all new students, officials decided they could be offensive to some. Removal, advocates said, was about "respecting diversity," not attacking Christianity.
The previous year, Edinburgh removed prayer from graduation ceremonies. "This seems to be a clear case of discrimination," said Matthew Tindale, a Christian Union staff worker. "It's okay for other religions, such as the pagans, to have their say at the university, but there appears to be a reluctance to allow Christians to do the same. All we are asking for is the tolerance that is afforded to other faiths and organizations."

Simon Dames, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, called the university's action an example of "Christianphobia." "This appears to be a clear case of double standards," he said. "The principles of a pluralistic democracy revolve around an acceptance of competing ideas and universities should be enshrining this principle. Anti-racism groups would never be asked to put up posters saying there are alternative views."

Pagan Macintyre has no sympathy for the Christians' appeal to fairness, stressing that followers of his faith are tolerant and support the university's equality policies . "Pagans, as a rule, don't believe that sexist or homophobic views are acceptable and discrimination on that basis is deplorable," he said.

Five women and a married man, all Roman Catholics, have been ordained as priests and deacons by a female Catholic bishop. However, the Vatican says it will not recognise either the ordinations or the group carrying them out.

The ordination ceremony was held at a Protestant church on the outskirts of Toronto known for its liberal views.
The building was packed with an enthusiastic congregation. They watched as Bishop Patricia Fresen, one of the most well-known figures in the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement, led the five women and one married man through a number of rituals to mark their ordination.

Bishop Fresen was herself ordained in a secret ceremony in Spain in 2003. But the archdiocese of Toronto said that the organisation responsible for the ordinations had no affiliation or any dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church. It said that ordaining men into the priesthood was a sacrament that cannot be changed.

But the bishops in the Womenpriests movement claim they are part of the Church's valid apostolic succession, because Catholic bishops in good standing ordained them secretly.