Father John Hayes, 71, was quizzed for more than an hour after commenting on the case of a Muslim girl who went to court over her wish to wear a full veil in class. A sergeant and community support officer turned up without warning at his presbytery after an allegation was made to a Scotland Yard 'hate crimes' unit.

The inquisition in Hornchurch, East London, PROMPTED A FURIOUS ROW ABOUT POLICING PRIORITIES. IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS THERE HAVE BEEN FIVE MURDERS, 33 RAPES, 424 ROBBERIES AND 2,267 BURGLARIES IN THE LOCAL POLICE BOROUGH OF HAVERING. Yet, despite being accused of turning a blind eye to the inflammatory remarks of some Muslim preachers of hate, the Met still found time to quiz Mr Hayes.

Last night the priest said his 'offending' remarks had concerned Shabina Begum, who, represented by Cherie Blair QC, claimed unsuccessfully that it was her human right to be allowed to wear her jilbab, a loose gown, in class.

The decision to quiz Mr Hayes has infuriated many Met officers. A source at the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said: "What happened is a gross error of judgment and possibly even an abuse of power. The senior officer who decided on this course of action should be called to account. It is yet another example of the political correctness which is blighting the Met. It is plain bonkers."

Numbers are at an all-time high, posing serious health risks to humans and pets. Ticks can carry Lyme disease, which can lead to paralysis, blindness or even death for humans, and lameness, heart and kidney problems for pets.

According to figures from the Health Protection Agency, there were 768 reported cases of Lyme disease last year, compared with 292 in 2003, a 263 per cent increase. Hampshire has been worst hit in the past 12 months, with more than 220 cases reported. Salisbury Plain, Exmoor, Dartmoor and the South Downs are also regarded as danger areas.

The first sign of Lyme disease is a ring-shaped skin rash, which spreads out within 30 days. Other common symptoms include tiredness, headaches, joint pain and flu-like symptoms. The HPA estimates that 1,000 to 2,000 Lyme disease cases go unreported each year. Vets say that dirty homes are also contributory factors to the increase in parasites.

Sabrina Stroud, business manager for animal healthcare brand ProMeris UK, which carried out the research, said: "Climate change and the damp summer have created the prefect breeding conditions for these potentially lethal parasites. Now is not the time for complacency."

Exactly 20 years after "Black Monday" - which saw Wall Street plunge 22.6pc - ECONOMISTS HAVE WARNED OF EERIE PARALLELS WITH THE TENSIONS VISIBLE ON GLOBAL MARKETS TODAY.

- New kind of currency crisis with China the target
- Credit crunch crisis in full in our special section
- Interest rates and mortgages: latest news and views

Simon Derrick, chief currency strategist at the Bank of New York Mellon, says the collapse of the US dollar in the mid-1980s lay behind the ructions that led to Black Monday - modern times' most dramatic one-day crash. The dollar had been sliding relentlessly for two years and was at risk of breaking down in a disorderly rout, much like today.

"The dollar was under severe pressure in October 1987. Interest rates were on the rise globally, the US trade deficit remained high and energy prices had been increasing on the back of tension in the Gulf," he said. These conditions are more or less in place once again.

The price of crude oil reached an all-time high of $84 a barrel last week on news of dwindling stockpiles, while US inflation has yet to subside. The producer price index surged in September - now up 4.4pc on last year.

The dollar has fallen below parity against the Canadian dollar for the first time since 1976. The global dollar index has dropped 9pc over the last year, touching an all-time low of 77.66.

Jim Baker, the former US Treasury Secretary, said Black Monday's trigger was an interest rate rise by Germany's Bundesbank, forcing the whole European system to raise in lockstep.

The move sparked fears that the US Federal Reserve would have to match with tightening of its own, or risk a further dollar slide and the start of an inflationary spiral. The Fed found itself hemmed in by world forces.

Economists' concern this time is that Asian and Middle East central banks and investment funds are losing their taste for US investments. This could knock away a key prop for the dollar. There is already evidence that Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam and Qatar are drawing back. Europe is less likely to prove a trigger today. Even so, European Central Bank governors recently warned that inflation risks are rising, hinting at another rate rise.

John Lonski, Moody's chief economist, said the G7 club of major powers will take pre-emptive action. "I don't think that other central banks would allow the US dollar to collapse. IT'S NOT IN THE INTEREST OF THE WORLD ECONOMY TO ALLOW THE US DOLLAR TO ENTER A DOWNWARD SPIRAL," HE SAID.

In the end, the 1987 crash was a false alarm. After dropping 35pc from top to bottom over the early autumn, the Dow rallied as the Fed injected liquidity, reaching new highs in less than two years. A recent Fed study - A Brief History of the 1987 Stock Market Crash - said two key events on October 16 appeared to set off the storm: a move by the US Congress to end tax benefits for leveraged buyouts - threatening a spate of high-profile deals - and dire data on the trade deficit.

The Arab Israeli Hadash party lawmaker condemned the dig, which is being resumed after violent protests by Muslims pressured the government into halting the project.

Islamic religious leaders whipped their followers into frenzy by claiming the project would damage the walls of the Al Aksa mosque near the site, despite the fact that inspection by local and international experts found no evidence to back the claim.

The dig is being carried out in preparation for construction of a new footbridge leading to the Temple Mount to replace one that was broken and dangerous. The construction site is 60 meters away from the entrance to the Temple Mount and engineers have emphasized there is no danger to the mosque.

In a fierce attack on the Oxford professor and other leading atheists, he said: "There are specific areas of mismatch between what Richard Dawkins may write about and what religious people think they are doing."
He added: "There are few things more annoying than people saying 'I know what you mean'." Dr Williams described Prof Dawkins as a "lively and attractive writer" but said his arguments were not fully engaging with religion.

He suggested that Prof Dawkins, the author of the best-selling The God Delusion and a leading Darwinist, was a good scientist but a poor philosopher. "OUR CULTURE IS ONE THAT DEEPLY PRAISES SCIENCE, SO WE ASSUME BECAUSE SOMEONE IS A GOOD SCIENTIST, THEY MUST BE A GOOD PHILOSOPHER," he said in a lecture at Swansea University.

In a message to the critics, he said: "Don't distract us from the real arguments by assuming that religion is an eccentric survival strategy or irrational form of explanation." Dr Williams added that to see religion as a survival strategy was to misunderstand it. More than 1,000 people heard the lecture, both inside the auditorium and in overflow rooms nearby.

Prof Dawkins has been scathing in his assessment of Christian theology, which he has described as vacuous. In a Channel 4 programme, The Enemies of Reason, in August he said: "There are two ways of looking at the world - through FAITH AND SUPERSTITION, or through THE RIGOURS OF LOGIC, OBSERVATION AND EVIDENCE, THROUGH REASON.

"Yet today reason has a battle on its hands. Reason and a respect for evidence are the source of our progress, our safeguard against fundamentalists and those who profit from obscuring the truth. WE LIVE IN DANGEROUS TIMES WHEN SUPERSTITION IS GAINING GROUND AND RATIONAL SCIENCE IS UNDER ATTACK."

The virus had previously only been circulating among cattle, but it has now been found in two flocks of sheep on farms in Suffolk. Official figures handed to the World Animal Health Organisation reveal that about 60 infected animals have now been found.

SHEEP ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE VIRUS AND UP TO 70 PER CENT OF FLOCKS CAN BE WIPED OUT. Vets at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have also revealed that they expect the virus to continue spreading into December, RAISING FEARS THAT IT WILL REACH AREAS OF INTENSE SHEEP FARMING WHERE IT COULD DECIMATE THE INDUSTRY.

Fred Landeg, deputy chief veterinary officer, said: "We can expect to see more cases before the end of the midge season. There are now 36 premises known to be infected, clustered around the Ipswich and Lowestoft area. "Half of these have been reported by the farmers and the other half have been picked up by surveillance testing."

The virus was confirmed to have spread out of the Suffolk area for the first time last week as cases were discovered in neighbouring Essex.

Representatives from the U.S. Treasury have organized conversations among top global banks, sources said, as financial institutions grow increasingly concerned that a certain type of investment fund linked to banks may have to dump billions of dollars of repackaged loans onto financial markets.

A fire-sale of assets could lift borrowing costs globally, trigger big losses from investors and force banks to further write down some holdings on their balance sheets. Such sales could trigger huge losses for banks, and in the worst-case scenario tip the U.S. or Europe into recession. The fund is the latest response to a global credit hangover after at least three years of easy credit that fueled massive mortgage lending in the United States and spurred record levels of leveraged buyouts.

"BANKS MADE UNWISE BUSINESS DECISIONS, AND NOW THEY'RE SCRAMBLING TO SAVE THEMSELVES," said Steve Persky, chief executive at Dalton Investments in Los Angeles, which has $1.2 billion under management. The U.S. Treasury is involved in the discussions, but taxpayer money is not expected to be used.

The Financial Services Authority, the U.K. market regulator, has suggested U.K. banks consider participating in the fund, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing a person familiar with the situation. BANKS INCLUDING CITIGROUP, MERRILL LYNCH & CO, AND UBS HAVE IN RECENT WEEKS ANNOUNCED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN ASSET WRITE-OFFS and are still struggling to sell off billions of dollars in loans that financed acquisitions globally.

"WE ARE COMING OFF THE GREATEST LENDING BUBBLE IN U.S. HISTORY. WE WILL FEEL ITS IMPACT FOR A VERY LONG TIME," said Robert Arnott, Chairman of Research Affiliates LLC in Pasadena, California, earlier this month.

Alan Johnson said the magnitude of the problem was becoming clear for the first time and "it is in everybody's interest to turn things round". Details have emerged of a government study which says half the population could be obese within 25 years. Ministers are drawing up a long-term action plan to tackle obesity.

But Mr Johnson said individuals also had to take responsibility for their own health as part of a "cultural and societal shift". He said: "There is no single solution to tackle obesity and it cannot be tackled by government action alone. We will only succeed if the problem is recognised, owned and addressed at every level and every part of society."

The Commons European Scrutiny Committee questioned whether the UK red lines offered any real safeguard, arguing in a letter to David Miliband that the UK could be corralled into accepting EU control over criminal justice.

The Committee said that the latest legal draft suggested the UK COULD ONLY REMAIN OUTSIDE THE JURISDICTION OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE FOR FIVE YEARS ON JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS ISSUES, and after that might face serious consequences if it decided not to accept ECJ jurisdiction.

The Committee also warned that if the UK did not accept the jurisdiction, all EU measures adopted so far would cease to apply, and Britain would risk incurring "A POTENTIALLY UNLIMITED FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY".

The "European Voice" reports that Commission officials are preparing to get round the UK's opt-out from ECJ jurisdiction over existing Justice and Home Affairs legislation by repealing current laws and replacing them with A NEW VERSION WHICH WOULD BE PASSED BY MAJORITY VOTING.

Earlier this month, Vice-Premier Chaim Ramon outlined his political plan for dividing Jerusalem, saying: "On the matter of the 'holy basin', as the area including the Temple Mount and other holy sites is being referred to - there will be a special authority that will include the expression of Israel's special interests and it will manage the holy sites - THE WESTERN WALL, THE JEWISH QUARTER AND THE OTHER JEWISH HOLY SITES IN THE JERUSALEM REGION WILL STAY IN THE HANDS OF ISRAEL FOREVER."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has refused to comment on the Ramon plan, though commentators compare the situation to when Olmert himself introduced the idea of unilaterally withdrawing from Gaza ahead of then-PM Ariel Sharon's open adoption of the policy. Ramon is a close friend and political ally of Olmert's.

On the eve of the Sukkot festival, just prior to his passing away, former Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of the Merkaz HaRav Kook religious-Zionist centre Rabbi Avraham Shapira signed a strongly-worded statement against the plan. "THE LAND OF ISRAEL BELONGS TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL AND WAS GRANTED TO US AS AN INHERITANCE BY THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD."

"Neither the Prime Minister nor anybody else has the right to give away areas, or even a grain, of the holy Land of Israel. The ENTIRE LAND OF ISRAEL, ACCORDING TO THE BORDERS OUTLINED IN THE TORAH - BELONGED IN THE PAST, AND BELONG IN THE PRESENT AND FUTURE, ONLY TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL, AND IT IS FORBIDDEN BY SEVERE TORAH PROHIBITION TO GIVE UP ANY OF THE TERRITORY OF OUR HOLY LAND."

Retired Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez also LABELLED US POLITICAL LEADERS AS "INCOMPETENT" AND "CORRUPTED". He said they would have faced court martials for dereliction of duty had they been in the military.

The best the US could manage under the current approach in Iraq was to "stave off defeat", Gen Sanchez warned. "There is no question that America is living a nightmare with no end in sight," he said, addressing journalists at Arlington, near Washington.

Gen Sanchez also quoted an ancient Japanese proverb:- "VISION WITHOUT ACTION IS A DAYDREAM; ACTION WITHOUT VISION IS A NIGHTMARE. "

David Cameron signals today that he will try to extend the dramatic political gains the Conservatives have made over the last fortnight by pressing ahead with his centrist, liberal agenda, inspired by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the Tory leader says his success in halting Gordon Brown's general election plans was not down solely to the Tories' promise to cut inheritance tax, but the product of two years of recasting his party as ready for the 21st century.

Speaking during an upbeat tour of the US west coast, Mr Cameron hailed Mr Schwarzenegger as a model centre-right politician and acknowledged his debt to the filmstar-turned-politician, describing himself as a fan. He said: "My wife said to me: 'How are you going to explain to an American audience what sort of Conservative you are?' I said: 'I'll say look at me and think of Arnold Schwarzenegger'."

Speaking later to the Guardian, Mr Cameron said: "He's [Mr Schwarzenegger] a very impressive politician. He's achieved huge amounts in California because he's had to work with a Democratic legislature, so he's very good at making compromises, making deals, getting things done. His analysis of US politics is very sharp."

"We are shocked and appalled that the governor has blatantly attacked traditional family values in California," said Karen England, executive director of Capitol Resource Institute. "WITH THIS DECISION, GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER HAS TOLD PARENTS THAT THEIR VALUES ARE IRRELEVANT. Many parents will have no choice but to pull their children out of the public schools that have now become sexualized indoctrination centers."

"ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER HAS DELIVERED YOUNG CHILDREN INTO THE HANDS OF THOSE WHO WILL INTRODUCE THEM TO ALTERNATIVE SEXUAL LIFESTYLES," said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, which worked to defeat the plans. "This means children as young as five years old will be mentally molested in school classrooms.

"Shame on Schwarzenegger and the Democrat politicians for ensuring that EVERY CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BECOMES A HOMOSEXUAL-BISEXUAL-TRANSSEXUAL INDOCTRINATION CENTER," he said.

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Muriel Newman, director of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research, told Academy President Sid Ganis and Executive Director Bruce Davis "the situation is not unlike that confronting sports bodies when their sports stars are found to be drug cheats."

"In such cases, the sportsmen and women are stripped of their medals and titles, with the next place-getter elevated," she said, according to the Australian Associated Press. "While this is an extremely unpleasant duty, it is necessary if the integrity of competitive sport is to be protected. "

The inaccuracies, according to the court, are:

1 - The film claims that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidence global warming. The Government's expert was forced to concede that this is not correct.

2 - The film suggests that evidence from ice cores proves that rising CO2 causes temperature increases over 650,000 years. The court found that the film was misleading: Over that period the rises in CO2 lagged behind the temperature rises by 800-2000 years.

3 - The film uses emotive images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests that this has been caused by global warming. The Government's expert had to accept that it was "not possible" to attribute one-off events to global warming.

4 - The film shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims that this was caused by global warming. The Government's expert had to accept that this was not the case.

5 - The film claims that a study showed that polar bears had drowned due to disappearing arctic ice. It turned out that Mr. Gore had misread the study: In fact four polar bears drowned, and this was because of a particularly violent storm.

6 - The film threatens that global warming could stop the Gulf Stream, throwing Europe into an ice age: The Claimant's evidence was that this was a scientific impossibility.

7 - The film blames global warming for species losses including coral reef bleaching. The Government could not find any evidence to support this claim.

8 - The film suggests that the Greenland ice covering could melt, causing sea levels to rise dangerously. The evidence is that Greenland will not melt for millennia.

9 - The film suggests that the Antarctic ice covering is melting; the evidence was that it is in fact increasing.

10 - The film suggests that sea levels could rise by seven meters, causing the displacement of millions of people. In fact, the evidence is that sea levels are expected to rise by about 40 centimeters over the next hundred years and that there is no such threat of massive migration.

11 - The film claims that rising sea levels has caused the evacuation of certain Pacific islands to New Zealand. The Government are unable to substantiate this and the Court observed that this appears to be a false claim.

David Levy, a British artificial intelligence researcher at the college, wrote in his thesis, "Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners," that trends in robotics and shifting attitudes on marriage are likely to result in sophisticated robots that will eventually be seen as suitable marriage partners.

Levy's conclusion was based on about 450 publications in the fields of psychology, sexology, sociology, robotics, materials science, artificial intelligence, gender studies and computer-human interaction.

The thesis examines human attitudes toward affection, love and sexuality and concluded that the findings are just as applicable to human interaction with robots of the future as they are to the relationships between humans of today.