The Commons defence committee said operational costs for this financial year were now forecast to reach £3.297bn - a 94% increase on last year. This included a 72% rise in spending on Iraq to £1.648bn, despite ongoing falls in troop numbers. Last year's total spending on the two conflicts was £1.698bn.

Overall, the MoD has said it needs an additional £2.192 billion for the current financial year compared with its previous estimate made at the end of 2007. The committee said it was concerned that the forecasts were "insufficiently robust". Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth told the BBC: "The numbers of personnel [in Iraq] have declined but they are still doing a vital and dangerous job and we have continued to invest in force protection."

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said: "This clearly shows how the Iraq war is continuing to bleed our finances dry, leaving soldiers in Afghanistan overstretched and under-equipped."

To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe. But the presence of so many prescription drugs - and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen - in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health. In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas - from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky.

How do the drugs get into the water? - People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue. While researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies - which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public - have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.

"These are chemicals that are designed to have very specific effects at very low concentrations. That's what pharmaceuticals do. So when they get out to the environment, it should not be a shock to people that they have effects," says zoologist John Sumpter at Brunel University in London, who has studied trace hormones, heart medicine and other drugs.

And while drugs are tested to be safe for humans, the timeframe is usually over a matter of months, not a lifetime. Pharmaceuticals also can produce side effects and interact with other drugs at normal medical doses. That's why - aside from therapeutic doses of fluoride injected into potable water supplies - pharmaceuticals are prescribed to people who need them, not delivered to everyone in their drinking water. "We know we are being exposed to other people's drugs through our drinking water, and that can't be good," says Dr. David Carpenter, who directs the Institute for Health and the Environment of the State University of New York at Albany.

Ministers led by Dr Evan Harris MP will consider plans to conceive babies from artificial sperm. Controversial plans allowing babies to be conceived from artificial sperm are being considered by Ministers, it emerged last night. A cross-party group of MPs is calling for a relaxation of the ban on human pregnancy from so-called artificial gametes. The group is led by Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris - dubbed "Dr Death" for his contentious views on euthanasia.

But the move has been branded the "ultimate incest" by critics because an individual's tissue could be used to create both sperm and eggs to make a human life, making them the father and mother of the child. Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said she was considering the proposals, to be put forward in an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Supporters claim it would transform IVF treatment and help those who are infertile, from cancer treatment or the menopause, to have children genetically related to them.

Josephine Quintavalle of Comment on Reproductive Ethics said lifting the ban could lead to "the ultimate incest", and said it was "quite ridiculous" to rely on a technique still in its infancy. She added: "If you turn the focus around from infertile adults and think about what you are creating, you always get the perspective you should adopt. I think we are becoming extremely selfish in our attitude to the children we produce."

At stake is a pact to boost trade and growth in a world economy buffeted by financial crisis, as markets open for businesses from food to finance in rich and poor countries. But optimism at the start of the year that a deal could be done soon has faded, as the talks have bogged down in technical details and recriminations among rich and poor countries about who should show the greatest ambition in lowering barriers. Those negotiating texts, and a set of talks this week on the services sector, are intended to pave the way for a meeting of trade ministers who would agree the outlines of a deal. "The next two weeks will be crunch," said a senior diplomat from an export-oriented developing country.

It is not simply a rich-poor quarrel. Many developing states are also eyeing the prospects of greater trade between them, and rich food exporters like Canada or Australia would like a bigger share of food markets in the European Union or Japan. But EU trade chief Peter Mandelson said last month the Doha talks faced a big risk of failure. David Woods, a trade analyst and former WTO spokesman, said the mood was grim. "Deep down, people have given up in the sense of expecting a conclusion this year," Woods said. "The cracks are becoming a chasm and people are looking around for whom to blame."

India has until June to complete all the steps required to get the agreement - which provides for civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries without India having to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty - before Congress for a yes or no vote. Having invested immense political capital in the deal, the Bush administration is keen to see it completed, and has been quietly pressuring New Delhi to expedite matters. Last week, former Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns publicly asked India to take a "courageous decision" in view of the "short timelines".

Making haste, however, is proving difficult for India's government, because of the resistance to the deal by opposition parties as well as the leftist parties in the ruling coalition who have delayed the deal at every step since it was first proposed in July 2005. The government has sidestepped this resistance by agreeing to hold talks with leftist allies, buying itself time to complete the requirements to get the deal before the U.S. Congress. But now, time is running out. Experts agree that the current deal is the best one India can get: it allows India to trade internationally in nuclear materials and technology, without signing the CTBT and despite carrying on with its nuclear weapons program. If the deal is not passed during the tenure of the current administration, however, its successor might seek to renegotiate on terms less favorable to India.

Two people were reported to have been killed and 15 arrested in a raid on 27 January in Urumqi, Xinjiang province. Officials now say their aim was to attack the August Olympics. The alleged plot was disclosed as officials also revealed that a plane crew prevented an apparent attempt to crash a jet on an internal flight.

China has been struggling for years to contain separatist sentiment among the Uighur minority in Xinjiang. Some Uighurs have campaigned for the mainly Muslim province to become an independent republic. The Xinjiang governor, himself an ethnic Uighur, said only a "very small number of people" in the region support the separatists.

"With the launch of the ATV, we are embarking on an extraordinary voyage," reflected European Space Agency chief, Jean Jacques Dordain. "AS OF TODAY, EUROPE IS AN ESSENTIAL PARTNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS)." The ATV is the largest, completely automated rendezvous and docking ship to go to the ISS. When it attaches to the platform on 3 April, it will do so without any human assistance.

The ATV is the way Europe will pay for its membership of the ISS project. Four vehicles will follow this initial flight. But the European Space Agency hopes its new ship will be more than just a high-flying heavy goods lorry. The sophisticated automated systems onboard are expected to be transferred into many more spacecraft - especially those that require automatic rendezvous and docking. This would include any mission that went to Mars to try to retrieve rocks to bring back to Earth laboratories.

And there may even be a grander application - one not lost on the Nasa chief Mike Griffin. "It occurs to me that it's a fairly short step to go from the ATV to something which can carry crew," he has observed. "It needs an entry system to allow it to come back safely and crew accommodations instead of cargo payload. But it seems to me that having a very fine launcher with the Ariane 5 and a very fine space vehicle with the ATV that it's only a step from there to AN INDEPENDENT, EUROPEAN MANNED-SPACEFLIGHT CAPABILITY; and I for one would like to see it."

Attempts TO USE TOOLS THAT HAVE NO PRACTICAL POWER TO CURE THE PROBLEM are pushing the problem over the hill. In the Weimar Republic the great plan to depreciate the currency in order to depreciate war reparations written in it was to let it "get out of control." The currency began a march to zero and gold therefore went to infinity in terms of that currency.

I do not expect such a situation percentage wise. I pray the situation that is now "Slipping Out Of Control" does not go to such ends. THE WEIMAR CASE STUDY HOWEVER IS A DUPLICATE OF TODAY'S CONDITIONS. All you need to do is replace the words "WAR REPARATIONS" from the Weimar case study with "OVER THE COUNTER DERIVATIVE MELTDOWN IN CREDIT AND DEFAULT DERIVATIVES" and you have a similar situation in economic history to which you can compare today.

Gold is going to a minimum of $1650. Every category of gold shares will participate, with many substantially outperforming gold as shorts are forced to cover. "This is IT" and IT is "Slipping Out Of Control." Hard assets are about to make their entrance onto the stage of the establishment equity investors. Do not try and save the world. The world will think you are crazy and get annoyed. You can only protect yourselves.

The dispute erupted last Saturday when Colombia raided inside Ecuador to kill a rebel leader. It's resolution brought the summit to a surprise ending after bitter exchanges, including Correa calling Uribe a liar. The accord came after Uribe apologized to Correa under pressure from governments across the region, which worked to prevent the crisis escalating into Latin America's first armed conflict among states in more than a decade.

The dispute had spread across the region with leftist allies Venezuela and Nicaragua joining Ecuador in cutting relations with Colombia, while Venezuela and Ecuador sent troops to their borders against the strongest U.S. ally in the region. Uribe also moved to meet another Correa demand, guaranteeing Colombia would not make similar raids if his neighbors cooperated in the fight against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The resolution was a diplomatic victory for Latin America, whose governments from Mexico to Brazil managed the crisis by emphasizing negotiations and took advantage of their previously scheduled summit to force the sides to talk.

The Fed said it had taken action "to address heightened liquidity pressures" in funding markets. It hopes to offset a credit crisis that may tip the US economy into recession. BBC business editor Robert Peston said: "The effect of the Fed's measures is to supply banks and financial institutions with the liquid funds that they can't currently obtain on the commercial markets." Banks have become unwilling to lend to each other because they are worried about the huge losses on investments in the US mortgage market.

Many banks invested in assets backed by mortgages given to US home owners with poor credit records. The sharp downturn in the US property market has made those assets very difficult to value and banks are having to declare them as losses. Recent data issued on Thursday showed the downturn continuing, with a record number of home foreclosures, and no signs of an increase in forthcoming home sales.

The TAF programme was launched in December to relieve pressure in the short-term, inter-bank funding market. The Fed will also make $100bn available through weekly 28-day repurchase agreements, with it lending money in exchange for assets such as Treasuries. It said that the TAF auctions would be continued for at least the next six months.

The court gave its landmark ruling after hearing the case of a 48-year-old woman, convicted of giving false testimony to police by denying she had lent her mobile phone to her lover. The appeal court did not agree that she had broken the law. It said bending the truth was justified to conceal extra-marital relationships. In a predominantly Catholic country you might expect the courts to take a dim view of lying and adultery. But not in this case.

The woman who brought the appeal was from Porto Ercole on the Tuscany coast, and named only as Carla. She had lent her telephone to her secret lover, Giovanni, who then used it to call Carla's estranged husband, Vincenzo, and insult him. Giovanni, the lover, was convicted of abusive behaviour in a local court, and Carla convicted as an accessory.

But the Court of Cassation found that having a lover was a circumstance that damaged the honour of the person among family and friends. Lying about it, therefore, was permitted, even in a judicial investigation. It is not yet clear whether the ruling might also apply to men who have secret mistresses.

Mr Bush said he hoped consumer spending would "spur job creation". The Labor Department figures show the effect the housing and lending crisis is having on US firms, and follows 22,000 job cuts in January. Now Mr Bush hopes his $152bn stimulus package will give the economy momentum. Mr Bush is clearly worried enough about the state of his country's economy to be making statements to the media about it, the BBC's Matthew Price reports from New York.

But many in America may be concluding that any economic help may come too late to have any real impact on what looks, every day, like an increasingly desperate situation, our correspondent adds. The package, recently passed by Congress, includes rebate cheques of $600 for individuals, $1,200 for couples, plus $300 each for dependent children for all but the very richest US citizens. "We expect they will use it to boost consumer spending and that will spur job creation as well," he said.

Mr Bush had earlier said that "it's clear our economy has slowed". He added: "Losing a job is painful and I know Americans are concerned about our economy. I know this is a difficult time for our economy," he said. "But we recognised the problem early and we provided the economy with a booster shot."

Serbian President Boris Tadic says Belgrade will only be able to defend its right to Kosovo if it joins the EU. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on 17 February. The United States and major EU countries have recognised it as independent. Serbia, backed by its ally, Russia, says it will never accept an independent Kosovo. The government in Belgrade has allegedly agreed a secret plan against Kosovo and countries that recognise it. It is unclear what it contains.

Mr Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) split with its coalition partner, the Democratic Party (DS) of Mr Tadic, over policy towards the EU in the wake of Kosovo's independence declaration. The outgoing prime minister has maintained that ties can improve only if the EU rejects Kosovo's declaration of independence. Belgrade has reacted angrily to an EU mission to ease Kosovo's transition.

The political establishment in Serbia has been deeply divided over the way forward and a general election would be the first opportunity for the people of Serbia to express their views, says the BBC's Nick Hawton in Belgrade. Kosovo's declaration of independence came nearly a decade after Nato forces expelled Serbian forces from the mainly ethnic-Albanian territory.

Cardinal Tauran said, "We have our road map that we have to follow: to make for religions a name of peace. Terrorism covers its followers with shame. All violence justified in the name of faith is a profanation of the name of God."

Noting that some factions are still committing crimes that appeared to be disappearing after World War II -- ethnic cleansing, concentration camps -- the cardinal reflected that there is still hope, reflected in "an army of men and women who believe in peace and raise their hands toward heaven."

Men and women of different religions, from many parts of the world, we have gathered here in Naples to forge bonds of brotherhood, and call to God for the great gift of peace. The name of God is peace. In the heart of the Mediterranean Sea and in this extraordinary city, which is well acquainted with poverty and greatness of heart, we stooped down upon the wounds of the world. There is an illness that pollutes every thing and its name is violence. VIOLENCE IS THE GRIM DAILY COMPANION OF TOO MANY MEN AND WOMEN ON OUR PLANET.

Violence becomes war, terrorism, poverty and despair, exploitation of our planet. It is fuelled by contempt; it stuns people with hatred; it kills hope and sows fear; it strikes down the innocent, and debases humanity. Violence seduces the hearts of human beings and tells them, "nothing can change." This pessimism makes people believe that living together is impossible. From Naples we can say, stronger than before, that anyone who uses the name of God to hate the other, to practice violence, or to wage war, is cursing the name of God. As Benedict XVI told us, "NEVER CAN EVIL AND VIOLENCE BE JUSTIFIED BY INVOKING THE NAME OF GOD."

To those who still kill, to those who still sow terrorism and wage war in the name of God, we say: "Stop! Do not kill! Violence is always a defeat." We commit ourselves to learn the art of living together and to offer it to our fellow believers. There is no alternative to the unity of the human family. We need brave builders, in all cultures, and in all religious traditions. We need the globalization of the spirit, which reveals to us what we no longer see: the beauty of life and of the other, in all circumstances, even the hardest.

Our religious traditions teach us that prayer is an active power in history, and it moves peoples and nations. Humbly, we offer this ancient wisdom to the service of all peoples, of every man and every woman, to open a new era of freedom from fear and contempt for the other. It is the spirit of Assisi, and here, from Naples, full of courage and strength, it challenges violence and any abuse of religion as a pretext for violence. Following in this path, CONFIDENT THAT PEACE CAN BE A GIFT TO THE WHOLE WORLD, we commit ourselves to the Most High.