Tea, toast, marmalade, Daily Telegraph? and statin. For many Britons, breakfast wouldn't be breakfast without these ingredients. And for some 3.4 million, the most important is that little pill.

Last week, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) unveiled new guidelines stating that statins should be prescribed to people with a 20 per cent risk of developing heart disease. So we can expect them to appear on many more breakfast tables. In fact, new research suggests that as many as 14 MILLION PEOPLE AGED 40 OR OVER COULD BE ELIGIBLE TO TAKE THEM.

Statins, which were introduced in the late 1980s, include the brands Zocor, Lipitor and Crestor, have been hailed as a wonder drug. They lower cholesterol and, according to the British Heart Foundation, reduce the risk of dying from coronary heart disease by 25 per cent. Their use has also been associated with improved function of the endothelium (the lining of blood vessels), less plaque in the blood vessels, general anti-inflammatory action and even the prevention of blood clots. Further studies are under way to establish how helpful they are in fighting dementia, cancer and cataracts.

BUT IF YOUR HAND IS MOVING CLOSER TO THE TABLETS, HOLD FIRE. Because, despite global approbation, the murmurs that statins are not quite the Holy Grail are getting louder. And while many in the medical establishment are so confident of the benefits that they will not even countenance a debate, there are others who believe that these pills have been found wanting.

One such dissenter is Malcolm Kendrick, a Cheshire GP with a special interest in cholesterol and heart disease, and author of The Great Cholesterol Con (John Blake). Dr Kendrick believes that, for most people, STATINS ARE AT BEST POINTLESS AND AT WORST HIGHLY DANGEROUS. AND HE CLAIMS THAT THOSE WHO PRESCRIBE THEM AND THOSE WHO TAKE THEM ARE VICTIMS OF CLEVER GLOBAL MARKETING.

HE SAYS THE MARKETING BUDGET FOR CRESTOR, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS $1 BILLION FOR ONE YEAR ALONE. This hype, combined with our desire to find a drug that could make us live for ever, has won over even the most sceptical. And of course there have been numerous studies and trials to back the claims being made.

According to Dr Kendrick, the results have been presented in a "very oblique way".

"I'm not saying the data is wrong. But a major trial in western Scotland showed that a man who had suffered a mild heart attack had a 96.8 per cent chance of being alive after taking statins for five years. If he was on a placebo, that fell to just 95.9 per cent. SO YOU MIGHT LIVE A FEW DAYS LONGER IF YOU TAKE STATINS FOR FIVE YEARS THAN IF YOU DON'T. And this was in a high-risk population."

The problem is more serious if the patient develops rhabdomyolysis (muscle wastage that can lead to kidney failure). According to Dr Kendrick, drawing on figures from the US Food and Drug Administration, there have been a total of 416 deaths between 1997 and 2004 directly attributable to simvastatin (Zocor) alone.

Other side effects of statins include amnesia, cognitive problems, irritability and impotence. The World Health Organisation is examining reports that taking the drugs can lead to amyotrophic lateral dystrophy, a devastating neurological condition which rapidly progresses to death.

So what should you do, hands still hovering - now rather nervously - over that packet of statins? "If you tell your GP of your concern, he or she will most likely dismiss it," says Dr Kendrick. "BUT WE SHOULD BE QUESTIONING THE RESEARCH AND ASKING HARD QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ROLE PLAYED BY THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN PROMOTING THESE DRUGS."

The other five are Petra in Jordan, Peru's Machu Picchu, the mountain settlement that symbolises the Incan empire, Mexico's Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, the Colosseum in Rome and the Taj Mahal in India.

"Never before in history have so many people participated in a global decision," American actress Hilary Swank said at the glitzy presentation at the Benfica football stadium in Lisbon, which was also attended by the tenor Jose Carreras and pop star Jennifer Lopez. The Pyramids of Giza are the only remaining wonder of the ancient world.

However, only one European site, the Colosseum, was picked for the new seven wonders. The Eiffel Tower and the Acropolis had also been contenders. In the Lisbon audience, 62-year-old Antonio Catarino was upset because no Catholic cathedrals or churches were included. "I find it unforgivable that there aren't any in the voting," he said.

The disaster has affected 8.19 million people in 43 cites and counties across the province, it said. Over the past week, more than 44 reported rainfall volume exceeding 100 millimeters, with Nanjiang County the highest at 542 millimeters. The total economic loss is estimated at three billion yuan (US$395 million).

Meanwhile, forecasters have warned that the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, which runs through east China, had reached critical levels. So far, floods in south, east and central China had caused more than 200 deaths and destroyed over 110,000 houses while droughts in the north had left at least 7.4 million people short of drinking water, according to the flood and drought prevention authorities.

A 100-mile stretch of Interstate 15 in central Utah was closed when a 160,000-acre wildfire jumped the highway, and other fires burned in California, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

The fire near Winnemucca, about 170 miles east of Reno, threatened up to eight blocks of homes and an electrical substation, said U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokesman Jamie Thompson. A 100-mile stretch of Interstate 15 in central Utah was closed when a 160,000-acre wildfire jumped the highway, and other fires burned in California, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

The fire near Winnemucca, about 170 miles east of Reno, threatened up to eight blocks of homes and an electrical substation, said U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokesman Jamie Thompson. Another fire blackened 11 square miles, or 7,000 acres, about five miles southwest of Carlin. It burned two mobile homes and several smaller structures, and shut down a section of Interstate 80 for six hours overnight, fire information officer Tracie Winfrey said. On Saturday morning, the fire was 40 percent contained.

Yet another Nevada fire that was started by lightning Saturday threatened structures and led to the evacuation of campers about 30 miles south of Elko, officials said. The Utah fire, about 120 miles south of Salt Lake City, also forced the evacuations of Cove Fort and the Blundell Geo Thermal Power Plant, where it was threatening railroad lines, bridges and several homes, Color County Fire Information Officer LaCee Bartholomew said. Interstate 70 was also closed in Richfield, Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Steve Winward said.

The fire, which has burned about 250 square miles, was triggered by lightning Friday afternoon and was pushed north and west Saturday by high winds, Bartholomew said. Fire crews had help from air tankers, but the heavy smoke was increasing the risk to those on the ground, she said.

In California, more than 400 firefighters battled a blaze that has consumed 17,000 acres of the 2 million-acre Inyo National Forest east of Yosemite National Park, forest spokeswoman Nancy Upham said Saturday. Firefighters were searching for and evacuating hikers and backpackers on and near the popular trail to Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48 states.

In Montana, it was even too hot to fish. Yellowstone National Park and state fisheries managers asked anglers starting Saturday not to fish on some Montana rivers between noon and 6 p.m. because of drought and scorching weather. Water temperatures in some lower-elevation rivers have reached 73 degrees in recent days, conditions that can stress and even kill fish, the National Park Service said Friday.

Up to eight police officers and civilian staff are suspected of links to extremist groups including Al Qaeda. Some are even believed to have attended terror training camps in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Their names feature on a secret list of alleged radicals said to be working in the Metropolitan and other forces.

The dossier was drawn up with the help of MI5 amid fears that individuals linked to Islamic extremism are taking advantage of police attempts to increase the proportion of ethnic staff. Astonishingly, many of the alleged jihadists have not been sacked because - it is claimed - police do not have the "legal power" to dismiss them. Staff who are under suspicion are unofficially barred from working in sensitive posts and are closely monitored. POLITICAL CORRECTNESS IS BLAMED FOR THE DECISION NOT TO SACK THEM.

We can also reveal that one suspected jihadist officer working in the South East has been allowed to keep his job despite being caught circulating Internet images of beheadings and roadside bombings in Iraq. He is said to have argued that he was trying to "enhance" debate about the war.

MI5 has warned in the past that suspects with "strong links" to Osama Bin Laden's killers have tried to join the British security services and, in January, exiled radical Omar Bakri claimed that Islamic extremists were infiltrating the police and other public sector organisations. Suspicions are growing that THE GANG BEHIND THE FAILED LONDON BOMB ATTACKS COULD HAVE RECEIVED INSIDE INFORMATION ABOUT RESCUE PROCEDURES IN THE AFTERMATH OF AN ATROCITY IN THE CAPITAL.

The Daily Mail can reveal that THE SECOND DEVICE PARKED NEAR HAYMARKET WAS LEFT AT A DESIGNATED "EVACUATION ASSEMBLY POINT" WHERE CIVILIANS AND THE EMERGENCY SERVICES WOULD HAVE GATHERED HAD THE FIRST BOMB GONE OFF.

Sources said it is unlikely that the Met is the only force which may have been infiltrated by Al Qaeda sympathisers.

terrorist jailed for his involvement in a bomb attack on the Paris Metro - which killed eight people and wounded 80 - has been working as a traffic warden in England. Mustapha Boutarfa, 32, was arrested by Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad in 1996 and extradited from Britain to France two years later.

He stood trial for his auxiliary role in the 1995 attack on the St Michel station by a notorious Islamic militant group and was given a two-year prison sentence. But after his release, Boutarfa, who held dual French and Algerian nationality, managed to get back into the UK with his wife and children - and also secured the job as a parking attendant in Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey.

"We often see him in his grey uniform prowling the streets and handing out tickets,' said one resident. "I had no idea about his past. It beggars belief." When his employer, NCP Services, learned of his background - three years after he first started work - it suspended him, saying it could "understand public concern about this matter". Boutarfa is now being investigated by police.

The apparent ease with which he returned to Britain and gained employment as a law enforcer caused fury.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis described the system that allowed Boutarfa to return as a "disgrace" and blamed "our porous borders". He said: "And what better grounds for national security do you need than someone convicted of terror offences?" "This situation needs to be solved by proper secure borders."

The Home Office added it can "refuse leave to enter the UK on the grounds of national security".

It's an inconvenient truth, but mixing rock with recycling is awkward. In a TV interview earlier this week, Matt Bellamy of the band Muse mocked the event as "private jets for climate change." John Buckley of Carbon Footprint, an organization that helps companies reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, said Saturday that Live Earth will produce about 74,500 tons of the gas.

"WE WOULD HAVE TO PLANT 100,000 TREES TO OFFSET THE EFFECT OF LIVE EARTH," he said, speaking by telephone.

Certainly, on the way into the show, some of the 65,000 people who'd spent $110 (£55) on a ticket appeared unaware of the seven-point pledge that Al Gore, the event's chief impresario, had asked all spectators to make. Asked about it, they offered blank looks and said they were there for Madonna (whose annual carbon footprint, according to Buckley, is 1,018 tons -- about 92 times the 11 tons an average person uses per year).

"I'm not even sure who Gore is," said Georgie Simpson, 35, from Ipswich, in eastern England. "I saw Gore on TV," added Sue Bourner, 38, a health service manager from Hampshire. "But frankly, I think it's cheeky of Americans to come over here and lecture us. They are the worst polluters."

But now experts are warning the world's internet system is about to become a victim of its own success and is literally filling up and grinding to a halt. Fast-moving technology has meant the internet has opened up more and more possibilities for consumers - but the ability to create home videos, make cheap phone calls around the world and transmit massive amounts of data in seconds is taking its toll.

And it is now feared users will see their bills increase as providers are forced to return to the 'pay as you browse' systems used in the early days of the internet just to keep the system running. Extra top-up charges could also be introduced to allow users to enter their favourite websites.

Now the United Nations is calling for action to upgrade the system and prevent meltdown. The Internet Governance Forum (IGF), a UN-sponsored agency, is asking internet providers and governments to cooperate ahead of its conference in Rio later this year.

The IGF's chair Nitin Desai said: "People are concerned about whether the system we have now will work five years from now." And a source at the IGF added: "As more people come online and do more with the internet, it will need more capacity to continue working at the high speeds users in the West have got used to. It can be done, but only if all the companies and governments involved commit to getting the infrastructure upgraded."

The starkest warning yet that the internet may be filling up came in a recent report from the analyst Deloitte. It revealed that the Amsterdam Internet Exchange, the world's largest internet hub, was handling a million gigabytes of data a day at the beginning of last year. But this year, the exchange is expected to be transferring one billion GB a day.

Phil Smith, Cisco Systems head of technology and corporate marketing, said: "In one day YouTube sends data equivalent to 75 billion e-mails. The network is growing up, is starting to get more capacity than it ever had, but it is a challenge."

The radical leader of Islamabad's Red Mosque, under siege for the last six days by hundreds of Pakistan troops, said the 1,800 children he claims are still in the religious-school complex have taken oaths on the Quran to fight to the death, a frightening possibility confirmed by frantic parents who have spoken by cell phone with sons and daughters who say they soon hope to be martyrs.

"I spoke to my daughter. She said there was no food or water left," said Luftullah Khan, a shopkeeper, who was able to get through to them on their cell phone. "I tried to arrange a meeting, but she said, 'We're here - my dead body will be here. I will not leave my teachers'." Followers of Abdul Rashid Ghazi, leader of the pro-Taliban mosque, said yesterday 30 girls had been buried in a mass grave inside the complex.

The six-day siege has been mostly restrained, with the military wanting to avoid massive bloodshed. Children from two madrassas, or religious schools, are being held in the mosque. According to London Sunday Times, they have been moved to the basement of the complex.

Yesterday, the army shelled sections of the wall surrounding the complex, bringing them down, and fired tear gas at the militants, but avoided a direct attack on the mosque. While no fuel, food or water is getting into the complex, Ghazi's followers say they have enough ammunition to hold out for 25 or 30 days. Ghazi, who has said he and his followers will fight to the end, now says the 1,800 children he holds have been divided into two groups and will join his fighters against any assault. "The boys are the first line of defense, then the girls," he said. "They have all sworn an oath on the Koran that they will fight to the death."

The standoff was sparked a week ago by Musharraf's crackdown on the mosque after the increasingly militant group's months-long campaign of intimidation in Islamabad, imposing Sharia law and punishment on the city's citizens.

Khan, the desperate father and shopkeeper, succeeded Friday in getting his two daughters to leave the compound with a ruse. Reaching them once again by cell phone, he told them their mother was ill and lay unconscious on the pavement outside. The two girls left the compound and were taken by their father.

Saima, Khan's 10-year-old daughter, denounced the trick. "The teachers taught us about martyrdom and that it is a great achievement," she told the Times. "I could see the fighting was in front of me and I could understand that we would die. I felt real anger about what my father did. He tricked me."

"I'm taking them back to our village," Khan said. "They were ready for martyrdom and they're very angry with me. I'm just happy I've got my daughters back, and sorry for those whose daughters are still in there."

ACCORDING TO KHAN, SAIMA'S TRANSFORMATION HAD TAKEN ONLY EIGHT WEEKS.

UK consumers spend £12bn a year on electronics, much of which is less efficient than older technology, a study by the Energy Saving Trust found. Paula Owen, author of the report called The Ampere Strikes Back, said household appliances currently consumed about a third of an average home's electricity. But she warned this was likely to increase as a result of people buying more energy-intensive devices.

"Your old-fashioned, bulky cathode ray tube TV on average consumed about 100 watts of electricity when it was switched on," Dr Owen explained. "What we are seeing now is a trend for much bigger flat-screened TVs. On average, we are seeing a three-fold increase in the energy needed to power these TVs. "Pretty much in every other sector [such as fridges and washing machines], we find that as the technology moves on, the products get more and more efficient. "Consumer electronics does not work like that."

The equivalent of 14 power stations will be needed just to power consumer electronic devices by 2020, the report warned. By that time televisions on standby will consume 1.4% of all domestic electricity, it predicted.

Digital radios were also singled out by the report as being energy intensive. "Traditional analogue radios consume about two watts when they are switched on," Dr Owen said. "We've looked at digital radios and the average consumption of these is eight watts."

"Mobile phones and their chargers are one area where we have seen an improvement," Dr Owen said. But she added that the sheer volume of mobiles being used, about 63 million in the UK, meant that a huge amount of energy was still being wasted if people were not unplugging their chargers when they were not being used. "The simple message to people is switch things off when you have finished using them," urged Dr Owen.

Farmers have been unable to spray their crops to protect them from the fungal disease which causes plants to rot. The union said cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli and other vegetables were also suffering in the conditions.

NFU horticulture board chairman Richard Hirst said that if there was a crop in the country which did not have the potato blight "it is a miracle". "The problem is that conditions are so wet that crops are full of these diseases," he said. Mr Hirst said the land on his farm in Norfolk was the wettest it had been for 25 years.

Sarah Pettitt, chairman of the committee, said: "Other crops such as broad beans, green beans and brassicas are also being seriously affected, particularly broad beans, and the potential green bean crop, where in certain parts of the country we have only 25% drilled."

EU ANTI-FRAUD WATCHDOG ACCUSED OF IRREGULARITIES AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The FT reports that the head of Olaf, the EU's ANTI-FRAUD WATCHDOG, is to be questioned by MEPs over allegations of CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND IRREGULARITIES IN THE WAY IT OPERATES. Paul van Buitenen, the Dutch whistleblower turned MEP, said "There are problems with the European anti-fraud office. The reforms of Olaf that were recommended by a committee of experts in 1999 after the fall of the Commission have not been implemented."

EU TO TAX CHILDREN'S CLOTHES AND NAPPIES?
The Express reports that EU plans to shake up VAT across Europe could lead to goods such as children's clothes and nappies being taxed in the UK for the first time. Open Europe is quoted in the Express warning: "If the EU forces through tax increases on everyday products such as nappies it is only GOING TO ADD TO THE GROWING BRITISH FRUSTRATION WITH BRUSSELS."

CONSERVATIVES QUESTION BRITISH EU TREATY OPT-OUTS
The Telegraph reports that the UK Conservatives are stepping up their demands for a referendum on the new EU treaty, with the party's legal advisers saying that the precise wording of the British opt-outs from controversial aspects of the new EU treaty - including the Charter of Fundamental Rights - leaves considerable room for doubt.

LE MONDE: BLAIR DID NOT GET HIS WAY ON EU TREATY
A leader in Le Monde on Tony Blair's legacy in Europe notes, "EUROPE DID NOT BEND TO HIS DEMANDS. It did not follow him in his battle against the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the extension of qualified majority voting or the designation of a Foreign Affairs Minister." An article in Europolitique looks at the draft IGC mandate's provisions for defence, and quotes Open Europe warning that efforts already underway in this area risk duplicating NATO initiatives.

IF BROWN WANTS TO LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE, REFERENDUMS ARE THE WAY FORWARD
In the Mail, Andrew Alexander argues that " Brown really wants to get citizens properly involved in running the country, [referendums are] the way forward. This would, it is argued, conflict with our tradition of parliamentary democracy where MPs legislate after conscientiously assessing the views of their voters. But they don't. WE SHOULD FACE THE FACT THAT OUR SYSTEM IS OUT OF DATE. IT NO LONGER WORKS BECAUSE MPS DO NOT LISTEN."

IRISH GOVERNMENT COMES UNDER PRESSURE ON CHARTER OPT-OUT
Euobserver reports that Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has come under pressure from the Left after it was revealed in media reports that the government has "reserved the right" to opt out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the new EU treaty. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has said it will campaign for a No to the treaty in the referendum if the clause allowing Ireland to opt out remains. Meanwhile, the Green Party, in power for the first time in Ireland, has said the Charter is key to its support for the EU treaty.

BRUSSELS "FURIOUS" WITH FRENCH ECONOMIC POLICY;
Libération reports that "The Commission is no longer hiding its fury with France's economic policy." Paris has admitted that public debt will reach 2.4% of GDP in 2008, the same as its 2007 level, despite the fact that it was supposed to reduce it to 1.8% as promised by the de Villepin government.

SARKOZY : EUROPE SHOULD NOT "SUBMIT TO THE PSEUDO-DICTATORSHIP OF THE MARKET"
The IHT questions whether Nicolas Sarkozy's early talk of market reform was really just a disguise FOR TRADITIONAL GAULLIST PROTECTIONISM. It notes that Sarkozy has recently called for a Europe "that does not submit itself to the pseudo-dictatorship of the market.

GERMANY "LURCHES TOWARDS PROTECTIONISM"
The Telegraph reports that Germany is drawin"giant locust funds" controlled by Russian, Chinese and Middle East governments. "Private finance houses", an apparent reference to Anglo-Saxon hedge funds and private equity groups, could also be excluded. The EU Commission has said the legislation is a breach of EU law and has launched legal action at the European Court.

EU WARNS FRANCE AGAINST QUESTIONING TURKEY'S ACCESSION TALKS;
Euobserver reports that EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has warned France of the consequences of encouraging a general debate on Turkish membership of the bloc. "Whoever kicks off a new debate should also consider all of the possible consequences".The accession process is an anchor for democracy and secularism [in Turkey]." Meanwhile, the FT notes that the Turkish constitutional court yesterday backed the government over a proposal to allow the people rather than Parliament to elect the country's president.

It notes that "The country that most troubles outsiders is Latvia. It has a whopping current-account deficit: some 21% of GDP in 2006, and bigger still so far this year. That reflects soaring consumption and household debt, financed mainly by foreign-owned banks. Wages are rocketing - up by a third year-on-year. Inflation is over 8%. This points to a need for tough restraining measures. But the currency, the lats, is pegged to the euro, so the central bank's ability to raise interest rates is constrained."

It also singles out Hungary as a big offender, on account of its huge budget deficit. The article concludes, "The lesson that other countries take from Hungary's financial shenanigans is that it is possible to spend like crazy to win an election and then sober up afterwards. That will change when global conditions make growth a hard scrabble, rather than a bonanza, and borrowing money means dealing with flinty-eyed sceptics, not rosy-eyed thrill-seekers. The politicians may then have to concentrate on the real sources of competitiveness: brains, hard work and clean government."

It argues that "The Brussels consensus has it that three policy areas are ripe for pushing ahead. Yet thanks to disputes between the various countries that would be needed for a credible core, none of the three could work in practice."

It argues that closer economic policy integration is now "unthinkable" given Nicolas Sarkozy's attempts to exert national control over monetary policy in the Eurozone. On legal harmonisation and a common asylum and immigration policy, the article argues that "much of the feasible work in this field has been done", and
that "The possible next steps are either too hard, even for pioneers (eg, building a single legal system), or too footling to turn into the foundations of a two-speed Europe."

On defence cooperation, and the formation of a European army, it is argued that this is unfeasible as the EU only has two and a half serious military powers (the UK, France and Germany), and there is no chance of Britain agreeing to such a plan, while France is also reluctant. It concludes however that a two-speed Europe is certainly not impossible:

"If Britain were to vote no to a treaty that is already a painful compromise, Europe would enter uncharted waters. And keeping the EU moving at a single pace might then become Brussels's latest lost cause."

An agreement to this effect was signed two years ago between Iranian President Ahmedinajad and Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. The rockets in question are the Shihab-3, Scud-B, and Scud-C, which can reach any part of the State of Israel. They can be fired from mobile launchers.

Ahmedinajad announced earlier this year that if his country feels threatened regarding its nuclear program, Israel will become its first military counter-target.

The Shihab-3 is a medium-range ballistic missile with a range of over 2,000 kilometers. It has the ability to change its trajectory more than once in mid-course, protecting it significantly against Israel's anti-ballistic missile Arrow system. The Scud missiles have a range of 300 to 600 kilometers, and are less accurate than the Shihab.