The Tory, Labour and Lib-Dem MPs are demanding an amendment be introduced to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill to make sure religious leaders are not prosecuted for criticising homosexual lifestyles. The amendment says nothing should prohibit or restrict "discussion of, criticism of, or expression of antipathy towards conduct relating to a particular sexual orientation, or urging persons of a particular sexual orientation to refrain from or modify conduct according to that orientation".

It mirrors a similar clause in Labour's laws against incitement to religious hatred which was forced through only after a protracted battle in Parliament. The proposed law against incitement to hatred of homosexuals would carry a maximum penalty of seven years in jail - a longer sentence than the five years handed down to a typical rapist. It is considered so severe that it has drawn criticism from some homosexuals.

Miss Widdecombe said the amendment was vital to stop the further erosion of the right to free speech. "For the first time in our history you can have a policeman knocking on your door not for something you have done but for an opinion you have expressed and that should be totally contrary to the British way of life," she said.

A month ago Church of England and Roman Catholic bishops united to warn that: "Christians engaged in teaching or preaching and those seeking to act in accord with Christian convictions in their daily lives need to be assured that the expression of strong opinions on marriage or sexuality will not be illegal." They said the police had already shown themselves to be "over-zealous" against Christians who have publicly expressed traditional views on sexuality. Neil Addison, a barrister, said: "Increasingly "hate crime" laws are being used to harass and intimidate ordinary people who dare to disagree with PC orthodoxy."

Stephen Carter, chief executive of the Brunswick public relations firm, will attend Cabinet meetings and attempt to steer Mr Brown away from the sort of scandals which dogged him in 2007.

Last year, the Conservative Party appointed Andy Coulson, not a spin doctor but, as a former editor of the News of the World, wise to the ways of PR, as director of communications. The rise and rise of the profession is not confined to politics: even the McCann family, campaigning to find their daughter Madeleine, sought the help of a former BBC journalist, Clarence Mitchell, to manage their publicity.

When did PR become so important? Are spin doctors taking over the world? If so, does it matter? Is there any hope of curtailing the influence of spin in today's media-savvy society?

The Bank said yesterday it is considering cutting the amount of leeway it gives institutions to keep to their reserves targets - one of the key ways in which it interacts with City banks. The announcement came amid early, tentative evidence that the end may be in sight for the difficulties as interbank borrowing rates dropped yet again in London, and are now at their pre-crisis levels.

Before the start of the turmoil - which became so severe it forced the Bank and its overseas counterparts to plunge billions of extra pounds into the hardest-hit parts of the market - the Bank's rules meant that, after choosing how much to leave it in reserves each month, institutions had only 1pc leeway in keeping to the target during the month.

Amid the credit market crisis, this was widened dramatically to as much as 60pc, as banks struggled to keep their books in order. It remains unusually high at 30pc, and the Bank said while it would remain at this level for the next auction of money later this month, it was considering cutting it back in February. "The Bank will consider ahead of the February maintenance period, in the light of money market conditions at that time, whether some reduction in the target ranges is warranted," it said.

Lord Carey argues that the existing legal protections for Anglican Christianity are outdated and should be abolished. In the Commons tomorrow, MPs will debate an amendment to the current Criminal Justice Bill that would effectively abolish existing legal protections for Anglican Christianity.

As well as Lord Carey, they are supported by figures including Lord Harries of Pentregarth, the former Bishop of Oxford, in a letter in the Daily Telegraph today. Other signatories include Philip Pullman, the author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, Ricky Gervais, the comedian who created the BBC comedy The Office and Richard Dawkins, the Oxford academic and atheist and Nick Hytner the director of the National Theatre. They argue that the blasphemy law "serves no useful purpose" and offers Christian activists a means to intimidate broadcasters, publishers and performers.

"The ancient common law of blasphemous libel purports to protect beliefs rather than people or communities. MOST RELIGIOUS COMMENTATORS ARE OF THE VIEW THAT THE ALMIGHTY DOES NOT NEED THE "PROTECTION" OF SUCH A LAW," THE LETTER SAYS.

Zambia put half of its territory on alert, while floods in Mozambique, fed by heavy rains from there and Zimbabwe, killed six people and cut major transport links to neighbouring countries, relief officials said. The early heavy rains have swollen rivers to alarming levels across the region, catching authorities off guard and forcing governments and aid agencies to step up efforts to avert crisis.

"At least 1.5 million will be displaced by the floods and the government and aid groups will have to provide relief food and shelter to the families in tents for some time," said a senior Zambian government official who wished not to be named. Waters that had reached a depth of six metres (18 feet) forced some people to seek refuge on trees and rooftops in Mozambique, where the United Nations said it would take urgent measures to help victims of the floods.

Guy Robinson, president of umbrella farmers group the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU), told Reuters heavy rains had wiped out some plantings. He said the most affected area was southern Zambia, one of the country's major farming regions. "We are very concerned that the entire crop has been destroyed in some areas due to heavy flooding and it is still raining heavily," Robinson said.

Six weeks have passed since Bush convened a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, to launch the first talks in seven years with the aim of clinching a deal - before he leaves office in a year - that would establish a Palestinian state. But the two sides, bogged down by a dispute over Jewish settlement expansion on occupied land near Jerusalem, have yet to set up working groups to try to resolve many of the thorniest issues in the conflict.

Talks on Monday between the lead negotiators -- Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurie -- ended without announcement of an expected agreement on the groups and how they will proceed. Olmert and Abbas will continue the negotiations at a meeting with Livni and Qurie on Tuesday, a day before Bush begins his first presidential visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank.

The delay in reaching a deal on how to conduct the talks underscored the large hurdles facing Bush in meeting his goal of getting Olmert and Abbas to reach an agreement within a year.

The Pope made this affirmation today when he gave his traditional New Year's address to the members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. The Holy See maintains diplomatic relations with 176 nations. The [Pontiff] gave an overview of some of the most notable signs of hope and concern on the planet at the beginning of 2008.

Noting the work that began with the December 13 signing of the Treaty of Lisbon, the Pontiff spoke of the process of building a "'European home,' which will be a good place to live for everyone only if it is built on a solid cultural and moral foundation of common values drawn from OUR HISTORY and OUR TRADITIONS and if it does NOT DENY ITS CHRISTIAN ROOTS."

The Pope affirmed this today when he addressed the ambassadors for a traditional New Year's greeting. In his address, the [Pontiff] gave an overview of the state of the world. In addition to diplomatic relations with 176 nations, the Holy See also has relations with the European Union and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. It also has relations of a special nature with the Russian Federation and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Vatican press office reported today. Last year, one more nation - the United Arab Emirates - established relations with the Holy See.

When John Paul II became Pope in 1978, the Holy See had diplomatic relations with 85 countries. The Holy See has permanent observers to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in Paris; the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, in Rome; the Council of Europe; the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna; and the World Tourism Organization, in Rome.

In the most serious such incident in years, U.S. forces were on the verge of firing on the Iranian boats during the incident early Sunday, when the boats?believed to be from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's navy?turned and moved away, a Pentagon official said. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman called it a "serious incident." Another U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called it "the most serious provocation of this sort that we've seen yet."

Iran's Foreign Ministry said Monday the confrontation was "something normal" and was resolved, suggesting the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the Bush administration urges Iranians "to refrain from such provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident in the future."

The incident raised new tensions between Washington and Tehran as President Bush prepared for his first major trip to the Middle East. As one of the world's most vital chokepoints for oil shipping, the 30- mile-wide Hormuz strait has been the subject of previous armed confrontations between the United States and Iran, most notably during the eight-year Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s.

The New York Times said on Sunday the US government was considering expanding the authority of the CIA and the military to conduct far more aggressive covert operations in Pakistan. The US officials considering the move were concerned over intelligence reports that al Qaeda and the Taliban were more intent on destabilizing Pakistan, the newspaper said. Pakistani government and military officials dismissed the report and said Pakistan would not permit any such action.

"Pakistan's position in the war on terror has been very clear -- that any action on Pakistani soil will be taken only by Pakistani forces and Pakistani security agencies," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq. "No other country will be allowed to carry out operations in Pakistan. This has been conveyed at the highest level," he said. Military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad rejected the report as baseless, saying no US military operations, overt or covert, were allowed.

But the process must be treated with care if it is to boost revenues, according to some of the UK's leading broadcast executives. Following an European Union directive on broadcasting issued last month, member states have been given the option of permitting product placement in most genres of commercial television, but not news, current affairs, sport and children's programming.

It will bring Europe in line with the US and allow broadcasters to enter a market with an estimated global value of £1.7bn and a growth rate reckoned at 30 per cent annually. The UK has not yet formally stated its position, but senior officials involved in the decision-making process have told the FT that it is unlikely the government will oppose product placement. It is set to become legal in the UK within the EU's two-year timeframe.

ITV, the UK's main commercial broadcaster, is keen for product placement to be introduced. Rupert Howell, its commercial chief, told the FT: "We see carefully regulated product placement as a legitimate revenue stream that has the added benefit of supporting the production of original UK content." But he also spoke of his concern that, in the wrong hands, product placement could be a double-edged sword. "An effective regulatory regime would guard against some of the excesses seen in the US and protect the interests of viewers," Mr Howell said.

But while industry, electricity and transportation all add to the greenhouse effect, there's another villain less well known: our forests. Or, rather, the lack of them. Forests, especially in the lush tropics, suck and store carbon, which is released when trees are cut down or burnt. At the current rate of destruction, deforestation is estimated to account for up to 20% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

The amount of carbon stored in tropical forests is staggering - Brazil alone has nearly 50 billion tons - and its loss would ensure dramatic climate change. Scientists estimate that without a change in business as usual, more than half of the Amazon forest would be logged by 2030, releasing 20.5 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

While there are already international carbon trading schemes that help rich countries pay for reductions in carbon emissions from power or industry in poorer nations, no such mechanism exists for avoided deforestation. That nations are not compensated for protecting their forests has been a huge gap in anti-climate change efforts, and one that has to be resolved if the world is ever to achieve the kind of large-scale reductions in carbon emissions needed to avert catastrophic climate change.

Parts of the country's most populous state, New South Wales, have been cut off by heavy rain and have been declared natural disaster zones. There are similar problems further north in Queensland, which has also been battered by wild conditions. The floods are easing now but officials have warned that many communities could be isolated for several days.

Thunderstorms since late last week have dumped huge amounts of rain on Australia's east coast. Many rivers have been unable to cope and their banks have burst. Roads have been turned into lakes and bridges have been washed away. Entire towns in northern New South Wales have been cut off, while rising flood waters have forced hundreds of residents to leave their homes. In some areas, food and other essential supplies for trapped residents have been brought in by helicopter.

"There are some 3,000 people who remain isolated by flood waters," New South Wales State Emergency Service spokesman Phil Campbell told the French news agency AFP. Some people in isolated areas could remain cut off for as long as a week, he said.

Organisers originally hoped to put the message on just a handful of London buses, as an antidote to posters put up by religious groups which they claimed were "threatening eternal damnation" to non-believers. But after the campaign received high-profile support from the prominent atheist Prof Richard Dawkins and the British Humanist Association, the modest £5,500 target was met within minutes and more than £140,000 has now been donated since the launch in October.

Enough money has now been raised to place the message – "THERE'S PROBABLY NO GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE" – on 200 bendy buses in the capital for a month, with the first ones taking to the streets . A further 600 buses carrying the adverts will be seen by passengers and passers-by in cities across England, Wales and Scotland, from Aberdeen and Dundee to York, Coventry, Swansea and Bristol.

Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said the adverts were "overwhelmingly positive" and were intended to reassure agnostics and atheists that there is nothing wrong with not believing in God.

The Council called on Jews to visit the Temple Mount on Tuesday morning, January 8, and to "pray for the cancellation of evil plans." Earlier this week, Minister for Internal Security Avi Dichter issued a ban on Jewish prayer at the site, calling it a "provocation" and saying individual prayers would "almost certainly lead to bloodshed."

Jewish groups have long been forbidden from conducting "inflammatory" public prayer services on the Temple Mount, but individual prayers have been permitted.