Both Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told a congressional hearing that the economy could still avert a full-blown recession, but Democrats said they believed the government should be doing much more to help millions of Americans cope with a threatened tidal wave of mortgage foreclosures. Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee the serious housing slump and a credit crisis triggered by rising defaults in subprime mortgages had greatly strained the economy.

"The outlook for the economy has worsened in recent months and the downside risks to growth have increased," Bernanke told the committee. "To date, the largest economic effects of the financial turmoil appear to have been on the housing market, which, as you know, has deteriorated significantly over the past two years or so."

Bernanke noted that hiring has slowed with job creation falling by 17,000 in January, the first such setback in more than four years. He said the weaker labor market along with recent declines in stock prices and declining home prices were likely to be a drag on consumer confidence going forward.

President George W. Bush opted for a plan to have the Navy shoot the 5,000-pound (2,270 kg) minivan-size satellite with a modified tactical missile, after security advisers suggested its reentry could lead to a loss of life. Military officials hope to strike the satellite just before it reaches the atmosphere and drive it into ocean waters. Thousands of space objects fall to Earth each year, but they generally scatter over a huge area and there have never been any reported injuries.

On his website Europe Minister Jim Murphy claims that it would be too expensive to hold a referendum, and that it would cost his constituents as much as five new schools in their area.

Tony Benn will write to every MP urging them to vote for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, according to the Telegraph. Benn will say, "The Lisbon Treaty transfers important powers which belong to us. THIS DECISION MUST BE MADE BY THE BRITISH PEOPLE."

The Redditch Advertiser reports on the launch of the constituency referendum campaign in Redditch, quoting IWR Chairman Derek Scott as saying, "We want to remind MPs of their commitments - EVERY POLITICAL PARTY PROMISED A REFERENDUM AT THE LAST ELECTION, and MPs must be held to that."

In the Express, Leo McKinstry argues that, "THE TRUTH IS THAT DEMOCRACY IN BRITAIN IS NOW A HOLLOW SHAM", noting that "The refusal of the Labour Government to abide by its promise to hold a referendum on the last EU treaty is all too typical of the elitists."

Pennsylvania beekeeper Dave Hackenberg was the first beekeeper to report to bee researchers what's become known as COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER (CCD). In October Hackenberg had delivered honeybees to a Florida farm to pollinate crops. The bees typically return to their boxed hives when their work is done. But this time was different.

"I came to pick up 400 bee colonies and the bees had just flat-out disappeared," Hackenberg said. "There were no dead bees, no bees on the ground, just empty boxes. IN ALMOST 50 YEARS AS A BEEKEEPER, I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT." CCD has spread throughout 24 states and ruined hundreds of thousands of bee colonies. Hackenberg has lost roughly 1,900 of his 2,900 hives. Other operators have lost up to 90 percent of their hives.

Researchers are scrambling to find answers to what is causing the commercially important honeybees to abandon their hives and disappear. The epidemic could put a strain on fruit growers and other farmers who rely on the insects to pollinate their crops. Large commercial beekeepers each keep up to 10,000 colonies. A typical colony has about 20,000 bees in the winter and up to 60,000 in the summer. THE COLONIES ARE MOVED AROUND THE COUNTRY AND USED FOR POLLINATING AGRICULTURAL CROPS, INCLUDING SEEDED FRUITS SUCH AS APPLES, CITRUS CROPS, AND ALMOST ANYTHING THAT GROWS ON A VINE.

When a hive is afflicted by CCD, most adults abandon the hive and disappear. Normally, honey-hungry pests or bees from other colonies would quickly overrun a failing bee colony. But when CCD attacks, the hives are left untouched.

In Florida, beekeepers say citrus growers are compounding the problem by spraying pesticides to kill off a fruit-tree pest known as greening disease. The pesticides likely wipe out bees at the same time. Researchers are closely watching what is happening to bee colonies currently pollinating California's 1.4-BILLION-DOLLAR ALMOND CROP. Almonds are 100 percent dependent on bee pollination. Already some beekeepers have reportedly seen their colonies in California collapse during the almond pollination.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania beekeeper Hackenberg is working on replacing the bees he has lost. ON THURSDAY NIGHT HE WAS ON HIS WAY TO MIAMI, FLORIDA, TO RECEIVE A SHIPMENT OF ALMOST SIX MILLION BEES IMPORTED FROM AUSTRALIA.

The EU Constitution is back. Unless we can force the Government, either in the House of Commons or the House of Lords, to concede a referendum the Lisbon Treaty will receive the Royal Assent in just a matter of months. The British people must be made aware of how the government is seeking to avoid a referendum by cynically pretending that a few cosmetic changes make obsolete its manifesto commitment at the last election to hold a referendum. But they must also be made aware of the dire consequences that our country faces if the once thought dead EU Constitution is forced upon us.

To encourage public involvement in the campaign to oppose the Lisbon Treaty the Bruges Group is exposing how the revived and renamed EU Constitution is a threat to jobs, prosperity, democracy and our nation's independence. Our plans are being complemented by our continuing efforts to demonstrate to the country the damage that EU laws already force upon us. The Bruges Group has exposed the enormous economic cost of the EU and how an ever closer Union is making our democratic institutions redundant. Now we must expose the implications of the EU Constitution.

Time, though, is short.

In support of the case for a referendum the Bruges Group is exposing the damage that the Lisbon Treaty will do to our freedom, prosperity and democracy if it is ratified. The analysis clearly shows that the red lines are little more than a fallacy. It is also shown how the Lisbon Treaty, as well as being profoundly undemocratic, also threatens our civil liberties allowing the EU to take control over our legal system.

The Treaty will also blow a hole wide open in Britain's borders permitting the EU to take full control over our asylum and immigration policies. It is also shown in our analysis that the EU's latest power grab will threaten jobs as it will undermine the last vestiges of Britain's competitive free market, bringing to an end the reforms introduced by Margaret Thatcher. What is more, the Lisbon Treaty will allow the EU to further jeopardise the City of London and endanger UK control over our North Sea oil reserves.

The Government's claim that the Lisbon Treaty is markedly different from the EU Constitution is refuted by quotes from European leaders which show that the Treaty is essentially the same as the Constitution rejected in the French and Dutch referenda.

LESS THAN A QUARTER OF US THINK ID CARDS WILL WORK - DAILY MAIL 13/2/08
Only 24 per cent of us are convinced that the £5.5billion ID card scheme will achieve its aims, a survey revealed yesterday. The poll, by the Government's own Identity and Passport Service, showed that there is widespread scepticism about the plans.

EVERY CHILD IN SCHOOL NUMBERED FOR LIFE - THE TIMES 13/2/08
All 14-year-old children in England will have their personal details and exam results placed for life on an electronic database under a plan to be announced tomorrow. Under the terms of the scheme all children will keep their individual number throughout their adult lives.

HOW BELIEVABLE ARE GOVERNMENT CLAIMS ON ID CARDS? - THE REGISTER 13/2/08
British people are maintaining steady levels of disbelief over government claims about ID cards, according to official Home Office research. The survey asked people how important proposed benefits of the ID card would be - 74 per cent chose "disrupting the activities of terrorists and organised criminals", but 23 per cent of people thought this was "slightly believable" and 11 per cent thought it was "not at all believable".

NHS HAS LOST THOUSANDS OF SMARTCARDS - IT PRO 6/2/08
Connecting for Health has admitted that some four thousand smartcards used to access NHS computer systems have gone missing.

UK HAS LESSONS TO LEARN FROM HONG KONG ON ID CARDS - COMPUTER WEEKLY 6/2/08
Whether citizens like it or not, their governments are anxious to know everything about them. There are plenty of technologies they can harness to this purpose. But the trick is to find a politically and culturally acceptable way to apply them.

BRITAIN IS SLITHERING DOWN THE ROAD TOWARDS A POLICE STATE - THE GUARDIAN 6/2/08
The machine is out of control. Personal surveillance in Britain is so extensive that no democratic oversight is remotely plausible. Some 800 organisations, including the police, the revenue, local and central government, demanded (and almost always got) 253,000 intrusions on citizen privacy in the last recorded year, 2006. This is way beyond that of any other country in the free world.

OUR STATE COLLECTS MORE DATA THAN THE STASI EVER DID. WE NEED TO FIGHT BACK - THE GUARDIAN 31/1/08
This has got to stop. Britain's snooper state is getting completely out of hand. We are sleepwalking into a surveillance society, and we must wake up. When the Stasi started spying on me, as I moved around East Germany 30 years ago, I travelled on the assumption that I was coming from one of the freest countries in the world to one of the least free. I don't think I was wrong then, but I would certainly be wrong now.

Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan, who is mediating the discussions, will release a text of the agreement Friday afternoon, said the spokesman, Nasser Ega-Musa. Annan and the negotiators have spent two days trying to hammer out agreements following a dispute over who won the December presidential election. A news blackout on the peace talks appeared to be holding; both parties have declined to comment on the discussions.

The talks are being held at a safari lodge in the Tsavo West National Park in southern Kenya. Top negotiators said Tuesday that the opposition was proposing sharing power with the government for two years, then holding new elections. Opposition leader Raila Odinga accuses President Mwai Kibaki of stealing the Dec. 27 vote, both domestic and international observers have said it was deeply flawed. Odinga and Kibaki have been under pressure to share power as a solution.

President Bush, who is traveling to several African countries starting Saturday, will discuss the crisis with African leaders to "try to rally the continent to put pressure on the parties for that outcome," National Security adviser Stephen Hadley said in Washington Wednesday. Bush's schedule does not include Kenya.

Thousands of animals die en route from disease, heat exhaustion, hunger and stress. The others escape the intolerable conditions only to confront, immediately, the butcher's knife. Across the world, more than a billion live animals are transported every week, many over long distances. Australia, the world's largest exporter of live animals, sends more than four million live sheep every year to the Middle East. Shipped in cramped, poorly lit dens, the journey takes 32 days. Three sheep are crammed per square metre in the ship's hold, causing many of the animals to die of suffocation before encountering the slaughterhouse weeks later. Eighty per cent of Australia's abattoirs are Halal-certified, raising the question of why they could not be slaughtered in Australia and transported frozen.

Pigs - Crammed together in the dark, the animals are condemned to a 4,500-mile journey to Hawaii. They suffer from exhaustion, hunger and vomiting caused by motion sickness.

Cattle - Zebu cattle are forced to live in their own excrement during this appalling journey; some of the 2,500 animals on board die on the way from heat stroke or respiratory disease. The rest are killed on arrival.

Horses - The animals are squeezed into lorries for this sweltering journey. They are denied adequate rest, food and water. And all so the meat can be marketed as being of "traditional Italian" origin.

Goats - 15,000 animals a week are packed into trucks for the 2,500-mile journey with nothing to eat or drink. Temperatures exceed 40C, and many of the animals die from dehydration.

Now, nine months later, this dream has come true. In an emergency, I relinquished my rental contract and moved my pregnant partner and three and a half year old daughter out of Santa Cruz, CA, to avoid being exposed to potentially deadly chemicals.

The chemicals, known by their trade names as Checkmate OLR-F and Checkmate LBAM-F, have been sprayed via state owned airplanes in September and October in Monterey County California. These same aerial chemicals, despite their known health risks, were sprayed on two nights (11-8, 11-9) over the people of Santa Cruz County. THE PURPOSE OF THIS SPRAY IS TO CONTROL THE MATING/REPRODUCTIVE HABITS OF THE LIGHT BROWN APPLE MOTH (LBAM). The prevailing belief is that the mating habits of this moth need to be controlled because the USDA believes that the moth might cause 100 million dollars of damage (realize that this figure is not a fact, but based on a government guess).

The way Checkmate works is by attempting to disrupt the mating habits of the LBAM, by cluster bombing infested cities with billions of miniature time-release plastic microcapsules filled with synthetic moth sex pheromone. The pheromone gives off a scent, which supposedly confuses the male moths who then cannot find the female moths and instead will attempt to mate with other moths or anything that gives off that pheromone smell.

In Monterey, approximately 100,000 residents were exposed to untested chemicals to control the mating habits of less than 750 moths. In Santa Cruz County, over 100,000 residents will be exposed between 11/06/07 ? 11/09/07 TO UNTESTED CHEMICALS TO CONTROL THE MATING HABITS OF LESS THAN 9,000 MOTHS. This is not a one time application, but will continue monthly beginning again in February, for nine months, and then repeated for up to a total of three years. Again, this program designed to eradicate the moth at best will only control the moth's mating habits; it will not eliminate the moth. At worst, the program will be ineffective, cost tax payers millions of dollars, and cause permanent disability to residents and their pets. ALL THIS HARM IS OVER A LITTLE MOTH THAT HAS YET TO CAUSE EVEN $1.00 OF DAMAGE IN CALIFORNIA.

Official statistics reveal that the immigrant population has leapt by almost 2.4million since Labour came to power a decade ago. They were released as the Government faced accusations of "fiddling the figures" after claiming the number of migrants from outside the EU was over half.

The figures show an increase of 316,000 immigrants - or 865 a day - for 2006 alone, the latest period for which figures are available. At the same time, 715,000 British citizens have packed their bags and left - including 126,000 in 2006.

EU "INTERIOR MINISTRY" TO BE SHAPED IN SECRET AFTER EU TREATY RATIFICATION
Telegraph - Brussels correspondent Bruno Waterfield reports that "Plans to create a powerful new European Union 'Interior Ministry' under the new Lisbon Treaty will be agreed in secret by Brussels officials over the next four or five months without any public or parliamentary scrutiny." He notes that the Treaty of Lisbon brings back proposals from the old EU Constitution for a "Standing Committee on Internal Security", already known as 'COSI' in euro-jargon.

Tony Bunyan, of the Statewatch civil liberties group, HAS WARNED THAT IF THE GOVERNMENT "GETS ITS WAY WE WILL SEE AN EU INTERIOR MINISTRY WITHOUT ANY DEMOCRATIC CONTROL. It is quite outrageous that the role of the new EU internal security committee is being decided in secret. If COSI becomes a high-level legislative body, as well being in charge of operational matters, a whole swathe of decision-making and practice will be removed from democratic debate and discussion."

EU STOCKPILING PLANNED LEGISLATION FOR AFTER CONSTITUTIONAL TREATY RATIFICATION
Handelsblatt - reports that the Commission IS HOLDING BACK PLANS FOR CONTROVERSIAL LEGISLATION UNTIL AFTER THE REVIVED CONSTITUTIONAL TREATY HAS BEEN RATIFIED. Plans to harmonise Europe's corporate tax base are also being held back. The controversial Health Directive will be reintroduced only once ratification is complete, as both the UK and Ireland are opposed.

COMMONS SPEAKER ATTACKED FOR LISBON TREATY STANCE
The Mail - reports that Michael Martin, Speaker of the House of Commons, IS UNDER FIRE FROM FELLOW MPS FOR REFUSING TO ALLOW MORE TIME FOR DEBATE ON THE LISBON TREATY. Last night, one senior Labour MP described him as a "vindictive little s***" for his stance.

MONBIOT: EU BIOFUELS TARGETS "A DISASTER"; "THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SUSTAINABLE BIOFUEL"
Guardian - George Monbiot writes in the Guardian, claiming that the British Government has no plan in the event of a future oil supply drop. He argues "THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, BY CONTRAST, DOES HAVE A PLAN, AND IT'S A DISASTER" - it has ordered the member states to ensure that by 2020 10% of the petroleum our cars burn must be replaced with biofuels. This won't solve peak oil, but it might at least put it into perspective by causing an even bigger problem."

"If biofuels can't be produced in virgin habitats, they must be confined to existing agricultural land, which means that every time we fill up the car we snatch food from people's mouths. This, in turn, raises the price of food, which encourages farmers to destroy pristine habitats - primary forests, ancient grasslands, wetlands and the rest - in order to grow it. We can congratulate ourselves on remaining morally pure, but the impacts are the same. There is no way out of this: ON A FINITE PLANET WITH TIGHT FOOD SUPPLIES, YOU EITHER COMPETE WITH THE HUNGRY OR CLEAR NEW LAND."

BARROSO'S NAME CROPS UP AMONG HOPEFULS FOR EU PRESIDENT
Le Figaro - reports that Jose Barroso is already being tipped for a second mandate as Commission President, having launched an "unofficial seduction campaign" among the main European leaders. The article notes that some diplomats even see him as the future President of the EU Council, and the Socialist Prime Minister José Socrates has indicated in private that he would support his former adversary Barroso.

PRINCE CHARLES IS IN BRUSSELS THIS WEEK.
Telegraph - Bruno Waterfield notes on his Telegraph blog that Prince Charles is in Brussels this Wednesday and Thursday, and that Palace officials have intervened in the planning stages of the visit to make sure that THE PRINCE, KNOWN FOR HIS DISTINCTLY EUROSCEPTIC STANCE, WOULD NOT HAVE TO FIELD QUESTIONS FROM JOURNALISTS.

CHAD REBELS SAY EU PEACEKEEPING FORCE DOMINATED BY FORMER COLONIAL RULER IS 'NOT NEUTRAL'
Reuters - Chad's rebel alliance issued a statement today saying that THEY DO NOT TRUST THE EU PEACEKEEPERS WHICH ARE DOMINATED BY FRENCH TROOPS - the former colonial power - claiming they will not be neutral and will support the Deby government. The rebels have told 400 Irish troops taking part in the deployment that they are not perceived as hostile and called upon them to pull out of the EU force. "If EUFOR is made up of forces other than French, we don't have a problem with it," said a rebel spokesperson, according to the Irish news reports.

UK DEFEATED ON EU DAYTIME HEADLIGHTS LAW
Sun - Fergus Shanahan notes in his column in the Sun that the UK has failed to stop new EU legislation mandating that ALL NEW CARS BE FITTED WITH AUTOMATIC DAYTIME HEADLIGHTS, as shown in a recent Parliamentary answer.

FRANCE MISSING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES IN TURKEY AS A RESULT OF EU VIEWS
IHT - Turkish officials say that France will lose out on investment opportunities in Turkey - which is already benefiting from European business investment of 16 billion euros and enjoying a growth rate of 5 to 7 percent a year as it modernises infrastructure and privatises key sectors - as a result of France's opposition to Turkish accession to the EU, according to the IHT.

EU REGULATOR CALLS FOR LOWER SMS ROAMING CHARGES
Independent - A leader in the Independent supports the EU's demand on phone operators to CUT COSTS OF ROAMING CHARGES FOR TEXT MESSAGING AND INTERNET ACCESS BY 1 JULY OR FACE EU PRICE CAPS. The leader claims that charges are not related to the cost of delivering the service, but rather the "predatory targeting of those who use their mobile phones abroad" WHICH GENERATES OVER £5 BILLION A YEAR FOR PHONE COMPANIES. The IHT reports on the cool reaction of phone operators who claim that competitive pressure is already bringing down prices and further regulation is unnecessary.

BRUSSELS WARNED AGAINST TURNING KOSOVO INTO A 'FAILED EU PROTECTORATE'
EUobserver - reports that the EU's mission in Kosovo, following the province's declaration of independence, will result in a "FAILED EU PROTECTORATE", as international authorities would have control of operational decisions, according to Gerald Knaus, chairman of the European Stability Initiative.

The draft treaty, unveiled on Tuesday at a Conference on Disarmament meeting in Geneva would prohibit the deployment of weapons of any kind in space, or the use or threat of force against space objects.

"China hopes the Conference on Disarmament will enter into substantial discussion on the draft as soon as possible in order to reach a common consensus," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said in a statement.

"Towards this aim, China is willing to work with all member nations of the Conference. We hope that with the common efforts of the member nations, the Conference will be able to make positive progress this year." Washington's plans for satellite and missile defense systems remain shrouded in secrecy but have sparked fears of an arms race with both Russia and China.

The White House quickly rejected the draft plans by Russia and China, warning that ensuring compliance in any new peace treaty would be "impossible".

"The United States opposes the development of new legal regimes or other restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit access to or use of space," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

According to a royal source, the Queen has not expressed any view on whether Dr Rowan Williams was unwise to say it was "unavoidable" that aspects of the sharia legal system could be incorporated into English law.

But as Supreme Governor of the Church of England she has been dismayed by the controversy that the remarks have generated at such a difficult period in the history of the Established Church, which faces possible schism over the issue of homosexual clergy.

The Queen, who approved the appointment of Dr Williams on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, takes her role as Supreme Governor very seriously.

One royal source said: "I have no idea what her view is on what the Archbishop said about sharia law. But the Queen is worried, coming at such a difficult time in the Church's history, that the fallout may sap the authority of the Church." Another royal courtier said: "The whole thing has not been skilfully handled. It can only have undermined the authority of the Church."

The Tokyo bourse has crumbled, suffering the worst start to the year since the Second World War. The Nikkei index is down 17 per cent since Christmas, and the shares of Japanese banks are leading the slide. Mizuho Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui have all been punished as hard or even harder than those US banks at the epicentre of the sub-prime debacle. The nagging fear is that Japan's lenders - the conduit for the world's greatest stash of savings - have taken on a far bigger chunk of mortgage securities, collateralised loans obligations and other exotica from America's structured credit boom than they have yet revealed.

Americans and Europeans have so far confessed to $130bn of the estimated $400bn to $500bn of wealth that has vanished into the sub-prime hole. Somebody, somewhere, must be sitting on a vast nexus of undisclosed losses. We may find out soon enough whether the hold-outs are in Japan. The banks have to come clean under the country's strict new audit codes by the end of the tax year in March. "We know from Bank of Japan's lending survey that the banks are already tightening hard, so something is brewing. Right now, we are in the lull before the second storm in global markets, and Asia is going to be the source of the nasty surprises," he said.

The iTraxx Japan index measuring default risk of 50 Japanese companies saw its biggest one-day jump ever on Thursday to 77.5. Rightly or wrongly, it is flashing a serious distress signal. China's mercantilist drive for export share is a double-edged strategy. The trade surplus has risen at $80bn a year, increasing tenfold since 2002 while the economy has merely doubled. The result is that China is as dependent on the US economy as Mexico.

So the storm spreads East. Haruhiko Kuroda, head of the Asian Development Bank, warned that the region would catch a cold after all as the US sniffles and sneezes. "Asian economies are not totally immune. A significant slowdown in the US economy will most certainly affect the region's growth," he said. The global watchdogs are scrambling to rewrite the script. The World Bank has cut its China growth forecast from 10.8 per cent to 9.6 per cent in 2008. Private banks are slashing deeper.