The government is paying for some of the most advanced research into controversial face-recognition technology, which converts photos into numerical sequences that can be instantly compared with millions of photos in a database.

Face-recognition cameras have helped casinos spot known card counters and other unwelcome gamblers, said Walter Hamilton, chairman of the International Biometric Industry Association. More recently, 19 states have adopted the technology and compare driver's-license applicants with a photo database of license holders to see whether an applicant already has a license or is using a false identity, Hamilton said.

The Homeland Security research aims to make the technology work in one area where it has failed: surveillance. Tampa and Virginia Beach police removed face-recognition systems that did not yield a single arrest. During a test at Boston's airport in 2002, the system failed 39% of the time to identify volunteers posing as terrorists at security checkpoints.

Using face-recognition for surveillance is "enormously difficult" because systems photograph people at oblique angles or in weak light, both of which create poor images, said Takeo Kanade, head of Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute. Terrorists can defeat the systems with disguises or hats that shield their faces.

The Homeland Security research aims to counter shortcomings by creating technology that will "take a partial picture of a face and reconstruct that into a full frontal shot," Boyd said. "No one has done that before." Kanade said the research, by L-1 Identity Solutions of Stamford, Conn., "challenges the most difficult part of face recognition. It's a challenge worth pursuing."

Conveyors of a major world gathering commencing today in the Polish capital argue Europe the progenitor of Western civilization is on a steep population DECLINE That will make the continent increasingly hard to recognize in the coming decades.

WITH PLUNGING BIRTH RATES COINCIDING WITH REJECTION OF THE "NATURAL FAMILY" that for millennia has anchored cultures worldwide, a "demographic winter" is descending over Europe, contends Allan C. Carlson, founder and international secretary of the World Congress of Families, hosting more than 3,500 delegates from 75 nations through Sunday.

"If Europe is lost to demographic winter and radical secularism, much of the world will go with it," says Carlson and the international team that planned the event. Meanwhile, into the vacuum comes A FLOOD OF MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS LED BY MANY ON A MISSION TO SPREAD THE RULE OF ISLAM OVER THE PLANET, writes Mark Steyn in his book "America Alone."

The result already is becoming clear, Steyn insists: "EUROPE WILL BE SEMI-ISLAMIC IN ITS POLITICO-CULTURE CHARACTER WITHIN A GENERATION."
While it takes a fertility rate of at least 2.1 for a nation to replenish itself, countries known for big families, such as Greece and Spain, have fertility rates of 1.2 and 1.1 respectively.

"Poland saved Europe before" by lifting the Turkish siege of Vienna in 1683 and helping to demolish the Soviet empire three centuries later and it is likely "she will save Europe again," the World Congress planners hope though not without inevitable backlash from the European Union.

Legislation, for example, recently proposed by Polish Education Minister Roman Giertych that limits "homosexual propaganda" in schools was met with a resolution of condemnation in April by the European Parliament 325-124, with 150 abstentions. Arguing for his bill, Giertych, who will address the congress today, explained: "One must limit homosexual propaganda so that children won't have an improper view of the family."

World Congress founder Carlson countered "NORMALIZATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY IS A VALUE OF EUROPE'S ELITE." The Congress has a counterpart, in fact, the Council on Contemporary Families, which says it seeks to "deinstitutionalize marriage" and affirm an increasing number of women who choose not to marry and have children.

Carlson contends "the failure of CCF's vision can be seen in the family crisis in Europe." "Due to the Euro-elite's embrace of the CCF's anti-family ethic, fewer and fewer Europeans are marrying and having children," he said. "Those who do are choosing 'egalitarian unions,' where the emphasis is on self-fulfillment, rather than having and nurturing children. As a result, the European family is disappearing."

Meanwhile, a think tank in the UK published a report this week that urged Britons to have fewer children in order to help save the world from what it sees as the biggest threat to civilization, "global warming."
"The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet," said John Guillebaud, co-chairman of Optimum Population Trust, "would be to have one less child."

They say that the artificial blood is light to carry, does not need to be kept cool and can be kept for longer. The new blood is made up of plastic molecules that have an iron atom at their core, like haemoglobin, that can carry oxygen through the body.

The scientists said the artificial blood could be cheap to produce and they were looking for extra funding to develop a final prototype that would be suitable for biological testing.
Dr Lance Twyman, of the university's Department of Chemistry, said: "We are very excited about the potential for this product and about the fact that this could save lives.

"Many people die from superficial wounds when they are trapped in an accident or are injured on the battlefield and can't get blood before they get to hospital. "This product can be stored a lot more easily than blood, meaning large quantities could be carried easily by ambulances and the armed forces."

Hundreds of troops, some loyal to rival factions Hamas and Fatah, which only recently clashed in Gaza, have reportedly fanned out on the streets. Up to 400 people have died in clashes since the Islamist Hamas won last year's parliamentary elections. But the rival parties agreed to form a coalition government earlier this year.

"There is a full agreement," senior Fatah leader Nabil Shaath said of the deal between Fatah and Hamas. "The determination is there and I think what we will see in the next 48 hours is a full deployment to deal with the lawlessness in the Gaza Strip." He said forces loyal to Fatah and Hamas would now wear the same police uniform and answer to the interior ministry, which has been placed under the control of a political independent in the coalition government.

The first phase was set to last 100 days and to cover traffic and crime fighting, the Associated Press said. Gaza has been in turmoil since Israeli forces pulled out in 2005. Factional rivalry, criminality, and high unemployment have prevented the territory from functioning normally, while the flow of aid has also been hit by Western restrictions.

Kidnapping has become rife in Gaza. One of the recent victims is the BBC's Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston, who was seized at gunpoint more than eight weeks ago and is still being held.

The United Nations has already imposed limited sanctions after Tehran rejected resolutions ordering it to freeze the work. Iran says its nuclear program is for electricity to benefit its economy by allowing it to export more oil and gas. Political directors from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- plus Germany assessed the situation on the sidelines of a Group of Eight meeting in Berlin.

It was not immediately clear what decisions, if any, were made at the closed-door meeting. Diplomats from countries attending said the Americans had been eager to discuss possible language for a new sanctions resolution. In Washington, U.S. President George W. Bush tried to keep up the pressure on Tehran, telling a Republican National Committee gathering, "One of the great dangers facing civilization is an Iran with a nuclear weapon."

Urging American resolve in the unpopular war in Iraq, Bush said Iran would be emboldened if the United States withdrew its forces "before the job was done." U.S. officials have accused Iran of meddling in Iraq, a charge Tehran denies.

A recent study revealed that half of them are unable to string a sentence together at age five. As a result, ministers are encouraging the use of the special "early talk" programme, targeted at infants from their earliest months to age five, which uses signing, gestures and symbols to expand vocabulary. Research from the children's charity I CAN revealed last year that half of youngsters - rising to 84 per cent in some areas - begin formal education with "impoverished speech and language".

They are unable to utter a whole sentence and can understand only simple instructions. The charity's spokesman, Clare Geldard, said: "We know from nursery teachers and reception class teachers that children are coming in with fewer speech and language skills, for example they only use short sentences and their vocabulary is not as enriched. "The environment and society in which we live at the moment is less supportive of developing children's language."

She said she knew of one speech therapist who found that none of the three-year-olds she was assessing could say more than one word at a time. Mrs Geldard went on: "The parents think, 'Oh it will be all right when they get to school - the school will bring them up to the right level'. But if a child is not talking before they go to school, they won't be able to springboard into academic learning.

"Half of them will become frustrated at not being able to understand instructions and express themselves. They will be labelled naughty children. "The remainder, the ones I really worry about, will withdraw and nobody will notice they have a problem until much later."

The baby hatch, modelled on a project in Germany, went into operation at a Roman Catholic hospital in the city of Kumamoto, some 900 kilometres (560 miles) southwest of Tokyo. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has urged Japan to return to "family values," opposed the idea but found no legal grounds to stop it.

Advocates say the plan, if replicated, could help boost the dwindling birth rate in Japan, where abortion is widely accepted. The city of Kumamoto approved the Jikei Hospital's plan in April after deciding it did not violate any laws. Called "the cradle of storks," the hatch is set into the wall of the hospital's lobby like a mailbox.

It has a door, 50 centimetres (20 inches) by 60 centimetres (24 inches), with a drawing of two storks carrying a baby and a message reading, "Please leave something with the baby." When the door is opened, a nurse is alerted by an alarm. There is an intercom next to the door to encourage parents to contact hospital staff.

"When I saw a simulation, in which a baby doll was placed into the hatch, I again felt determined that we must build a society in which this hatch will never be needed," Kumamoto Mayor Seishi Kouyama said, as quoted by Jiji Press.

No babies were left in the hatch during the first hours that it was open.

Andrea's winds had helped fan the 225 wild fires burning in Florida, where the winter dry season was the third-driest on record. Much of the state was under water-use restrictions and blanketed with smoky haze from the fires.

Andrea was a subtropical storm, lacking the warm core and thunderstorms characteristic of a tropical storm. All warnings were dropped and the system was downgraded to a depression on Thursday when its sustained winds weakened to 35 mph (55 kph).

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Andrea still could bring an inch of rain to coastal areas as the remnants drifted off the northeast Florida coast.That would hardly be enough to douse the fires that burned in 52 of Florida's 67 counties.

It follows a huge rise in cases of Lyme Disease in Scotland and encephalitis amongst travellers to mainland Europe, spread by ticks. Both infections are severely debilitating and can be fatal.

A decade ago there were just 10 cases of Lyme Disease in Scotland, but last year that figure had risen to 177.
The advice to anyone heading into the countryside is to wear insect repellent and long trousers if possible and to check themselves thoroughly afterwards. Ticks should be removed by gripping them close to the skin with tweezers and pulling backwards without jerking or twisting.

They are common in woodland, heath land and in particular areas in Scotland where deer graze. More recently they have also been found in urban parks. A spokesman for the Tick Alert campaign said: "Ticks are second only to mosquitoes for carrying disease to humans. "Travellers and holidaymakers visiting rural areas are at risk from tick bites, but also when spending time in public spaces including beer gardens, picnic spots and parks and gardens.

"Make sure you know about bite prevention, how to look out for the early symptoms and remember to seek advice well before your travel date." Lyme disease varies widely but can include a rash and flu-like symptoms in its initial stage, followed by the possibility of musculoskeletal, arthritic, neurological, psychiatric and cardiac problems.

And some organic products which would particularly appeal to the healthconscious, including the Seeds of Change brand, are among the worst offenders. Famous brands such as Heinz, Baxters, Knorr and those carrying celebrity endorsement by the likes of Ainsley Harriott and Loyd Grossman are also under fire.

Heavy salt consumption is associated with high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks and other causes of premature death. The Government's Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said that by 2010 soup should contain no more than 0.6g of salt per 100g. Yet a survey of 576 varieties by the campaigning group, Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH), found 48 per cent are above this threshold.

CASH, the FSA and the Department of Health argue the nation is effectively overdosing on salt. Men are consuming an average of 10.2g per day, while the figure for women is 7.6g. Both are well about the recommended maximum of 6g.

CASH chairman Graham Mac-Gregor, a professor of cardiovascular medicine, said, "Manufacturers need to act in a much more responsible way and work with the interests of their customers in mind and immediately reduce the salt content of their soups, particularly as other companies in the same category of soup have products available well below these levels.

THE STEALTH CONSTITUTION
In an article in the WALL STREET JOURNAL Conservative MEP Geoffrey Van Orden argued that "There is a disconnect between the 27 heads of government who aspire to European unification - supposedly 'a dream of earlier generations' according to the March Berlin Declaration - and their citizens who don't, at least not without having a say over the matter. A recent poll commissioned by Open Europe shows 75% of EU citizens want a referendum on any new constitutional treaty. That rises to over 80% in the UK, France, Ireland and the Czech Republic."

EUROPE'S REGULATIONS FUEL DISENCHANTMENT
The FINANCIAL TIMES reported on our survey which found that EU financial services regulation will cost the UK up to £23 billlion.

EU IN NEW GRAB FOR MORE POWER
THE SUN reported that "The president of the European Commission demanded more powers for Brussels yesterday... Neil O'Brien, of think tank Open Europe,added: "The last thing UK businesses want is unelected EU officials grabbing more powers."

PM SMUGGLES IN NEW EU TREATY
"Campaigners OPEN EUROPE say [the new treaty] could mean Britain having to accept a string of job-destroying laws. The Working Time Directive would see us having to adopt a maximum 48-hour week. Trade ministers have warned this would cost industry £9billion a year and deny millions vital overtime cash. There would be new 'EU rights' for criminals, with European judges being given a say over large parts of our procedural criminal law."

EU WASTES CASH EMPTYING GALAPAGOS BINS
THE EXPRESS reported that the EU is funding dustbin collections in the Galapagos Islands. The article quotes Open Europe arguing that "We're all in favour of giving aid to poor countries but this just seems to be yet another extravagance which is so typical of the way the Brussels bureaucracy spends our money."

NEW EU TREATY 'IS A SHAM'
THE SUN, MAIL AND THE TIMES reported on the leaked Merkel letter on the EU Constitution. Open Europe was quoted saying "This leak shows that we are going to have the same proposals pushed through under a different name, with a few 'presentational changes'. It is incredibly cynical but the voters are not stupid and will not be fooled."

OPEN EUROPE Deputy Chairman Derek Scott spoke on BBC World at One and Westminster Hour and was also quoted in Die Welt. He argued: "the notion that we need to somehow speed up the decision making of the European Union in order that we can get more business through strikes me as completely bizarre. If anything we want a European Union that does less."

The Government last week admitted that the cost simply of administering EU regulations to British business, charities and the voluntary sector in England is £6.3 billion. Trade and Industry Minister Margaret Hodge said the figure did not include the costs of Brussels rules on financial services - which were not available. The total cost of new EU regulations to the UK economy is over £40 billion since 1998 alone, according to the Government's Economic Impact Assessments.

EU INCREASES PR SPENDING ON CONSTITUTION. According to the News of the World reported that the EU is spending £7 million on 245 extra press officers to "sell" the EU Constitution to the public in countries such as Britain. The paper also noted that the Treasury is spending £10 million on a "national change-over plan" to make Britain ready for the euro, even though Gordon Brown has ruled out the possibility of the UK joining the eurozone.)

CAP SUBSIDY FRAUD WORTH MILLIONS OF EUROS REVEALED IN ITALY. The Swedish press has revealed that the EU anti-fraud office OLAF and the Italian authorities have revealed fraud in southern Italy involving the EU's farm subsidies. According to Svenska Dagbladet, the EU paid out several million euros during the period 2001-2004 for buying and selling surpluses of citrus under the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. HOWEVER, NEITHER THE FARMERS, NOR THE FRUIT NOR THE BUYERS ACTUALLY EXISTED.

THE MOD WASTES £8.8 BILLION ON "INTEGRATIONIST" EU DEFENCE PROJECTS.
Conservative MP Ann Winterton argued in a speech in Parliament last week that the Ministry of Defence is wasting substantial resources on military projects following an "integrationist European Union approach", such as the "Euromissile" and Galileo satellite navigation projects. She said: "Pulling together all these costs - but excluding the costs of Eurofighter which are a special case - the excess payments amount to £ 8.8 billion, AND THAT FOR NO GAIN WHATSOEVER.

EU LANDFILL DIRECTIVE TO COST TAXPAYERS £205M A YEAR. In the Sunday Telegraph Christopher Booker explained how EU directives are behind the UK's current bin collection crisis. He pointed out that according to the National Audit Office, Britain's failure to meet the targets laid down in the Landfill Directive will mean that by 2013 UK taxpayers will be paying £205 million a year in fines to Brussels.

Sir Antony Acland, former Head of the Diplomatic Service said: "The importance of this new treaty should not be underestimated. The idea that the Government should adopt such a significant new treaty without a referendum would be a very dangerous development."

Sir John Coles, also a former Head of the Diplomatic Service said: "The proposal to revive the ideas in the European Constitution in the form of a new treaty is clearly very important. If there are to be significant transfers of power to the European level then people should be consulted in a referendum."

A leaked letter from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the other 26 EU leaders last week highlighted the fact that the new treaty which EU leaders are currently preparing will have much of the same legal substance as the constitutional treaty, while making a few presentational changes and using different terminology to describe the same plans. In a letter to other heads of Government Merkel suggested that: "The consolidated approach of part one of the Constitutional Treaty is preserved with the necessary presentational changes" and suggested a proposal "To use different terminology without changing the legal substance."

Blair's decision to attend the EU summit in June which will establish the timetable and negotiating parameters for the new treaty is causing unrest among Brownites who have begun letting British newspapers know about their concerns.

One "senior civil servant" told the Sunday Telegraph: "The concern is that the outgoing Prime Minister will take constitutional decisions which will bind both his successor and the country for years without obtaining the say-so of his successor, and possibly without even consulting him. There is a worry he believes this should be part of his political legacy and that he will be ac= ting as an individual and not the leader of a government."

Fundamentally, this is about democracy. The Government promised a referendum which is long overdue; now they want to take it away again. When MPs permanently give away powers which we have only lent to them in the first place, the voters should have a say. In the UK, no-one under the age of 50 has had a chance to vote on the direction of the EU. The fact that they might vote "no" is not an acceptable argument against giving them a vote.

It was the first time that the Pope, speaking to reporters aboard the plane taking him on a trip to Brazil, dealt in depth with a controversial topic that has come up in many countries, including the United States, Mexico, and Italy.

The Pope was asked whether he supported Mexican Church leaders threatening to excommunicate leftist parliamentarians who last month voted to legalize abortion in Mexico City ."Yes, this excommunication was not an arbitrary one but is allowed by Canon (church) law which says that the killing of an innocent child is incompatible with receiving communion, which is receiving the body of Christ," he said.

"They (Mexican Church leaders) did nothing new, surprising or arbitrary. They simply announced publicly what is contained in the law of the Church which expresses our appreciation for life and that human individuality, human personality is present from the first moment (of life)".

Under Church law, someone who knowingly does or backs something which the Church considers a grave sin, such as abortion, inflicts what is known as "automatic excommunication" on themselves.The Pope said parliamentarians who vote in favor of abortion have "doubts about the value of life and the beauty of life and even a doubt about the future".

"Selfishness and fear are at the root of (pro-abortion) legislation," he said. "We in the Church have a great struggle to defend life?life is a gift not a threat."The Pope's comments appear to raise the stakes in the debate over whether Catholic politicians can support abortion or gay marriage and still consider themselves proper Catholics.

In recent months, the Vatican has been accused of interference in Italy for telling Catholic lawmakers to oppose a draft law that would grant some rights to unwed and gay couples.