Among the criticisms is a quiet but serious challenge: the artificially high number of Chinese men compared with Chinese women. China should act expeditiously to correct the social and legal pressures that have converged to create this problem.

"Son preference" is a deep-seated, widespread problem in many cultures. In many parts of the world, having a son is integral to one's future financial and social wellbeing. Recent articles have tried to shed light on the problem in India - putting much blame on the ultrasound machines women use to determine the sex of their unborn children in order to decide whether they should abort a female fetus.

In China, however, the problem takes on a frightfully larger scope when "son preference" meets the notorious One Child policy. When the government only allows one child, it puts immense pressure on Chinese parents to determine the sex of their child in the womb, and terminate the pregnancy if it is a girl.

The unintended consequences of this government policy are staggering. The proportion of male births to female births (the "sex ratio") is not merely unusual, but alarming. Worldwide, there are already 100 million girls "missing" due to sex-selective abortion and female infanticide, according to the English medical journal The Lancet.

Fifty million of these girls are thought to be from China. In many provinces, the sex ratio at birth is between 120 to 130 boys for every 100 girls; the natural number is about 104. What will happen in future decades when these boys grow up and look for wives? The 6 to 5 male-female ratio in China means there are a lot of men who will not be able to start families. If history is any guide, they will either find less savory things to occupy their time, or find women through equally unsavory means.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he still wants Israel to agree to negotiations on specific issues such as final borders of a Palestinian state. Israel is seeking to keep the agenda vague. US allies Egypt and Jordan did throw their weight behind the idea, but cautioned that meetings that fail to yield specific timetables on the three core issues - ownership of Jerusalem, permanent Palestinian borders, and the return of Palestinian refugees - could discredit the process.

Almost 15 years after the US-sponsored Oslo accords that are now generally viewed as a failure by both Israelis and Palestinians and after seven years of almost daily violence between the two sides, little goodwill exists.

"There's a gap between the genuine desire of the Palestinian leadership to move forward, and [their] capability to do so," says foreign ministry spokesperson Mark Regev. "To ignore that gap is to ignore reality." The pre-conference document "has to answer, 'What is our vision about Jerusalem and how will we solve the refugee problem,' " says Said Zeedani, a Palestinian political analyst. "In the absence of that - this is not going to work."

Now, Annapolis is being seen as one final push for the Bush administration to show progress in what Rice has called a new "moment of opportunity" for the two sides. "Nobody knows what we are going to get out of this," says Meir Javedanfar, a Tel Aviv-based Middle East analyst. "This is their last-chance saloon. With elections coming, they're gambling all or nothing."

So far, no real backup plan exists. And there are no quick fixes among suggested solutions, which include piping water in from rivers in neighboring states, building more regional reservoirs, setting up a statewide recycling system or even desalinating water from the Atlantic Ocean.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue seems to be pinning his hopes on a two-pronged approach: urging water conservation and reducing water flowing out of federally controlled lakes. Perdue's office on Friday asked a Florida federal judge to force the Army Corps of Engineers to curb the amount of water draining from Georgia reservoirs into Alabama and Florida. And Georgia's environmental protection director is drafting proposals for more water restrictions.

But that may not be enough to stave off the water crisis. More than a quarter of the Southeast is covered by an "exceptional" drought - the National Weather Service's worst drought category. The Atlanta area, with a population of 5 million, is smack in the middle of the affected region, which extends like a dark cloud over most of Tennessee, Alabama and the northern half of Georgia, as well as parts of North and South Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia.

State officials warn that Lake Lanier, a 38,000-acre north Georgia reservoir that supplies more than 3 million residents with water, is already less than three months from depletion. Smaller reservoirs are dropping even lower, forcing local governments to consider rationing.

State water managers say there is more water available in the lake's reserves. But tapping into it would require the use of barges, emergency pumps and longer water lines. And some lawmakers fear if the lake is drained that low, it may be impossible to refill.

The major stock market indexes turned in their worst week since July after Caterpillar Inc. one of the world's largest construction equipment makers, soured investors mood Friday with a discouraging assessment of the U.S. economy. In a week dominated by mostly negative results from banks facing difficult credit markets and rising mortgage delinquencies, investors appeared surprised that an industrial name was feeling an economic pinch, too.

Reports from Honeywell International Inc. and 3M Co. themselves big industrial names, gave investors little incentive to take chances on the market.

Weak earnings from some of the largest U.S. companies, the teetering stock market, the onset of $90 crude oil prices, and the central bank's own downbeat assessment of recent economic conditions all point to a soft end to 2007 -- and more troubles ahead for the new year.

The latest jolt came on Friday in the form of a profit warning by heavy equipment maker Caterpillar (CAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest maker of earth-moving equipment and other heavy machinery.
Cutting its full-year profit forecast, the bellwether Peoria, Illinois, firm, said several key U.S. industries it serves are "in recession" while the residential building industry is in "severe recession."

CAT's chief financial officer told Reuters there is a 50-percent chance of a full-blown recession in 2008. The comments helped shove U.S. share indexes more than 2.5 percent lower. Economists are busy dampening their growth forecasts as the Fed's fears that housing problems pose a threat to the overall economy seem to be playing out.

The Glorietta mall blast at lunchtime on Friday killed nine people and wounded 113. Police said the bomb was apparently left near a cellphone repair shop in Glorietta, a sprawling three-storey complex of department stores, high-end fashion boutiques, restaurants, other shops and cinemas in the heart of the Makati business district. Several luxury hotels and serviced apartment blocks surround the complex.

Eight people were confirmed dead on Friday and the body of a man was found early on Saturday in the debris, a police official said. One person remains missing. A police official told President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at a conference at national police headquarters that traces of RDX, a component of plastic explosives, were found at the bomb site. "It was military-grade explosives," the expert said at the conference, which was open to the press.

No one has claimed responsibility and no suspects have been named although some officials said Islamic Abu Sayyaf militants could be involved. Norberto Gonzales, the president's security adviser, said they received an intelligence report the Abu Sayyaf was trying to raise funds abroad using the Internet site YouTube and the blast could be used as part of its fund-raising campaign.

Abu Sayyaf is said to be linked to the regional Jemaah Islamiah group, which has been blamed for similar explosions in the past, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people on the Indonesian resort isle. A general alert has been issued for the rest of Manila and for the international airport.

Manila has largely been spared a spate of bomb attacks by Abu Sayyaf and other Muslim rebel groups that have plagued the southern Mindanao region. But it has been hit in the past. In February 2004, more than 100 people were killed when a bomb planted by Abu Sayyaf rebels sank a ferry near Manila Bay, the country's worst terror attack.

The landmark moment was predicted yesterday by the International Monetary Fund and is the latest illustration of the fast-growing Asian country's importance to the world economy. While China's economy is still far smaller than America's, it has overtaken the UK as the world's fourth biggest economy. With the IMF projecting 10pc growth this year, the country will pump more new money into the global system next year than the US, which is expected to grow by just 1.9pc.

Mr Johnson compared the pre-crunch markets to a "forest that has not seen a fire in many years", adding: "When problems ignited in the US sub-prime mortgage market, the fire 'jumped' in surprising ways to other areas." This meant the "fire" spread to the wider credit markets in the US and further afield, including the UK, to bank lending and to commercial paper markets, where companies borrow. Even further cuts in interest rates might not be enough to bring confidence back, the IMF warned. However, while interest rate cuts seem likely in many countries, it also emphasised that inflation remains a threat with oil prices at record highs.

Food prices will also remain high because of increased demand, poor harvests, and global warming, which has contributed to falling crop yields and to arable land being diverted for biofuels.

Oil has surged to new records over the past week while gold has held near 28-year highs in part due to a cash injection from funds avoiding asset classes such as mortgage-backed bonds and credit derivatives. The subprime crisis also has helped send the dollar to record lows against other major currencies, further pushing up commodity prices, experts said.

"Part of the rally is attributable to the weaker dollar," said Bill Ciraco, trader at Para Advisors LLC. "But definitely some of the rally is attributable to flow of funds." U.S. oil prices have jumped around 10 percent over the past week and struck a record high $89 a barrel during intraday trade on Wednesday. Gold, frequently used as a hedge against inflation, touched levels not seen since 1980.

The gains added to a five-year rise in commodity prices driven by skyrocketing demand growth from emerging economies including China.

Mr Blair told a charity event in New York that Iran was prepared to destabilise peaceful countries. In his first major speech since leaving office, Mr Blair again defended the decision to go to war in Iraq. He urged continued vigilance by the United States, Britain and their allies in combating the threat of extremism.

Mr Blair - now an envoy for the Middle East Quartet - warned against being "forced into retreat" as the world faced a situation similar to "rising fascism in the 1920s". "This ideology now has a state - Iran - that is prepared to back and finance terror in the pursuit of destabilising countries whose people wish to live in peace."

"There is a tendency even now, even in some of our own circles, to believe that they are as they are because we have provoked them and if we left them alone they would leave us alone. I fear this is mistaken. They have no intention of leaving us alone." Mr Blair stressed the shared values that he believes unite Britain and the US.

"America and Europe should not be divided, we should stand up together. The values we share are as vital and true and, above all, needed today as they have been at any time in the last 100 years."

US light crude rose to $90.02 in late Thursday trading in New York, before pulling back to $89.39 in early Friday trade in Europe. The weak dollar has made oil a more attractive investment. The greenback remains near record lows against the euro, and a three-week low against the yen, not helped by weak US jobs and manufacturing data which was released on Thursday.

Oil prices have quadrupled since 2002 because of strong demand from fast-growing economies such as China and India, allied to instability in oil-producing nations in the Middle East and Africa.

Ms Bhutto, who was travelling through crowded streets from the city's airport to a rally marking her homecoming after eight years in exile, was not hurt. The truck carrying her had its windows shattered and a door blown off. The attacks on the motorcade happened despite a heavy security presence following threats from militant groups.

Several Islamist groups, including pro-Taleban militants, had said they would attack Ms Bhutto on her return after she promised to confront those operating in the northern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, said members of the government and intelligence agencies who were going to lose power were behind the attack.

Ms Bhutto earlier warned that if targeted she would hold what she described as hidden authorities within the government as partly responsible. At least 200,000 people turned out to greet her in what correspondents described as a carnival atmosphere, but the crowds slowed the progress of her convoy. Ms Bhutto had been planning to make a speech at the tomb of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

Ms Bhutto left the country shortly before Gen Musharraf seized power in a coup, but returned under a power-sharing deal that could see her becoming prime minister again. The US has backed the deal, amid concerns about the military's inability to defeat Islamist militants and Gen Musharraf's rising unpopularity.

The treaty is designed to replace the European Constitution that was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005 and will be formally signed on 13 December. It includes the creation of a new longer-term president of the European Council and an EU foreign policy chief. If what will become known as the Treaty of Lisbon is ratified by all member states, it will come into force in 2009.

The new Reform Treaty is designed to speed up decision making in the expanded European Union. It will also create a new president of the European Council, a new EU foreign affairs chief, a reformed voting system and scrap vetoes in dozens of areas. However, the 250-page document has been stripped of any trappings of a super-state, such as the mention of the EU anthem and flag.

It amends, rather than replaces, existing EU treaties, a point which some countries - notably the UK - have argued means there is no need for national referendums on the document.

The UK government had little to say in Friday's negotiations. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the UK's "red lines", which his government had declared around various policy areas, had been secured. "The British national interest has been protected," he added. On Thursday, Mr Brown once again ruled out a referendum on the treaty.

Despite pressure in the UK and several other countries for a popular vote, only Ireland is legally bound to hold a referendum, and most governments will do what they can to avoid another embarrassing failure, our correspondent Oana Lungescu says.

This was the warning issued by Robin Irvine, president of the Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association, when he met Michelle Gildernew, Minister for Agriculture this week. Mr Irvine emphasised: "I am not just issuing a warning from our association, I am repeating the warning issued by Markos Kyprianou, the EU Commissioner for Food, and Marianne Fisher Boel, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture."

To clarify some misconceptions, Mr Irvine explained: "Some people see this as an argument about the pros and cons of GM materials. This argument is not about GM, it is about the survival of our food industry, GM materials are already in the European food chain.

"The point is that for those consumers who choose GM, the main food-producing countries in the world are using biotechnology to increase the efficiency of food production - Europe is out of step with the rest of the world in that it takes two years longer than any other region to approve these and is in danger of making local food producers so uncompetitive that many will be forced out of business - consumers will be denied an affordable local product, produced to a very high standard and will be dependent on imported food produced under a much less regulated regime - using practices which would not be permitted in Europe."

Food supplies are tightening around the world - the developing countries such as China and India are increasing their consumption and the energy industry is competing with food processors for the world's grain supplies. Global grain supplies are lower than they have been for a generation and a number of food exporting countries are limiting exports to ensure sufficient supply for their own population.

Europe has approved many GM crop materials and these are widely used in food and feedstuffs and the European Food Safety Authority is currently assessing 90 new crop varieties. The difficulties lie with the delays in approving these new varieties and this is leading to disruption in international trade. It is a question of European food security.

A total of 5,014 new and resale homes and condos were sold last month in nine San Francisco Bay area counties -- a 40 percent decrease from the same period a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems. Last month was the slowest September since the firm began keeping records in 1988.

Sales plunged 31.3 percent from August as lenders, stung by a nationwide credit crunch, put the brakes on many loans above the $417,000 mark, or so-called "jumbo" loans. Some of those jumbo mortgages are being written, but credit requirements have tightened and interest rates have risen, DataQuick reported.

The month before was not much better, NBC11 reported. New home sales in California fell nearly 45 percent in August compared to August 2006. In Santa Clara County sales dropped 39 percent in August. The median price of new homes fell 8 percent statewide.

Another 30 people were injured in Oklahoma late Wednesday when two tents collapsed at an Oktoberfest festival.

The storm packed hurricane-force gusts ranging from 65 mph to near 90 mph, said Steve Piltz, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa. He said Tulsa County was under a tornado watch and severe thunderstorm warning when the storm hit the tents, but Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor said that less than an hour earlier the skies had been clear.

There were more than 7,000 people at the Tulsa, Okla., Oktoberfest when the tents collapsed at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Five of those hurt remained hospitalized Thursday, and three were in serious condition with head injuries, concussions and lacerations, said Tina Wells, spokeswoman for the Emergency Medical Services Authority. "It's easily one of the largest medical emergencies we've had in Tulsa in nearly a decade," Wells said.

"The wind came up incredibly quick and I don't think anyone can prepare for those kinds of winds," said Michael Sanders, the promotions chairman for the Oktoberfest event. Officials said the festival would resume Thursday afternoon with a smaller, more open-air tent.