Benedict called the May 12 Family Day rally, organized by Catholic groups and family associations, a "great and extraordinary popular festival." Hundreds of thousands of people turned out for the demonstration to protest a bill that would grant legal rights to unmarried couples, including hospital visits and inheritance rights. The bill does not legalize gay marriage, as was done in other European countries, such as Spain.

The bill has angered the Vatican, which under Benedict has been conducting a fierce campaign to protect traditional family based on marriage between man and woman. In a speech to Italian bishops, Benedict said he respected the distinction between the church and politics. But he added that the church cannot ignore "what is good for man ... what is good for the common good of Italy." He said the Family Day rally "confirmed that the family itself is profoundly rooted in the heart and life of Italians."

Benedict's speech came as the government opened a conference on the family in Florence to help it create family policies that are, according to organizers, "more European and more modern." The conference was organized by the two Cabinet ministers spearheading the legislation on legal recognition for unmarried couples.

In a keynote speech, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano urged lawmakers to listen to the church and not create an artificial confrontation between Catholics and laity. But he said that de facto unions were "a reality" that had to be taken into account.

Sarkozy, on his first visit to the European Commission on Wednesday, said: I believe Turkey does not have its place in the EU and I haven't changed my opinion." Sarkozy, who replaced Jacques Chirac as president in the middle of May did not say what France would do about ongoing EU membership negotiations with Ankara which started in 2005.

He said his priority was the simplification of the EU's constitution treaty and that the groups was "making headway". Sarkozy said he was now campaigning to unblock the impasse of what to do with the constitution - notably on getting EU leaders to accept a scaled-back, simplified EU treaty passed, and doing away with the current draft constitution.

"We need to move forward and a simplified treaty is the way forward " Europe cannot remain at a standstill, we cannot remain in this relative paralysis - we have to find a way out of this impasse," he said. The EU constitution was to have streamlined how the bloc makes decisions and bolster its role on the world stage.

Ending two days of talks in Washington, the Chinese delegation rejected US calls to accelerate the revaluing of the yuan to enable higher US exports to China. In the absence of a breakthrough, members of the US congress have vowed to pass laws to penalise China, and a proposal to cite it as a currency manipulator in the next congressional report on trade, a move that could lead to economic sanctions.

US manufacturers claim the yuan has been artificially undervalued by as much as 40 per cent, making Chinese exports unfairly cheap and American goods costlier in the Chinese market. Henry Paulson, the US treasury secretary, told the visiting Chinese delegation that a perceived foot-dragging on the pace of reforms was causing a growing anti-China feeling among some US politicians.

"I believe it would be in their interest and the rest of the world's interest for them to move more quickly," he said.
Despite the lack of substantial progress at the talks, Paulson and Wu Yi, the Chinese vice premier, both sounded positive notes on the importance of the discussions, pointing to "tangilble results".

The US Business and Industry Council, which represents small and medium-size manufacturers, said the Bush administration should scrap the dialogue process, launched last year by the US and Chinese presidents, based on the poor results so far. "It's clear that this dialogue has been nothing but a cynical Bush administration exercise in spin and public relations," said Kevin L Kearns, its president.

"The failure of the White House's approach is now clear, so the ball is clearly in congress' court."

Mary Cheney's pregnancy caused a stir with traditional family activists, including James Dobson, chairman of Colorado-based Focus on the Family.

"We should not enter into yet another untested and far-reaching social experiment, this one driven by the desires of same-sex couples to bear and raise children," Dobson said last December. He said his position was not intended to "harm or insult women such as Cheney and Poe."

At a New York forum last winter, Mary Cheney said: "This is a baby. This is a blessing from God. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be used in a debate by people on either side of an issue. It is my child." But she added that "every piece of remotely responsible research" had shown "no difference between children who are raised by same-sex parents and children raised by opposite-sex parents."

Cheney has been with Poe for 15 years, and the couple has not disclosed how Mary became pregnant.

The politicians who created the illegal immigration problem have determined the only course to correction is to repeat the mistakes of the past. Far from being even a modest step in the right direction, the Senate, along with President Bush, have embarked on a path that will have dire consequences for the future survival of our nation.

Bush and the senators involved in this travesty of a compromise may as well have sent out engraved invitations to the 90 million or so Mexicans who have not yet chosen to cross the border. Millions more will be determined to get in on the action, they have nothing to worry about because the compromise actually weakens plans to secure the border.

Few actions in Washington over the last 200 years have plunged a dagger as close to the very heart of American sovereignty, the rule of law, the will of the people and the very concept of self-government as this move to legalize somewhere between 15 million and 20 million people who broke the law to get here.

Is it possible we're so fat, lazy, immoral and ignorant that we will just accept what has been handed to us by out-of-touch elites?

Where did it all go? How did that America become the sleazy, decadent place we live in today ? so different that those who grew up prior to the '60s feel like it's a foreign country? Did it just "happen"?

It didn't just "happen." In fact, A DELIBERATE AGENDA WAS FOLLOWED TO STEAL OUR CULTURE and leave a new and very different one in its place. The story of how and why is one of the most important parts of our nation's history and it is a story almost no one knows. The people behind it wanted it that way.

What happened, in short, is that America's traditional culture, which had grown up over generations from our Western, Judeo-Christian roots, was swept aside by an ideology. WE KNOW THAT IDEOLOGY BEST AS "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS" OR "MULTI-CULTURALISM." It really is cultural Marxism, Marxism translated from economic into cultural terms in an effort that goes back not to the 1960s, but to World War I. Incredible as it may seem, just as the old economic Marxism of the Soviet Union has faded away, a new cultural Marxism has become the ruling ideology of America's elites. THE NO. 1 GOAL OF THAT CULTURAL MARXISM, SINCE ITS CREATION, HAS BEEN THE DESTRUCTION OF WESTERN CULTURE AND THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

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AT LEAST THREE DEATHS AND MORE THAN 1,600 ADVERSE REACTIONS INCLUDING SPONTANEOUS ABORTION AND PARALYSIS have been connected to Merck & Co.'s new vaccine for the human papillomavirus, a treatment the company has lobbied state lawmakers to make mandatory for young girls across the nation.

"The FDA adverse event reports on the HPV vaccine read like a catalog of horrors," said Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch president. "Any state or local government now beset by Merck's lobbying campaigns to mandate this HPV vaccine for young girls ought to take a look at these adverse health reports. IT LOOKS AS IF AN UNPROVEN VACCINE WITH DANGEROUS SIDE EFFECTS IS BEING PUSHED AS A MIRACLE DRUG."

WND earlier reported how the company's campaign to promote its $400-per person vaccine was sweeping the nation. IT WAS BEING FACILITATED BY DONATIONS FROM MERCK TO WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT, whose members are women state lawmakers across the country, WHO IN TURN OFTEN WERE INTRODUCING LEGISLATION that would require young girls to be given the brand new vaccine in order to be enrolled in school.

Judicial Watch said documents it obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under the provisions of the Freedom of Information provided information on 1,637 reports of adverse reactions. The reports of the deaths cited myocarditis, coronary artery thrombosis and pulmonary embolism as causes for the deaths. Jill Farrell, a spokeswoman with Judicial Watch, said its own tabulation uncovered 371 SERIOUS REACTIONS AMONG THE 1,637 TOTAL REPORTED. She said JW found more cases of serious situations than did the official government report, because of the way reactions were classified.

"Stopped breathing later revived. 13-year-old developed pain, sought physical therapy, later could not tolerate therapy due to pain...Hives, sent home, found unresponsive by mother, who called 911, revived at ER" Farrell noted. "You decide. If these were your children, would you consider these non-serious?"

OF THE 42 WOMEN WHO GOT THE VACCINE WHILE PREGNANT, 18 EXPERIENCED SIDE EFFECTS RANGING FROM SPONTANEOUS ABORTION TO FETAL ABNORMITIES, THE REPORT SAID.

A powerful think tank chaired by former Sen. Sam Nunn and guided by trustees including Richard Armitage, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Harold Brown, William Cohen and Henry Kissinger, is in the final stages of preparing a report to the White House and U.S. Congress on the benefits of integrating the U.S., Mexico and Canada into one political, economic and security bloc.

The final report, published in English, Spanish and French, is scheduled for submission to all three governments by Sept. 30, according to the Center for Strategic & International Studies. CSIS boasts of playing a large role in the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994 - a treaty that set in motion a political movement many believe resembles the early stages of the European Community on its way to becoming the European Union.

"The results of the study will enable policymakers to make sound, strategic, long-range policy decisions about North America, with an emphasis on regional integration," explains Armand B. Peschard-Sverdrup, director of CSIS' Mexico Project. "Specifically, the project will focus on a detailed examination of future scenarios, which are based on current trends, and involve six areas of critical importance to the trilateral relationship: labor mobility, energy, the environment, security, competitiveness and border infrastructure and logistics."

Peter F. Drucker, in one of his dozens of best-selling books, "Post Capitalist Society," published in 1993, wrote that the European Community, the progenitor of the European Union, "triggered the attempt to create a North American economic community, built around the United States but integrating both Canada and Mexico into a common market."

"So far this attempt is purely economic in its goal," wrote the Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree. "But it can hardly remain so in the long run." Drucker describes in his book the worldwide trends toward globalization that were evident back then - the creation and empowerment of transnational organizations and institutions, international environmental goals regarding carbon dioxide and agreements to fight terrorism long before 9/11.

U.S. Navy officials said Iran was not notified of plans to sail nine ships, including two aircraft carriers, through the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow channel in international waters off Iran's coast and a major artery for global oil shipments. The maneuver raises pressure on the Islamic Republic, coinciding with a report by the U.N. atomic watchdog on Iran's nuclear program, which could lead to tougher sanctions.

Oil climbed towards $70 as the U.S. ships sailed into the straits, through which 40 percent of globally traded oil passes. Most U.S. ships pass through the straits at night so as not to attract attention, and rarely move in such large numbers. Navy officials said the decision to send a second aircraft carrier was made at the last minute, without giving a reason. The group of ships, carrying about 17,000 personnel and 140 aircraft scheduled to participate in the exercises that will take place over the next few weeks.

Following the military welcoming ceremony for Major Gen. Al-Attiyah, the two generals signed a framework agreement on military education, technical and scientific cooperation in the field of the military. Both generals mentioned their hope to develop military relations.

Then Gen. Büyükanit met with Lt. Gen. Abdullah Al-Khalifa to sign a framework agreement on military cooperation with Bahrain. "I prepared a speech which would last more than an hour," the Turkish general joked during his speech, as he stressed his hope to develop relations.

Lt. Gen. Al-Khalifa replied that Turkey is a model for them in the area with its democracy and economy.

Even prior to the parliamentary elections in June, Sarkozy is undertaking a series of initiatives WHICH WILL ALLOW HIM TO GOVERN WITHOUT ANY EFFECTIVE EXTERNAL CONTROL. To this end he is exploiting the constitution of the Fifth Republic to its limits?and beyond.

The current French constitution was tailored to suit the needs of its author, Gen. de Gaulle. Upon assuming power in 1958 at the height of the Algerian crisis, de Gaulle imposed a constitution which awarded huge authority to the president and severely limited the power of the National Assembly. The president not only appoints the head of government and presides over weekly cabinet meetings, he can also dissolve parliament at any time AND THEREBY HAS POWERFUL LEVERAGE OVER THE ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE.

Sarkozy has made clear that he now intends to fully exploit the authority of the presidential office and determine government policy down to the last detail. Sarkozy's autocratic moves are not limited to controlling the machinery of government. He is also seeking to free himself from any control from within his own political camp, which is split into several opposing fractions. The spheres of economics, social affairs and finance have been completely restructured by Sarkozy in order to impose his planned "reforms."

Sarkozy spent a remarkably long time ensuring the support of the French trade unions for his government. In the two days before taking office and appointing the government, he devoted several hours to individual discussions with the chairmen of the six largest union federations all of whom subsequently declared their willingness to cooperate with his government.

Nobody should deceived by Sarkozy's populist overtures. HE IS INTENT ON USING HIS PRESIDENTIAL POWERS AND THE SUPPORT OF THE TRADE UNIONS TO CARRY OUT THE SORT OF ATTACKS ON SOCIAL GAINS AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS THAT HAVE LONG BEEN DEMANDED BY FRENCH BIG BUSINESS CIRCLES AND INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MARKETS.

Who can remember a single significant decision made at these summits in the past? Did promises made about debt relief two years ago in Gleneagles really make any difference for Africa? Did the global energy situation change at all following last year's discussions in St. Petersburg?

The regularity of these meetings is actually one of their greatest drawbacks. The leader of every nation in the G8 is obligated to attend the annual summits, regardless of whether they really want or need to. As for the agenda, it is often just a way to make sure they can fill the time.

When Josef Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met in Tehran and Yalta, it was not to demonstrate their solidarity or to pose for photo ops; they had to meet to resolve important questions that could only be decided at the highest level. They had to discuss joint military strategy for Europe, and then divvy up the fruits of their victory and plan the shape of the post-war world.

These meetings, like the ones that produced the peace treaties of Venice and Versailles, are remembered to this day. The meetings in Gleneagles and St. Petersburg, by contrast, remain small entries in chronologies of international events -- if they are listed at all. The 2001 summit in Genoa is remembered primarily for mass protests and the shooting of one activist, Carlo Giuliani. But who remembers the official agenda?

"The exchange rate of the pound against the euro is very difficult to forecast. Unless the UK joins the eurozone, we can't add to plant in Swindon. We're not planning to withdraw from the UK because it is a major market, and Swindon supplies it," he said, speaking at his luxurious penthouse office overlooking Tokyo.

"Swindon is close to full operation, but we made one slight mistake: we thought the UK was in Europe. Now we find that it is reluctant to join and that has become a big problem," he said.

"We're not doing any lobbying on this but every time we meet officials they say there is no interest in joining for the meantime. We have to take this at face value and reconsider our strategy."

His comments echo the growing frustration among Japan's industrialists over the strong pound, now trading at multi-year highs against the dollar, the Swiss franc and other currencies, although it has moved in tandem with the euro over the past three years.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said MR BLAIR WAS KEEN TO HOLD TALKS ON "INTERFAITH" ISSUES WITH BENEDICT XVI in the run-up to a major conference on Islam being staged in Britain. "The Prime Minister hopes to go to Rome to visit both Prime Minister Romano Prodi and the Pope before he stands down," the spokeswoman said.

"He wants to discuss the EU summit with Mr Prodi and discus interfaith issues, particularly in light of the forthcoming conference on Islam here, with Pope Benedict." The visit will be Mr Blair's second audience with the Pope since he succeeded John Paul II in April 2005.

It is likely to reignite speculation that Mr Blair, an Anglican, intends to convert to Catholicism once he has left Number 10 in favour of Gordon Brown on 27 June.

A splash can also speed up the healing of wounds by increasing the flow of blood to the area.

Dan McFadden, of manufacturer Oculus, said: "People think it is too good to be true. Our challenge is to get beyond that disbelief. This is the real thing." The liquid is a chemically-altered version of salty water which is full of negatively-charged particles.

These are capable of killing dangerous micro-organisms by punching holes in their cell walls. While bacteria and viruses are quickly dispatched, human cells are left intact because they are packed too tightly together to be attacked. The potion costs around £16 a bottle and has a shelf-life of two years, New Scientist magazine reported.

Dermacyn is recommended for external use only and so should not be drunk.