Many of the assets involved were originally state-owned before the wave of privatisations that took place in the 1980s. What are the latest examples of British companies passing into foreign hands?

Before the AB Ports deal, Spanish building group Ferrovial grabbed headlines when it launched a successful £10.3bn takeover bid for BAA, which runs seven UK airports.

Both of the latest British takeover targets used to be state-owned. AB Ports, which began life as the British Transport Docks Board in 1962, was privatised in 1982 and floated on the stock market a year later.

BAA has its roots in the old British Airports Authority, created in 1966. It was privatised 20 years later.

Ferrovial is not the only Spanish company to take an interest in corporate Britain. Last year, the Abbey banking chain was bought by Santander, while mobile phone group O2 was taken over by Telefonica.

What other sectors of the economy have been affected?

The privatisation of gas, electricity and water in the 1980s also created opportunities for foreign firms to enter the UK market.

London Electricity was one of the first utilities to be snapped up when US firm Entergy bought it in 1996 for £1.3bn ($2.1bn).

However, it sold the company two years later for £1.9bn to France's EDF, which later bought up two neighbouring power firms and merged them into a new company, EDF Energy.

The capital's water company, Thames Water, has been owned by Germany's RWE since 2001, while Wessex Water passed into Malaysian hands the following year.

RWE also bought Innogy, Npower and Yorkshire Power, while another German company, E.ON, owns gas and electricity company Powergen.

Among other privatised firms, British Steel, which was sold off in 1988, has been part of the Corus Group since 1999, when it merged with a Dutch rival.

Even companies that are not controlled by overseas firms may have a substantial proportion of their shares owned by foreigners. About 35% of all shares in companies listed on the FTSE-100 index are in the hands of non-UK investors.

What are the political implications of all this?

Opening up Britain's state-controlled monopolies to free-market competition was the aim of Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives in the 1980s.

Far from opposing the consequences of this process, Tony Blair's Labour government has defended them.

Mr Blair said earlier this month, in the wake of the BAA announcement, that foreign takeovers of British airports and utility firms should not be a political issue.

He said what was best for UK consumers was a free market with shareholders, not politicians, deciding who was the best management team.

Back in March, Mr Blair defended foreign ownership of utilities, saying: "Liberalised energy markets and more open markets are good for business and for consumers right across Europe."

Does the rest of Europe agree?

Not necessarily. As far as energy is concerned, Britain is arguably in the vanguard of moves by the European Commission to shake up the sector and offer consumers more choice.

But in other areas of economic endeavour, the issue of who is allowed to own key assets has been fraught with controversy - even for governments that profess to abide by free-trade principles.

France's Veolia is one European company with a stake in the British water industry, owning three companies in south-eastern England. But the French government is happier to let its firms buy assets abroad than it is to allow foreign takeovers of French firms.

Last year, President Jacques Chirac reacted hotly to rumours that US drinks giant Pepsico was poised to bid for food firm Danone. The bid speculation turned out to be unfounded, but the episode prompted Anglo-Saxon free-marketeers to ridicule France as a country where yogurt was a "strategic" industry.

What about the US? Surely Washington is more "laissez-faire" than the French?

Again, not necessarily - as shown by the row in the US earlier this year over the sale of UK-based ports and shipping group P&O to Dubai Ports World, from the United Arab Emirates. US politicians mounted a campaign to stop DPW taking control over management at six key US ports, citing security fears.

President George W Bush said their opposition sent a bad signal to Washington's allies. He was backed by economic pundits who said it would give the impression that no Middle East company was allowed to invest in the US. But it was all to no avail - and DPW eventually had to get rid of its entire US operation in order to placate Congress.

Back in the UK, is there no limit to what Britain will sell to foreign firms?

One possibility which makes UK politicians distinctly uneasy is the prospect that Russia's state-owned Gazprom might enter the UK energy market.

At stake is British Gas, which was privatised in 1986 and is now owned by a company named Centrica.

The deputy chairman of Gazprom's board, Alexander Medvedev, has admitted Centrica is on its list of potential takeover targets.

But Russia's apparent willingness to use energy supplies as a political weapon - as shown by its cutting of gas supplies to Ukraine earlier this year - makes the issue problematic.

Chancellor Gordon Brown has said such a takeover might raise "political issues".

The Conservatives agree, with shadow trade and industry secretary Alan Duncan saying there should be "no question" of Gazprom being able to buy a UK utility without the company's management being decoupled from the Russian government.

The owner of Ipswich, Plymouth, Hull, Swansea, Ayr and Southampton ports, among others, handles about a quarter of the UK's seaborne traffic. The deal is the latest in a string of takeovers of British port owners in anticipation of rising global trade. Although the company's board has accepted the bid, there is talk of other bidders possibly entering the fray.

PORTS BEING SOLD

Ayr, Barrow, Barry, Cardiff, Fleetwood, Garston, Goole, Grimsby, Hull, Immingham, Ipswich, King's Lynn, Lowestoft, Newport, Plymouth, Port Talbot, Silloth, Southampton, Swansea, Teignmouth, Troon

Stockbroker Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein bought a large chunk of ABP shares on Wednesday and, according to the Reuters news agency, it was not acting on behalf of the consortium.

"At this stage, there is one bidder on the table but there are a lot of rumours in the market," said Gerald Khoo, an analyst at Oriel Securities.

However, ABP said it had not received any further approaches.

Foreign buyers

The spectacular growth of the Chinese and Indian economies has fuelled interest in infrastructure and cargo handling assets.

P&O was bought in a controversial deal by Dubai Ports World for $6.8bn earlier this year, while Mersey Docks and PD Ports have also been taken over during the past year.

If approved by shareholders, many of the UK's leading ports - including Tilbury and Southampton - will pass into foreign ownership.

The deal comes only days after BAA, the owner of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, agreed to be bought by the Spanish company Grupo Ferrovial.

ABP employs 3,000 staff worldwide, the bulk of which are UK-based.

The company operates container services at Southampton and Tilbury on a joint venture basis while its US business, Amports, handles vehicle imports and exports.

ABP began life as the British Transport Docks Board in 1962. It was privatised in 1982 and floated on the stock market a year later. It expanded into the US in 1998.

Multinational consortium

ABP rejected a 730 pence per share bid from the consortium in March, branding the offer "wholly inadequate".
However, when the consortium returned with an improved offer last month, ABP agreed to open its books to the group.

Other members of the consortium include Canadian investment firm Borealis Infrastructure Management Inc. ("Borealis") and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, which invests the island's substantial foreign reserves.

"ABP is a unique strategic asset," said ABP chairman Chris Clark. "The consortium's offer reflects that and recognises the strong operational and financial performance of the business."

Shares in the company rose strongly on the news of the deal, gaining 61.50 pence, or nearly 8%, to 838.50p.

Abu Bakar Ba'asyir was found guilty in March 2005 of conspiracy in connection with the bomb plot, but he was cleared of more serious charges.

Security experts say the cleric is a founding member of a regional Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

Supporters gathered outside the prison, cheering as he left the building.

Australia, from where many of those killed in the Bali nightclub bombs came, has said it is disappointed by the cleric's release.

The BBC's Rachel Harvey, in Jakarta, says Ba'asyir emerged into bright sunlight and a crowd of supporters, police and journalists.

Ba'asyir's legal wrangles

He was freed about one hour ahead of schedule, surprising many - including his lawyer, who did not arrive at the jail until his client had been whisked away.

He was thought to be travelling straight to his home town of Solo, in central Java, where he runs an Islamic school.

Wearing his trademark white skullcap and thick spectacles, the elderly cleric tried to give a brief speech, but his voice was barely heard among the shouting, our correspondent adds.

"I will continue to fight to uphold the Islamic Sharia," he said, thanking Allah and his lawyers for continuing to support him, the Associated Press reported him as saying.

With the crowd becoming increasingly excited, a group of young men formed a human barrier to allow Ba'asyir to move through the sea of jostling people towards a waiting car.

Back to teaching

Ba'asyir was first arrested shortly after the Bali nightclub bombings in October 2002, although he was never accused of taking part in the attack.

Two bombs ripped through the Kuta area of Bali, a regular haunt for tourists, destroying a nightclub and killing mainly foreigners.

Ba'asyir was held in custody and faced two separate trials, eventually serving two separate sentences, the first for minor immigration offences, the second for being part of what the court called an "evil conspiracy".

In both cases more serious charges were either dropped or later overturned on appeal.

Indonesian and foreign intelligence agencies believe Ba'asyir was, and perhaps still is, the spiritual leader of radical network JI.

Our correspondent says Ba'asyir's power lies in his ability, as a charismatic preacher and teacher, to provide encouragement - and some would argue ideological justification - for violence.

However, many experts believe his influence within JI has waned, and the situation has changed hugely since he was imprisoned.

JI's network is fractured, split between those who espouse violence as part of what they say is legitimate and necessary jihad, and those who believe in a longer term struggle requiring patient proselytizing and military preparation, our correspondent says.

Survivors' outrage

Members of JI are accused of being behind a number of operations in Indonesia, including two suicide attacks in Jakarta and the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings.

But most of these attacks took place while Ba'asyir was in prison and he denies JI even exists.

He claims he was the victim of an American-inspired plot to undermine Islam.

The 68-year-old cleric has said that once released he planned to return to the boarding-school he founded and to continue teaching.

Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer said he feared that Ba'asyir could now incite further violence.

Mr Downer said that Australia and the US regard Ba'asyir as an extremist and want his travel restricted and financial assets frozen.

Survivors of the bombings have expressed their outrage and frustration that Ba'asyir has walked free after just two years in prison.

"I think the Indonesian government need to have a good look at themselves," Peter Hughes, who survived with burns to 56% of his body, told the Associated Press.

But Mr Downer said that Canberra accepted the decision of the Indonesian legal system.

The BBC's Phil Mercer in Sydney says the Bali bombings brought Australia to the front line of international terrorism for the first time, hardening the government's resolve to fight alongside the US in its war on terror.

Now, British investigative journalist Melanie Phillips reveals how widespread Muslim immigration into Great Britain, and the country's paralysis by multiculturalism and fear, has created a fifth column of jihadists plotting against the West from deep inside its bosom.

Londonistan paints a picture of a country so terrified of giving offense to its Muslim minority that it has been cowed by radical clerics. Institutions across British society -- the judiciary, security circles, the Church of England, the universities, the media -- have all been reduced to silence or appeasement. With the resulting license to incite hatred and terror, London's mosques have churned out literally thousands of foot soldiers in Islamic terrorism's war against the West -- including shoe-bomber Richard Reid, 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui, and the British Muslims who perpetrated last year's hideous London Underground and bus bombings that killed 52 people.

The result, Phillips shows, is an ugly climate in Britain of fear and defeatism, which now threatens to undermine the alliance with America and imperil the defense of the free world. In the end, she argues, British authorities are walking the same path as those who capitulated to Adolf Hitler -- a strategy that is as likely to earn peace as Neville Chamberlain's.

Among the disturbing revelations in Londonistan:

• Why Great Britain can be described as the birthplace of al-Qaeda
• Why Brits can thank Prince Charles for London's leading radical mosque, Finsbury Park
• How the British push toward multiculturalism has provided cover for jihadist forces plotting terrorism
• How British universities are being used as a major recruiting ground for Islamic terrorism
• Plans for a 70,000 person mosque to be erected next to the Olympic Stadium in time for the 2012 games
• Why the legions of Muslims in Britain who are British citizens not only feel no allegiance to their country, but are actively hostile to it
• The newest political party in Europe: both far left and Islamist ... And winning elections
• How Muslim leaders in Britain are demanding -- and are getting -- special rights, along with the special application of Islamic religious law ("Sharia
• How the toleration by British authorities of Sharia law in certain quarters could lead to the effective legalization of polygamy
• How the British Left has endorsed and advanced the grotesque anti-Semitism that infuses Islamism
• The wholesale abdication by the Church of England in the face of this threat
• How the British government is manipulated by the country's radical Muslim clerics
• How leading Brits are bending backwards to appease and accommodate a radical community bent on their annihilation
• Why British police and intelligence services are impotent in the face of this growing threat
• How Great Britain's failure to deal with its radical Islam problem could lead to a breakup of its "special relationship" with the US

"One of the most compelling books you will ever read on the ascendancy of Islamic fundamentalism, violence and intimidation in the West. Melanie Phillips exposes the scandalous appeasement of militant Islam by British officials, the media, even the Church of England, capturing in extraordinary detail how British society and institutions have either ignored or actively fostered the growth of extremist groups on British soil. This book will both enlighten and enrage. Although its story is focused on the United Kingdom, it could be applied to any European capital or to the United States." -- Steven Emerson, author of American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us

"A last-minute warning for Britain and for much of the free world. In the 1930s, Britain was the leading appeaser of the world's most intransigent foe, refusing to see the gathering signs of danger until it was almost too late. Today, the same tendency to appeasement and self-delusion is evident again -- only now, the threat is within. Britain refuses to recognize the clear and present danger of Islamism inside its own borders, which steadily corrodes its social values and moral compass." -- Nathan Sharansky, author of The Case for Democracy.

WASHINGTON: Two years ago, he was as lonely as the Maytag repairman an obscure congressman trying desperately to raise the visibility of an issue he believed threatened the very security of the U.S.

More recently, he has become a force to be reckoned with, the leader of a powerful House caucus, a Republican who has taken on the president, a man respected for outspoken positions and the political force behind what has become the hottest issue in the nation.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus and the undisputed heavyweight champion of the border security issue in the nation's capital, now tells the whole story of the threats facing the nation, the solutions within its grasp and his own personal quest to awaken the political establishment to the seething discontentment gripping America as a result of illegal immigration.

In his new book, "In Mortal Danger," published by WND Books, Tancredo warns that the country is on a course to the dustbin of history. Like the great and mighty empires of the past, he writes, superpowers that once stretched from horizon to horizon, America is heading down the road to ruin.

English historian Edward Gibbon, in penning his classic "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (ironically published in the year America's Founding Fathers declared independence from Great Britain), theorized that Rome fell because it rotted from within. It succumbed to barbarian invasions because of a loss of civic virtue, its citizens became lazy and soft, hiring barbarian mercenaries to defend the empire because they were unwilling to defend it themselves.

Tancredo says America is following in the tragic footsteps of Rome.

Living up to his reputation for candor, Tancredo explains how the economic success and historical military prowess of the United States has transformed a nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles of right and wrong into an overindulgent, self-deprecating, immoral cesspool of depravity.

His recipe for turning things around?

Without strong, moral leadership, without a renewed sense of purpose, without a rededication to family and community, without shunning the race hustlers and pop-culture sham artists, without protecting borders, language and culture, the nation that once was "the land of the free and home of the brave" and the "one last best hope of mankind" will repeat the catastrophic mistakes of the past, he writes.

Tancredo, born and raised in Colorado, represents Colorado's 6th district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Prior to his election to Congress in 1998, Tancredo worked as a schoolteacher, was elected to the Colorado State House of Representatives in 1976, was appointed by President Reagan as the secretary of education's regional representative in 1981, and served as president of the Independence Institute. He serves on the International Relations Committee, the Resources Committee and the Budget Committee, and is the chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. Tancredo and his wife, Jackie, reside in Littleton, Colo.

The trial opened Monday in Bergamo, Italy, and quickly was adjourned, according to the Associated Press. It is set to resume June 26. The 75-year-old Fallaci, who also suffers from cancer, faces a possible three-year prison term. Italian law prohibits "outrage" toward religion.

Although not as well known in the U.S., Fallaci has been recognized as an illustrious journalist in Europe for decades. Known for her aggressive interviews of Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat and Ayatollah Khomeini, her books have sold millions.

Italian judge Armando Grasso agreed to hear the case after Adel Smith, president of the Muslim Union of Italy, charged the book is "offensive to Islam and Muslims." Smith also wants the court to conclude the book incites religious hatred.

This is the first time a judge has ordered a trial for "defamation of Islam," and some other judges are concerned.

On his website, Jihad Watch founder and researcher Robert Spencer lists quotes from the book that have angered Smith and his group:

Over the last twenty years, terrorists have killed six thousand people 'to the glory of the Quran in obedience to its verses.'"

"The mutilation that the Muslims force on little girls to prevent them, once they are grown from enjoying the sexual act. It is a female castration that the Muslims practice in twenty-eight countries of Islamic Africa and because of which to million persons die each year from sepsis or loss of blood. "

The revolting, reactionary, obtuse, feudal Right is found today only in Islam. It is Islam."

"The Force of Reason" asserts that by not defending its identity, Europe is giving in to an invasion of Islam. Fallaci discusses how the political history of Europe has caused complacency toward the growing Muslim population. She believes leaders are making accommodations in the name of multi-culturalism, citing stunning accounts of officials looking the other way when Muslim men beat their wives and the allowance of Muslim women to take ID photographs with their heads covered.

Another Fallaci book, "The Rage and the Pride," is a post-9/11 account of why Muslims are determined to conquer the West, with approval from Europe.

In response to Fallaci's books, the Italian Islamic Party has put together a pamphlet, "Islam Punishes Oriana Fallaci," with little outcry from the public.

Some intellectuals in her home country also have expressed contempt toward Fallaci. A Milan art gallery featured a portrait of a decapitated Fallaci in a recent exhibit of Giuseppe Veneziano's "American Beauty," a series of paintings designed to highlight the "weakness and perversity of the American way of life." Spencer calls the display an illustration of the "deep affinity between the Left and the forces of global jihad."

Fallaci is living in hiding in the U.S. because of death threats. She refuses to attend her trial.

The leader, who was dismissed from his Waqf position after he quietly made his beliefs known, said Al Aqsa custodians passed down stories for centuries from generation to generation indicating the mosque was built at the site of the former Jewish Temples.

He said the Muslim world's widespread denial of the existence of the Jewish temples is political in nature and is not rooted in facts.

"Prophet Solomon built his famous Temple at the same place that later the Al Aqsa Mosque was built. It cannot be a coincidence that these different holy sites were built at the same place. The Jewish Temple Mount existed," said the former senior Waqf leader, speaking to WorldNetDaily from an apartment in an obscure alley in Jerusalem's Old City.

The former leader, who is well known to Al Aqsa scholars and Waqf officials, spoke on condition his name be withheld, claiming an on-the-record interview would endanger his life.

While the Islamic leader's statements may seem elementary to many in the West, especially in light of overwhelming archaeological evidence documenting the history of the Jewish temples and description of services there in the Torah, his words break with mainstream thinking in much of the Muslim world, which believes the Jewish temples never existed.

"I am mentioning historical facts," said the former leader. "I know that the traditional denial about the temple existing at the same place as Al Aqsa is more a political denial. Unfortunately our religious and political leaders chose the option of denial to fight the Jewish position and demands regarding Al Aqsa and taking back the Temple Mount compound. In my opinion we should admit the truth and abandon our traditional position."

The leader said his conclusion that the Jewish temples existed does not forfeit what he calls "Islamic rights" to the Temple Mount and Al Aqsa Mosque.

"Yes, the temple existed. But now it is the place of the mosque of the religious who came to complete the divine religion [that started with Judaism] and to improve humanity," said the leader.

"We believe that Islam is the third and last religion. It came to complete the monotheistic message. The mosque is here at the place of the temple to serve for the same purpose, for the work Allah"

Al Aqsa Mosque built by angels?

The First Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century B.C. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70. Each temple stood for a period of about four centuries.

The Jewish Temple, mentioned hundreds of times in the Torah, was the center of religious Jewish worship. It housed the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was said to be the area upon which God's "presence" dwelt.

The temple served as the primary location for the offering of sacrifices and was the main gathering place in Israel during Jewish holidays.

The Temple Mount compound has remained a focal point for Jewish services over the millennia. Prayers for a return to Jerusalem have been uttered by Jews since the Second Temple was destroyed, according to Jewish tradition. Jews worldwide pray facing toward the Western Wall, a portion of an outer courtyard of the Temple left in tact.

The Al Aqsa Mosque was constructed in about 709 to serve as a shrine near another nearby shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic caliph. Al Aqsa was meant to mark what Muslims came to believe may have been the place at which Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven during a dream to receive revelations from Allah.

Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran. Islamic tradition states Mohammed took a journey in a single night from "a sacred mosque" ? believed to in Mecca in southern Saudi Arabia ? to "the farthest mosque" and from a rock there ascended to heaven. The farthest mosque later became associated with Jerusalem.

Muslims worldwide deny the Jewish temples ever existed in spite of what many call overwhelming archaeological evidence, including the discovery of Temple-era artifacts linked to worship, tunnels that snake under the Temple Mount and over 100 ritual immersion pools believed to have been used by Jewish priests to cleanse themselves before services. The cleansing process is detailed in the Torah.

According to the website of the Palestinian Authority's Office for Religious Affairs, the Temple Mount is Muslim property. The site claims the Western Wall, which it refers to as the Al-Boraq Wall, previously was a docking station for horses. It states Muhammed tied his horse, named Boraq, to the wall before ascending to heaven.

In a previous interview with WorldNetDaily, Kamal Hatib, vice-chairman of the Islamic Movement, claimed the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built by angels and that a Jewish Temple may have existed but not in Jerusalem. The Movement, which works closely with the Waqf, is the Muslim group in Israel most identified with the Temple Mount.

"When the First Temple was built by Solomon ? God bless him ? Al Aqsa was already built. We don't believe that a prophet like Solomon would have built the Temple at a place where a mosque existed," said Hatib.

"And all the historical and archaeological facts deny any relation between the temples and the location of Al Aqsa. We must know that Jerusalem was occupied and that people left many things, coins and other things everywhere. This does not mean in any way that there is a link between the people who left these things and the place where these things were left," Hatib said.

'True' Islamic tradition affirms temples

But the former senior Wafq leader told WND "true" Islamic tradition relates the Jewish temples once stood at the site of the Al Asa Mosque. He said Al Aqsa custodians passed down history over the centuries indicating the mosque was built at the site of the former Jewish temples.

"[The existence of the Jewish Temple at the site is obvious] according to studies, researches and archaeological signs that we were also exposed to. But especially according to the history that passed from one generation to another ? we believe Al Aqsa was built on the same place were the Temple of the Jews ? the first monotheistic religion ? existed."

He cited samples of some stories he said were related orally by Islamic leaders:

"We learned that the Christians, especially those who believed that Jesus was crucified by the Jews, used to throw their garbage at the Temple Mount site. They used to throw the pieces of cotton and other material Christian women used in cleaning the blood of their monthly cycle. Doing so they believed that they were humiliating, insulting and harming the Jews at their holiest site. This way they are hurting them like Jews hurt Christians when crucifying Jesus.

"It is known also that most of the first guards of Al Aqsa when it was built were Jews. The Muslims knew at that time that they could not find any more loyal and faithful than the Jews to guard the mosque and its compound. They knew that the Jews have a special relation with this place."

Temple Mount: No-prayer zone

Currently, even though the Jewish state controls Jerusalem, the Waqf serve as the custodians of the Temple Mount under a deal made with the Israeli government that restricts non-Muslim prayer at the site.

The Temple Mount was opened to the general public until September 2000, when the Palestinians started their intifada by throwing stones at Jewish worshipers after then-candidate for prime minister Ariel Sharon visited the area.

Following the onset of violence, the new Sharon government closed the Mount to non-Muslims, using checkpoints to control all pedestrian traffic for fear of further clashes with the Palestinians.

The Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims in August 2003. It still is open but only Sundays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays or other days considered "sensitive" by the Waqf.

During "open" days, Jews and Christian are allowed to ascend the Mount, usually through organized tours and only if they conform first to a strict set of guidelines, which includes demands that they not pray or bring any "holy objects" to the site. Visitors are banned from entering any of the mosques without direct Waqf permission. Rules are enforced by Waqf agents, who watch tours closely and alert nearby Israeli police to any breaking of their guidelines.

The former senior Waqf leader said the Jewish temples have lost their purpose:

"As we are the religion who are here to correct everything that was before us there is no need for the Temple. Allah chose Islam as its final and favorite religion."

"Globalization makes assimilation seem redundant and old-fashioned . . . [the process] acts as a sort of reverse colonization, where groups of people are self-contained, going back and forth between their countries, exploiting sophisticated networks and using instant communication on phones and the Internet," he said.

Describing the threats as the new Goths and Vandals, Parry said that along with the migrations could come "barbary" pirates from northern African attacking yachts and beaches in the Mediterranean within 10 years.

"At some time in the next 10 years it may not be safe to sail a yacht between Gibraltar and Malta," said the admiral, according to the Times.

Parry, head of the development, concepts and doctrine center at Britain's Ministry of Defense, delivered the warnings at a conference last week of senior officers and industry experts.

He is responsible for identifying the greatest challenges facing national security policy in the future.

Lawmakers in Britain have made ancient Rome a serious subject of discussion this year, the London paper noted, including a book and television series by parliamentary deputy Boris Johnson drawing parallels between the European Union and the Roman Empire.

Various regions of Europe, Parry said, are threatened by factors such as radical Islam, agricultural decline, booming youth populations, water shortages and rising sea levels.

He believes that from 2012 to 2018 the current global power structure likely will crumble as a result of "irregular activity" such as terrorism, organized crime and "white companies" of mercenaries burgeoning in lawless areas.

Meanwhile, nations such as China, India, Brazil and Iran will challenge America's sole superpower status, Parry said.

The effects will be magnified as borders become more porous and some areas lose government control.

"When one thinks of 20,000 so-called jihadists currently fly-papered in Iraq, one shudders to think where they might go next," he said.

The mass population movements could lead to the "Rome scenario," he asserts, referring to the collapse of the western Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries when groups such as Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Suevi, Huns and Vandals flooded its borders.

Rome eventually was taken over in 455 in an invasion from northern Africa by Geiseric the Lame, king of the Alans and Vandals.

Parry estimates in Britain alone there already are 70 diasporas.

Speaking with tongue-in-cheek, Parry said some of the consequences of this scenario would be beyond human imagination to address, including, "No wind on land and sea; third of population dies instantly; perpetual darkness; sores; Euphrates dries up 'to clear way for kings from the east'; earth's core opens."

The most dangerous time in any child's life is his or her first nine months. That's because abortion takes one out of every four children conceived in America, making the route from womb to tomb very short for millions of unborn boys and girls. "Struggling for Life" provides a shocking glimpse into how your tax dollars and twisted biomedical research are targeting the unborn. Written by Dr. Kelly Hollowell, WND contributor and founder of Science Ministries, Inc., this riveting, sometimes personal account details the gushing flow of federal dollars into the coffers of America's leading abortion performer.

It doesn't help that American taxpayers underwrite the nation's leading abortion performer, Planned Parenthood, which took in $265 million in government grants and contracts in 2003-2004 and killed 244,628 unborn children. Now taxpayers are being asked to fund medical research that kills five- to seven-day-old humans in order to harvest their stem cells. We are in an historic struggle to protect life from those who seek to profit from the unborn.

"Struggling for Life" also scrutinizes the inflated claims of those in the scientific community who want taxpayers to pay for research that destroys human embryos. Dr. Hollowell, a Senior Bioethics Strategist at the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, also lays out an innovative four-step strategy to restore legal protection to unborn children.

The evidence of this almost unthinkable scenario is everywhere:

SCHOOL: In public school classrooms across America, in every category and every demographic group, boys are falling behind. Girls excel and move on to college, where three out of five students are female, while young boys who don't naturally thrive when forced to sit still at a desk for six hours a day are diagnosed by the millions with new diseases that didn't exist a generation ago. To make their behavior more acceptable, they are compelled to take hazardous psycho-stimulant drugs like Ritalin.

Boys are more than 50 percent more likely to repeat elementary school grades than girls, a third more likely to drop out of high school and twice as likely to have a "learning disability." And the suicide rate among teen boys is far higher than that of girls.

"What we have done," explains Thomas Mortenson, senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, "is we have a K-12 school system that seems to work relatively well for girls and does not work for a very large share of boys."

HOME: It's well known that roughly half of America's marriages end in divorce, but not nearly as well known that two out of three of those divorces are initiated by the wives. Moreover, America's family court system is scandalously biased in favor of the mother in child custody disputes. Fathers get custody of children in uncontested cases only 10 percent of the time and 15 percent of the time in contested cases. Meanwhile, mothers get sole custody 66 percent of the time in uncontested cases and 75 percent of the time in contested cases.

"Where you have minor children, there's really no such thing as no-fault divorce for fathers," says Detroit attorney Philip Holman, vice president of the National Congress for Fathers and Children. "On the practical level, fathers realize that divorce means they lose their kids."

Unfortunately, this loss by children of their fathers' influence is directly responsible far more than any other cause for the modern national scourges of gang life, crime and much more.

CULTURE: Fifty years ago, "Father knows best" was a hit TV show, in which insurance agent Jim Anderson (actor Robert Young) would come home from work each evening, trade his sport jacket for a nice, comfortable sweater, and then deal with the everyday growing-up problems of his family. He could always be counted on to resolve that week's crisis with a combination of kindness, fatherly strength and common sense.

Today, television virtually always portrays husbands as bumbling losers or contemptible, self-absorbed egomaniacs. Whether in dramas, comedies or commercials, the patriarchy is dead, at least on TV where men are fools unless of course they're gay. On "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," the "fab five" are supremely knowledgeable on all things hip, their life's highest purpose being to help those less fortunate than themselves that is, straight men to become cool.

As this issue of Whistleblower shows, experts like Ph.D. scholar Christina Hoff Sommers, author of "The War Against Boys," agree: "It's a bad time to be a boy in America." Sommers provides example after example of what can only be called an all-out anti-male campaign:

"The carnage committed by two boys in Littleton, Colorado," declares the Congressional Quarterly Researcher, "has forced the nation to reexamine the nature of boyhood in America." William Pollack, director of the Center for Men at McLean Hospital and author of the best-selling "Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood," tells audiences around the country, "The boys in Littleton are the tip of the iceberg. And the iceberg is all boys."
In fact, Sommers reveals, it has become fashionable in elitist circles to conspire to change boys' very identity:

There are now conferences, workshops, and institutes dedicated to transforming boys. Carol Gilligan, professor of gender studies at Harvard Graduate School of Education, writes of the problem of "boys' masculinity in a patriarchal social order." Barney Brawer, director of the Boys' Project at Tufts University, told Education Week: "We've deconstructed the old version of manhood, but we've not [yet] constructed a new version." In the spring of 2000, the Boys' Project at Tufts offered five workshops on "reinventing Boyhood." The planners promised emotionally exciting sessions: "We'll laugh and cry, argue and agree, reclaim and sustain the best parts of the culture of boys and men, while figuring out how to change the terrible parts."
"Terrible"? As this edition of Whistleblower shows, there is nothing wrong and a very great deal right with boys and masculinity. As maverick feminist Camille Paglia courageously reminds her men-hating colleagues, masculinity is "the most creative cultural force in history."

"The problem," said David Kupelian, managing editor of WND and Whistleblower, "is that misguided feminists, intent on advancing a radically different worldview than the one on which this nation was founded, have succeeded in fomenting a revolution. And that revolution amounts to a powerful and pervasive campaign against masculinity, maleness, boys, men and patriarchy."

A school in Surrey is beginning a separate trial into the effects of food supplements, diet and exercise.

Research suggests that Omega 3 and 6 oils boost learning abilities - but some studies have cast doubt on this.

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) will base any advice on the outcome of the Food Standards Agency review.

Nutrients
A DfES spokesman said: "The government is committed to ensuring that children are provided with the healthy food and nutrients they require during the school day, not just to aid their physical health, but to ensure they can study hard and behave well.

"The Food Standards Agency is currently conducting a systematic review of research looking at the effect of nutrition and diet on performance and behaviour of children in schools.

"This includes investigating studies that have used Omega 3 and 6 fish oil supplements in schools. While this work is not yet concluded, we will of course examine its results with interest."

Revamp
A revamp of school meals is intended to stipulate regular inclusion of oily fish in the school menu.

A spokeswoman for the FSA said: "Oily fish should be part of a healthy balanced diet. Evidence on the benefits of fish consumption is currently limited to cardiovascular diseases.

"No clear conclusions can be drawn for other health benefits, including the association of all aspects of diet and performance in children." Several local education authorities have organised trials of fish oil supplements.

More than 120 pupils aged between six and 12 took part in trials organised by Durham County Council.
Half used a combination of omega 3 fish oil and omega 6 evening primrose oil and half an olive oil placebo.
It suggested that after three months the group taking the natural fatty acids had significantly improved behaviour.

Schoolchildren across Teesside are also taking fish oil supplements after an initial pilot suggested positive results.

Cricket Green school in Merton, Surrey, is launching a trial organised by the not-for-profit Food For the Brain campaign.

'Culture of food'
Pupils at Cricket Green, a special school, have undergone a "nutritional makeover" involving workshops for parents and teachers as well as pupils. In preparation for the nine-month trial the parents and teachers have been taught to cook while the school has instigated a strict rule of no sugary drinks, no crisps and no confectionery.

The children also have access to water at all times and take part in daily structured exercise. A second school, a standard state primary, will join the trial in September and the campaign aims to work with 100 schools.

Campaign founder, nutritionist Patrick Holford, said: "The purpose of this trial is not just to prove what works but also to prove what works in terms of changing the whole culture of food in the community."

He added: "Kids used to have cod liver oil which is a supplement. A fact is a quarter of a million children are medicated with drugs like Ritalin - the evidence is that this number could be halved by giving food for the brain."

The warning from Longboat Key near Sarasota to the Ochlockonee River south of Tallahassee means Tropical Storm Alberto was expected to produce hurricane conditions within the next 24 hours.

A tropical storm warning remains in effect for Longboat Key to Englewood. (Projected path)

"We're talking about powerful forces of nature," Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said. "People need to take this very seriously."

At 11 a.m., Alberto's winds had increased to 70 mph, up from 50 mph just three hours earlier. The storm was centered about 190 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola and was moving north-northeast at about 7 mph, National Hurricane Center forecasters said.

The storm's sustained winds would have to hit 74 mph to make it a hurricane.(Web site taking bets on deadliness of hurricanes -- 2:28)

Alberto's core wasn't expected to reach Florida until Tuesday, but with tropical storm-force wind stretching 230 miles from the center, powerful gusts may be felt long before it makes landfall.

The storm's outer bands brought rain on the state Sunday, and forecasters warned that tornadoes were possible in west-central and northwestern Florida Monday night.

Heavy rain from Alberto drenched Havana, Cuba, and Pinar del Rio province to the west throughout the weekend, causing some minor street flooding. The official Prensa Latina news agency reported Monday a handful of old buildings around Havana crumbled in the heavy rains, a common occurrence during even the weakest storms, but there were no immediate reports of other major damage or injuries.

In Florida, 4 to 10 inches of rain could fall on the peninsula through Tuesday, forecasters said.

The prospect of a rain -- as long as it didn't come with hurricane-force wind -- was welcomed by firefighters who have been battling wildfires for six weeks on Florida's Atlantic coast.

"A good soaking rain would do a lot to help stop the fires in our area," said Pat Kuehn, a spokeswoman for Volusia County Fire Services. "It has been a hard fire season. We've had several fires a week here."

The tropical depression that produced Alberto formed Saturday, nine days after the official start of the hurricane season, in the northwest Caribbean, which can produce typically weak storms that follow a similar track this time of year, forecasters said. It became a named storm when its sustained winds reached 39 mph.

Scientists say the 2006 season could produce as many as 16 named storms, six of them major hurricanes.

Last year's hurricane season was the most destructive on record. Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi and was blamed for more than 1,570 deaths among Louisiana residents alone.

It also was the busiest in 154 years of storm tracking, with a records 28 named storms and a record 15 hurricanes. Meteorologists used up their list of 21 proper names -- beginning with Arlene and ending with Wilma -- and had to use the Greek alphabet to name storms for the first time.

The first named storm of 2005 was Tropical Storm Arlene, which formed June 9 and made landfall just west of Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle

Seismic activity has been mounting since February at the volcano, about 470 miles southeast of the Peruvian capital of Lima. Ubinas erupted April 14, sending a column of ash some 2,600 feet into the air.

Tents, blankets and food were distributed to the 144 families who evacuated to a camp six miles from their village, Jose Acosta, a Civil Defense Institute official, said Saturday.

Another 150 families will be evacuated by Sunday, said Acosta, adding that the villagers will be allowed to return to their homes if the threat decreases.

Winds have carried smoke and volcanic ash into the neighboring highland region of Puno, where residents have complained of headaches and stomachaches, the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio reported.

The country's Air Force Command accused the US of carrying out three aerial espionage missions in the last week.

The command said it believed the US was preparing to attack and suggested it would resort to shooting down US spy planes if they continued their flights.

Correspondents say Pyongyang often alleges that spying flights are taking place - the US does not comment.

Warning

The Korean People's Army (KPA) Air Force Command said an RC-135 plane had flown over territorial waters on 6, 8 and 10 June .

In a statement it said the US flights were "openly crying out for a pre-emptive attack" on the country.

The command said the espionage missions were a "violent infringement of [North Korea's] sovereignty and a grave violation of international law".

It continued: "The KPA Air Force seriously warns the US imperialists that it will sternly punish the aggressors if their planes continue illegally intruding into the sky ... on espionage missions.

"They had better not forget the wretched fate of the EC-121 large spy plane in the 1960s," it added.

In 1969 North Korean fighters shot a US plane down off the country's east coast, killing all of the 31 crew on board

Prostitution was legalized in Germany in 2002 and already by last year the situation for women was dramatic, warned the British newspaper Telegraph in an article Jan. 30, 2005.

The article recounted the experience of a 25-year-old woman who, after turning down a job providing "sexual services" at a brothel in Berlin, faced possible cuts to her unemployment benefits.

Brothel owners enjoy access to official databases of those registered for unemployment benefits. The woman, unnamed in the article, had said that she was willing to work in a bar at night and had worked in a café. Later she received a letter from the job center saying that an employer was interested in her and that she should ring them. Only then did she realize that she was calling a brothel.

Germany's welfare laws oblige woman under 55 who have been out of work for more than a year to take an available job -- including in the sex industry -- or lose benefits, the Telegraph reported. The government had considered making brothels an exception, but eventually ruled this out.

Brunhilde Raiser, director of the National Council of German Women's Organizations, declared that in her country, "Forced prostitution has yet to become a public issue of concern as a severe violation of human and women's rights." Her remarks appeared May 5 in the Christian Science Monitor, ahead of the June 9-July 9 World Cup.

Red card

Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, was interviewed by Vatican Radio on Thursday about the problem of prostitution during the soccer tournament.

Adopting soccer terminology, he said that the sex industry, its clients, and the public authorities merited a "red card" for taking advantage of the sporting event to promote prostitution. He cited estimates that up to 40,000 women, many of them against their own volition, will be engaged in centers set up for prostitution in Berlin and surrounding areas in these weeks.