Two groups of Iraqis, the Kurds and the Shias, make up a majority of the population and since the US-led invasion of 2003, they have taken control of the government. Before then, they were the oppressed as Saddam Hussein ruled with absolute ruthlessness through his Sunni-dominated military and intelligence services.

The plight of the Kurds became well known around the world in 1988 when the Kurdish town of Halabja in eastern Iraq was gassed. The atrocity was but part of a wider campaign against the Kurds, which had its own name - the "Anfal". Saddam Hussein did not trust them. He accused them of wanting a separate state and of helping the Iranians with whom he was at war.

Reporters who penetrated the Kurdish region of northern Iraq after the defeat of Saddam Hussein in Kuwait in the first Gulf War of 1991 found a wasteland. Village after village had been destroyed. Piles of rubble told where houses had been. In the midst of the destruction there lay a splendid palace built by Saddam Hussein for himself.

In the south, the Shias, encouraged by a call to arms by the then US President George Bush senior, rose up. But there was no help from outside and Iraqi helicopter gunships established the control by violence that was the hallmark of Saddam Hussein's rule. It is no wonder therefore that the Kurds and the Shias will not shed tears for him.

Some, many even, among the Sunni population will. Saddam had his power base among them and they powerfully support the insurgency. To them he was an Iraqi hero who had overthrown the old ways and had given them pride.

Others, especially the middle classes of all backgrounds - might look back to the days when they could walk the streets and drive around the country with no fear of being blown up.
Saddam Hussein never ruled over a land at peace and at ease with its neighbours and the world.

His execution marks the end of a chapter. But it does not mark the end of the chaos that Iraq faces. His fate has become almost a sideshow in the great struggle now unfolding in Iraq. His dying wish, expressed in a letter written in jail, called for Iraqis to unite. They are unlikely to listen.

The Bush administration, struggling to set a new course in Iraq, will try to make capital out of Saddam Hussein's removal. But it was thought when he was captured in December 2003 ("We got him," declared the American administrator Paul Bremer) that it would demoralise the insurgency. It did not.

And nor will his death. The future of Iraq and its place in the Middle East remains to be determined by players other than Saddam Hussein.

Two co-defendants, Saddam Hussein's half-brother and a former chief judge, are to be executed at a later date. All three were sentenced to death by an Iraqi court on 5 November after a year-long trial over the 1982 killings of 148 Shias in the town of Dujail.

Video footage of the execution is expected to be released as final proof of Saddam Hussein's demise although it is expected to stop short of showing the actual death. There were jubilant scenes in the Baghdad Shia stronghold of Sadr City, with people dancing in the streets and sounding their car horns.

The BBC's Peter Greste in Baghdad says Shias have generally welcomed Saddam Hussein's death and hailed the execution as justice for the suffering endured under his leadership. But Saddam's own Sunni tribesman were angered by his treatment and may well protest once more, our correspondent adds.

UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett welcomed the fact that Saddam Hussein had been tried by an Iraqi court "for at least some of the appalling crimes he committed" and said "he has now been held to account".

France called on Iraqis to "look towards the future and work towards reconciliation and national unity".

North Korea's nuclear program and a strengthening US-Japan alliance are also evolving factors that make Asia-Pacific security more volatile, forcing China to boost its armed forces, the 2006 Defense White Paper argued. "To build a powerful and fortified national defense is a strategic task of China's modernization drive," said the white paper, the fifth ever issued by Beijing.

It said that China's defense expenditures had grown by more than 15 percent every year since 1990, although that figure falls to 9.6 percent once inflation is taken into account. China's defense white papers are scrutinized carefully by overseas observers for clues about future policies and the fate of the 2.3-million-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA), the world's largest military.

Addressing its own nuclear capability, China said it was based on "a self-defensive nuclear strategy." "Its fundamental goal is to deter other countries from using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against China," it said.China remains firmly committed to the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances, it said.

"It unconditionally undertakes not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones, and stands for the comprehensive prohibition and complete elimination of nuclear weapons." Looking to the future, the white paper pointed to the need to boost China's capacity to win high-tech wars and those fought at sea.

By the middle of the century, China aims to be capable of winning "information wars", a form of conflict in which high-tech operations such as attacks on the adversary's computer systems play a crucial role. "The PLA is carrying out a strategic project for training a large contingent of new-type and high-caliber military personnel suited to the task of informatization of the armed forces," it said.

The Vatican did not release details of the content of Ahmadinejad's letter, but Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said the note focused on Saturday's Security Council vote approving sanctions against Iran in the standoff over its nuclear program.The Vatican said Benedict stressed his apolitical role in his brief meeting with Mottaki.

The Pope "reaffirmed the role that the Holy See intends to carry out for world peace, not as a political authority but as a religious and moral one ... so that peoples' problems will always be solved in dialogue, mutual understanding and peace," the Vatican said in a statement.

Earlier this month, the Vatican indirectly criticized a conference of Holocaust deniers held in Iran, saying the Holocaust "was a great tragedy before which we cannot remain indifferent" and which must serve as a warning to people's consciences.

Also this month, Benedict met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who urged Christians to protest Holocaust denials. Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of Israel and questioned whether the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews took place.

On Saturday, the U.N. Security Council voted to impose limited sanctions on Iran for its refusal to cease enrichment of uranium - a process that produces the material for either peaceful nuclear power or warheads.
The United States and its allies accuse Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover for developing a nuclear bomb. Iran denies this, saying its program is strictly for generating electricity from nuclear fuel.

Ahmadinejad told a gathering in Tehran on Sunday that Iran is a "nuclear country," whether the world liked it or not.

The letter, published today, said: "During the Congregation of Procurators of 2003 and during the recent meeting of Major Superiors of the Society of Jesus, it became increasingly clear that the Society has reached a situation foreseen by Saint Ignatius in the Constitutions (680): in which there are 'very difficult things touching upon the whole body of the Society,' 'for more service to God our Lord.' It is a situation that requires a General Congregation."

Thus, the general congregation is convoked with the dual objective of electing a new superior general and addressing other important matters for the Society of Jesus. According to the Jesuit Constitutions, the office of superior general is for life. A new superior general is elected only in the case of death, grave illness or if, in conscience, the general thinks he must resign.

The first case of resignation was that of Father Pedro Arrupe, who on Sept. 3, 1983, unable to exercise his office due to grave illness, presented his resignation to the general congregation and the latter accepted it.

His successor was Father Kolvenbach, elected Sept. 13, 1983. He will turn 80 in 2008. One of Kolvenbach's greatest achievements as General has been restoring the lines of communication between Borgo Santo Spirito (the General Curia of the Jesuits) and the (Papal) apartment." As of Jan. 1, 2005, the Jesuits numbered 19,850, including 13,966 priests.

In the letter, Father Kolvenbach explains that he made his decision "after having obtained the consent of His Holiness Benedict XVI" and after hearing the opinions of the Society's representatives.

The root sex problem is that soy is loaded with isoflavones, plant estrogens that operate like human female estrogen, which occurs naturally in our bodies, male and female. These "phytoestrogens" cause serious developmental problems. They're only 1/1,000th to 1/1,200th the potency of human estrogen, ounce for ounce, but it's common for babies to consume them in such large quantities that they overwhelm their bodies' delicate testosterone-estrogen balance, leaving their victim male or female with a wild variety of lifelong symptoms, sometimes even disfigurement .

Toxicologists estimate that an infant fed exclusively on soy formula is getting the equivalent of three to five birth control pills per day . One study found that soy-fed babies had 13,000 to 22,000 times more estrogen in their blood than milk-fed babies .

These are not just curious, isolated data. One percent of U.S. girls are now growing breasts or pubic hair before age three. By age eight, either of these two abnormalities is appearing among 14.7 percent of white girls and a staggering 48.3 percent of black girls . Why so many black girls? Probably because they are more likely to be given soy infant formula. They are being robbed of their girlhood. Soy formula-fed girls are also more likely to have lifelong menstrual problems (primarily longer and more painful periods), hormonal changes associated with infertility, and other health problems. If this isn't a national medical emergency, I don't know what is. Here's what government health experts in Israel and France have decided:

The Israeli Health Ministry has looked long and hard at the evidence and concluded that its citizens won't "be fruitful and multiply" if they eat too much soy. It has warned that babies should not receive any soy formula, that children to age 18 should not eat soy more than once a day (to a maximum of 3 times a week), and that adults should beware because of breast cancer and adverse effects on fertility .

The French, meanwhile, intend to maintain their reputation as ardent lovers. Food manufacturers in France will soon have to remove those dangerous plant estrogens from soy formula and to put warning labels on soyfoods and soy milk. French Food Agency experts see the biggest risks as being to children under three and women who have been diagnosed with or have breast cancer in their families . The British Dietetic Association also warns parents to avoid soy formula .

Lots of Americans accept everything our FDA and NIH say as gospel. Those poor souls are now in danger because their trusted government watchdogs have yet to bark any warnings about soy. However, Daniel Sheehan, PhD, one of the FDA's top toxicologists, has warned that that infants fed soy-based formulas have been placed at risk in a "large, uncontrolled and basically unmonitored human infant experiment."

Do you really want to put your child into that experiment?

Geologists from the University of Utah say two domes inside the Yellowstone caldera have steadily inflated at two to three times the rate as some of the most rapid movements recorded between 1923 and 1984. "We've gone to this really pronounced, and I would say unprecedented, uplift of the caldera," said Bob Smith, a Utah geologist and one of the leading researchers into Yellowstone's busy volcanic life.

Smith presented some of the new findings Wednesday to the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. Yellowstone's geology was a hot topic at the AGU meeting. More than 60 presentations touched on the park, whether it was looking at the diet of ancient wolves or activities of helium isotopes.

In recent years, much attention has been focused on so-called "huffing and puffing" of the Yellowstone caldera, the huge collapsed volcano that stretches across the park's middle.

The possibility of a large volcanic eruption has been a popular media topic, but Smith said the scenario seems overhyped. A more likely possibility would be a large earthquake, he said, noting that the most powerful quake in the interior Western United States happened at Hebgen Lake on Aug. 17, 1959. "It's a much higher risk," he said.

The Pope spoke of the "many grave crises and conflicts" in the Middle East and voiced "hope that the way will be opened to a just and lasting peace".He also deplored the conflicts in Darfur and other parts of Africa. He lamented the many deaths from hunger and disease around the world in "an age of unbridled consumerism".
The Pope noted man's scientific advances in the modern age, but added that in the 21st Century "perhaps he needs a saviour all the more" because so much of humanity was still suffering.

His "Urbi et Orbi" speech was delivered from the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. It is his second Christmas as pontiff. The Pope contrasted scientific breakthroughs such as the internet and decoding of the human genome with what he called the "heart-rending cry" for help from those dying of hunger, thirst, disease and poverty. Some people remain enslaved, others are victims of religious or racial hatred, he noted.

The threats to the individual's personal and moral integrity had become more insidious in the modern age, the Pope said. His earlier Midnight Mass sermon focused on the plight of suffering children. He singled out those forced to fight as child soldiers, to beg and those "who suffer deprivation and hunger" and "children who are unloved".

Middle East focus

The Middle East turmoil was a central theme of the Pope's Christmas message. "I place in the hands of the divine Child of Bethlehem the indications of a resumption of dialogue between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which we have witnessed in recent days, and the hope of further encouraging developments," he said.

He also issued an "appeal to all those who hold in their hands the fate of Iraq, that there will be an end to the brutal violence that has brought so much bloodshed to the country". His message was broadcast live on television to more than 40 countries.

He said he would like to visit the Holy Land as soon as circumstances permit.

Storms caused havoc in suburban Melbourne, while residents in a NSW town were celebrating record drought-breaking rain. Snow fell in Victoria and Tasmania, which are still battling fires that have blackened thousands of hectares this month, and in alpine areas of NSW. In Tasmania, the weather bureau reported five centimetres of snow had fallen at the summit of Mount Wellington in Hobart.

Meanwhile, residents in the drought-stricken NSW town of Goulburn also have celebrated Christmas rain, with a record 27.8mm falling on the southern highlands town yesterday morning. It was a much-needed present for the town's residents, as Goulburn's main Pejar dam was only 1.5-per-cent full on December 17. The town's two smaller dams, which together are two-thirds the size of Pejar, were less than half-full. Goulburn's total usable water supply stood at 9.5 per cent of capacity at the end of last week.

More rain fell yesterday than in the past three months combined.

Conservationists insist the "big dry" is almost certainly the result of climate change and warn that Australia is on the brink of environmental disaster. Other experts believe such hysteria is wildly misplaced and that the country shouldn't panic.

The drought in Australia has lasted for more than five years. The worry for some is that this could be the start of a protracted period of low rainfall that could go on for decades. "The really scary thing is last time we had a drought of this intensity that lasted about five years - it lasted for about 50 years," cautioned Professor Andy Pitman from Macquarie University in Sydney.
"The politicians truly believe this is a five-year or six-year drought that will break sometime in 2007 or 2008. But it might not break until 2050 and we aren't thinking in those terms at this stage," Professor Pitman told the BBC.

Global warming, the drought and the future of dwindling water supplies will undoubtedly dominate talk at barbeques and dinner parties this festive season in Australia. "We're in a state of emergency," said Cate Faehrmann from the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales. "We need to treat this as a war-like scenario. The people are really worried that we are going to run out of water."

She added: "I can imagine Australia being a desert in a few decades' time in some of these agricultural areas. The soil is blowing away, the rivers are drying up. "I think there will be plots of land abandoned and perhaps whole agricultural practices abandoned."
However, some climate experts believe this drought will also pass and Australians shouldn't be too alarmed.

Veteran meteorologist Bill Kinimonth insists the gradual warming of the earth is part of a natural cycle: "The climate follows patterns which we can read back from our instrument records for about 150 years, and from a lot of the proxy records they go back thousands of years. "The ice cores show the fluctuations of the climate over 100,000-year cycles."

He told the BBC News website: "We're presently in what we might call the optimum period, where the Earth is warmer than it has been for the last 20,000 years, and I think we should be making the most of it.

Wyre Borough Council informed Lancashire Constabulary. Officers then quizzed the couple for over an hour. The council and police said they had now apologised to the Roberts. They also said policies had been revised to protect all parties.

Mr and Mrs Roberts had sued the police and council, claiming the incident last December had breached their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion. A trial date had been set for January, according to the Christian Institute, which had backed the Roberts' case. But in a joint statement, the police and council said they had come to an agreement regarding the claim and said they had apologised to the couple for "the way the incident was handled".

The institute said the incident began when the couple asked for Christian literature to be displayed alongside gay rights' literature and "were astonished when the council refused". The institute said during her call to the council, Mrs Roberts expressed her religious belief that "homosexual practice is morally wrong". The couple were shocked to receive a subsequent visit from two police officers who questioned them in their home.

Mr Roberts told the BBC he had told Wyre Borough Council he was willing to pay for Christian leaflets himself "but was told a definite no". "Then it snowballed from there and that's why we had to take them to court," he said.

Mr Roberts added: "Morality is the foundation of democracy and when you do away with morality, your democracy goes down the Swannee and you end up with immorality and then anarchy." "And all I was doing was just [to] challenge our council that all we wanted was the same rights as the gays and lesbians have."

The couple will donate the £10,000 settlement to a Christian charity.

Dr Georgina Duckworth, a superbug expert at the government's Health Protection Agency, has compiled a report on the emergence of the strain, known as Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) E.coli.

She said: "The findings in our report show evidence of people carrying these bacteria in their gut.

"If this is found to be commonplace in the general population, this may point towards the food chain being a potential source."

Richard Young, of the Soil Association, said: "Although scientists do not know exactly what is happening at the moment, one of the most likely explanations is that we have got a flow of these resistant strains into the food chain."

He called for the government to act now and impose tighter controls on the increasing use of antibiotics in farming.

Professor Hugh Pennington, a microbiologist from Aberdeen University, said: "ESBL is spreading in the human population...and in the animal population as well.

"One of the keys to solving this problem is to use antibiotics as little as possible."

Writing in Nature, they say their work underlines the threat the current strain poses to humans worldwide. A second paper in Science reveals another US team has successfully recreated the 1918 virus in mice.

Dr Terrence Tumpey, of the US CDC, defended the decision to recreate the 1918 flu virus. He said: "We felt we had to recreate the virus and run these experiments to understand the biological properties that made the 1918 virus so exceptionally deadly. "We wanted to identify the specific genes responsible for its virulence, with the hope of designing antivirals or other interventions that would work against virulent pandemic or epidemic influenza viruses."

A global flu pandemic could kill 62 million people, experts have warned. The 1918 pandemic claimed 50 million lives, and experts in The Lancet predict the toll today would be higher than this, despite medical advances. It is estimated between 50,000 and 700,000 people could die in the UK if such an event occurred.

To forecast how big the global death toll might be, Professor Christopher Murray and his team looked back at the events of the 1918-20 Spanish flu pandemic. When they extrapolated the mortality rates then to the global population of 2004, they estimated 51-81 million people could die from a similarly severe outbreak and gave a median estimate of 62 million. 96% of these deaths would occur in the poorest countries, where there is overcrowding and access to medical care is limited, they predict.

Connecticut and Vermont also offer civil unions for gay couples, while Massachusetts allows gay couples to marry, and California has domestic partnerships that bring full marriage rights under state law.

"We must recognize that many gay and lesbian couples in New Jersey are in committed relationships and deserve the same benefits and rights as every other family in this state," Gov. Jon S. Corzine said in signing the legislation.
"It's a step forward, but it's not true equality," said Veronica Hoff, 52, of Mount Laurel, as she stood with her partner.

The civil unions law grants gay couples adoption, inheritance, hospital visitation and medical decision-making rights and the right not to testify against a partner in state court.

They won't, however, be entitled to the same benefits as married couples in the eyes of the federal government because of 1996 law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Gay partners won't be able to collect deceased partners' Social Security benefits, for example, said family lawyer Felice T. Londa, who represents many same-sex couples.

Social conservative groups and some lawmakers opposed the measure, saying it brings gay relationships too close to marriage, but it easily passed the Legislature.

"It's same-sex marriage without the title," said John Tomicki, president of the New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage. "It uproots the cardinal values of our culture."