The nuclear-armed rivals' foreign secretaries' meeting will be followed on Wednesday by talks between Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi. It is the first contact India has had with leaders of a new Pakistani civilian government and analysts in both Pakistan and India said Mukherjee will be sounding out Pakistan's new leaders.

Mukherjee said upon arrival that Pakistan's new democratic environment held great promise and he hoped progress the two countries had made would be consolidated, though that depended on an atmosphere free from militant violence. "The present environment, I'm sure, will help us in addressing various issues related to peace, stability and economic development," he said.

The officials discussed a so-called composite dialogue which covers eight areas including the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir, border disputes, terrorism and economic cooperation. No major breakthroughs are expected on their main dispute over Kashmir, but Pakistani analysts hope the talks might set the stage for a visit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

An amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would have outlawed the creation of - human admixed embryos - for medical research was defeated in a free vote by a majority of 160, preserving what Gordon Brown regarded as a central element of the legislation.

The Government is braced for defeat today, however, on a separate clause that would scrap the requirement that fertility clinics consider a child's need for a father before treating patients. MPs will also consider amendments tonight that would cut the legal limit for abortion from 24 weeks to 22 or 20 weeks.

A second amendment, which would have banned the creation of "true hybrids" made by fertilising an animal egg with human sperm, or vice-versa, was also defeated yesterday by a majority of 63. Another free vote last night was expected to approve the use of embryo-screening to create "saviour siblings" suitable to donate umbilical cord blood to sick children.

Mark Simmonds, a Shadow Health Minister, who moved the amendment to ban "true hybrids", said that there was no compelling evidence of their research usefulness.

He told BBC business editor Robert Peston that the "acute phase" of the credit crunch may be over but EFFECTS ON THE REAL ECONOMY ARE YET TO BE FELT. He warned the "financial bubble" of the last 25 years could be drawing to an end and the post World War II "super-boom" era could also be over. HE PREDICTED A "MORE SEVERE AND LONGER" US SLOWDOWN THAN MOST PEOPLE EXPECT.

And he said that THE UK WAS WORSE-PLACED THAN AMERICA TO WEATHER THE COMING ECONOMIC STORM, because it had such a large financial sector and has had the biggest increase in house prices. Mr Soros said that the current mandate of most of the world's leading central banks - where their main focus was fighting inflation - meant there was limited scope for cutting interest rates to help economies recover.

As for the Bank of the England, he said, "it was like a Greek tragedy", because they "couldn't do a U-turn" until there was a full-blown recession, which would finally take away the price pressures. The head of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, recently told the BBC that the "MARKET CORRECTION WAS STILL ON-GOING". Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, warned in the Bank's inflation report that UK INFLATION WOULD RISE ABOVE ITS TARGET WHILE THE ECONOMY WOULD SLOW SHARPLY.

"This is a blessed event," said MK Uri Ariel (National Union-National Religious Party) when he heard of the rabbis' action. "THE POLICE FINALLY REALIZED THAT KEEPING JEWS OUT OF ONE OF THEIR HOLIEST PLACES IS ABSURD, AND MUST CHANGE. This week, when we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the unification of Jerusalem, we must remember WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO BEFORE THE JEWISH PEOPLE RECLAIM THIS HOLY PLACE."

"This is a positive step," he added, "but it can't be a one-time thing." Rosen said he didn't think Israel's chief rabbinate would join the Zionist rabbis' call. "The Orthodox community is divided mainly by the political beliefs of its leaders," said Rosen, "and as long as that is the situation, there is very little chance they'll join us."

Meanwhile, the haredi newspaper affiliated with the Lithuanian stream, Yated Ne'eman harshly criticized the rabbis' visit, "WHICH GOES AGAINST THE HALACHA," SAYING THAT THE RABBIS HAD VIOLATED A PROHIBITION PUNISHABLE WITH KARET, DEATH BY HEAVENLY DECREE. Orthodox and religious Zionist Jews are divided over the issue, with haredim espousing a strict approach that prohibits any Jew from entering the compound, for fear he might defile the place.

The fact that Senator Obama - the son of a Muslim father - insists he was never a Muslim before becoming Christian is irrelevant to bin Laden. IN BIN LADEN'S EYES, OBAMA IS A MURTAD FITRI, THE WORST TYPE OF APOSTATE, BECAUSE HE WAS BLESSED BY ALLAH TO BE BORN INTO THE TRUE FAITH OF ISLAM.

There are two types of apostates according to sharia (Islamic law) and the Hadith (sayings of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him). The first type is murtad milli, one who converted to Islam and later renounced the faith. The second, and most egregious, type is murtad fitri. It refers to a person born of a Muslim father who renounces his birthright. Two recent examples of the latter are Magdi Allam (a male Egyptian who converted to Catholicism in Italy) and Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Somali-born woman who's now an atheist). Both now face death threats.

ACCORDING TO ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE, CHILDREN OF A MUSLIM FATHER - EVEN AN APPARENTLY NONPRACTICING ONE, SUCH AS OBAMA'S FATHER, AND IRRESPECTIVE OF THE MOTHER'S FAITH - ARE AUTOMATICALLY MUSLIMS. Most Muslims around the world agree: A CHILD OF A MUSLIM FATHER IS A MUSLIM. That's why Obama is bin Laden's dream candidate. Once branded as an apostate, President Obama would face enormous difficulties in the foreign policy realm, especially in the fight against terrorism.

His administration would struggle to positively engage the Muslim world, where Islam isn't just a religion, it's the way of life. Conservative Muslim populations that are riddled with poverty and low literacy rates can be more readily swayed to join the cause against the "Great Satan" (the US) if their imams and mullahs shout that it is led by an apostate.

Citing PA sources, the article said that prior to his departure from Sharm e-Sheikh Abbas was informed that the United States intended to backtrack on efforts to achieve progress in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. According to the paper, the report was given to Abbas from a European source, who claimed that the Americans were not interested in exerting pressure or confronting Israel, and that the US was "allowing Israel full freedom to take a stance which would serve its policies, its security, and its interests alone."

Another diplomatic source told the paper that the PA president received reports that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Shas chairman Eli Yishai had come to an understanding in which the former has promised the latter that plans to build thousands of apartment units around Jerusalem and in the West Bank would be approved - this in an attempt to reinforce the premier's foundering coalition.

Given these reports, the source told the paper that Abbas planned to give a speech in Ramallah, during which he would announce that negotiations had failed and blame Israel for the failure. The source added that the PA president would also blame the US for its lack of commitment to the peace process.

The richness and diversity of England's natural environment is under threat. Our population continues to grow. The impacts of changing climate exacerbate the problems. For too long the natural world has been treated as a luxury, a nice-to-have, optional extra. The vital public services that it provides for everyone in this country have been taken for granted. Not only does it give us the basic necessities of life - clean air, clean water and productive soils - but it provides the raw materials for sustainable energy production and construction. It is our natural health service, with the potential to make a major contribution to the health and wellbeing of the nation, free for everyone to use.

And our natural environment provides the foundations of our cultural identity, brings pleasure to millions and underpins our tourism and recreation industries. And as climate change begins to bite, it becomes even more important in its capacity to store carbon, soak up excess water and channel run-off naturally away from our towns and cities.

Natural England's State of the Natural Environment 2008 report, published today, shows that wildlife inside protected areas such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest is, for the time being, on sound footing. But outside nature's gated communities the diversity and local distinctiveness of our wildlife and landscapes is in long-term decline.

HARRIET HARMAN, who has been accused of contributing to family breakdown by DRAWING UP POLICIES THAT BENEFITED UNMARRIED COUPLES, claims in a new book that promoting marriage is not part of ministers' jobs, and they may as well just say they want everyone to be happy. She also says there is no ideal type of household in which to bring up children - despite research showing that having two parents is best - and that couples should not stay together if they feel their relationship has broken down.

The book, by Anastasia de Waal, claims Labour is trapping people in poverty by ignoring the effect of marriage on a household's wealth, in its attempt not to be judgmental about single-parent families. THE BOOK ALSO SAID LABOUR SHOULD STOP TREATING FATHERS LIKE "OPTIONAL EXTRAS". Its non-judgmental approach to families let fathers escape without facing up to their share of the responsibility, it said. Maria Miller, the shadow minister for families, said: "LABOUR SEEMS RELUCTANT TO HELP FAMILIES STAY TOGETHER: THE BENEFITS SYSTEM PROVIDES AN INCENTIVE FOR COUPLES TO LIVE APART."

MISS HARMAN, WHO IS ALSO LEADER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, was interviewed for Second Thoughts on the Family, which is published Monday by Civitas, the think-tank. The book, which paraphrases her interview at her request, states: "HARMAN BELIEVES HIGHER RATES OF SEPARATION ARE DOWN TO A POSITIVE: GREATER CHOICE.

Tensions over that clash of interests have intensified in recent months after the surprising news that, after three years of declines, deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon had accelerated in the last half of 2007. And this week, BRAZIL'S HIGH PROFILE ENVIRONMENT MINISTER, MARINA SILVA RESIGNED, saying that she didn't have sufficient political backing to protect the Amazon against POWERFUL BUSINESS INTERESTS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS IN THE GOVERNMENT.

It's not immediately clear how her departure - she will still push on environmental issues from her seat in Brazil's senate - will alter current policies, but environmentalists said they have lost their main champion in the government. Reacting to the report of accelerating rain forest loss, Brazil's environmental agency, known as Ibama, has launched a tough enforcement campaign against illegal deforestation known as "Operation Arc of Fire."

Since February, the federal police presence in this area and others where significant parcels of forest and farmland meet has grown noticeably. Millions of dollars of fines have been levied, deforestation suspects arrested, and tons of suspect-origin lumber impounded. Winning over the ranchers and farmers operating in or near the Amazon could be the key to sparing more actual rain forest - and reforesting some of what's been lost.

In one of his most out-spoken interventions in the climate change debate, he said a £15 billion annual programme was required to halt deforestation or the world would have to live with the dire consequences. "That is roughly just under one per cent of all the insurance premiums paid in the world in any one year. It is an insurance premium to ensure the world has some rainfall and reasonable weather patterns. It is a good deal."

"WE WILL END UP SEEING MORE DROUGHT AND STARVATION ON A GRAND SCALE. Weather patterns will become even more terrifying and there will be less and less rainfall," he said. "We are asking for something pretty dreadful unless we really understand the issues now and [the] urgency of them."

The Prince said the rainforests, which provide the "air conditioning system for the entire planet", releasing water vapour and absorbing carbon, were being lost to poor farmers desperate to make a living. He said that every year, 20 MILLION HECTARES OF FOREST - EQUIVALENT TO THE AREA OF ENGLAND, WALES AND SCOTLAND - WERE DESTROYED and called for a "gigantic partnership" of governments, businesses and consumers to slow it down. "What we have got to do is try to ensure that these forests are more valuable alive than dead."

Police have used tear gas and rubber bullets to try to stop gangs of armed youths from attacking foreigners and looting and burning their property. Five people were killed overnight in the area of Cleveland. Two of them were burned and the others beaten to death. More than 50 were taken to hospitals with gunshot and stab wounds. During the day, a church where about 1,000 Zimbabweans have been taking refuge was attacked.

Bishop Paul Veryn of the Central Methodist Church which was attacked told SABC radio: "We consider that the situation is getting so serious that the police can no longer control it." As night fell, immigrants were streaming into one police station near downtown Johannesburg carrying whatever belongings they could, reports Caroline Hawley.

Many now fear for their lives, she reports. One Zimbabwean woman told the BBC she would flee back home rather than risk losing her two children to the mobs.

THE UN HAS WARNED THAT THE HARVEST COULD FAIL THIS YEAR AND NEXT, making the country - currently a net rice exporter - a net importer of rice. It says that to prevent this, farmers in the worst affected areas must be given all the help they need. The cyclone devastated the fragile ecosystem in five coastal areas. The UN says that, in places, the damage caused by the huge wave that hit the Irrawaddy Delta two weeks ago was worse than that wreaked by the tsunami in 2004. Deforestation meant the wave swept further inland. Food stocks and rice seed were lost - livestock, tools and equipment, too.

Farming is the most important means of livelihood for more than 70% of Burma's population. Usually, farmers in the Irrawaddy Delta provide two-thirds of the country's rice harvest. THE HIGH COST OF IMPORTED FERTILISERS AND LOW CROP PRICES were already making life hard for them, even before the cyclone, and for many families life was already very harsh and insecure. Now it has just got much worse.

Diderik de Vleeschauwer from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says, "Time is running out. We are running against the clock. IF RICE SEEDS ARE NOT RECEIVED WITHIN THE NEXT 40 TO 50 DAYS, PLANTING WILL NOT HAPPEN IN TIME, AND PEOPLE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HARVEST RICE BY THE END OF THIS YEAR."

"TOO OFTEN IN THE MIDDLE EAST, POLITICS HAS CONSISTED OF ONE LEADER IN POWER AND THE OPPOSITION IN JAIL," Bush said at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. "The time has come for nations across the Middle East to abandon these practices, and treat their people with the dignity and respect they deserve." Bush's address to hundreds of global policymakers and business leaders gathered in this Red Sea beach town was his finishing touch on a five-day Mideast trip to Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The speech, and Bush's second Mideast trip of the year, came eight months before the end of his presidency, his target date for reaching a sweeping peace agreement that would resolve generations-old grievances and create a Palestinian state. The president counseled Arab states to "MOVE PAST THEIR OLD RESENTMENTS AGAINST ISRAEL" AND "INVEST AGGRESSIVELY" IN THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE, what he views as their role in the process. In contrast, many Arabs think Bush leans too far Israel's way in the long-running Mideast dispute, and that Washington doesn't push Israel hard enough to give way on issues that anger Palestinians and stymie a deal.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Bush directly about his concerns with the Knesset speech, "We said that it was disappointing, and a missed opportunity, because you (Bush) could have said that the Palestinian people should have their freedom and independence in order to achieve peace in the entire area," he said. Erekat said Bush responded in the private meeting by saying he was the first American president to endorse an independent Palestinian state and that he would spare no efforts to achieve the goal.

The new questionnaire, known as the Common Assessment Framework (CAF), is part of a £20million programme called Every Child Matters (ECM), ostensibly set up to ensure youngsters are safe and leading positive lives.

Professionals - such as police officers, teachers and doctors - and volunteers are now under orders to subject children to a questionnaire if they consider them "at risk": A DEFINITION SO BROAD THAT MANY DECENT PARENTS COULD FIND THEMSELVES LABELLED AS POTENTIAL ABUSERS. The questions don't need a parent's consent since any child over 12 is deemed responsible enough to grant permission for an interview. Any child not achieving the Government's five "outcomes" - being healthy, staying safe, enjoying life, "making a positive contribution", and achieving " economic well-being" - is now defined as having "additional needs".

The 46-page Government guide, Using The CAF In Practice, suggests "practitioners" ask questions such as: "Do you feel you are the right weight for your height?" One police officer, who attended a CAF course, told me that many of his colleagues are so reluctant to interview teenage criminals about their emotional needs, sex life and diets that they avoid calls involving them. "We're cops, not social workers," he said. "It's insane. JUST FILLING IN ONE OF THESE FORMS, WITH A FOUL-MOUTHED YOB WHO'S LAUGHING AT YOU, WILL TAKE HALF A SHIFT. MEANWHILE, THE PUBLIC IS UNPROTECTED."

In an effort to develop a more "common" approach, anyone from a sports coach to a playgroup worker is allowed to question a child, AS LONG AS THEY'VE BEEN ON A THREE-HOUR TRAINING COURSE. There is a risk that the interrogators could include people who may derive a perverse thrill from asking children personal questions about bathing, dressing and "changes to their body". ALLOWING SO MANY PEOPLE TO PROBE INTO CHILDREN'S PERSONAL LIVES IS ALSO A THREAT TO THIS COUNTRY'S LONG-TREASURED RIGHT TO PRIVACY.

Figures uncovered by the Telegraph show that almost 4,000 women have had at least four abortions. In a "grotesquely bleak" picture of British society, SCORES OF WOMEN HAVE HAD AT LEAST EIGHT TERMINATIONS. The figures emerged as the row over controversial changes to fertility law erupted into a bitter war of words, with a minister accusing "anti-abortion" MPs of trying to "hijack" legislation.

On the eve of a crucial Commons vote, Dawn Primarolo, the Public Health Minister, accused Tory backbenchers of an underhand attempt to remove the right to abortion by tabling amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. In an interview with the Telegraph, she also accused MPs who oppose the creation of hybrid embryos of putting forward "extreme and untrue arguments".

Nadine Dorries, the MP leading the campaign to reduce the abortion time limit from 24 to 20 weeks, hit back at the criticism, while revealing that she has received hate mail over her stance. Gordon Brown was forced to concede free votes on key aspects of the legislation after three Roman Catholic members of his cabinet made clear they would vote against the measures. A free vote will also be allowed on abortion amid unease about THE NUMBER OF LATE TERMINATIONS CARRIED OUT FOR "SOCIAL" REASONS. It emerged on Saturday that NHS DOCTORS WERE REFUSING TO CARRY OUT LATE PROCEDURES and that 75 per cent of the 7,000 terminations performed after 17 weeks of pregnancy each year were being carried out at private clinics and charities.