The problems are depriving desperate people of donated food. Some are so poor they are forced to eat cookies made of dirt, salt and vegetable oil to satisfy their hunger. An Associated Press investigation found the situation is most severe in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city. One recent afternoon, garbage men shoveled a pile of rotting pinto beans that had turned gray and crumbled to dust as cockroaches and beetles scurried about. The men had found the putrid cargo by following a stench through stacked shipping containers to one holding 40,000 pounds of beans. It had been in port since November.

And despite the reforms, some say the bribes are continuing. Jean-Paul Michaud, a Canadian, said he sailed to the capital of Port-au-Prince late last year carrying 60 pounds of donated clothing and medicine - and that port authorities demanded $10,000 in "customs fees" - code for a bribe to make the fees disappear. "I'd have rather thrown the aid in the water," said Michaud. The Canadian Embassy intervened and the fee was later waived. Krabacher's group says it has paid nearly $16,000 in fees in the first six weeks of 2008 alone, compared to $23,418 for all of 2007.

Haitian President Rene Preval echoed those concerns in a speech to parliament in January, calling for a crackdown on illegal contraband and a lowering of exorbitant container fees that are three times higher than those in neighboring Dominican Republic. While lawmakers haggle over the answers, precious food rots by the ton.

This is too frightening and too important to ignore any longer. You may think none of this matters to you, but the trouble is that it does, whether you think so or not. The European Union is interested in you, your liberty and your money, even if you don't care about it. ITS DECISIONS AFFECT YOUR LIFE, even if you don't realise they do.

When I point out that local councils are changing rubbish collections because of EU laws, people don't believe me. They rightly think it ridiculous that such things should be affected by what is SUPPOSED TO BE A FREE TRADE PARTNERSHIP. But they are. A huge number of our laws have been drawn up in Brussels and hurried through Parliament without anybody really understanding what they were doing.

A lot of us still don't even grasp why it is that we can no longer have nice blue British passports. They also don't grasp why they have to queue for ages to get back into the country after a holiday. They aren't paying attention. THAT PASSPORT YOU HAVE ISN'T BRITISH. IT'S EUROPEAN. It gives you no more right to enter this country than if you were a Lithuanian. THE BORDER YOU ARE CROSSING IS THE BORDER OF THE EU, NOT BRITAIN. If the Government set up a special channel for UK passport holders it would be breaking EU law. THERE IS NO LONGER ANY SUCH THING AS A BRITISH PASSPORT.

This has another grim meaning. We CANNOT CONTROL TWO-THIRDS OF THE IMMIGRATION now revolutionising this country because it comes from EU states. Look at the row we are having about the European Constitution, dressed up as the Treaty of Lisbon but still what it always was - the OFFICIAL FOUNDATION DOCUMENT OF THE EUROPEAN SUPERSTATE.

OUR ENTIRE POLITICAL ELITE, IN ALL PARTIES, LOVE THE EU, not because it is good for the country, but because it is good for them. They love ITS REGULAR SERVICE OF GRAVY TRAINS, carrying failed Ministers off to a life of high salaries, big expenses and huge pensions, plus an almost total absence of responsibility. They don't mind at all that it deprives them of the power to do very much. They are, for the most part, short of ideas and lazy, and HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO PASS THE BUCK TO BRUSSELS while enjoying their pay and perks.

The longer this goes on, the harder it will be to unscramble. My advice is not to be diverted by campaigns for a referendum that will get us nowhere. It is to consider, very carefully, whether you will be able to look your children and grandchildren in the face when, 20 years hence, they ask: "WHAT DID YOU DO TO STOP THE COUNTRY BEING TAKEN OVER BY A FOREIGN POWER?"

The Lisbon Treaty of the European Union draws heavily on the European Constitution and contains many of its most contentious measures. Perhaps the most visible change will be the creation of A NEW EU "PRESIDENT". The new EU president will be a full-time Brussels official, serving a two-and-half-year term and chosen by Europe's leaders to chair their summits and set the EU agenda.

The treaty also creates A NEW EU FOREIGN MINISTER, who will have the title of "high representative". The office holder will still be able to make foreign policy under his own initiative WITHOUT A FULL BRITISH NATIONAL VETO. The high representative will also chair meetings of Europe's foreign ministers, giving the EU post superiority over the UK's Foreign Secretary in the European pecking order.

Under the new treaty, 55 NATIONAL VETOES - allowing Britain and any member state to block EU measures that are against their national interests - ARE SCRAPPED OUTRIGHT. The treaty also lends strength to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, a legal text which business leaders say would give unions more rights and hurt the UK economy.

Opponents say the treaty will also transfer POWERS OVER ENERGY RESERVES to Brussels, potentially forcing up household gas and electricity bills.

This was DESPITE PLEDGES FROM BOTH LABOUR AND THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS that voters would have the chance to decide the issue. Yesterday's Commons defeat means a vote in the House of Lords - where the Government could be defeated by Tories and crossbenchers - will be the last chance for campaigners. That vote is due later this year.

Yesterday's result will anger the public after 88 per cent of voters in mini-polls last weekend demanded a say. THE LISBON TREATY WILL SEE THE CREATION OF A PERMANENT EU PRESIDENT, FOREIGN MINISTER AND DIPLOMATIC SERVICE AND SURRENDERS NEARLY 50 NATIONAL VETOES TO BRUSSELS. All three main parties made manifesto pledges in 2005 to hold a referendum on the EU constitution - now the revamped Lisbon Treaty.

Yesterday David Cameron taunted the Prime Minister that he was afraid of holding a national vote on the treaty because he knew it would be lost. The Tory leader told Mr Brown at Prime Minister's Questions: "ALL OF US IN THIS HOUSE PROMISED A REFERENDUM. We have the courage of our convictions - you have lost your courage and that lot (the Liberal Democrats) have lost their convictions."

Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "The unavoidable implication is that POLITICIANS ARE NOT TRUSTWORTHY, that Parliament does not see itself as accountable and votes do not necessarily matter. All attempts to wriggle out of that commitment will only be seen, and will only be, the weasel words with which a solemn promise is deliberately and calculatingly broken."

Even pro-European former Chancellor Ken Clarke questioned the Government's position. "Will you stop all this nonsense about it being different from the constitution, BECAUSE IT IS PLAINLY THE SAME IN SUBSTANCE, and explain why it is better not to have a referendum but have it decided in parliament," he said.

Mr Brown accused the Conservatives of heading towards "the margins" of Europe by failing to support the Lisbon Treaty. HE INSISTED THAT THE CHANGE WOULD NOT CREATE A "UNITED STATES OF EUROPE". Another rebel, junior culture spokesman Richard Younger-Ross, who did not resign, said: "My concern is and always has been THE LACK OF DEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITY AND CENTRALISING NATURE OF THE EU."

Derek Scott, chairman of the I Want a Referendum campaign, said: "THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOST THE ARGUMENT, EVEN IF IT WON THE COMMONS VOTE. But this issue is not just going to go away."

It contains many of the changes the constitution attempted to introduce, for example:

- A politician chosen to be president of the European Council for two-and-a-half years, replacing the current system where countries take turns at being president for six months

- A new post combining the jobs of the existing foreign affairs supremo, Javier Solana, and the external affairs commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, to give the EU more clout on the world stage

- A smaller European Commission, with fewer commissioners than there are member states, from 2014

- A redistribution of voting weights between the member states, phased in between 2014 and 2017

- New powers for the European Commission, European Parliament and European Court of Justice, for example in the field of justice and home affairs

- Removal of national vetoes in a number of areas

MOST EUROPEAN LEADERS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE MAIN SUBSTANCE OF THE CONSTITUTION WILL BE PRESERVED. If it contains the same substance, why is the Lisbon Treaty not a constitution?

The constitution attempted to replace all earlier EU treaties and start afresh, whereas the new treaty amends the Treaty on the European Union (Maastricht) and the Treaty Establishing the European Community (Rome). IT ALSO DROPS ALL REFERENCE TO THE SYMBOLS OF THE EU - THE FLAG, THE ANTHEM AND THE MOTTO - THOUGH THESE WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST.

The unofficial ballot was conducted by postal vote last month in 10 Labour and Liberal Democrat marginal seats. A total of 152,520 people voted, with 133,251 backing a referendum. IWAR claims the turnout is higher than that in local council elections.

Hundreds of children under the age of eight have been admitted to hospital suffering from the effects of alcohol, figures reveal. Last year, 95 under-eights needed emergency medical treatment for alcohol abuse, bringing the total since 2001 to 624. They were all suffering from "alcohol-related conditions", including the toxic effects of excess alcohol, alcoholic liver disease or mental or behavioural disorders caused by their alcohol intake.

Official statistics also reveal a steep rise in the number of school-age girls being taken to hospital with drink problems. In 2001, the numbers of boys and girls under the age of 18 being admitted to accident and emergency were level at around 3,000. But by last year, the number of girls taken to hospital had soared by almost 50 per cent to 4,538, compared with 3,686 boys.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "These are shocking figures, reflecting a culture where binge drinking is truly out of control. A child admitted to hospital because of alcohol before his or her eighth birthday is likely to suffer dreadful health consequences later in life."

Dealers said the continued weakness of the dollar was also helping drive crude prices, which have hit a string of records and led US President George W. Bush to urge the OPEC cartel to boost production. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, traded briefly at a new high of 104.95 US dollars before easing to 104.30 in afternoon trading. It closed Wednesday at 104.52 dollars.

London's Brent North Sea crude for April delivery eased 22 cents to 101.42 dollars a barrel from its record close of 101.64 on Wednesday. In announcing it would maintain daily production at the current level of 29.67 million barrels, OPEC said Wednesday that the market was "well-supplied" -- a sentiment not fully shared by traders.

"The truth of the matter is there is not a lot of supply in the supply chain," said Justin Wilks, director of trading and operations at Global Commodities fund group in Australia. With prices over 100 dollars, Wilks said: "I WOULD SUGGEST THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO GET USED TO IT."

"More than one million people are currently facing critical water shortages due to poor consecutive seasonal performances in 2007 coupled with the current dry season," the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. It said the money was needed to fund water, sanitation, health, livestock and agriculture programmes.

So far, Ethiopia's military has dispatched 23,156 tonnes of food to five zones in the remote and arid Somali region, along the Horn of Africa nation's border with Somalia, the statement said. The United Nations is also seeking money to help fight water shortages for people and livestock in Borena, part of the Oromia region. Measles outbreaks had also been reported in parts of Oromia, OCHA said.

"If one country after the other adopts a 'starve your neighbor' policy, then eventually you trade smaller shares of total world production of agricultural products, and that in turn makes the prices more volatile," said Joachim von Braun, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute, or IFPRI. A growing list of countries, including Egypt, India and China, has imposed bans, raised tariffs or unveiled other restrictions to limit crop, mainly grain, exports.

It's a bid to blunt the impact of a global boom in commodity and food prices, driven by tight stocks, growing biofuel production, and income growth in developing nations, a trend that takes the biggest toll on the poor.
IFPRI, an international research institute funded by governments and private foundations, cautions that such restrictions send erroneous price signals and will ultimately deter investment by eroding faith in market prices.

Wheat, corn and soybeans have all broken records in recent months, with the value of Chicago wheat increasing 77 percent in 2007 alone. But with high prices has come an influx of billions of dollars from investment funds diversifying their portfolios into commodities -- and historic volatility. While data is yet unavailable, Von Braun has a hunch these trends have prompted a reduction in the volume of world farm output traded on world markets, which has held steady for the last 40 years despite the advent of globalization.

While the La Nina weather pattern is delivering rain to farmers after the worst drought in a century, it's cutting profits for café owners, travel agents and insurers. Insurance Australia Group Ltd., the nation's largest home insurer, last week posted a sixth straight profit decline after hail storms cost it A$105 million ($97 million). The yearly 'Symphony in the Park,' which usually attracts 80,000 people, had 700 this year as the orchestra played behind a tarpaulin during a downpour.

After four years of water restrictions, Sydney saw about 50 percent more rain than usual this summer, according to Mike De Salis, a spokesman at Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. No day topped 31 degrees celsius (88 degrees fahrenheit) for the first time since 1956. Average daily sunshine totaled 6.7 hours, an hour less than normal and the lowest since 1991-92. The average maximum temperature was 25.2, the coolest since 1996-97.

Dam levels rose to 64.4 percent at the end of February from 37.1 percent a year ago. Rain fall reached 439 millimeters this summer, compared with an average of 298 millimeters. "We're not whinging about the rain," said Ben Fargaher, chief executive officer of the National Farmers' Federation in Canberra, Australia's capital city. "Good living weather is not good farming weather."

At a recent security conference in Munich, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told European nations that they were under direct threat from Islamist extremists and that this phenomenon would not go away.

AQIM, - Gates tied European security to NATO success in Afghanistan. In fact, Western intelligence services have recently established operational links between al-Qaida in Afghanistan and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) whose goals include striking at the heart of Europe. Al-Qaida has not made any secrets of its eagerness to target Europe. Indeed, al-Qaida's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has repeatedly threatened Europe.

"AL-QAIDA PAKISTAN" - German authorities are particularly worried by the rise in the number of young German Muslims traveling to study in Pakistan. In July, Pakistani authorities arrested seven Germans who sought to join a terrorist training camp. THE PAKISTANI connection does not stop there: indeed, Pakistani extremists recently arrived in Algeria to train with AQIM members. This is all the more worrisome in that of all al-Qaida's affiliates, AQIM is most capable of striking at Europe.

THE "LONE JIHADIST" - A VERY WORRISOME TREND IN 2007 WAS THE EMERGENCE OF THE "LONE JIHADIST" loosely linked to al-Qaida. One was arrested on May 2 in Nancy, France. He was planning attacks against the US consulate in Luxembourg and a McDonald's restaurant. For months, the man had been in contact with AQIM militants via the Web, requesting material support. Sometimes these "invisible Islamists" decide to act on their own. "An isolated individual can inflict as much damage as an organization," said Christophe Chaboud, head of Uclat (Unité de Coordination de la Lutte antiterroriste), the French counter-terrorism czar.

The ministers were debating various courses of action, military and political, including a large-scale ground operation. Israel will continue its operations in the Gaza Strip so long as rocket attacks from the territory continue, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during the meeting, according to an Army Radio report. Late Tuesday night IAF aircraft fired at a number of Kassam launchers that were pointed at Israel. The pilots confirmed that the launchers were hit, Army Radio reported.

Known for its stables and boutique wineries, it seemed a perfect location to build the next generation of million-dollar show homes. And, in a twist to attract the eye of upscale Prius-driving buyers from Seattle, the houses would be built to the latest environmental standards. They would be marketed as low carbon footprint or "built green" in developer-speak. It was a win-win formula and so confident were the developers in their eco-marketing skills that they overrode the opposition of residents, certain that environmentally aware liberals wishing to flee Seattle, would scramble to buy the houses.

Today those dreams are in ruins, along with five of the luxury buildings, put to the torch in the early hours of Monday, apparently by members of the Earth Liberation Front. The FBI has been called in and the attack is being investigated as "a domestic-terrorism act" because "there's a claim of ELF responsibility", according to Fred Gutt, a special agent with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Seattle.

Far from complementing the wooded wetlands, many believed any houses built there would threaten the delicate ecosystem and, with it, the endangered Chinook salmon. Opponents of the development argued forcibly but in vain that the development would pollute nearby Bear Creek as well as the wetlands that feed it. But it did not take a radical environmentalist to appreciate the potential harm posed by the development. After a near-miraculous journey across the Pacific Ocean and up Bear Creek, the Chinook salmon spawns in the icy headwaters.

There, the tiny alevins, with a transparent body and enormous eyes, develop. Millions are born in the streams that feed Bear Creek, surviving off their yolk sacs before turning into a fry, a real fish with small fins and scales capable of making its way back to the Pacific Ocean. However cleverly designed with the latest energy-saving materials, the very construction of new houses in the wetlands and new hardtop roads to service them created a source of oil-polluted runoff water that environmentalists say will potentially kill millions of tiny fish. For the ELF, it seems to have boiled down to a choice between the salmon and the expensive houses that no locals wanted anyway.

The Conservative leader has also accused ministers and councils of allowing fanatics to benefit from public grants to Muslim bodies. "The Government has allowed hundreds of thousands of pounds to local authorities to improve community cohesion, but there are worrying signs that ministers have taken their eye off the ball," he said."I will be making proposals to isolate extremists and make certain they cannot obtain public grants or get invited to sit on public bodies.

"That won't just apply to Islamic extremists. We will be equally vigilant in ensuring that groups linked to the BNP or animal rights militants are excluded too. The message should be clear - to those who preach hate, to those who encourage violence, you are not part of the mainstream, you will not get public funding."

Mr Cameron recently attacked Home Office ministers for considering a visa request from Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an extremist preacher who has previously spoken in London. The move that was condemned because of the cleric's hardline views on Jews and homosexuals. His latest visa request was turned down last month.