STRASBOURG - British Prime Minister Tony Blair confronts hostile lawmakers on Wednesday ahead of the bloc's summit, accused of letting Europe down by failing to address key issues facing the bloc.

Blair returns to the European Parliament four months after winning over the sceptical assembly with his vision for Europe, having achieved little yet of real substance as EU president since the failed summit in June threw the EU into crisis.

He will face questioning from an assembly demanding to know what he has done to resolve the bitter row over the EU's long-term budget, blocked notably by Britain's refusal to surrender its jealously guarded rebate.

The lawmakers might also want to know what has become of the "period of reflection" about Europe's future, after French and Dutch voters rejected the EU's first-ever constitution last year.

The European Commission on Tuesday backed the determination of its trade and agriculture commissioners to make a fresh offer on cutting farm tariffs despite scepticism from a group of the EU's member states, led by France.

Peter Power, spokesman for Peter Mandelson, trade commissioner said the Commission had agreed to make a new offer that would be "substantive and credible".

In a letter seen by the Financial Times to fellow European commissioners, Mr Mandelson and Mariann Fischer Boel, agriculture commissioner, warned that failure to agree a new offer this week would risk the collapse of the Doha round of trade talks.

The World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December could be cancelled, they said.
The Commission should make a new offer, "having done our best also to inform and consult member states," the letter added.

On Monday, Philippe Douste-Blazy, French foreign minister, said France had not yet decided whether to block the entire Doha round.

Germany's business climate has brightened even more than expected with a closely-watched confidence index reaching a five-year high this month.

The sharp jump in the Munich-based Ifo institute's "business climate" index, building on an increase in September, is the latest evidence that eurozone economic prospects have brightened markedly.

It is likely to encourage speculation that the European Central Bank is moving closer to an increase in interest rates, possibly as early as December. So far the ECB has held its main interest rate unchanged at 2 per cent for 28 months running.

Hans-Werner Sinn, Ifo's president, said the companies surveyed considered their current situation to be "noticeably more favourable" than in September and had also become more positive in the expectations for the next six months. "The economic recovery thus seems to have become firmer," he said.

The "business climate" index stood at 98.7 in October, compared with 96.0 in September. Economists attributed the rise to an easing of fears about oil prices and the favourable global outlook, but warned that eurozone trend growth remained weak

Nice last sentence :(

Spain offers crucial support to Tony Blair today, on the eve of a European summit in which Britain will try to set in motion painful economic reforms.

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the prime minister, uses a Guardian article to throw his weight behind Britain's attempt to tackle high unemployment in Europe through labour market reforms. "I believe firmly in the Lisbon strategy ... to make the European Union the most dynamic and competitive economy in the world by the end of the decade," he writes.

"Globalisation has made it essential to promote common policies aimed at narrowing the technological gap between the member states of the European Union and at promoting investment in knowledge and innovation."

Mr Blair has had a tense relationship with his Spanish counterpart since Mr Zapatero's surprise election victory last year. Within hours of the win, he announced the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. British and Spanish government sources say that both leaders have been trying to mend fences in recent months after Mr Zapatero's attempts to forge an alliance with France and Germany foundered.

A source close to Mr Zapatero said: "He recognises an intellectual influence from Blair. [Unlike France of Germany] he has no problem in accepting the idea that the European economy has to place productivity and competitiveness centre stage."

BERLIN: One of Germany's most colourful politicians of the last two decades, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, has abruptly pulled the plug on his electrifying career.

The charismatic leading member of the Greens party, who has long enthralled and entertained Germans with his meteoric rise from high school dropout to self-educated vice chancellor, voluntarily moved to parliament's back bench last week.

He will soon be replaced as foreign minister after last month's election saw Germany's governing coalition lose its majority, heralding a return to opposition for the Greens.

Fischer led his environmental party off the opposition benches and into government in 1998, where they have left their stamp on sweeping social, energy and foreign policy changes.

But the show -- at least in Germany -- is over now even if the man who reinvented himself a dozen times on a journey from stone-throwing revolutionary at a car factory to necktie-clad minister may still have his eye on top international jobs.

Fischer, 57, was once seen in Brussels as a leading contender to succeed Javier Solana, 63, should the European Union foreign policy chief resign before his term ends in 2009.

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union must confront globalisation by raising spending on research and by staying united, French President Jacques Chirac said in comments published on Wednesday.

Writing in the Financial Times before a meeting of EU leaders in London on Thursday, Chirac said Europe must stay together despite a string of setbacks this year.

"Globalisation spells enormous economic and social challenges," he wrote. "A united Europe is the only means to address them.

"Europe affords us the critical mass to stand alongside the world's giants. It must move fast in order to keep up with international competition. It must increase innovation and research to support tomorrow's jobs."
...

"Globalisation spells enormous economic and social challenges," he wrote. "A united Europe is the only means to address them.

"Europe affords us the critical mass to stand alongside the world's giants. It must move fast in order to keep up with international competition. It must increase innovation and research to support tomorrow's jobs."

He called for Europe to create a fund of 30 billion euros to pay for research projects up to 2013.
...

"The society Europe strives for is centred on human dignity," Chirac wrote in an article carried on the FT Web site (http://www.ft.com). "Were we to give up this ideal we would betray our heritage. France will therefore never let Europe become a mere free-trade area."

He said the EU should use its size to confront companies whose policies threaten European jobs.

"We must come to grips with globalisation's social consequences," Chirac wrote. "When corporations, tailoring global strategies to short-term profit considerations, take decisions that affect employment throughout the Union, such as relocation, our strength lies in numbers."

The original seems not yet to be available online.

Some European Union lawmakers are fuming over a new U.S. wine-trade agreement, saying they're being force-fed such New World innovations as subbing wood chips for barrel aging or even, quelle horreur, adding water.

     U.S. winemakers contend that their practices are legitimate - and point out the Old World has wine wiles of its own.

     At issue is a clash between the tradition-bound, heavily regulated European wine industry and a much younger American wine industry that came of age during a technological revolution. Although the EU continues to export far more wine than the United States, Australian and U.S. wines - along with imports from Chile and other countries - have been making gains in the European market.

``What I think really is happening is that the marketplace is voting for California wine in a resounding landslide,'' said Eric P. Wente, CEO of Wente Vineyards and Wine Institute chairman. ``What they're (critics) seeking to do is use legislation to combat their inability to change winemaking styles, quality and their approach to the marketplace.''

BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) -- Greece has won the exclusive right to call its white salty cheese "feta" as the European Union's top court ended a long legal battle against Denmark and Germany.

The European Court of Justice ruled the definition of feta was reserved for cheese from Greece as it had been registered as a protected designation of origin by the European Commission in 2002.

The ruling was a victory for Greece, where feta is believed to have been produced from a blend of sheep and goat milk for around 6,000 years.

Denmark and Germany had wanted to use the name for feta-like cheese made in their countries.

Explaining its decision, the court recalled a Commission opinion that special breeds of sheep and goats and the fauna in Greece gave Greek feta a specific aroma and flavour.

It also said feta in other EU states was often associated with Greece and its culture and was marketed with labels showing its Greek heritage.

European broadcasters could be allowed to tap into the lucrative world of product placement under sweeping plans to loosen restrictions on advertising.

Brand promotion is a multi-million dollar business in the US but European Union broadcasting regulations mean most member states bar the practice. Relaxing the restrictions could unlock a fresh income stream for media groups facing challenges to their traditional sources of revenue.

"We believe that many of the current rules are outdated in the new media era, and that they urgently need updating and modernising," said a spokesman for the European Commission, which is carrying out a review of the "television without frontiers" directive.

If the proposals are agreed, all fictional programming - except that aimed at children - could feature product placement as a result of what is the biggest overhaul of the EU's broadcasting rules since they were introduced in 1989.

Orbetello : The surveillance of migratory birds at a sanctuary on Italy's west coast has shown that many wild birds have developed bird flu antibodies from previous infections that could provide them with natural immunity against the deadly strain scientists are worried about, a researcher said.

Mauro Delogu, a researcher for the University of Bologna, said antibodies found in migratory birds studied over the last 13 years could offer the birds protection against bird flu strains.

However, even though the birds may be protected from getting sick, they can still spread the virus.

UN charity Unicef says 18 million children in sub-Saharan Africa could be orphaned by Aids by the end of 2010.

It also says that every minute, a child is infected with HIV and another child dies from an Aids-related illness.

The charity says children are being overlooked in the global fight against HIV and Aids.

Unicef says only 5% of HIV-positive children get medical help, and fewer than 10% of the 15 million already orphaned by Aids get financial support.

Unicef's executive director Ann Veneman said children were the "invisible face" of a very visible disease and were missing out on the help that adults received.

"It is critical that the world unite for children and unite against Aids. The size of the problem is staggering, but the scale of the response has been inadequate," she said.

BAGHDAD, 25 May 2003 - UNICEF recently conducted a rapid assessment survey to determine the current rate of malnutrition among children under the age of five, with the results being released 10 days ago.

The results showed that acute malnutrition among children had almost doubled since before the war, jumping from 4 per cent to 7.7 per cent. Children who are acutely malnourished are literally wasting away, and for severe cases their condition can be fatal. Acute malnutrition sets in very fast and is a strong indicator of the overall health of children.

Prior to the war, UNICEF supported a network of 3,000 Community Child Care Units or CCCUs, staffed by roughly 13,000 volunteers. CCCUs were set up to screen children for malnutrition in order to catch children in the early stages and to assist their recovery.

When a child was found to be malnourished, they were sent to the local Primary Health Care Centre (PHC) for treatment and received High Protein Biscuits to aid in their recuperation. Severely malnourished children were referred to Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) established in 63 hospitals countrywide for more intensive treatments. The CCCU network screened 1.2 million children last year.

Unfortunately, this system collapsed with the onset of the fighting. UNICEF is now working hard to re-establish the entire network in order to reach all children suffering from malnutrition and to provide families with vital information on how to prevent malnutrition, diarrhea and other diseases that pose a threat to children's health and wellbeing.

The city of Rome is cracking down on careless pet owners by introducing fines for those who fail to take their dog out on regular walks.

Docking pets' tails and ears has also been made illegal, and can cost owners anything up to 500 euros.
Round fish bowls, believed to make fish blind, are deemed cruel, too, and banned under the new set of rules.

The by-law aims at protecting hundreds of thousands of cats, dogs and other species living in the Italian capital.

"The civilization of a city can also be measured by this," Monica Cirinna, the councillor who sponsored the by-law, told Rome-based newspaper Il Messaggero.

Wal-Mart's Walton family now has 771,287 times more money than the median U.S. household. What gives?

Fall is inequality season. Every autumn, as the leaves change color, we get a vivid new picture of the trends that pull us apart as a country.

This year is no different. But after almost three decades of incrementally widening disparities of wealth and income, it's worth noting that we've entered a new version of economic apartheid, American-style. Let's call it Inequality 2.0.

The United States is now the third most unequal industrialized society after Russia and Mexico. This is not a club we want to be part of. Russia is a recovering kleptocracy, with a post-Soviet oligarchy enriched by looting. And Mexico, despite joining the rich-nations club of the Organization for Economic and Community Development, has some of the most glaring poverty in the hemisphere.

In 2004, after three years of economic recovery, the U.S. Census reports that poverty continues to grow, while the real median income for full-time workers has declined. Since 2001, when the economy hit bottom, the ranks of our nation's poor have grown by 4 million, and the number of people without health insurance has swelled by 4.6 million to over 45 million

Two and a half years and $202 billion into the war in Iraq, the United States has at least one significant new asset to show for it: effective membership, through our control of Iraq's energy policy, in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Arab-dominated oil cartel.

Just what to do with this proxy power has been, almost since President Bush's first inaugural, the cause of a pitched battle between neoconservatives at the Pentagon, on the one hand, and the State Department and the oil industry, on the other. At issue is whether Iraq will remain a member in good standing of OPEC, upholding production limits and thereby high prices, or a mutinous spoiler that could topple the Arab oligopoly.

According to insiders and to documents obtained from the State Department, the neocons, once in command, are now in full retreat. Iraq's system of oil production, after a year of failed free-market experimentation, is being re-created almost entirely on the lines originally laid out by Saddam Hussein.
Under the quiet direction of U.S. oil company executives working with the State Department, the Iraqis have discarded the neocon vision of a laissez faire, privatized oil operation in favor of one shackled to quotas set by OPEC, which have been key to the 148% rise in oil prices since the beginning of 2002. This rise is estimated to have cost the U.S. economy 1.5% of its GDP, or a third of its total growth during the period.

Given this economic blow, and given that OPEC states account for 46% of America's oil imports, it may seem odd that the United States' "remaking" of Iraq would allow for a national oil company that props up OPEC's price gouging. And in fact the original scheme for reconstruction, at least the one favored by neoconservatives, was to privatize Iraq's oil entirely and thereby undermine the oil cartel. One intellectual godfather of this strategy was Ariel Cohen of the Heritage Foundation, who in September 2002 published (with Gerald P. O'Driscoll, Jr.) a post-invasion plan, "The Road to Economic Prosperity for a Post-Saddam Iraq," that put forward the idea of using Iraq to smash OPEC. Cohen explained to me how such an extraordinary geopolitical feat might be accomplished. OPEC maintains high oil prices by suppressing production through a quota system effectively imposed on each member by Saudi Arabia, which reigns by dint of its overwhelming reserves. The Saudis, to maintain their control on pricing, must keep a lid on production from other members-particularly Iraq, which has the second greatest proven reserves

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Italian and French citizens risk losing the right to visa-free U.S. travel on Wednesday when new American passport rules take effect, but U.S. security officials expect the logistical and economic impact to be limited.

Austria, which had also been expected to miss the October 26 deadline to include a digital photograph in all new passports, appears to have found an eleventh-hour solution to salvage its visa-free travel privileges, a U.S. official said.

Apart from these three states, all of the other 27 mostly European countries in the elite "Visa Waiver Program" will certainly meet the new rules, ensuring more than 10 million mostly high-budget travelers will continue to need nothing but a valid, machine-readable passport to visit the United States.

LONDON (AFP) - British oil giant BP said that net profit rose to 4.41 billion dollars (3.69 billion euros) during the third quarter, as record energy prices offset production damage caused by the recent US hurricanes.

Third quarter net profit, excluding gains from the value of its inventories, increased by 16 percent when compared with the 3.79 billion dollars BP earned during the third quarter of 2004.

Excluding so-called "one-time" costs, net profit stood at 5.33 billion dollars during the third quarter in 2005, below analysts' average forecast of 5.42 billion dollars.

"The recent hurricanes in the US have impacted our results," BP chief executive John Browne said in a statement accompanying the results.

"However, underlying performance is strong, amplified by high but volatile prices of oil, gas and products," he added.

Oil prices reached a historic high point of 70.85 dollars per barrel on August 30 after Hurricane Katrina had battered oil facilities in the US Gulf of Mexico a day earlier.

OSLO (Reuters) - Better protection for the diversity of the planet's creatures and plants could help shield humans from diseases like AIDS, Ebola or bird flu and save billions of dollars in health care costs, researchers said on Tuesday.

They said human disruptions to biodiversity -- from roads through the Amazon jungle to deforestation in remote parts of Africa -- had made people more exposed to new diseases that originate in wildlife.

"Biodiversity not only stores the promise of new medical treatments and cures, it buffers humans from organisms and agents that cause disease," scientists from the Diversitas international group said in a statement.

"Preventing emerging diseases through biodiversity conservation is far more cost effective than developing vaccines to combat them later," it said ahead of a Nov. 9-10 conference of 700 biodiversity experts in Oaxaca, Mexico.

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's centre-right parties failed to strike a coalition government deal in late-night talks on the scope of free market reforms and power sharing, setting the stage for a possible showdown in parliament on Wednesday.

But Prime Minister-designate Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz signaled hopes remained for an eleventh hour deal between his conservative Law and Justice party and the pro-business Civic Platform.

"Decisions should be made on Wednesday before parliament starts its sitting at 1100 (0900 GMT)," Marcinkiewicz told reporters, referring to a vote on the choice of a new parliamentary speaker that still divides the two parties.

Law and Justice and Civic Platform won national elections last month on a promise to weed out corruption and revive the biggest economy among European Union newcomers, telling voters the two parties were destined to rule together.

The parties appeared to have made some progress on Monday but Civic Platform said Law and Justice was pushing for too much control in a future cabinet and wanted less free market reform.

A major surprise at the Lettre Ulysses Awards ceremony was the 20,000 euro third prize to 'Riverbend' -- a pseudonym for a 26-year-old Iraqi woman who began writing a weblog in August 2003, that ultimately was published in book form as 'Baghdad Burning' in June 2005.

The writer, who worked as a programmer and network expert for a small software company before the war, now lives with her parents and siblings in Baghdad. Her childhood and early adolescence was spent abroad, "probably in an English-speaking country", and she had studied at the University of Baghdad, Lettre officials said.

Catheryn Kilgarriff, head of Marion Byers Publishers in London which has brought out the book, said at the award ceremony that the writer had been overwhelmed on hearing that 'Baghdad Burning' had been nominated for an 'Art of Reportage' award.

She read a message from 'Riverbend' saying: "The blog began as a way to vent the frustrations and anguish over the situation in Baghdad in 2003. Through intermittent electricity and a phone line that disappeared for days at a time, l blogged because l felt like it was the only way to get my voice heard.

"I never imagined, however, that so many people would read the blog and that it would become recognised as a window to Iraq under occupation."

It weighs 1oz. It costs £1,000. And it creates 30 tons of toxic waste

The lust for gold has reached record levels worldwide as India and China have joined developed nations in demanding more jewellery. On the back of this surge, gold prices have reached a 17-year high, and yesterday rose $7.70 (£4.30) to more than $474 per ounce. But the world's remaining gold deposits are microscopic and the environmental costs of extracting them are profound.

A £1,000 wedding ring - equivalent to one ounce of gold - creates up to 30 tons of toxic waste. To produce that single ounce, miners have to quarry hundreds of tons of rock, which are then doused in a liquid cyanide solution to separate the gold. Payal Sampat, the campaign director for Earthworks, the mining watchdog, told The Independent: "Gold mining is arguably the world's dirtiest and most polluting industry."