The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil. Senior development sources believe the report, completed in April, ha

A Japanese mobile phone firm said today it had pulled a TV advert depicting a monkey as a political candidate amid accusations that it was a racist reference to Barack Obama, who is seeking to become the first black US president. The ad, for eMobile, shows a monkey in a suit addressing an election rally, surrounded by supporters carrying placards with the word "Change". The apparent intention is t

With a glint of a dagger and a blaze of celestial light, Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper burst into new life on Monday night after Peter Greenaway finally secured permission to reinvent the crumbling, 510-year-old masterpiece as a sound and light show. In a remarkable coup for the British film director, the Italian authorities allowed Greenaway to wheel a battery of projectors, computers and s

Britain's 3.6 million lesbian, gay and bisexual people see themselves confronted by huge barriers of prejudice at every level of society, according to the first authoritative poll of their views. The poll, commissioned by the equality charity Stonewall, which said some public bodies were too "smug" about their record on discrimination, indicates that the schoolyard is the most entrenched bastion o

Is it a miracle? A hoax? Or just tragedy in the making? Patrick Barkham on the frenzy surrounding the US transgender man reported to be expecting a baby girl Thomas Beatie lives in a former logging city in Oregon with his wife, Nancy Roberts. He has a beard and he has a bulge in his stomach that isn't a beer belly. Beatie, it is claimed, is five months' pregnant and the story has caused a worldwid

Michelin gastronomes may have recently sprinkled stars on Tokyo's most refined restaurants but it's the cities low-key izakayas that get the locals' vote. Roughly defined as bars that serve food each izakaya follows the same basic formula; an open counter where the chefs work, a selection of sake and menus that include made-to-share dishes of sashimi, yakitori (grilled vegetable and meat skewers)

Derek Jarman tackled punk Britain, gay Britain and Thatcher's Britain. His work is being celebrated with a retrospective at the Serpentine Gallery, a Channel 4 documentary and a season of films

Prozac, the bestselling antidepressant taken by 40 million people worldwide, does not work and nor do similar drugs in the same class, according to a major review released today. The study examined all available data on the drugs, including results from clinical trials that the manufacturers chose not to publish at the time. The trials compared the effect on patients taking the drugs with those gi