The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority will announce its decision next week on whether to give permission to UK laboratories to create the hybrid embryos to advance the understanding of genetic diseases.

The issue is controversial because it involves scientists taking an animal egg, removing its genetic material and putting DNA from a human cell into it. This can be used to create lines of stem cells which can then be made part of studies into incurable genetic diseases such as motor neurone disease.

However, it has caused controversy as some campaigners and religious groups argue that it is unethical to mix human and animal cells in this way.

'To me, it seems just very practical to use the cows' eggs, as a by-product of a process [the animals' slaughter] that is already happening.' Another scientist, Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, head of genetics at the National Institute of Medical Research in London, said: 'I can see absolutely no reason why these sorts of experiments shouldn't proceed. I think the scientists wishing to carry them out have made a very clear case for them.'

PRESIDENT George W. Bush warned yesterday that Iran's pursuit of the atomic bomb could lead to a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East and promised to confront Tehran "before it is too late".

Mr Bush's remarks, the starkest warning he has made about Iran's nuclear ambitions, came just hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said a power vacuum was imminent in Iraq and that Tehran was ready to fill it.

Mr Bush said: "Iran's pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.

"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere, and the United States is rallying friends and allies to isolate Iran's regime to impose economic sanctions. We will confront this danger before it is too late," he told war veterans in Nevada.

"The political power of the occupiers is collapsing rapidly," Mr Ahmadinejad said.

"Soon, we will see a huge power vacuum in the region ... we are prepared to fill the gap."

Although Mr Ahmadinejad revels in making provocative statements, his latest remarks will increase the fears in Washington and among the US's moderate Sunni allies in the region that an Iranian-dominated Iraq would trigger a regional war between Sunnis and Shias.

A king-size bed with a silky spread dominated the church's stage. A sign outside the sanctuary doors warned, "PG-13. Parents strongly cautioned: Some content may not be suitable for all children."

Since Senior Pastor Linn Winters introduced the series Aug. 12, weekend attendance at first four and now five services per weekend has climbed to past 6,500, or about 2,000 more than average. The series is promoted with an edgy Web site - www.howsexyami.com - and a Loop 202 billboard showing two sets of feet projecting from under bed covers.

While adults are hearing about fantasies, women's needs and men's sexual wiring, the children coming to church are in a children's center getting age- appropriate teaching tied to the six-week series. Meanwhile, Cornerstone is offering eight fall classes and gatherings on such topics as "Valiant Men, "Intimate Issues" and "Every Woman's Battle."

But God, he said, intended that when men and women share a bed, their souls come together. "God says that when we begin to honor the soulishness of the sexual encounter, all of a sudden this thing changes and becomes what we describe as 'big bed sex.'"

"The world offers a little bed," Winters said. "God offers big bed sex."