It seems to me that bureaucrats are taking over Europe and imposing rules."He also doubted the success of the regulations "The birds will remain here. I want to take them home with me," said Ms Shirshov, 14, a tourist from Moscow, while two more birds landed on her head for the mid-morning feed.Minutes later, the flock had flown when the Greater London Authority's (GLA) hawk, Squirty, made for them.The hawk - and a new by-law that bans visitors from feeding the 200 or so resident birds and the thousands of nomadic pigeons that drop in daily - are part of the GLA's efforts to clean up the square's image.Those who flout the regulation, which comes into effect today, will face a £50 fine.Ms Shirshov's family regards the by-law as a draconian measure that will sanitise the square and remove its allure for tourists. His audience at Nafta, thinking about declining amounts of trade from Canada and Mexico, were probably less surprised.One can accuse George Bush of many things but it seems that possession of an island mentality is not one of them.MATT HARMER Brentford, Middlesex And finally Sir: I know you will think this is the sort of useless pedantry up with which you are not inclined to put, but two sentences, one starting with "and", and one with "but" in one short editorial (14 November)? For shame, sir!CHARLES MILLER Wigan, Lancashire. Despite needing one recovery I still have nearly £1,000 in the account Likewise for household appliances. When we bought a cooker in 1996 I started saving the premiums I would have paid for repair insurance; I now have over half the cost of a new cooker.I recall discussing this matter with Malcolm Muggeridge years ago, and him saying, "Don't you think insurance is the biggest swindle going?".

Spot on.STEPHEN PIMENOFF Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Trading partners Sir: So Rupert Cornwall is surprised to hear George Bush telling the world that "more and more of our imports come from overseas" ("By George!", 13 November). Whilst I appreciate this measure as one proposal aimed at strengthening the law, I would like to know if the same protection will be afforded to male victims of domestic violence?GARRY CLARKSON Leeds Insurance scam Sir: Dr Steven Ford's comments about health insurance (letter, 8 November) apply in other areas too. When I started driving in 1972 I did not take out breakdown cover, but saved the premiums. It comes as a big surprise to me to learn that the proportion of casualties of British troops - 1 per 190 - is approaching twice that of the US troops - 1 per 327. And I thought our chaps were so superior!PETER TALLENTIRE Liverpool Male protection   Sir: I welcome the Government's new "Domestic Violence" initiative, as reported by Robert Verkaik in"Men face curb even if cleared of attack on partner" (13 November). It records that between 21,700 and 55,000 Iraqis died between 20 March, the start of the invasion of Iraq and 20 October (the date on which the report went to press).This figure includes between 7,800 and 9,600 Iraqi civilians.When these figures are set against the 400 or so Americans who have died - along with several dozen British and Italian nationals - it may be understood why so many Iraqis are deeply unhappy at being occupied by a "liberation" army whose death count in just eight months in Iraq far outweighs Saddam's murderous regime at its worst.Dr DAVID LOWRY Stoneleigh, SurreySir: I am grateful for the figures setting out the involvement of the coalition troops in Iraq ("Iraq: the crumbling coalition", 14 November). At the end of last month, a US research institute, Project on Defence Alternatives, published figures - based on hospital records, official US military statistics, news reports, and survey methodology - suggesting between 10,800 and 15,100 Iraqis had died as a result of the invasion.Last week, another international non-governmental organisation, Medact, published a further assessment in Continuing Collateral Damage: the health and environmental costs of war on Iraq.

But others are trying to do so.Towards the end of May, just before President Bush prematurely declared an end to hostilities, the organisation IraqBodyCount issued figures based on assessment of morgue records, of around 7,000 Iraqi civilian deaths. The only solution is to delay elections indefinitely or at least until a way is found to rig them. The only question is whether Bush and Blair have acted wickedly or just stupidly.P J STEWART OxfordSir: Charles Glass rightly points out that the US military occupying Iraq do not keep a count of Iraqis killed by terrorist actions or by their own trigger-happy and fearful soldiers ("There are so many echoes of Vietnam in Iraq", 13 November). Maybe we should bring in German consultants, since they have experience of a designer democracy that seems to work fairly well, while at the same time looking at the Panchayat system that functions in several developing countries.Dr RICHARD LAWSON Congresbury, North SomersetSir: The Americans are not going to organise the election of a constituent assembly in Iraq for one simple reason (letter, 14 November): they used Saddam in the 1980s to attack the Islamic regime in Iran - strengthening it in the process - so they are not now going to let the Iraqis choose such a government for themselves.

If only we'd known it was that easy!MICHAEL WITHYCOMBE Pembury, Kent Iraq futures Sir: If the West really wants to build a democracy in Iraq, they should aim for a bottom-up approach, gathering representatives from villages and town districts into assemblies, who in turn can choose representatives to send on to the national assembly.The problem is that the main players, the USA and Britain are not true democracies, but elected plutocracies, where the leaders are more beholden to the big party donors than the electorate who vote them in. This week, I will be among the British people demonstrating our support for their doing just that.CRAIG DIDDYBODY London SW17Sir: Your American correspondent Mr Mate (letter, 14 November) gives his opinion that in the event of large-scale demonstrations in the UK against Mr Bush, his countrymen will turn against us and no longer consider us their ally. His opinions of President Bush no more make him anti-American than my opinions of Prime Minister Blair make me anti-British.EARL RUSSELL House of LordsSir: Jack Straw and a few allies spent the build-up to war reassuring the Iraqi people that their regime-changing plans were not anti-Iraqi, just anti-Saddam. Why do they find it so difficult to distinguish between being anti-American and anti-Bush? It's a profound relief that American democracy will give the US people a chance to effect its own regime change in a little over a year. After half an hour I asked him whether he knew any American who supported the policies of Bush; I got the instant answer - "No".

• How do you mean? someone said and we all turned to watch her
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• We can keep on dreaming with the rest of them
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• We could play the ball around much easier
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• Nevertheless more details of Levein's case emerged
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• Within minutes of losing a man France also lost their lead
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• He said that his young teammate had come in for undue stick
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• He's worth his weight in gold then a bit more
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• Jonny showed great character like all the team Woodward said
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• The average rate of breathing for a man is 11 times a minute
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• What one has to look at is an accumulation of evidence
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