However, it skirted over intense controversies over both how much it should pay for the move and the status of a key US air base.

The close allies reached the initial realignment deal in October but negotiations dragged on for months amid a dispute over who would shoulder the cost.

Japan agreed in the end to provide 6.09 billion dollars out of the 10.27 billion-dollar bill, which includes building new housing in Guam.

But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday that the amount was still open to negotiation.

"We need to research more thoroughly, while the calculation will need more time," Koizumi said. "It's not final yet."

Local media said Japan expedited the cabinet approval so it would take place before Koizumi meets US
President George W. Bush next month on what will likely be his last trip to Washington before stepping down in September.

The cabinet also said Japan had not agreed on the status of Futenma air base, which has long been a source of grievances because of its location in a crowded urban area in Okinawa.

The draft plan called for Futenma's operations to be moved to an existing base in Okinawa, while residents have wanted the air station removed entirely from the province.

"We would like to continue sincere discussions and draw up the details while listening to the demands of local residents," Defense Agency Director-General Fukushiro Nukaga told reporters.

Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine criticized the cabinet approval, saying the final plan contradicted assurances given to the province, which hosts half of the US troops in Japan and 75 percent of their facilities.

"The documents we exchanged said that the plan would give substantial consideration to the local bodies but it turned out not to be substantial," Inamine said.

The plan also includes a transfer of 57 more warplanes to the western city of Iwakuni, whose residents overwhelmingly opposed the plan in a symbolic referendum.

"Not only in Okinawa but also in any prefectures, their governors and mayors wouldn't agree (to host US bases) with open arms," Foreign Minister Taro Aso said.

"We need to continue sincere discussions."

US troops are based here under a security alliance after World War II, when Japan was stripped of the right to maintain a military.

Under the realignment, the two nations would also improve their ballistic missile defense capabilities in light of concern about nearby North Korea.

Rear Admiral Charles Leidig Jr, the commander of the US naval forces in the Marianas region which includes Guam, said Monday that the realignment was meant to respond to new threats including global terrorism.

"What's important is if you were to look at where US forces are positioned in the Western Pacific, it's still in the same place at the end of World War II, primarily in Japan, Korea and Okinawa," he said in Saipan.

"What we're doing is reposturing our forces to make sure that they are properly positioned for the next century."

They quoted what they said was a declassified December 14, 1964 document, written by George Rathjens of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, to show that the United States was considering an attack on China's nuclear facilities.

China's first atomic bomb was developed on the plains of the western province of Qinghai and was detonated on October 16, 1964, in the desert of the neighboring region of Xinjiang.

Before learning of the alleged plan, Mao and other Chinese leaders intended to reinvigorate China's sluggish economy, which was marked by chronic shortages of food, clothes and other consumer goods.

"The judgment about the world affairs and the war-scenario consideration made Mao change the consensus-based proposal on enhancing the fragile economy," according to the book.

Mao has been blamed for a series of disastrous blunders, including the 1958 Great Leap Forward in which he urged farmers to abandon their fields to make steel in backyard furnaces in a drive to develop the economy.

In 1966, he launched the Cultural Revolution, whipping the Asian nation into a decade of bloody turmoil and political fervor in a bid to rid the Communist Party of more moderate voices and cement his rule.

An estimated 30 million Chinese died of famine and violent unrest in the 1950s and 1960s. China's government, however, blames much of the death toll on natural disasters.

Although Mao's decision to refocus on the battle against imperialism dealt a blow to the economy, the relocation of factories had an unintended effect in that it laid a solid foundation for current efforts to revitalize the economy in China's far west, Xinhua said.

He appealed to the audience to act to halt the growing crisis.

"I will own up to shortcomings in my ability to communicate," said Mr Gore, who ran against President Bush in 2000.

"But I'm not through with this yet and I am devoting myself to it".

Mr Gore was the key note speaker of the 19th Hay Festival on the mid-Wales border.

Five years ago Bill Clinton spoke at Hay on his many roles in conflict resolution.

But Mr Gore, fresh from an appearance at the Cannes film festival, delivered a starker message that the world was now facing a "danger which could bring the end of civilisation."

A documentary which premiered at Cannes, An Inconvenient Truth, is based on lectures Mr Gore has been delivering about environmental crisis for many years.

He was asked by a member of the Hay Festival audience to run for president again.

But Mr Gore replied: "I honestly believe that the role I can most usefully play is to try to change the minds of the American people...about what this crisis is about."

He said addressing the issues around climate control were "on the agenda in 2000 but was never seen and heard as an issue worthy of the top rank of consideration".

Mr Gore said global warming was seen as an "arcane" issue with more than half the US media denying there was any problem and his opponent "pledged to regulate CO2 - a pledge not broken until after the inauguration".

In a passionate speech, Mr Gore said: "We face a challenge in the conversation of democracy that we must be up to in order to save the climate balance on which our civilisation depends."

He said he believed scientists who said that there may be 10 years remaining to avoid "crossing the point of no return".

"Then does that change you? It should, it's happening on our watch," said the former vice-president.

He said he was "carbon neutral" himself and he tried to offset any plane flight or car journey by "purchasing verifiable reductions in CO2 elsewhere".

He said the only way to bring about the change was "a sea change in the public's understanding and opinion".

"The only way that political leaders of all parties will find the courage for the bold actions that are needed."

Mr Gore was given a standing ovation by the audience whom he begged "to make the changes in your own life to make your part of the solution (to the problem)".

He said: "There are more than enough people here to really change the world.

"I hope that many of you will accept and act on that - so much is at stake."

The results of the survey show that the number of people sayingthey have never smoked has risen from 42 percent to 47 percent since 2002.

The number of people who have given up smoking has risen from 19 percent to 22 percent.

Women and young people smoke the least, the report said. The drop in smoking is also most marked among these groups, although there are considerable variations among EU member states.

The survey said 75 percent of people are aware that tobacco smoke can be dangerous for non-smokers and 56 percent of people are in favor of a smoking ban in restaurants.

Support for smoking restrictions is highest in the smoke-free member states, suggesting that approval for smoke-free policies tends to increase following their implementation, the report said.