"We found that when people talk on a cell phone they are as impaired as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit (of 0.08). It was a surprise to us." said Frank Drews, one of the Utah researchers who has published earlier studies showing drivers on the phone are at higher risk of accidents.

Also to our surprise, the study supports the previous findings that there's no difference between hand-held and hands-free. "There is a (more dangerous) component when people are dialing the phone or searching for the cell phone in the briefcase on the seat beside them, but what distracts people when talking on a cell phone is the conversation, not holding the phone." he explained.

"If legislators really want to address driver distraction, then they should consider outlawing cell phone use while driving," said Mr. Drews

Just like many people who have been drinking, the cellphone users did not believe themselves to be affected, the researchers found.

Excommunication forbids Catholics from receiving communion, assisting in any Church duties, and sometimes from having a Church burial.

But the threat was shrugged off yesterday by Italy's leading expert on cloning, Prof Cesare Galli, of the Laboratory of Reproductive Technologies in Cremona, who was the first scientist to clone a horse.

Prof Galli likened the Vatican to the Taliban and added: "I can bear excommunication. I was raised as a Catholic, I share Catholic values, but I am able to make my own judgment on some issues and I do not need to be told by the Church what to do or to think.

"I will be, together with Elena Cattaneo [a scientist working in the University of Milan] the first to be affected by the excommunication and then there are two other labs that I know using imported embryonic stem cells."

The research is opposed by the Catholic Church because it involves destroying embryos. This occurs at the point when they consist of about 100 to 200 cells and the so-called inner cell mass is removed. These stem cells can grow indefinitely and turn into any of the body's 200 cell types.

Scientists believe research making use of the cells could eventually yield treatments for a range of diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and Parkinson's.

The Vatican's tough stance on the issue came as the Pope prepared to visit Valencia for the fifth annual world conference on the Catholic family. Spain passed a law permitting embryonic stem cell research two years ago to the dismay of the Church.

An Italian senator, Paola Binetti, a member of Opus Dei and a prominent campaigner for Catholic rights, also spoke against the Church's line.

"I am upset and stunned," she said. "It is a mistake to give out the idea that God is angry with Man because he is not in agreement with him."

Cardinal Trujillo said it was not just Spain which had "thrown out the fundamental laws of nature" but also Belgium, Holland, the Scandinavian countries and France. He did not mention Britain, which is at the forefront of embryonic stem cell research.Belgium's divided State.

The rock star turned Africa campaigner called on the Group of Eight (G8) rich nations to do more to meet the commitments they made in July 2005 in Scotland in the wake of the worldwide "Make Poverty History" campaign and the Live8 concert in London. He said that while G8 countries had honoured pledges to cancel poor countries' debts, commitments on aid were falling behind. A fair deal on world trade was also as distant a prospect as it was a year ago, he said.

Geldof said the performance on debt relief was good, aid "OK", but trade "ugly". He told a news conference: "Summing it up, there's the good, the OK and there is the seemingly ugly.

"A parent makes a promise to a child and if that promise is broken cynicism and a lack of trust set in. The promise from the economically powerful to the economically weak is more important because if we break that promise, we kill them."

Nelson Mandela, the former South African president, addressed the London meeting via a videolink. He said: "We can be the great generation that makes poverty history but to make poverty history we must now make promises happen one by one. Don't give up now, let your politicians know you are watching every step they take."

Mr Mandela and Geldof were speaking at the launch of a report by the campaign group DATA, headed by the U2 frontman and Africa campaigner Bono, to mark the first anniversary of the summit. DATA - which stands for Debt, Aid, Trade, Africa - said progress so far had been "painfully slow, proceeding at best at half-pace".

Last year, the G8 promised $50bn (£27bn) with more aid every year by 2010, half of that going to Africa; comprehensive Aids treatment by 2010; debt cancellation for 38 of the world's poorest countries; primary education for all children by 2010 and a trade deal benefiting Africa.

Jamie Drummond, the executive director of DATA, said: "The G8 strode forward down the promised path of debt, but have shuffled with a halting half-pace on aid, while falling backwards on trade. The campaigners around the world who got the G8 closer to the right path in the first place must now encourage them to accelerate down it."

Campaign groups are building up for protests around the world in the run-up the summit of the heads of state of the G8 in St Petersburg next month.

Out of the G8 countries - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Britain and US - DATA gave top marks to France as the only country on track for the 2010 aid target. It singled out Britain for praise for Gordon Brown's campaign to launch a multibillion-pound initiative to front-load cash to fund vaccinations against killer diseases, and for its "leadership" on debt and the fight against Aids. It reserved its main criticism for Germany, whose aid budget fell last year, and Italy, which it said was "way off track" on the 2010 commitments.

The UK Government said its official aid budget would continue to rise, hitting the global benchmark of 0.7 per cent of national income by 2013, two years ahead of the EU's target of 2015.

Hilary Benn, the International Development Secretary, said the DATA report showed the real progress made since the "memorable" Gleneagles summit. "Much progress has already been achieved in a short time," he said. "On debt, 20 of the world's poorest countries have seen their debts written off, meaning countries like Zambia ... can spend the money they would have done on debt repayments to provide free health care instead."

DATA did not assess Russia as it still grappling with development issues of its own.

Meanwhile hopes of a deal to open up agricultural markets to Africa by cutting tariffs and subsidies in the US and Europe were fading. Ministers from 60 countries were meeting yesterday at the headquarters of the World Trade Organisation in Geneva in a last-ditch attempt to get a deal. Celso Amorim, the Brazilian Foreign Minister, said: "I have the impression that the gaps have actually widened or at least have become more rigid."

* The Tories may pledge to spend more than Labour on aid to the Third World. In a speech to Oxfam, in Oxford, yesterday, Mr Cameron promised to match Labour's pledge to boost Britain's aid spending to 0.7 per cent of national income by 2013 but said the Tories might go "further and faster" and would review the position every year. He also said a Tory government might bring in "aid vouchers" so that corrupt governments could not siphon off money and prevent it reaching the people who needed it.

How the G7 nations compare on aid

United Kingdom

Aid:The $115m (£63.5m) increase in aid to Africa must rise to $427m this year.

Trade: The UK has been the most vocal of the G8 and EU countries in calling for steeper subsidy cuts to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Debt/other issues: Praised for debt cancellation and for Tony Blair's plan for an Africa progress panel to hold the G8 accountable.

Canada

Aid: Aid budget fell by £5.5m last year putting it "clearly off track". It needs an £80m cash injection.

Trade: Like all G8 countries, DATA finds Canada guilty of failing to use the Hong Kong meeting of the WTO to broker a deal.

Debt: The new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, campaigned on a ticket of hitting the 2010 targets. He must set out a "clear timeline".

France

Aid: Deserves praise for increased aid to Africa and is the only nation on track for the 2010 goal.

Trade: France is the "biggest block" to reform to EU farm subsidies, which go to agribusiness not farmers, and the main obstacle to brokering a new global trade deal.

Debt: Gets credit for leadership on an air ticket levy to raise money to buy Aids drugs.

Germany

Aid: Its budget fell by £540,000 last year and needs to find £362m this year. Praises commitment to raise aid to 0.7 per cent of GDP by 2015.

Trade: Germany must support reform of the CAP which currently sucks £1.8bn out of Germany each year that could diverted to aid.

Debt: Deal to cancel debt was signed under the German presidency of G8. But Germany ought to return its share of £6bn debt repayment by Nigeria.

Italy

Aid: Last year's increase of £14.2m was "way off track" to meet Gleneagles commitments although DATA acknowledged it has an "economy in difficulty".

Trade: Found to be "major block", with France, of CAP reform.

Debt: Another beneficiary of the £6bn Nigerian debt repayment. It has agreed to raise its aid budget to 0.7 per cent by 2015.

Japan

Aid: Only G8 country for which development assistance figures for 2005 were not available.

Trade: As a food exporter, Japan has taken a defensive stance on cutting trade-distorting support.

Debt: The Japanese government, which will have new prime minister by September, must start thinking about an Africa agenda for its 2008 G8 summit.

United States

Aid: Despite increasing aid for Africa by $480m last year it still needs to raise it by $720m this year to meet its commitment.

Trade: Has been "reluctant" to commit to deeper cuts in subsidies and has a specific problem on its payments to cotton farmers that angers African countries.

Debt: Credit for part in multilateral agreement on debt cancellation.

Light sweet crude for August delivery rose 28 cents to $73.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where gasoline futures fell by more than 2 cents to $2.2725 a gallon after settling at a nine-month high on Thursday.

"Earlier in the week, the $73 mark has always been considered the resistance level," said Victor Shum, energy analyst at Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "Now, we've gone beyond that."

Brent crude futures on the ICE Futures exchange climbed 16 cents to $73.04 a barrel.

Worries about a supply crunch ahead of the July Fourth holiday grew after the U.S. government released a report Wednesday showing gasoline stocks shrank last week for the first time in more than two months.

Gasoline demand in the U.S. continues to rise in spite of soaring pump prices. Over the past four weeks, daily gasoline demand was up 0.9 percent from a year ago at 9.4 million barrels a day, according to Energy Department data released Wednesday. The average retail price of regular gasoline nationwide is $2.87 per gallon.

About 40.7 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the July Fourth holiday, up 1.2 percent from 40.2 million last year, according to projections by the AAA, the largest motor club in the United States.

"In the short-term, there's some momentum for pricing to go up further," Shum said.

The closure of the Calcasieu Ship Channel on the U.S. Gulf Coast has also caused gasoline prices to rise in the past week. A cleanup is under way following an oil spill at a Citgo Petroleum Corp. refinery in Lake Charles, La. The channel was partially reopened Wednesday, raising hopes that normal traffic could resume as early as this weekend.

Oil prices are up about 30 percent from a year ago, driven higher by strong demand and a limited supply cushion _ conditions that are worrisome to traders given the backdrop of considerable geopolitical uncertainty, such as violence in Nigeria, the war in Iraq and Iran's diplomatic showdown with the West over its nuclear program.

Iran is OPEC's No. 2 producer of oil, and traders are worried about the outlook for those supplies.