"This accident could have been avoided if the chart was accurate," he said. He said within minutes of the incident, Greenpeace contacted the marine park ranger station to inform them of what had happened. The environmental group's ship briefly ran aground Monday at the Tubbataha National Marine Park, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea, 400 miles south-east of Manila, damaging a thousand-square-feet area of the reef, a joint statement released by Greenpeace and the park said. Red Constantino of Greenpeace Southeast Asia blamed the incident on a faulty maritime chart that showed the Rainbow Warrior was supposed to be 1.5 miles away from the reef when it ran aground. Greenpeace today admitted that its flagship Rainbow Warrior accidentally struck a coral reef in a central Philippines marine park while on a trip to expose the impact of climate change in Asia, and that it has agreed to compensate the park. I wonder, how could he know?EVELYN KNOWLESVENTNOR ISLE OF WIGHT. A "paper trail" was adduced as proof of Saddam's guilt but was later shown to be a forgery. However, by then it had served its purpose in providing an excuse for the attack on Iraq.CHARLES HUGHESFELIXSTOWE, SUFFOLK Cramped library Sir: Is the London Library's quaintness at risk, asks Jay Merrick (26 October).

Am I the only member to wish it were? The collection is first-rate, and the staff are magnificent, but the building - from its crepuscular and uncomfortable reading rooms to the labyrinth of staircases and bookstacks - is a shambles. Harriet Miers was able to demonstrate her legal qualities in the course of acting for 10 years as counsel for the President. The laws are adequate - the referees are inadequate.STEPHEN GODFREYGERARDS CROSS BUCKINGHAMSHIRE False paper trail Sir: The allegations by US senators that George Galloway accepted money from Saddam Hussein bear a strong resemblance to the claims that Iraq had bought uranium ore from Nigeria before the Iraq war. The laws of Association Football are quite clear: under Law 12 a player is sent off and shown a red card if he commits any one of seven offences of which one is "using offensive or insulting or abusive language and/or gestures". While not changing the clocks might suit those living around Canary Wharf , it is a different matter clearing ice off the car, never mind getting children off to school, in pitch blackness on a winter's morn further north.Our present arrangements are a compromise to suit our country's geographical position on the globe.ROBERT J PATTERSONBRAMPTON, CUMBRIA Threats from Iran and from Israel Sir: Like Tony Blair I too was appalled when the leader of a sovereign state with nuclear ambitions called for attacks on a rival sovereign state.The difference being that I was appalled back in November 2002 when Ariel Sharon told the New York Post that he would "push for Iran to be at the top of the 'to do' list" after Iraq had been dealt with.This was while Tony Blair was still telling the country that war with Iraq was far from inevitable and he was doing everything he could to "give peace a chance". A short item inside the paper further informed us that Portugal, Great Britain, Ireland and the Canary Islands are one hour behind France, while Greece, Finland and the Baltic countries are one hour ahead.Later that day, we collected The Independent at Maidstone services and read in your leading article that this "irritating and obsolete practice" is carried on in the UK too!When will you learn that the world is spherical, with resulting changes in the disposition of daylight over the course of each day and year.

If our political demands are not met then the blame should fall on the politicians that hold the power to make poverty history, not the activists - famous or otherwise - who are still calling for urgent action .GLEN TARMANCOORDINATOR, TRADE JUSTICE MOVEMENT, LONDON EC1 Lighter mornings lift northern gloom Sir: Returning from holiday through France on Saturday, we picked up a copy of L'Est Republicain, a newspaper circulating in eastern France. We welcome the Government's new policy but need to see evidence of it in practice.Stuart Hodkinson is wrong to imply that Make Poverty History has somehow gone away ("It this history?" 26 October). On 2 November we will stage the biggest lobby of Parliament this year. Around the world an unparalleled mobilisation of hundreds of millions of ordinary people is under way. Their voices are demanding that Tony Blair and other world leaders make radical changes to the way world trade is currently managed so it benefits poor people and not just the rich and powerful. The spotlight in this country should now be on whether the UK and the EU will remain obstacles to trade justice or urgently drop the aggressive stance of our trading bloc in WTO negotiations. World leaders have the opportunity to turn things round at the WTO meeting in December.