Some bulls in Spain are simply irreplaceable. They are the sementales, or breeding bulls, prized and pampered to produce offspring that fight and die in the ring. When their time is past, they are mourned like a great racing stallion would be in Britain.

9/11 and its aftermath have kept US and British TV dramatists very busy. But do the likes of 'Spooks' and '24' reflect the 'war on terror' as it is? Or are these series following a more sinister script? By Adam Sweeting

The deserts of the world are threatened by a combination of human exploitation and climate change that could, within decades, wipe out many unique habitats and rare species, an authoritative study has found.

Sir: I have just seen a Tory press release headed, "UK ministers must support Brussels over swift legal moves, warn Euro-MPs." British Tories supporting Brussels intervention? Surely not!

A DEAL to end the beef crisis is a "hair's breadth" away, the European Commission said last night. The commission launched the first stage of a court action against France and stepped up pressure on Germany, the only other EU country still maintaining an embargo. But the commission made clear that although the legal deadline had passed, a settlement of the Anglo-French crisis is finally taking shape.

The film of her book, `Mad Cows', has received a vicious critical mauling. But has Kathy Lette's famous ebullience been punctured by the experience? Not a bit of it, discovered Cole Moreton

Dea Birkett on a cool customer at the corrida

BY THE time you read this, I shall have returned to the house where I was born. You may have been there with me, for the house is called Shelley Hall and it, or rather its moated island, was the star of last night's edition of the Channel 4 series Lost Gardens. They say that on the island there was once a Tudor garden created by one of Henry VIII's gardeners. The programme's task was to re-create it.

Sir: How can the French any longer refuse to eat British beef? The French rugby team, having been served British beef last week, unexpectedly defeated the "invincible" New Zealand team on Sunday - proof that British beef is best. Unfortunately, the British teams were probably eating quiche.

Anger over delay on beef ban

TOM HAIGH stands among his empty pens and cattle sheds surveying what was once a prosperous beef business, but which is now nothing.

This excerpt has been taken from a work of travel literature. Readers are invited to tell us: a) where is the action taking place? b) who is the author? Blackwell's Bookshops will award pounds 30-worth of book tokens to the first correct answer out of the hat. Answers on a postcard to: Literally Lost, Independent on Sunday, 1 Canada Square, London E14 5DL. Usual competition rules apply. Entries to arrive by this Thursday. Literally Lost 90: The book was 'Death in the Afternoon' by Ernest Hemingway. The action took place in Spain. The winner is Janet Ruane of Leamington Spa.

Farmer Who Carried On

Sir: If the Americans won't label their beef indicating that hormones have been used, why not let it in, but label European beef to make it clear that hormones have not been used?