He added: "This is the normal thing for authorities to do. In this case, I'm afraid they are making a mistake." Credit markets were thrown into fresh turmoil as Greek debt became the lowest rated in the world following a savage downgrade by Standard & Poor's on Monday. The yield on 10-year Greek government bonds spiked to a record high of more than 17 per cent as investors demanded a higher return to cover the risks of holding the debt.

Greek debt is now the lowest rated in the world - below Ecuador and Grenada - with many investors now expecting an uncontrolled default. The emergency meeting of eurozone finance ministers was called by Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the group, and comes ahead of a summit in Brussels next week. The group has set a deadline of June 20 to agree a new aid package for Greece, the country's second in 14 months. On Tuesday, Christian Noyer, governor of the Bank of France, backed the ECB. He said: "We think anything that would lead to declaration of a default for Greece or other regions should absolutely be avoided."

A general strike has been called for today in Athens, which may include a blockade of the Greek parliament.

The Visigoths and the Vandals who sacked Rome and undermined its empire, though far more cultured and sophisticated than their popular reputation, were unable to replicate the Pax Romana order it had established. European territories previously under Roman rule fractured into an unstable array of weak kingdoms and embattled city-states. Similarly, the vacuum created today by the erosion of US hegemony and the turmoil in the eurozone is resulting in stasis rather than a new direction.

Even those trade officials most hermetically sealed in bureaucratic bubbles are finally accepting that the so-called "Doha round" of trade negotiations, which the US pushed to the launch pad 10 years ago, is expiring. New Delhi and Beijing have shown they are perfectly willing to collapse the talks rather than accede to demands from Washington.

China, with covering fire from other governments, has repulsed much of the US's charge to force Beijing to liberalise its currency. Assuming that Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, takes over the managing directorship of the International Monetary Fund, she will inherit a process of mutual economic assessment at the behest of the G20 to encourage global economic rebalancing. But recent history suggests it will do little to make China hasten the rise of the renminbi.

In a letter sent Tuesday afternoon, Mr Boehner, the top Republican in the constitutional chain of succession, said Mr Obama must provide a clear justification by Friday for committing troops to Libya. Sunday marks the 90th day since the president notified Congress that US troops had been committed to help enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, which is designed to protect the rebels fighting Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's government.

"The Constitution requires the president to 'take care that the laws be faithfully executed,' and one of those laws is the War Powers Resolution, which requires an approving action by Congress or withdrawal within 90 days from the notification of a military operation," Mr Boehner said in the letter. The White House has repeatedly said it has complied with the law by alerting Congress to the initial deployment, and by testifying at more than 10 hearings and providing 30 follow-up briefings about the pace and extent of US troops' commitment.

But the administration has never sought approval from Congress.

"Preaching is big business. It's almost as profitable as the oil business," he said. The joint wealth of five pastors was at least $200 million (121 million pounds), he said. Mr Nsehe said the richest of them, Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith World Outreach Ministry, was worth about $150 million. Bishop Oyedepo owned a publishing company, university, an elite private school, four jets and homes in London and the United States, according to Mr Nsehe.

The Nigerian blogger said Bishop Oyedepo was followed on the rich list by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of the Believers' Loveworld Ministries. He was worth between $30 and $50 millon. "Oyakhilome's diversified interests include newspapers, magazines, a local television station, a record label, satellite TV, hotels and extensive real estate," Mr Nsehe said.

He said three of the other richest pastors were:

- Temitope Joshua Matthew of the Synagogue Church Of All Nations (worth between $10-15 million);

- Matthew Ashimolowo of Kingsway International Christian Centre (worth between $6-10 million) and

- Chris Okotie of the Household of God Church (worth between $3-10 million).

- Mr Nsehe said representatives of all the clergymen, except Pastor Ashimolowo, confirmed ownership of the assets he had listed on his blog.

"We have Nigerians who are desperate, looking for solutions to their problems. They go to church for salvation, redemption and healing and pastors sometimes take advantage of them," Mr Nsehe said.

South Africa, the continent's largest economy, is driving regional integration as it seeks to create a larger market for companies such as Shoprite Holdings Ltd (SHP), Africa's biggest retailer. Africa's economy has grown an average of 5.7 percent over the past decade according to the International Monetary Fund, fueling the expansion of a new middle class.

Strong growth and "intensifying global competition for Africa's resources and markets" make it "imperative that South Africa accelerates efforts to promote regional integration to ensure that we trade on terms at least as favorable as other competitors," Trade Minister Rob Davies said. Africa now has more families earning in excess of $20,000 a year than India, according to a McKinsey & Co Inc study published in June last year.

While there are at least eight overlapping African economic blocs, poorly maintained transport routes and lengthy border-crossings have undermined internal trade. The so-called Grand Free Trade Area, which encompasses 26 countries and 590 million people, would initially be limited to the trade of goods, Davies said in a June 8 opinion piece published in Johannesburg's Business Report newspaper.

Then last Friday, a bomb detonated at a government building in the northeastern port city of Tianjin, set off by a man who was intent on seeking "revenge on society," according to Chinese state media. Finally over the weekend, a scuffle between migrant street vendors and security personnel near China's southern metropolis of Guangzhou sparked a series of riots and 25 detentions. Bloggers, social-media contributors and journalists from nearby Hong Kong reported that at least 1,000 migrant workers had coalesced in support of the vendors, setting fire to police vehicles and offices.

That map of China? It's pockmarked with thumbtacks.

As China prepares to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party on July 1, the nation has been inundated by a wave of social unrest. Although each case appears isolated and tied to specific local grievances, the proliferation of protests and violence nationwide must surely spook China's stability-obsessed leaders, who have already unleashed a crackdown on dissent that has netted dozens of activists, bloggers, journalists and other independent-minded types.

Earlier this year, the central government approved a budget of $95 billion, nearly a 14% annual increase, for "internal security" - a fuzzy designation that covers everything from salaries for security forces to the building of prisons. Maintaining social stability is such an important goal that local leaders can have their promotions tied to keeping the lid on any unrest. Chinese web censors work overtime to prevent search words related to protests from turning up sensitive information. In recent days, for instance, banned keywords have included "Inner Mongolia" and "Tianjin bombings."

A sociologist at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University has said that some 180,000 so-called "mass incidents" took place last year, a significant increase from the 74,000 reported in 2004, the last year that the government officially released such figures.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said its 1.2 million members would vote on industrial action over the next few months in what he described as the biggest union ballot ever held in Britain. It could herald an 'autumn of discontent' which could bring council and NHS services to a halt.

The union, which represents staff in the NHS and councils, is angry about proposed changes to gold-plated public sector pensions.

The Coalition wants to reform the schemes to bring them into line with those that normally exist in the private sector. Under the changes, workers will pay more into the schemes and receive less in retirement.

Mr Prentis warned: 'If we are prevented from reaching agreement we will move to a ballot in the summer or early autumn. It will not be one day of action - it will be long-term action throughout our public services to prevent destruction of our pension schemes. It will be the biggest ever industrial action taken in this country.' Describing what is to come as 'massive industrial unrest', he said: 'It is very clear we are on a collision course unless the Government changes its policies.'

Mr Prentis said balloting on strike action could begin next month if the Coalition does not offer changes at a meeting on June 27.

There's a one-in-three chance the factors will combine to stunt growth from 2013, Roubini said in a June 11 interview in Singapore. Other possible outcomes are "anemic but OK" global growth or an "optimistic" scenario in which the expansion improves. "There are already elements of fragility," he said. "Everybody's kicking the can down the road of too much public and private debt. The can is becoming heavier and heavier, and bigger on debt, and all these problems may come to a head by 2013 at the latest."

Elevated US unemployment, a surge in oil and food prices, rising interest rates in Asia and trade disruption from Japan's record earthquake threaten to sap the world economy. Stocks worldwide have lost more than $3.3 trillion since the beginning of May, and Roubini said financial markets by the middle of next year could start worrying about a convergence of risks in 2013.

Roubini is among analysts who predicted the global financial crisis of 2007-2009 that was triggered by a collapse in the value of US mortgage securities.

The move to CCC from B reflects "our view that there is a significantly higher likelihood of one or more defaults," S&P said in a statement yesterday. "Risks for the implementation of Greece's EU/IMF borrowing program are rising, given Greece's increased financing needs and ongoing internal political disagreements surrounding the policy conditions required."

Greece's government, which plans to sell 1.25 billion euros ($1.8 billion) of 26-week Treasury bills today, said that the downgrade overlooked "intense" talks between European officials to address the nation's financing needs. Credit-default swaps on Greece, Ireland and Portugal surged to records yesterday on concern governments' struggles to resolve the turmoil will threaten their ability to pay their debts.

"Greece will default - it's a question of when, rather than if," said Vincent Truglia, Managing Director at New York- based Granite Springs Asset Management LLP in New York and a former head of the sovereign risk unit at Moody's. "It's a basic solvency issue rather than a liquidity issue. Only a debt writedown will do."

Much of the public focus is on the nation's public debt, which is $14.3 trillion. But that doesn't include money guaranteed for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, which comes to close to $50 trillion, according to government figures. The government also is on the hook for other debts such as the programs related to the bailout of the financial system following the crisis of 2008 and 2009, government figures show.

Taken together, Gross puts the total at "nearly $100 trillion," that while perhaps a bit on the high side, places the country in a highly unenviable fiscal position that he said won't find a solution overnight. "To think that we can reduce that within the space of a year or two is not a realistic assumption," Gross said in a live interview. "That's much more than Greece, that's much more than almost any other developed country. We've got a problem and we have to get after it quickly."

Gross spoke following a report that US banks were likely to scale back on their use of Treasurys as collateral against derivatives and other transactions. Bank heads say that move is likely to happen in August as Congress dithers over whether to raise the nation's debt ceiling, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Sir Mark warned that the Navy would not be able to sustain its operations in Libya for another three months without making cuts elsewhere. The First Sea Lord's comments will stir the debate over defence cuts that have left Britain without a working aircraft carrier and forced the Royal Navy's Harrier jump jets to be mothballed.

Highlighting military anger over the shrinking Armed Forces, another admiral warned that "comical" defence cuts would leave the Navy without enough ships to be effective. Sir Mark said British forces would be "comfortable" with another three months of operations. "Beyond that, we might have to request the Government to make some challenging decisions about priorities," he said. "There are different ways of doing this. It's not simply about giving up standing commitments, we will have to rebalance."

Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said last week that Britain and France were struggling to maintain the Libyan operation without significant American support and supplies. Sir Mark confirmed that the Navy had been forced to ask the US to resupply Tomahawk cruise missiles used by submarines targeting Libya. "We are not running out, but we certainly have to take action to replace those weapons to bring stockpiles back up to where they were," he said.

They've also spent a good chunk of time covering the Casey Anthony murder trial and other stories that have little significance to the lives of the average person. This type of tabloid garbage shouldn't deserve anywhere near the attention it is getting considering that the US military is involved in all sorts of foreign wars, the economy is in the midst of a depression and the fact that the 2011 Bilderberg Meeting was taking place in Switzerland over the past few days. Although the importance of the Bilderberg Meeting is over blown by many in the alternative media, it is still an important event that deserves much more coverage and scrutiny than a story of lewd pictures sent by a Congressman.

Of course, the corporate media has historically and will continue to focus in on issues of little importance so the average person really doesn't have a good idea of what is going on in the world. It is ridiculous to believe that the corporate media has the average person's best interest in mind when they analyze every detail of Congressman Weiner's lewd Twitter messages and in the same breath tell us that a meeting of over a hundred of the most powerful and influential people in the world has practically no importance. This is 100% proof that the corporate media cares not about the interest of the average person and is only in the business of keeping people in the dark on important issues.

Reading the Islamic religion's holy book - considered by Muslims to be the exact words of God - ensured he remained 'faith-literate', the former Labour leader said. In an interview with the Observer magazine, published yesterday he said: 'To be faith-literate is crucial in a globalised world, I believe.

'I read the Qur'an [Koran] every day. Partly to understand some of the things happening in the world, but mainly just because it is immensely instructive.' Mr Blair believes that a knowledge of the faith informs his current role as Middle East envoy for the Quartet of the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia. The former PM's work, which has cost British taxpayers more than 2 million pounds, aims to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mr Blair has previously praised the Muslim faith as 'beautiful' and said the Prophet Mohammed had been 'an enormously civilizing force'. In 2006 he said the Koran was a 'reforming book, it is inclusive. It extols science and knowledge and abhors superstition. It is practical and way ahead of its time in attitudes to marriage, women and governance'.

The main way to do this is boosting photosynthesis in rice, the scientific equivalent of bolting on a turbo-charger. A global project is trying to do just that, with the aim of genetically enhancing rice to double yields and become as productive as corn. In nature, some plants are much more efficient in the way they grow because they have a genetically superior form of photosynthesis, which involves using the Sun's energy to convert carbon dioxide sucked into the leaves and creating sugars and other organic compounds for the plant to grow.

Corn, sugar and sorghum possess this more efficient C4 photosynthesis in their leaves. Rice and wheat have the more primitive C3 pathway. In a hot climate, corn yields can be 50 percent more than rice, have double the water-use efficiency and use about 40 percent less nitrogen. Achieving these benchmarks in rice would revolutionise the production - and food security - of a staple on which about a third of humanity relies. The project, led by the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, and involving a team of scientists around the globe, is trying to crack the genetic code that will supercharge photosynthesis in rice.

Turkey, a NATO ally with a mostly Muslim population, stands out in a region buffeted by popular uprisings as a rising power with traditional Western alliances as well as growing ties in the east and elsewhere. In the past decade, the government has sharply reduced the political clout of the military, and taken some steps to ease restrictions on minorities, though reforms have slowed in recent years.

Erdogan has promised that a new constitution would include "basic rights and freedoms," replacing a constitution implemented under the tutelage of the military in 1982. However, he has provided relatively few details on a possible new draft. The government has Islamic roots, long a source of suspicion among secular circles that once dominated Turkey and fear that Erdogan seeks to impose religion on society.

Turkey's leaders describe themselves as moderates and "conservative democrats" who are committed to the ideals of Western-style democracy. After winning election in 2002, they implemented economic reforms that pulled the country out of crisis. The growth rate last year was nearly 9 percent, the second highest among G-20 nations after China.

About 50 million Turks, or two-thirds of the population, were eligible to vote. NTV television said turnout was 84.5 percent. For all of Turkey's challenges, Sunday's vote was an indicator of stability in an increasingly confident country. Most voting was peaceful and orderly, with large crowds gathering early to cast ballots.