The European Economic Advisory Group (EEAG), a group of leading European economists, has warned that Greece may need another bailout by 2013 at the latest. Greece's current savings program won't suffice to cope with its debt problems, the EEAG said in a new report which was published Tuesday. Greece is unlikely to be in a position to refinance itself via the financial markets once the current rescue package runs out, the economists said.

The Greek government has so far stressed that it will "pay back every cent" and will start reducing its debts in 2014 at the latest. The EEAG recommends drastic steps to prevent the EU from having to provide Greece with long-term aid: Greece should either return to its national currency, the drachma, or launch even tougher austerity measures, including general cuts in wages and salaries. According to a Suddeutsche Zeitung article published on Tuesday, leading banks are already giving up hope that Greece will be able to pay back all its debts. Thomas Mirow, the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, believes a Greek debt restructuring is unavoidable.

"It is doubtful that Greece will be able to bear a debt ratio of more than 150 percent over the long term," Mirow told the Suddeutsche. "The markets have been pricing in a debt restructuring for some time. The ratio should be lowered to 100 percent so that the country can overcome its problems." That would mean creditors would have to forego more than 30 percent of their loans.

The old Picture House, the cinema, has closed. Tumbleweed rolls into the still corners behind the grain elevators, soaring prairie cathedrals that spoke of prosperity before they were abandoned for lack of business. Happy's problem is that IT HAS RUN OUT OF WATER FOR ITS FARMS. Its population, dropping 10 per cent a year, is down to 595. The name, which brings a smile for miles around and plays in faded paint on the fronts of every shuttered business - Happy Grain Inc, Happy Game Room - has become irony tinged with bitterness. It goes back to the cowboy days of the 19th century. A cattle drive north through the Texas Panhandle to the rail heads beyond had been running out of water, steers dying on the hoof, when its cowboys stumbled on a watering hole. They named the spot Happy Draw, for the water. Now Happy is the harbinger of a potential Dust Bowl unseen in America since the Great Depression.

In the 1950s a lot of wells were drilled, and the water went down. Those wells were drilled into a geological phenomenon called the Ogallala Aquifer. It is an underground lake of pristine water formed between two and six million years ago, in the Pliocene age, when the tectonic shifts that pushed the Rocky Mountains skywards were still active. The water was trapped below the new surface crust that would become the semi-arid soil of the Plains, dry and dusty. It stretches all the way down the eastern slope of the Rockies from the badlands of South Dakota to the Texas Panhandle. IT DOES NOT REPLENISH.

Happy is the canary in the coalmine because the Ogallala is deepest in the north, as much as 300ft in the more fertile country of Nebraska and Kansas. In the south, through the panhandle and over the border to New Mexico, it is 50-100ft. And around Happy, 75 miles south of Amarillo, it is now 0-50ft. The farms have been handed over to the government's Conservation Reserve Programme (CRP) to lie fallow in exchange for grants: farmers' welfare, although they hate to think of it like that.

Although both moves are aimed at easing public consternation over the run-up of prices at the pump to more than $3.50 a gallon on average for regular gasoline, they also likely would rile conservatives in Congress. The strategic reserve has been tapped only during emergencies, such as the Persian Gulf War, while critics say further easing by the Fed would only stoke oil-fed inflation while doing little to help the economy.

Divisions have emerged on the Federal Reserve Board over what to do, but many members appear to side with Chairman Ben S Bernanke, who hinted in testimony last week that the central bank might react if oil prices go too high. Dennis P Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, for the first time Monday spelled out what level of oil prices might trigger Fed action, pinpointing the record level around $150 set in 2008. Many economists say those oil prices, along with $4-per-gallon gas, helped throw the economy into a recession.

The Senate plans to vote Tuesday on competing proposals to cut spending, but Democrats have rejected GOP-backed cuts of more than $50 billion, and Republicans have ruled out Democrats' cuts of less than $10 billion, meaning neither plan will draw the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster and pass.

"We've all done the math and we all know how these votes will turn out: Neither proposal will pass, which means neither will reach the president's desk as written. We'll go back to square one and back to the negotiating table," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat.

The two sides are facing a March 18 deadline, which is when the current stopgap funding bill expires. Without a new spending agreement by then, the government would shut down. The House two weeks ago passed a bill that would cut $57 billion more from 2010 spending levels, including major reductions in a number of domestic programs.

February is traditionally a bad month for federal finances. The previous two records were $220.9 billion, posted exactly a year ago, and $193.9 billion in February 2009.

Demonstrations are banned in Kuwait without prior approval and youth groups Kafi and al-Soor al-Khames (Fifth Fence), the main organisers, will present a challenge to the government since they have not sought approval for the protests. Inspired by unrest in the Middle East and North Africa that has toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, the organisers want Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah to be replaced.

Some are demanding the appointment of a politician from outside the al-Sabah family, which has ruled Kuwait for about 250 years. The prime minister, a nephew of the ruler, has already survived two non-cooperation motions in parliament since he was appointed in 2006. All other key portfolios such as defence, interior and foreign affairs are also held by al-Sabahs. The emir has the final say in all political matters.

Tension with stateless Arabs, longtime residents of Kuwait known as "bedoun" who clashed with police last month in protests demanding citizenship, appeared to be easing after some lawmakers promised to discuss a draft law in parliament on Tuesday that would grant them basic civil rights.

The rebel interim council, based in the eastern city of Benghazi, reportedly rejected the offer because such an 'honourable' exit would offend Gaddafi's victims. Gaddafi allegedly sent Jadallah Azzouz Talhi, a former prime minister, to meet the rebels to work out the fine print of a deal. The offer proposed that the dictator would hand over power to a committee formed by the General People's Congress.

A source close to the rebel council said he had heard that 'one formula being proposed by the other side would see Gaddafi hand power to the head of parliament and leave the country with a certain guaranteed sum of money'. He added: 'I was told that this issue of money is a serious obstacle from the national council's point of view.' But Essam Gheriani, a media officer for the council, said: 'No such offer has been put to the council as far as I am aware.'

Talhi, a leading member of the ruling establishment in the 1980s, had earlier appealed to rebel leaders for dialogue in the clearest sign yet that Gaddafi may be ready to compromise with opponents challenging his grip on power. The fact state television screened Talhi's appeal indicated it was officially endorsed. But the council said there was no room for broad dialogue with Gaddafi and any talks must be on the basis that he quits.

The number has escalated, along with crude futures, to the highest since the options started trading in July 2009 amid worsening civil unrest in Libya and rare demonstrations in Saudi Arabia. "If you look at the volatility and increase in money for call options in the last month or so, it does suggest that market participants are now more worried about the upside," said Yingxi Yu, a Singapore-based commodity analyst with Barclays Plc. "People are also quite concerned about protests spreading across different parts of the region."

Saudi Arabia produced 9.71 million barrels a day in 2009, one-third of OPEC output and almost six times as much as Libya, according to BP Plc's Statistical Review of World Energy. Websites have called for a nationwide "Day of Rage" on March 11 and March 20, Human Rights Watch said February 28. Protests in five of the kingdom's eight immediate neighbors have prompted King Abdullah to boost spending on housing, social welfare and education to curb unrest in his country.

"The price of oil is going to go up, whether you like it to or don't," said Juerg Kiener, chief investment officer at Swiss Asia Capital Ltd in Singapore. "If Saudi Arabia fails, then I say you have a fire in the house. They gave out $30 billion of money so maybe they'll buy time. But I don't see the problems disappearing."

An extreme "SuperMoon" is when the moon is full or new as well as at its 100% greater mean perigee (closest) distance to earth. By this definition, last month's full moon, this month's and next month's will all be extreme "SuperMoons". There were SuperMoons in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005. These years had their share of extreme weather and other natural events. Is the Super Moon and these natural occurences a coincidence? Some would say yes; some would say no.

I'm not here to pick sides and say I'm a believer or non-believer in subjects like this, but as a scientist I know enough to ask questions and try to find answers. We obviously know that there are scientific laws that say the moon affects the Earth (ie tides). There are also less proven theories that propose that the moon affects the Earth in other ways (ie abnormal behavior during a full moon). Can the Super (full) Moon contribute to extreme weather and other natural phenomenon?

AccuWeather Facebook fanpage member Daniel Vogler adds, "The last extreme super moon occurred on January 10th, 2005, right around the time of the 9.0 Indonesia earthquake. That extreme super moon was a new moon. So be forewarned. Something BIG could happen on or around this date. (+/- 3 Days is my guess)" So what can we expect this time? Earthquakes? Volcanic eruptions? I guess we can only wait and see.

The magnitude 6.3 quake hit close to the surface within three miles (5km) of central Christchurch on 22 February. It shattered homes, heritage buildings and office blocks, and caused 166 confirmed deaths. Officials say the toll is expected to rise to more than 200 as rescuers continue to search for bodies trapped in the rubble.

Earthquakes can cause sections of earth to liquefy and push up to the surface as watery silt. In Christchurch, 260,000 tonnes of silt have already been scraped away. "There are some parts of Christchurch that can't be rebuilt on," the prime minister, John Key, told reporters. "The liquefaction damage from the earthquake is so great and the land damage is so significant we can't remediate it."

Work crews are still clearing rubble from the earthquake, which cut water and power services across the city. Almost all electricity supplies have been restored, but residents are being told to boil tap water because of the risk of contamination. Officials say about 70,000 people - one-fifth of Christchurch's population - have left the city temporarily as a result of the quake.

Figures from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which are often used as a proxy for hedge fund activity, showed that short dollar positions surged from 200,564 contracts in the week ending February 22 to 281,088 on March 1. This meant that the value of bets against the dollar on the CME rose $11.5 billion in the week to March 1 to $39 billion, $3 billion more than the previous record of $36 billion in 2007.

In contrast, speculators have added to their euro holdings amid expectations that the European Central Bank will soon raise interest rates to head off rising inflation. Jean-Claude Trichet, ECB president, said last week that "strong vigilance" was warranted, a phrase used throughout the bank's 2005-08 rate-tightening cycle to pave the way for a rate increase at the next governing council meeting. That strengthened the market view in financial markets that the ECB could raise rates at its April meeting and the euro last week rose to a four-month high of $1.3997 against the dollar, taking its gains from a 16-week low of $1.2871 in January to nearly 9 per cent.

"Dollar bears have become a marauding horde," said David Watt, analyst at RBC Capital Markets. Given the continued losses for the dollar this month, he said it was likely that investors had since added to their bets against the US currency, short of an "absolutely stunning" reversal in sentiment. "We may be seeing a turn in the longer-term outlook for the dollar - for the worse," said Kit Juckes, head of FX strategy at Societe Generale. He said the US Federal Reserve was likely to react more dovishly to a supply-side inflationary shock caused by rising oil prices than other central banks.

Washington's request is in line with other US military co-operation with the Saudis. The royal family in Jeddah, which was deeply involved in the Contra scandal during the Reagan administration, gave immediate support to American efforts to arm guerrillas fighting the Soviet army in Afghanistan in 1980 and later - to America's chagrin - also funded and armed the Taliban.

But the Saudis remain the only US Arab ally strategically placed and capable of furnishing weapons to the guerrillas of Libya. Their assistance would allow Washington to disclaim any military involvement in the supply chain - even though the arms would be American and paid for by the Saudis. The Saudis have been told that opponents of Gaddafi need anti-tank rockets and mortars as a first priority to hold off attacks by Gaddafi's armour, and ground-to-air missiles to shoot down his fighter-bombers.

Supplies could reach Benghazi within 48 hours but they would need to be delivered to air bases in Libya or to Benghazi airport. If the guerrillas can then go on to the offensive and assault Gaddafi's strongholds in western Libya, the political pressure on America and Nato - not least from Republican members of Congress - to establish a no-fly zone would be reduced.

But Saudi Arabia is already facing dangers from a co-ordinated day of protest by its own Shia Muslim citizens who, emboldened by the Shia uprising in the neighbouring island of Bahrain, have called for street protests against the ruling family of al-Saud on Friday. After pouring troops and security police into the province of Qatif last week, the Saudis announced a nationwide ban on all public demonstrations. Shia organisers claim that up to 20,000 protesters plan to demonstrate with women in the front rows to prevent the Saudi army from opening fire.

Just three days into the job, Germany's new interior minister is already causing his government a headache after wading into a highly delicate debate about multiculturalism and claiming Islam was not a key part of the German way of life. "Islam in Germany is not something supported by history at any point," Hans-Peter Friedrich told journalists on his first day as Thomas de Maiziere's replacement on Thursday.

Friedrich was speaking in the context of a probe by German authorities into last Wednesday's killing of two US airmen at Frankfurt Airport, in which it is believed the 21-year-old Kosovan suspect Arid Uka was a lone operator motivated by radical Islamist beliefs. His comments were a play on words, turning on its head an earlier remark made several months ago by German President Christian Wulff, who said Islam now "belongs to Germany" because of the 4 million Muslims who live there.

Friedrich's foray into the subject of immigrant religion and multiculturalism is in tune with comments made by other European leaders recently. British Prime Minister David Cameron said last month that multiculturalism has failed in Britain and left young Muslims vulnerable to radicalization, arguing for a more active policy to heal divisions and promote Western values.

Germany is home to Western Europe's second-biggest Islamic population after France. The single biggest minority is Turkish. In contrast to the situation in Britain or France, where simmering racial tensions sometimes explode into violence, German Muslims live relatively peacefully alongside mainstream society, but a lack of integration has long posed a problem.

The province is near Bahrain, the scene of protests in recent weeks by majority Shi'ites against their Sunni rulers. "Twenty-two were arrested on Thursday plus four on Friday... This was all in Qatif," said rights activist Ibrahim al-Mugaiteeb, who heads the independent Saudi-based Human Rights First Society. He later said one had been freed. Mugaiteeb said the interior ministry had released Shi'ite cleric Tawfiq al-Amer, arrested last week.

A Shi'ite activist in the province's main town of Qatif, who did not want to be named, also said he knew of 22 arrests. Interior Ministry officials could not be reached for comment. Protests started in the area of Qatif and neighbouring Awwamiya and spread to the town of Hofuf on Friday. The demands were mainly for the release of prisoners demonstrators say are held without trial. Saudi Shi'ites complain they struggle to get government jobs and benefits given to other citizens.

The government of Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy without an elected parliament that usually does not tolerate public dissent, denies the charges. The kingdom's Council of Senior Clerics issued a statement on Sunday backing an interior ministry warning on Saturday that said demonstrations violated Islamic law. They also said signing reform petitions "violates what God ordered."

The authorities are used to Shi'ites taking to the streets in their communities but fear protests catching on in major cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah.

The UN's top humanitarian official also demanded urgent access to the town of Misrata after fierce fighting there. Rebels have been trying to fight off a counter-offensive by Gaddafi forces. Colonel Gaddafi's forces have been attacking both near Tripoli and in the east after recent rebel gains. A statement from Mr Ban's office said the UN secretary general "notes that civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence, and calls for an immediate halt to the government's disproportionate use of force and indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets".

The statement continued: "He stresses that those who violate international humanitarian law or commit grave crimes must be held accountable." Mr Ban has appointed Jordan's former foreign minister, Abdelilah Al-Khatib, as his special envoy "to undertake urgent consultations with the authorities in Tripoli and in the region on the immediate humanitarian situation," the statement said.

A local doctor told the BBC that 21 dead and more than 100 wounded had arrived at his hospital, which he said was also targeted by government troops. He said the fighting went on for at least six hours. "They bombed all the houses with heavy weapons. They intentionally gunned and exploded our drug store. They bombed even around our hospital but fortunately nobody was injured. More than five mosques which I know are bombed."

Residents have called for the international community to establish a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Colonel Gaddafi's air force from attacking. In the US, ex-ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson and ex-national security adviser Stephen Hadley were among those advocating the supply of arms to rebels. An estimated 200,000 people - mostly foreign workers - have fled the country, creating a humanitarian crisis along Libya's border with Tunisia.

Brent crude gained $1.53 to $117.40 per barrel, near its recent $119.89 high. Meanwhile Asian stock markets suffered on fears rising energy prices could derail the global recovery, with the Nikkei ending the day 1.8% lower. Shares also fell in Hong Kong, Sydney and Bombay, as concerns mount that the continuing unrest in Libya could send oil prices even higher.

The US has indicated that it is considering tapping its oil reserves as one way to help ease soaring prices. But even that news failed to calm the markets as investors remained jittery about the unrest spreading to other oil-producing nations. "The concern is that with what we are seeing in Libya, it's purely fear driving the market," said Jonathan Barratt of Commodity Broking Services.

"Each time the price moves up a little, people are forced into the market. Once it's feeding itself, it will continue to rise," he added. Mr Barratt said US crude prices could peak at $120 a barrel, but only if further supply disruptions did not take place.