"All the signs of progress we have seen in recent months will only be meaningful if more leaders in more places move faster and further to embrace this spirit of reform," she said. Before an audience that included representatives of more than 30 Muslim nations, the top US diplomat said in the wake of historic unrest in the region that "for the first time in decades there is a real opportunity for change." Arab youth, she added, will no longer "accept the status quo" and "know a better life is within reach - and they are willing to reach for it."

Officials from Muslim majority nations including Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan and Afghanistan are in Washington for the annual meeting, which aims to build greater understanding between the United States and Muslim countries. In its eighth year, the forum is being held at a time of unprecedented change in the Arab world, with uprisings against autocratic leaders across the Middle East and North Africa, officials said. "There is no reason why this region cannot be among the most prosperous in the world," Clinton told the forum.

US Senator John Kerry called at the three-day forum for "anyone here who can intervene and play a role to do so" in reviving the peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis. Muslim officials insisted, however, that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains at the heart of relations between the United States and the Islamic world.

"We have distributed the plan to the donors and they have welcomed it," Palestinian Planning Minister Ali al-Jarbawi said. The plan will be presented formally to donor countries at a pledging conference in June, he said. Palestinian leaders plan to ask the United Nations General Assembly in September to recognize a Palestinian state in all the lands Israel occupied in 1967.

Israel has warned that unilateral moves cannot replace a negotiated peace agreement, but the Palestinians say nearly two decades of talks have failed to give them a state. The United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have praised Fayyad's drive over the past two years to establish the institutions and attributes of a modern state in time for the General Assembly meeting in September.

"The journey has been long and arduous, but the end is now in sight. We are now on the home stretch to freedom," Fayyad says in the introduction to the plan. "Now it is time for us to be the masters of our own destiny in a state of our own." The plan says "the next three years will witness a transformation in the nature of external aid from 'life support' to real investment in the future of Palestine".

Israel has said that only a negotiated treaty to establish a Palestinian state living in peace with Israelis can resolve the Middle East conflict. However, talks hit a standstill in September after Israel resumed building in the West Bank after a 9 month settlement freeze.

Obama's launch of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks last year went nowhere and he is under pressure to make a new initiative or face the prospect of the Palestinians seeking the UN General Assembly's blessing for a Palestinian state."The president will be speaking in greater detail about America's policy in the Middle East and North Africa in the coming weeks," Clinton said at the US-Islamic World Forum, a gathering sponsored by Qatar and the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

"America's core interests and values have not changed, including our commitment to promote human rights, resolve long-standing conflicts, counter Iran's threats and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies," she added. "This includes renewed pursuit of comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace." Clinton spoke against the backdrop of the popular revolts that have toppled long-time authoritarian leaders in Tunisia and Egypt this year and spurred public protests in much of the Arab world, including Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen.

"The status quo between Palestinians and Israelis is no more sustainable than the political systems that have crumbled in recent months," she said, saying the only way to meet both people's aspirations was through a two-state solution. "And while it is a truism that only the parties themselves can make the hard choices for peace, there is no substitute for continued, active American leadership - and the president and I are committed to that," she added.

"At the end of the week I had an idea to fill little plastic eggs with treats and jelly beans and other candy, but I was kind of unsure how the teacher would feel about that," Jessica said. She was concerned how the teacher might react to the eggs after a meeting earlier in the week where she learned about "their abstract behavior rules."

"I went to the teacher to get her approval and she wanted to ask the administration to see if it was okay," Jessica explained. "She said that I could do it as long as I called this treat 'spring spheres.' I couldn't call them Easter eggs." Rather than question the decision, Jessica opted to "roll with it." But the third graders had other ideas.

"When I took them out of the bag, the teacher said, 'Oh look, spring spheres' and all the kids were like 'Wow, Easter eggs.' So they knew," Jessica said. The Seattle elementary school isn't the only government organization using spring over Easter. The city's parks department has removed Easter from all of its advertised egg hunts.

The new study is set to be published in Geophysical Research Letters journal. In 2009, researchers used seismic waves from earthquakes to build up an image of the hotspot beneath Yellowstone, which straddles the US states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The authors of the latest work used variations in the electrical conductivity of rocks to produce a new picture of the plume. This conductivity is a property of the molten silicate rocks and the hot briny water that is naturally present in them.

"It's like comparing ultrasound and MRI in the human body; they are different imaging technologies," says co-author Michael Zhdanov, a professor of geophysics at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The 2009 images, using seismic waves, showed the plume of hot and molten rock dipping downward from Yellowstone at an angle of 60 degrees. This plume extended 240km (150miles) west-northwest to a point at least 660km (410miles) under the Montana-Idaho border.

The new study, using electrical conductivity, can only see about 320km (200miles) below ground. But it shows the conductive part of the plume dipping more gently, at an angle of perhaps 40 degrees to the west, and extending perhaps 640 km (400 miles) from east to west. There have been three huge eruptions of the Yellowstone supervolcano: 2.1 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago and 640,000 years ago. Two of these eruptions blanketed a large area of North America with volcanic ash.

The most recent full-scale eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano ejected some 1,000 cubic km (240 cubic miles) of hot ash and rock into the atmosphere. There have been smaller eruptions in between the largest outpourings; the most recent of these occurred 70,000 years ago.

Want to buy a loaf of bread at the store? Bring a bucket load of cash, because by the time you get there to buy it, the price may have doubled yet again, Zimbabwe-style. Such absurdities are now headed our way, and they will arrive sooner that you've been led to believe. As if to underscore the chilling degree of derangement in Washington DC, the IMF has issued one of the strongest statements yet about US debt spending, declaring that the USA lacked a "credible strategy" to stabilize its debt. Furthermore, it warns that runaway debt spending from Washington threatens to cause a global financial crisis.

So far, all we've seen from Washington is financial sleight of hand and trickery. Most of the recent $38.5 billion in cuts - which were already puny compared to the total debt spending - were achieved by using accounting tricks and claiming to have cut programs that were already slated to be cut anyway. Even then, Democrats screamed as if they were having their fingernails plucked out. If they can't stomach a miniscule $38.5 billion in cuts, how on Earth are they going to find a way to stomach the trillions of dollars in spending cuts that must be made to keep the government solvent?

Almost as if to underscore the insanity of the situation, recently-released figures from the US Treasury reveal that the budget deficit has shot up 15.7% in just one year. The deficit for just the October-March period (half a year) was $829 billion. What we're seeing here is the US government burning through nearly a trillion dollars in new debt every six months. This is beyond the bounds of everyday, crazy-dude-on-the-street insanity. It is very rapidly approaching a level of economic terrorism on the part of our national leaders.

To continue to drive America's finances into such unbearable depths of debt is very nearly an act of economic warfare against America - a "financial dirty bomb," if you will. A bomb that, when it goes off, will sadly injure America's economy in a way that will absolutely dwarf the economic fallout of 9/11.

If ratified by the union's annual conference starting on May 18, a ballot would be held the following week and the first strike might take place in June. The PCS said it was talking to other unions about coordinating ballots, creating the prospect of widespread industrial action, as predicted by many commentators in the wake of the government's austerity plans. Ministers are pursuing a policy of massive spending cuts to address Britain's budget deficit, currently running at about 10 percent of national output, which will lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs.

Last month, more than 250,000 people took part in a march in London to protest at the measures, the biggest demonstration in the capital since protests against war in Iraq in 2003. "At least half a million people marched for the alternative on 26 March, and now we are saying we must be prepared to strike for the alternative," said PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka.

"We are talking to other unions and will seek to ensure that any action we take has the widest possible support to put the maximum pressure on the government to end its ideological attacks on people who everyone acknowledges did nothing to cause the recession." The Trades Union Congress, the umbrella union body representing some 6 million union members, has played down suggestions of a general strike, not least because such action would probably be illegal.

It is little wonder then that the so called Brics want a greater say in global affairs. The organisation was formed as a counterweight to Western powers. And ever since the global financial crisis, the influence of the Brics - particularly of China - has grown. This summit is set to focus on economic issues such as rules governing international trade.

While the Bric nations have been driving global economic growth it is still unclear whether the organisation itself will become truly influential. All the countries broadly support free trade and oppose protectionism. Where they have similar interests - such as climate change - they have taken a united position. But on many other issues the countries have found little to agree upon.

Israel called the use of the of the advanced weaponry a "red line," now putting in danger the tens of thousands of Israelis who drive on roads with a line of sight view from the Gaza Strip. Until now, drivers only had to worry about highly inaccurate mortar fire that had to be launched from relatively open areas.

"We are talking about sophisticated anti-aircraft weaponry, sophisticated anti-tank weaponry and long-range rockets that can hit even north to Tel-Aviv. Now Hamas was restrained so far not to use many of them in order not to force Israel with its back to the wall to initiate another huge military ground operation against Hamas," said Ronen Bergman, an Israeli security expert who has written extensively on the Jewish state, its security services and its relationship to the Islamic world.

Now that Hamas has shown a willingness to use a next-generation weapon against a civilian target, experts say Israel will have to re-evaluate how it looks at the hot truce that exists on the border. Currently, there is a tit-for-tat relationship between Hamas mortar and rocket attacks answered by Israeli air strikes taking out various militant targets, depots and the occasional target assassination of a cell leader.

Human rights monitors named Mourad Hejjo, a conscript from Madaya village, as one of those shot by security snipers. "His family and town are saying he refused to shoot at his people," said Wassim Tarif, a local human rights monitor.

Footage on YouTube shows an injured soldier saying he was shot in the back by security forces, while another video shows the funeral of Muhammad Awad Qunbar, who sources said was killed for refusing to fire on protesters. Signs of defections will be worrying to Syria's regime. State media reported a different version of events, claiming nine soldiers had been killed in an ambush by an armed group in Banias.

Activists said not all soldiers reported dead or injured were shot after refusing to fire. "We are investigating reports that some people have personal weapons and used them in self-defence," said Tarif. On Tuesday Human Rights Watch condemned security forces for barring access to medical care. UK citizens were warned against "all but essential" travel to Syria and all travel to Banias, where residents are now holding a three-day strike.

The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia's Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January. That document speaks of the country's natural resources as "blessings," and grants the Earth a series of specific rights that include rights to life, water and clean air; the right to repair livelihoods affected by human activities; and the right to be free from pollution.

It also establishes a Ministry of Mother Earth, and provides the planet with an ombudsman whose job is to hear nature's complaints as voiced by activist and other groups, including the state. "If you want to have balance, and you think that the only (entities) who have rights are humans or companies, then how can you reach balance?" Pablo Salon, Bolivia's ambassador to the UN, told Postmedia News. "But if you recognize that nature too has rights, and (if you provide) legal forms to protect and preserve those rights, then you can achieve balance."

The application of the law appears destined to pose new challenges for companies operating in the country, which is rich in natural resources, including natural gas and lithium, but remains one of the poorest in Latin America. Bolivia is a country with a large indigenous population, whose traditional belief systems took on greater resonance following the election of Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president. In a 2008 pamphlet his entourage distributed at the UN as he attended a summit there, 10 "commandments" are set out as Bolivia's plan to "save the planet" - beginning with the need "to end capitalism."

The latest warning on the deficit was delivered as Barack Obama, the US president, is becoming increasingly engaged in the debate over ways to curb America's mounting debt. To meet the 2010 pledge by the Group of 20 countries for all advanced economies - except Japan - to halve their deficits by 2013, the US would need to implement tougher austerity measures than in any two-year period since records began in 1960, the IMF said.

In its twice-yearly Fiscal Monitor, the IMF added that on its current plans the US would join Japan as the only country with rising public debt in 2016, creating a risk for the global economy. Carlo Cottarelli, head of fiscal affairs at the Fund, said: "It is a risk that if it materialises would have very important consequences for the rest of the world. So it is important that the US undertakes fiscal adjustment in a way sooner rather than later."

The debate over US fiscal policy is expected to intensify in the coming weeks and months as the US hits its congressionally mandated debt limit of $14,300 billion. Without approval by lawmakers to increase it, the US could face potential default as early as July, and so far Republicans and Democrats remain some distance from reaching a deal.

China is India's largest trading partner. However, the two countries still share a very unbalanced trade relationship. "India's import dependence on China has gone up significantly on critical items," said Samiran Chakraborty, regional head of research for India at Standard Chartered Bank. "Whereas if you look at exports, India's primary export to China is only iron ore."

Mr Chakraborty says this issue could come up during the visit. "One of the demands is to open up the Chinese markets to India. Otherwise the trade balance is very much in favour of China and working against India," he adds. The two countries also agreed to expand co-operation in infrastructure, environment, information technology, telecommunications, and investment and finance. Mr Chakraborty says it is in each sides interest to continue to deepen ties.

King Mohammed VI responded three weeks later, promising changes that would dilute his absolute hold on power. The prime minister calls it a "peaceful revolution". But the protest leaders insist the proposals fall far short of their demands. "Our first demand is a constitution for the people and by the people - a complete reform," says Montasser Drissi, one of the original group of young protesters. The February 20th movement grew quickly via Facebook and is now calling for further rallies this Sunday and the following week.

The king has ordered a committee to draft constitutional reforms which include making the prime minister elected, not appointed. The proposals will then be put to a referendum. But the committee members were chosen by the king himself, convincing protesters that any changes will be superficial. So the demonstrations continue. "It's good to keep the commission under pressure," explains Mr Drissi. "If the people want change and the king does not - he will be alone. He must listen to the people."

Many of those people are now trumpeting their demands all over the Moroccan capital. You can barely walk a block in central Rabat these days without passing a protest. Unemployed graduates are staging a sit-in outside parliament; hundreds of teachers have set up camp in front of the education ministry. Other groups march along Mohammed V Avenue proclaiming their frustration through loud hailers. There is no Tahrir Square here, no daily focal point to the protests. But the democratic wave that swept Egypt and Tunisia has emboldened many Moroccans to make unprecedented calls for reform.

The decision was made after Japan's nuclear safety body determined that at one point after the March 11 earthquake, the plant was releasing 10,000 terabecquerels of iodine-131 for several hours; level 7 accidents are defined as releasing tens of thousands of terabecquerels. "The INES rating itself is not an indicator of a daily phenomena, but the assessment after careful consideration and calculation on the event that happened in the past," Ken Morita of NISA told TIME on Tuesday morning.

NISA has also noted, however, that the amount of radioactive material being released at Fukushima today is less than 1 terabecquerel. The agency says that, to date, Fukushima has only released about 10% of total radiation released 25 years ago in Chernobyl, or about 1.8 million terabecquerels. About 30 people, mostly workers, died in the immediate aftermath of Chernobyl, though the UN has estimated that the long-term death toll due to exposure could eventually be as high as 4000.