He added that more than 1,000 people had been arrested in the city of Kaduna alone, where a 24-hour curfew had earlier gone into effect. The riots started as results showed President Goodluck Jonathan won Saturday's elections. He was declared the winner on Monday night over his northern rival, ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari.

Nigeria is roughly split in half between a mainly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south. Jonathan is a Christian from the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region.

Texans were today desperately praying for rain, as a second firefighter died from injuries sustained battling the terrible wildfires ravaging the state. Cooler temperatures and calmer winds helped his weary colleagues at last get a handle on the latest wildfire, now spanning three northern Texas counties, but officials warned the let-up was only temporary.

The fires have now been raging for more than a week in Texas, so far burning through 1.4 million acres of land and racking up more than $8 million in containment costs. Dan Byrd, a National Weather Service meteorologist working with the Texas Forest Service, said: 'We really need some rainfall. We expect rain in the next few days, but we don't know if it'll get on the fires or not.'

Although the moister air as allowed firefighters to make 'great progress' in building containment lines, Texas Forest Service spokesman Marq Webb said hot and dry weather is likely to reappear in the next two or three days. He said: 'We're going to have a two or three day reprieve and then things start ramping up again.'

And firefighters continue to battle some 22 separate blazes throughout the state, with some dangerously close to the Oklahoma border. Homes have been gutted, animals killed and hundreds of residents have been forced to leave their homes because of the advancing flames. One of the wildfires in PK West, Stephens County, increased in size by a staggering 87,238 acres in just 24 hours - a 144 per cent increase. There is now growing fear that this wildfire may get as far as Fort Worth - one of Texas' largest cities with nearly 750,000 residents.

NASA has repeatedly raised concerns about the timeframe for building a smaller rocket - but the new law expresses Congress's will for the space agency to make a massive "heavy-lift" rocket that can haul 130 metric tons, like the ones from the days of the Apollo. Congressional approval of the plan - all while $38 billion is being cut elsewhere in the federal government - reflects not only the power of key lawmakers from NASA-friendly states, but the enduring influence of major contractors like Lockheed Martin and Boeing in those states.

For instance, a series of stop-gap spending laws had kept money flowing to the man-to-moon Constellation program because Senator Richard Shelby (Republican for Alabama) initially tucked a provision into a 2010 budget bill - even though President Barack Obama and Congress agreed last fall to end that Bush-era initiative. An internal NASA audit pegged the cost of that move at $215 million over five months.

While some praise Congress for pushing the United States to remain a world leader in space science, critics say the national space program is effectively run by lawmakers protecting jobs in their home states.

This left the US Treasury with the authority to borrow only an additional $25.635 billion before it hits the statutory debt limit. On April 4, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat for Nevada) in order to warn Congress that the Treasury was approaching the legal debt limit. In an appendix to this letter, Geithner pointed to the rapid pace at which new debt was accumulating.

"On average," Geithner wrote, "the public debt of the United States increases by approximately $125 billion per month (although there are significant variations from month to month)." In a 31-day month, $125 billion in new debt works out to an average of $4.03 billion in new debt per day. At that pace, the $25.635 billion in legal borrowing authority the Treasury had left at the close of business on Tuesday would be exhausted in less than seven days.

Higher interest rates tend to support investor demand for a currency, since it can generate a bigger return on investments denominated in that currency. The Federal Reserve has kept its key rate near zero since December 2008, while most of the world's other central banks are raising interest rates.

The euro jumped to $1.4514 in afternoon trading Wednesday from $1.4340 late Tuesday. Earlier, the euro hit $1.4547, its highest point since January 2010. The dollar had advanced against the euro earlier in the week as speculation mounted that Greece would need to restructure its debt, but that fear wasn't weighing on the euro Wednesday as investors turned to assets of countries where interest rates are higher.

Critics said the human rights of offenders were being put before those of ordinary members of the public. Details of the scandal first emerged 18 months ago when officials revealed more than 1,000 criminals were at large despite having been recalled to custody. Among the total were some who have been on the loose for up to 25 years after police failed to track them down.

The most recent Ministry of Justice figures show 960 have not been found, including two rated as level four - the highest risk to the public - and 45 rated level three. The group of 47 includes two murderers, two paedophiles, a rapist and ten robbers. Police should find 75 per cent of recalled prisoners classified as 'emergency' cases within 74 hours and three-quarters of standard recalls should be completed within six days.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'This Government is committed to transparency and there should be a presumption that such information is published unless the police object for specific operational reasons. Recapturing high-risk offenders will always be a priority.'

Police are anticipating violent clashes as the Right-wing English Defence League have given notice that they intend to protest against the Muslim hardliners. Scotland Yard chiefs are also preparing for trouble from anarchist yobs. Sixty troublemakers charged with public order offences at past demonstrations have already been banned from the City of Westminster on the day as part of their bail conditions.

Officers are considering a series of 'pre-emptive strikes', which could see anarchists being hauled from their beds and arrested on the morning of the wedding.

Almost 5,000 Met officers will be deployed to combat disorder on April 29. Some are expected to rove around the West End to prevent a repeat of the TUC march trouble last month, when thugs attacked businesses and shops, laying siege to the Ritz hotel and Fortnum and Mason. Scotland Yard has already rejected an application by Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) to stage a demonstration outside Westminster Abbey, but officers are still in discussions about demonstrations by the group elsewhere. While police can ban any major protests along the royal procession route, they are powerless to stop 'static' protests at nearby locations.

Across the 17-member euro zone, government heads had a hunch April 17 might not be a very good day for the future of Europe. The strong ballot box performance of the euroskeptic True Finns means it is very likely the party will be part of the next government. It appears that a country long seen as an EU anchor may soon become a source of irritation for Brussels and in capitals across the bloc.

During the election campaign, True Finn party head Timo Soini lashed out repeatedly against the European Union and bailout plans for debt-ridden euro-zone members. Bolstered by an election that saw the party more than quadruple its standing, with 19 percent of the vote, an emboldened Soini remained vocal on Monday, saying it was unacceptable that Finland "must pay for the mistakes of others." And that "the content of politics must change. We have been too soft on Europe."

Does the party represent a threat to the common European project? Do Finland's right-wing populists truly have the power to bring the euro to its knees? Or does it merely have the capacity to create a threat to the euro's stability and thus protract the current currency crisis? If the party becomes part of Finland's next government, that answer could come within a matter of weeks. A coalition between the conservatives, who drew the most votes, the opposition Social Democrats and the True Finns is one viable option currently being discussed.

Treaty supporters want the establishment of legal systems to maintain balance between human rights and what they perceive as the inalienable rights of other members of the Earth community - plants, animals, and terrain.

Communities and environmental activists would be given more legal power to monitor and control industries and development to ensure harmony between humans and nature. Though the United States and other Western governments are supportive of sustainable development, some see the upcoming event, "Harmony with Nature," as political grandstanding - an attempt to blame environmental degradation and climate change on capitalism.

"The concept 'Mother Earth' is not universally accepted," said a spokesman from the British Mission to the UN about Bolivia's proposal. "In general, our view is that we should focus on tackling important sustainable development issues through existing channels and processes." It is not clear if Bolivia's new tough environmental laws will actually go as far as to protect life forms like insects, but the legislation does include all living creatures.

What makes this dilemma particularly difficult for the administration is that the Kabyles, part of the Berber ethnic group, are predominantly secular Muslims and largely pro-Western. They are very active in the fight against Al Qaeda, and even have their own volunteer army to guard against attacks. Dr Walid Phares, Fox News contributor and author of "The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East," warns "a confrontation will take place" if nothing is done by the Obama administration.

"Washington must use its diplomacy to create a dialogue between the two parties. If the administration sponsors the dialogue, the chances of heading off the crisis and a potential ethnic conflict would be higher. We must learn from Iraq and Sudan to do a better job in preventive medicine, instead of waiting for the crisis to worsen."

But Phares' warning seems to have so far fallen on deaf ears. Sources tell Fox News that during this week's visit to Washington by Kabyle leaders, requests for meetings with high-ranking officials from the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Pentagon were ignored. The snub comes amid accusations by the Kabyle leaders that the Algerian government is helping the Gaddafi regime stay in power. They claim Algeria is sending mercenaries, and blocking diplomatic initiatives to unseat him.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said today: "The National Security Council has decided that we will now move quickly to expand the team already in Benghazi to include an additional military liaison advisory team. This contingent will be drawn from experienced British military officers." Mr Hague said the move was needed to help protect civilians in Libya and was compatible with the United Nations resolution which authorised a no-fly zone.

He said in a statement: "The United Kingdom is strongly committed to the effective implementation of the provisions of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973. With the Libyan people still faced with continuing attacks by Gaddafi's forces, the need to protect civilians in Libya is our highest priority."

"UNSCR 1973 authorises member states to take all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under threat of attack from Gaddafi. The UK's substantial and early military contribution to the enforcement of UNSCR 1973 has helped saved the lives of thousands of civilians threatened by Gaddafi's murderous regime."

"We hope the US government will take responsible policies and measures to safeguard investors' interests," the ministry said in a statement. China's foreign exchange reserves, already the world's biggest, rose by nearly $200 billion in the first quarter to $3.05 trillion. About two-thirds are estimated to be invested in dollars.

Beijing has repeatedly warned that loose US monetary policy threatens the dollar, but it has continued to accumulate dollar assets at the same time, adding about $260 billion of Treasury securities last year, according to US data.

The greenback dropped against the euro on speculation that the European Central Bank will continue to raise borrowing costs as some nations struggle to contain sovereign debt. Standard & Poor's yesterday revised its long-term outlook on US debt to negative from stable. Gold has climbed 32 percent in the past year, and silver prices have more than doubled.

"The US credit rating will undoubtedly be lowered in the next few years," said Michael Pento, a senior economist at Euro Pacific Capital in New York. "This will mean much higher borrowing costs and a much lower currency. International investors have been using gold and silver as an alternative currency and an alternative to the dollar, and this will only exacerbate and accelerate that process."

Gold futures for June delivery rose $2.20, or 0.1 percent, to settle at $1,495.10 at 1:38 pm on the Comex in New York. Earlier, the price climbed as much as 0.5 percent to the record.

When the Treasury opened for business on Friday, April 15, according to the Treasury's Bureau of the Public Debt, the national debt stood at $14.27 trillion ($14,270,792,119,184.89). By the close of business Friday, the debt had climbed to $14.31 trillion ($14,305,336,580,992.11), an increase of $34.54 billion ($34,544,461,807.22).

Friday's $34.54-billion jump in the national debt almost equaled the $38.5 billion the Republican House leadership said would be cut from spending for the remainder of this fiscal year by the continuing resolution that the Congress passed on Thursday and President Obama signed Friday.

The federal government is now perilously close to hitting its legal limit on debt. At the close of business Friday, according to the Daily Treasury Statement published Monday afternoon, the Treasury only had legal authority to borrow another $40.821 billion.

The US Treasury responded that S&P had underestimated its ability to tackle the national debt. The surprise move sent US and European shares lower. The S&P 500 fell the most in a month, and the US dollar dropped against the euro and Swiss franc. Oil was also sharply lower. In Europe, the main UK, German and French indexes all fell by at least 2%. The US federal deficit currently stands at $1.4 trillion (858 billion pounds) and is expected to reach $1.5 trillion in the current fiscal year.

The US has the top AAA credit rating on its long-term bonds. Since the US is the world's largest economy, and its debt is considered the backbone of the world's financial system, any concern over the ability of the US to pay its debt creates huge ripples in the world economy. "The US may be in the last throes of being a safe haven, and the notion of the Treasury being a risk-free asset may die a slow death from here," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com.

Standard & Poor's has been rating US government debt since 1941 and has given it a AAA rating with a stable or positive outlook throughout that time. This is the first time that S&P has shifted the outlook to "negative".