"Liquidity is drying up in Greece. It is true," he told a gathering at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Mr Varoufakis said a conspiracy of forces was trying to "snuff out" Greece's Syriza government but warned that this could have devastating effects. "Toying with Grexit, or amputating Greece, is profoundly anti-European. Anybody who says they know what will happen if Greece is pushed out of the euro is deluded," he said.

The warnings were echoed by Eric Rosengren, head of the Boston Federal Reserve, who said Europe risks setting off uncontrollable contagion if it mishandles the Greek crisis, even though Greece may look too small to matter. "I would say to some European analysts who assume that a Greek exit would not be a problem, people thought that Lehman wouldn't be a problem. If you measured the size of Lehman relative to the size of the US economy it was quite small," he told a group at Chatham House. "I wouldn't be overly confident that just because the Greek economy is small relative to the size of the European economy that something like that wouldn't be a major dislocation. I think everybody should be a little bit concerned," he said.

Wolfgang Schauble, Germany's finance minister, said it is up to Greece to decide its own fate. "If they want to find money somewhere else, whether in Moscow, or Beijing, or New York, that's fine, we'll be happy," he said. "We will not help a country that refuses to help itself. If Greece wants the next disbursement of €1.8 billion, it must fulfil what is agreed. That is called the Memorandum of Understanding," he said, also speaking at the Brookings Institution.

Military officials and residents said al-Qaida fighters clashed briefly with members of one of Yemen's largest brigades outside Mukalla, a city the militants overran earlier this month and where they freed prison inmates. The militants then seized control of the Riyan airport and moved to secure their hold on the city's main sea port, which is also an oil terminal. The security officials, speaking from Sanaa on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press, said the leaders of the brigade in charge of protecting the entire area fled.

The group has exploited the chaos in Yemen, where Shiite rebels, along with allied military units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, captured the capital in September and have been advancing despite a three-week Saudi-led air campaign.

The rebels are staunch opponents of al-Qaida but are currently locked in fierce battles with forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognized President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia last month. A Saudi-led coalition has been striking the Houthis and their allies from the air since March 26, but has carried out no attacks on Mukalla or other al-Qaida-controlled areas.

I believe there was a time when manures — like steer manure and chicken manure — were actually very good ingredients to use in the garden. But those days are long gone. Today’s consumer demand for inexpensive poultry has created a dangerous new world when it comes to raising chickens, and it does not even remotely resemble the picture most people have of chickens roaming freely in a farm yard, pecking on the ground for bugs and small plants. And the changes that have come about mean chicken manure is nothing like what it once was either.

Since these birds must reach a marketable weight in a mere six to eight weeks, they are pumped full of hormones, growth enhancers, and of course, antibiotics. When chicken live their lives confined to small spaces, diseases flourish. And in order to control the inevitable pests and the spread of diseases that could result, their environments must be sprayed heavily with chemical pesticides. Back in the days of our great-grandparents’ family farms, many of these chemicals hadn’t even been invented.

If you think of chicken manure from factory farms as still being a natural, nutrient-rich addition to garden soil, you are mistaken. By the time the feed (already unhealthy) passes through the chickens’ bodies, it has potentially been contaminated with pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella. Then it sits in huge piles near the fields where it will eventually be spread, exposed to the elements. Pollutants like arsenic, E. coli, and fecal coliform bacteria end up in the runoff after heavy rain or snow melt and ultimately reach nearby ditches and streams. And they enter more than just bodies of water; these pollutants can enter your own body as well, when contaminated manure is used for food production. No wonder we keep hearing about food recalls. They are directly related to this unsafe situation.

Some of us believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the risen Son of God, the Creator of the Trinity and the true path to heaven. Others of us believe that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. Some of us worship Yahweh as he is understood through the Torah. Some of us follow the way of the Buddha. There is also a more general spirituality.

So the question is, what is our goal here? What are trying to accomplish? Can we lead others to salvation who we do not believe are on the path of faith that brings salvation? Can they lead us? Pope John Paul II said ecumenism is the “duty of the Christian conscience enlightened by faith and guided by love. Jesus himself, at the hour of his Passion, prayed ‘that they may all be one’.”

But is this desire for oneness just a desire that others be like we are? In other words, is our goal to simply understand one another or to come finally to a single belief? While I believe what the Bible says about salvation, I also believe what it says about community with others. And since all truth is God’s truth, I can learn from any faith tradition that teaches the truth. The more we understand each other, the better we can flourish together on what John F Kennedy called “this small planet.”

The summit hopes to “help build a global movement across all religions for sustainable development and climate change throughout 2015 and beyond,” and to highlight “the intrinsic connection between respect for the environment and respect for people — especially the poor, the excluded, victims of human trafficking and modern slavery, children and future generations,” says the Vatican.

The one-day summit will also include participants from major world religions and aims to “elevate the debate on the moral dimensions of protecting the environment in advance of the papal encyclical,” the Vatican says. The Pope’s much-anticipated encyclical on the environment is scheduled for release this summer. Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, a top Vatican official who is leading the drafting process of Francis’ encyclical on the environment, will also speak at the conference.

This event is just the latest in what many are calling Pope Francis’s “green agenda.” He has become an outspoken advocate on environmental issues, saying acting on climate change is “essential to faith” and calling the destruction of nature a modern sin. He has vowed to only increase pressure on world leaders after his disappointment with the Lima climate talks. He is hoping that his encyclical will influence the climate talks in Paris at the end of the year.

"Margin debt as a percentage of market capitalisation remains higher than it was during the late-1990s stock market bubble. The increasing use of margin debt is occurring in an environment of declining liquidity," said the IMF in its Global Financial Stability Report. "Lower market liquidity and higher market leverage in the US system increase the risk of minor shocks being propagated and amplified into sharp price corrections," it said.

The report said there are clear signs that underwriting standards are deteriorating in a pervasive search for yield. So-called "covenant-light loans" with poor protection for creditors now make up two-thirds of all new leveraged loans in the US. This is becoming hazardous as the US Federal Reserve prepares to raise rates, a move that risks a spike in global borrowing costs and may cause liquidity to dry up almost overnight. "A sudden shift in market views that unwinds compressed premiums and sends yields higher could trigger a market liquidity shock," said the report.

The so-called 'flash crash' on US bond markets last October and the collapse of the Swiss currency floor in January showed how quickly liquidity can vanish, acting as "a powerful amplifier of financial stability risks."

Greece's primary budget surplus, which excludes its debt interest payments, shrunk to just €1 billion during January and February, compared to €3.17 billion over the same period in 2014. Separate data from the country's official statistics authority also showed a gaping hole in the public finances, with the budget deficit stooping to 3.5 percent of GDP in 2014, while the primary budget surplus was only 0.4 percent.

Continued uncertainty around Greece's membership of the eurozone saw Standard & Poor's downgrade the sovereign to CCC+ from B- with a "negative outlook", warning that "without deep economic reform or further relief, we expect Greece's debt and other financial commitments will be unsustainable." The move follows similar action from fellow rating's agency Fitch, who slashed their bond rating last month.

From the Israeli side of the border, larger tractors are clearly visible above the ground as the machines prepare the tunnel entries. The Gaza-based terrorist organization has been using whatever cement it can get its hands on for the construction of the tunnels, and fortifying the walls of its underground structures with wood as well.

Israeli security officials confirmed the reports from Gaza, adding that Hamas was making great efforts to dig the tunnels at high speed. The officials also said the terror organization was attempting to produce as many short-range rockets as possible, after noting that these projectiles were less likely to be downed by the Iron Dome defense system and could therefore cause substantial damage on the Israeli side.

A report in the Telegraph earlier this month said Iran was transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas to rebuild its underground infrastructure and replenish its rocket arsenal. Israeli security sources in March said that Hamas has invested considerable effort in digging a new tunnel network within the coastal enclave, as well as several tunnels meant for eventual cross-border attacks. But according to those sources, the terror organization was being careful to avoid crossing into Israeli soil, in order to avoid an eruption of hostilities.

The report identified the locations of the two bases, and said one is as close as 8 miles from Texas in a town west of Juarez. Mexican authorities found possible evidence - plans written in Arabic and Urdu - last week in the town of "Anapra," the sources said. These sources told the watchdog that "coyotes" who work for drug cartels assist in smuggling terrorists between Fort Hancock, Texas, and other undisclosed locations.

The US State Department and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an inquiry from FoxNews.com to confirm the report. But the Mexican border has long been seen as a potential vulnerability. FoxNews.com reported last summer that social media chatter shows ISIS is aware of the porous border, and are “expressing an increased interest” in crossing over to carry out a terrorist attack.

The officials, who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon on Wednesday on condition of anonymity, said more than two shipments of missile parts since last September have been monitored by the US going from North Korea to Iran. One official detailed that the components included large diameter engines, which could be used to build a long-range missile system, potentially capable of bearing a nuclear warhead.

The information is particularly damaging given that Admiral Bill Gortney, Commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), admitted this month that the Pentagon fears that North Korea and possibly Iran can target the US with a nuclear EMP strike.

Critics have pointed out that the nuclear framework deal reached with Iran earlier this month completely avoids this question of Iran's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program, which would allow it to conduct nuclear strikes. US President Barack Obama was given details of the shipments in his daily intelligence briefings, but the officials say the information was hidden from the UN by the White House so that it would not take action on the sanctions violations.

Beginning in July, two-dozen member agencies will be fined up to four times their regular rates for demanding excess water. Those penalties will range from $1,480 to $2,960 per acre-foot of water. The cutbacks are expected to last a year, with opportunities each month to amend the system. A formal reconsideration is scheduled for December, during the rainy season.

If Brown’s statewide plan succeeds, businesses and residents will use only three-quarters of the amount they used in 2013. The savings would amount to some 1.5 million acre-feet of water in the next nine months, just as the state snowpack is at its lowest level on record.

“To Berlin!” says a page on the biker gang’s website dedicated to the rally, which is set to begin on 25 April, in an allusion to the Red Army’s famous battle cry. The commemorative event comes with tensions running high between Russia and the west over the crisis in Ukraine. The plan sparked controversy in central Europe, with some welcoming the Russians and others saying they should be banned from European Union territory. The Polish foreign ministry dubbed the ride a “problem”.

The bikers insist their journey is not politically motivated. “This is a memorial rally,” said Andrei Bobrovsky, the organiser. “The main goal is to pay respects to those killed on WWII battlefields in the struggle against Hitler’s Nazis – soldiers and innocent civilians,” he told AFP. “Another goal is to develop and strengthen good neighbourly ties.” During their journey the bikers will visit war memorials, Auschwitz and Dachau death camps and Berlin’s Treptower Park, famous for its Soviet war memorial. Bobrovsky said many Europeans wanted to join the rally, including Germans.

Unfortunately in its recommendations, the DGAC didn’t really come out and tell us the whole truth, which would go something like this:

“Americans should eat less, or rather no red and processed meat from filthy, inhumane factory farms or feedlots, where the animals are cruelly crammed together and routinely fed a diet of herbicide-drenched, genetically engineered grains, supplemented by a witch’s brew of antibiotics, artificial hormones, steroids, blood, manure and slaughterhouse waste, contributing to a deadly public health epidemic of obesity, heart disease, cancer, antibiotic resistance, hormone disruption and food allergies.”

If the DGAC had really told us the truth about America’s red meat horror show (95 percent of our red meat comes from these Confined Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs), we’d be having a conversation about how we can get rid of factory farms, instead of a rather abstract debate on the ethics of eating meat. We are what we eat. We must get rid of factory farms and put the Earth’s billions of confined farm animals back outside on the land, grazing and foraging, where they belong.