The isolated North, using the launch to celebrate the 100th birthday of the dead founding president Kim Il-sung and to mark the rise to power of his grandson Kim Jong-un, is now widely expected to press ahead with its third nuclear test to show its military strength. "The possibility of an additional long-range rocket launch or a nuclear test, as well as a military provocation to strengthen internal solidarity is very high," a senior South Korean defense ministry official told a parliamentary hearing.

The two Koreas are divided by the world's most militarized border and remain technically at war after an armistice ended the Korean War in 1953. The United States and Japan said the rocket, which they claimed was a disguised missile test and the North said was to put a satellite into orbit, crashed into the sea after travelling a much shorter distance than a previous North Korean launch.

Its failure raises questions over the impoverished North's reclusive leadership which has one of the world's largest standing armies but cannot feed its people without outside aid, largely from its only powerful backer, China. "There is no question that the failed launch turns speculation toward the ramifications for the leadership in Pyongyang: a fireworks display gone bad on the biggest day of the year," said Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The blessing is held at the Kotel - the Hebrew name for the Western Wall - during the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot, and also on Shavuot, and typically attracts thousands of worshipers. The assemblage at the Temple Mount for these holidays is rooted in the Jewish tradition which saw Israelites ascend to the Temple for ritual worship led by the high priests during these three holidays, called the Shalosh Regalim, or the three pilgrimage festivals.

While pilgrimage is no longer required in Judaism since the destruction of the Second Temple, many Jews grasp the opportunity to go up to Jerusalem during these holidays.

The sudden change in weather has been caused by a cold wind coming in from the North West and passing over the hot air rising from the ground warmed by sunshine. This clash of cold and hot air causes clouds to form and sudden downpours. In the most extreme cases the air becomes so turbulent it creates 'funnel’ clouds that cause tornadoes when they touch the ground.

The rain may be a welcome relief to gardeners who have been banned from using hosepipes in the south east but put a dampner on Easter Holidays. Tornadoes in Birmingham a few years ago sent bins hurtling down streets and injured 19 people.

Then he stated he is confident that the Supreme Court would not choose to overturn his health care law, through which the government requires Americans to buy a product approved by the federal bureaucracy or face fines... “I think the president is dangerously close to totalitarianism,” Judge Andrew Napolitano, a Fox News analyst, said.

Under the laws, a minimum jail term of two years could be imposed on those found guilty of instigating and carrying out violent acts of protest under a new package of measures unveiled on Wednesday. But it has raised fears that the new measures could be used to stem the wave of protests that began last summer with the birth of what has been dubbed the "indignado movement", when tens of thousands of peaceful protesters camped out in squares across Spain.

Protest groups were quick to draw comparisons to the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. The measures come amid growing incidents of street violence in cities across Spain, most notably Barcelona where "anti-capitalist" groups were blamed for stirring tensions during last month's general strike.

Comparisons were drawn with Cuba, where peaceful protesters are routinely rounded up by the communist regime, and with Spain's dark days of the Franco dictatorship which ended with his death in 1975. "We fought for freedom and civil rights during the dictatorship of Franco only to lose them now," one Twitter user, @Iaioflautas wrote. Another, @Mordorpress said that the government of Mariano Rajoy was a step back to dictatorship. "Goodbye democracy, you only lasted 30 years," he wrote.

Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard said on his twitter account there were no initial signs of serious damage and that key services in the capital, including its subway system and the international airport, were operating normally. "There was a nasty crunching sound in my bathroom and everything moved," said Adela Arceo, who was looking after two young children in the central Roma neighborhood of Mexico City. There were no initial reports of casualties.

The US Geological Survey said the 7.0 magnitude quake struck in the western state of Michoacan at a depth of 40.8 miles. Emergency services in Michoacan and in the neighboring state of Guerrero, which has been hit by a series of recent quakes, reported no major problems on Wednesday. It was the third major earthquake to hit Mexico in less than a month. A 7.4 magnitude quake struck on March 20, damaging hundreds of buildings in the southwest. That was followed by dozens of aftershocks.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quakes were unlikely to trigger a tsunami. The Oregon quake was initially reported as a magnitude 6.2 and the California one as a 5.3. Both were later downgraded. It was not immediately known whether the quakes caused any damage or casualties.

The big time-buying exercise was the ECB’s injection of 1 trillion euros of super-cheap three-year money into the region’s banks. A smaller breathing space was won last week when governments agreed to expand the ceiling on the region’s bailout funds from 500 to 700 billion euros.

These moves have taken the heat out of the crisis – both by easing fears that banks could go bust and by making it easier for troubled governments, especially Italy’s and Spain’s, to fund themselves. Data from the ECB last week shows how much of the easy money has been recycled from banks into government bonds. In February, Italian lenders increased their purchases of euro zone government bonds by a record 23 billion euros. Spanish banks, meanwhile, increased their purchases by 15.7 billion euros following a record 23 billion euro spending spree in January.

The risk is that, as the short-term funding pressure comes off, governments’ determination to push through unpopular reforms will flag. If that happens, the time that has been bought will be wasted – and, when crisis rears its ugly head again, the authorities won’t have the tools to fight it. Early signs of such fatigue are emerging. One is the tendency of politicians – most recently, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti – to say that the worst of the crisis is over. They may wish to take credit for their crisis-fighting skills or relax. But it is too early to declare victory.

Italy is a case in point. Monti should have pushed through crucial reforms to the labour market earlier, while his popularity was high and the electorate was afraid that Italy would be engulfed by the crisis. He did not. And although he has now come up with a good package, his honeymoon period as the unassailable technocratic prime minister is nearing its end. His popularity fell to 44 percent from 62 percent in early March, according to a poll published last week by ISPO. Two-thirds of Italians oppose his labour reforms.

The flashpoint provinces of Homs, Hama and Idlib, which have been under sustained shelling by Assad's forces over the last week, were calm after the 6am (0300 GMT) ceasefire deadline. An activist in Damascus said the capital was also quiet. "More than two hours have passed and it's completely quiet across the country," said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The Syrian government bars access to most independent media.

Fighting had raged in the countdown to Thursday's deadline, fuelling widespread doubts that Syria would comply with international envoy Kofi Annan's ceasefire plan. World leaders, grappling with fundamental disagreements particularly between the West and Russia over how to deal with the crisis, are monitoring events on the ground closely. "It was a bloody night - there was heavy shelling on the city of Homs, but now it is calm and there is no shooting," said an activist who called himself Abu Rami, speaking from Syria's third largest city which has endured some of the worst violence.

But, like activists in other towns, he said there was no indication that Syrian army forces were withdrawing from Homs in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.

Sudan has pulled out of negotiations with South Sudan. The fighting is the worst since South Sudan seceded in July last year. South Sudan has seized the town of Heglig, which is internationally recognised as Sudanese territory, though South Sudan disputes this. Sudan has complained to the United Nations and the AU about South Sudan's "aggression". The parliament in Khartoum called for a "mobilisation and alert" of the people.

After talking to President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had suggested an immediate summit between the two countries to build confidence and reaffirm that dialogue was the only solution. UN Security Council members and the AU urged the Southern forces to withdraw immediately from the disputed oilfields. The US condemned South Sudan's seizure of Heglig, saying it was "an act which goes beyond self-defence and has increased tensions between Sudan and South Sudan to dangerous levels".

Sudan relies on the Heglig oilfields for a sizeable part of its budget, and has vowed to use "all legitimate means" to retake them, warning of "destruction" in the South.

A horrifying municipal debt crisis is starting to unfold right in front of our eyes. It just did not happen as soon as she thought that it would. When most Americans think of our "debt problem", they think of the federal government. But the truth is that we have hundreds and hundreds of smaller "debt problems" all across the country. In 2012, cities such as Stockton, California and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania have already defaulted and a whole bunch of other cities and towns are headed down the exact same path.

Once we see the first major wave of municipal defaults, creditors will become much tighter with their money and that will cause even more municipalities to get into financial trouble. This crisis could start spinning out of control at any time. The frightening thing is that all of this is happening at a time when we are supposed to be having an "economic recovery". So what will things look like when the economy gets even worse than this? If hundreds of cities, towns and counties are barely able to keep their heads above water financially right now, what is going to happen when the next recession hits?

State governments are experiencing massive budget problems right now as well. For example, in California state government revenues for February 2012 were down by about 22 percent compared to February 2011. The state government is quickly running out of money once again, and nobody is quite sure how to fix California's rapidly deteriorating financial situation.

He added that Iran believes the talks should be based on “mutual cooperation.” Representatives from the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany – have made it clear they expect Iran to meet its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. As an NPT signatory Iran is obligated to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors full access to its nuclear facilities, which Iran has refused to do.

Officials in Washington and Jerusalem have indicated they expect Iran to halt its controversial uranium enrichment program if it wants to avoid preemptive military strikes on its nuclear program. Iran on Monday confirmed it would return to nuclear talks, but rejected any “preconditions.” Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday went so far as to say Tehran would “punch the West in the mouth” if Washington and their allies sought to impose their will on Iran.

Nonetheless, key officials in Tehran – which is languishing under crippling economic sanctions – have already indicated willingness to compromise. Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and defense minister Ehud Barak – both said to be proponents of a strike on Iran – have expressed deep skepticism about the outcome of the upcoming talks. “I don't believe that this amount of sanctions and pressure will bring the Iranian leadership to the conclusion that they have to stop their nuclear military program,” Barak told CNN on Sunday.

In the last few years, though, the anxiety has shifted a bit. Instead of worrying we'll be undercut on the price of manual labor, the concern is we could actually be out-competed in higher-end markets. You hear it when Democrats like President Obama talk about China winning the race on green jobs. And it came to my mind this week, thanks to a piece in Bloomberg Businessweek on China's growing prowess in heavy industry.

While China transformed itself into the world's top exporter by building light goods and electronics, the biggest chunk of its exports are now large, high-margin goods such as ships, locomotives, and construction equipment. Not only are China's capitalists moving in this direction, but they're getting a hand from the government. As Businessweek reports, "Equipment manufacturing, shipbuilding, and cars are among the industries slated to receive $2.5 billion from the government this year to improve technology and product quality."

This should be of some concern to US policy makers. Heavy machinery and transportation equipment are at the heart of the US industrial base. They're part of our Big Six manufacturing sectors, along with food, chemicals, electronics, and metal products. These are businesses where labor is a relatively small part of the overall cost of making the product, and where America's technologically advanced factories have traditionally given us an edge. If they founder, there's not much left to replace them.

Chinese firms might not be ready to start taking on US companies on their home turf, but they are in a good position to compete in the international market.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in Aceh, the Indonesian province closest to the initial earthquake. But an aftershock of almost the same magnitude, less deep than the first quake, hit soon after he finished speaking. The first quake struck at 4.38 a.m EDT and an 8.2 magnitude aftershock just over two hours later, at 6.43 a.m. EDT. Two more strong aftershocks hit later.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued fresh tsunami warnings for the entire Indian Ocean after the aftershocks. Authorities in Indonesia said there were reports of sea-levels rising off Aceh, but by less than a metre (3.3 feet). But authorities in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands, to the north of where the quakes struck, said waves of up to 3.9 metres (13 feet) could hit there.

Individual countries, including Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, issued their own tsunami warnings and people near the coast in six Thai provinces were ordered to move to higher ground. Authorities shut down the international airport in the Thai beach resort province of Phuket. The quakes were also felt in Sri Lanka, where office workers in the capital, Colombo, fled their offices. In Bangladesh, where two tremors were felt, authorities said there appeared to be no threat of a tsunami.

On the eve of these talks – the first for over a year – Mr Ahmadinejad gave a defiant speech claiming that the central measure taken to increase the pressure on Iran's economy would have no effect. The European Union has agreed to stop buying oil from Iran by July 1 – and the state media in Tehran reported that the country had chosen to pre-empt this measure by halting exports to Greece, one of its biggest EU customers.

"They want to impose sanctions on our oil and we must say to them that we have that much saved that even if we didn't sell oil for two to three years, the country would manage easily," said Mr Ahmadinejad in a televised speech. "Whoever seeks to violate the rights of the Iranian nation will get a blow to the mouth," he added.