Analysts had predicted the possibility, suggesting that Damascus would allow the crossings to draw the populace's attention and participation away from the ongoing rebellion in the country and the regime's harsh crackdown on civilian protestors. The casualty was identified as an Israeli citizen, and one other person was killed on the Syrian side of the border. Three others reportedly were killed on the Israeli side, but there has been no official confirmation.

The Syrians reached the Druze town of Majdal Shams, located near the border and on the road to the Hermon Mountain range. Dozens of ambulances have been dispatched as the IDF uses tear gas and live fire as it tries to force the Syrians back across the border. The government has not explained how and where the Syrians were able to cross the border, but they may have marched on an area that is off limits because of the presence of land mines from the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

At the same time as the massive infiltration into the Golan Heights, Syrian soldiers a shot and killed a woman and wounded five others, including a Lebanese soldier, during a protest at a Lebanese border village against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Hundreds of Syrian Arabs have crossed into Lebanon to flee the violence from Assad's security forces who already have killed nearly 800 demonstrators.

Some of the increase in price above this "supply and demand" level price is due to companies using futures contracts to lock in oil prices to ensure certainty (which is a valid business purpose). Some of it is due to speculation. Indeed, using high frequency trading, it is relatively easy to manipulate the price of oil.

In a heavily-anticipated response to Senator Michael Bennet, Democrat for Colorado, who asked Geithner to document the economic and fiscal impacts of failing to lift the statutory debt limit, the Treasury secretary detailed a chain reaction that would cripple the economy, costing jobs and income. "A default would inflict catastrophic far-reaching damage on our nation's economy, significantly reducing growth and increasing unemployment," said Geithner in the letter to Bennet which was dated May 13. "Even a short-term default could cause irrevocable damage to the economy."

Geithner has imposed an August deadline for Congress to lift the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, but lawmakers are still negotiating over Republican demands to tie the move to spending cuts. And a portion of the GOP still remains skeptical about the need to act by the deadline at all, arguing that the consequences have been overstated.

In the letter Geithner walked through the doomsday scenario he has been describing on the Hill. Default would cast doubt on the full faith and credit of the US, which would scare away investors and enable those remaining to demand higher interest rates on Treasury securities, which would have far-reaching negative ramifications. Increased borrowing costs would extend to families, businesses, and local governments, he said.

Because Treasury securities set the benchmark interest rate for a variety of consumer credit products, an increase in interest rates could drive up the cost on everything from mortgages to car loans and business loans. A default on our obligations would also sap household wealth, threatening retirement savings; what's more, it could cut off Medicare and Social Security payments and cause another financial crisis, the letter said. "A default would call into question the status of Treasury securities as a cornerstone of the financial system, potentially squandering this unique role and the economic benefits that come with it," Geithner said.

It was at least a partial concession to his critics at a time when consumers are paying near-record prices at the gas pump. The Republican-led House passed three bills in the last 10 days that would significantly expand and accelerate oil development in the United States, saying the administration was driving up gas prices and preventing job creation with antidrilling policies.

Administration officials said the president's announcement, which included plans for expanded drilling in Alaska and the prospect of new exploration off the Atlantic coast, was intended in part to answer those arguments, signal flexibility and demonstrate his commitment to reducing oil imports by increasing domestic production. But in fact the policies announced Saturday would not have an immediate effect on supply or prices, nor would they quickly open any new areas to drilling.

Responding to the shift by the administration, Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Speaker John A Boehner, said, "The president just conceded what his party on Capitol Hill still denies: more American energy production will lower costs and create jobs. This reversal is striking, since his administration has consistently blocked American-made energy."

Although Mr Buck characterized the policy changes as "not terribly substantial," he added that they should "pave the way for legislation, like the bills the House passed in the past two weeks, to reduce the damage from the restrictions he imposed in the past."

The proposal - a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations - would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean. Under the plan, the coastline from New Jersey northward would remain closed to all oil and gas activity. So would the Pacific Coast, from Mexico to the Canadian border.

The environmentally sensitive Bristol Bay in southwestern Alaska would be protected and no drilling would be allowed under the plan, officials said. But large tracts in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska - nearly 130 million acres - would be eligible for exploration and drilling after extensive studies.

The proposal is to be announced by President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Wednesday, but administration officials agreed to preview the details on the condition that they not be identified. The proposal is intended to reduce dependence on oil imports, generate revenue from the sale of offshore leases and help win political support for comprehensive energy and climate legislation.

Fed by rainwater and the spring thaw, the Mississippi and its tributaries have caused massive flooding upstream, and officials have said the flooding in Louisiana is the worst since 1927. The US Army Corps of Engineers warned that if the spillway was not opened, New Orleans could be flooded by about 20ft (6m) of water. Two other gates - the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway and the Bonnet Carre Spillway - were opened earlier this month.

Corps spokesman Colonel Ed Fleming said: "It's a historic day, not only for the entire Mississippi River but for the state of Louisiana. Today's the first day in the history of our nation that we have had three floodways open." Colonel Fleming said the opening would be slow to "make sure folks have the understanding that water is coming their way and they evacuate according to their local procedures". Wildlife also needed time to get to higher ground, he said. Opening all 125 gates on the spillway would release 600,000 cubic ft of water every second.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said although he believed his city would be safe, this was a "tragic situation" for those in the Atchafalaya basin and Morgan City. "Our hearts go out to them. It doesn't make us feel any good that [by] protecting New Orleans, other folks are going to get hurt." Residents of the town of Butte La Rose, directly in the path of the spillway's water, said they had been told to pack for a long absence.

Farmers in the region are expecting to lose their entire crops in a year of high prices for farm produce. "The land's going to wash away, but that's life," said Hurlin Dupre, from Krotz Springs in the Atchafalaya river basin. "The worst of it is we are in a drought and we can't use none of that water."

The opening will release a torrent that could submerge about 3,000 square miles under as much as 25 feet of water in some areas but take the pressure off the downstream levees protecting New Orleans, Baton Rouge and the numerous oil refineries and chemical plants along the lower reaches of the Mississippi.

Meanwhile, with crop prices soaring, farmers along the lower Mississippi had been expecting a big year. But now many are facing ruin, with floodwaters swallowing up corn, cotton, rice and soybean fields. In far northeastern Louisiana, where Tap Parker and about 50 other farmers filled and stacked massive sandbags along an old levee to no avail, the Mississippi flowed over the top Thursday, and nearly 19 square miles of soybeans and corn, known in the industry as "green gold," was lost.

"This was supposed to be our good year. We had a chance to really catch up. Now we're scrambling to break even," said Parker, who has been farming since 1985. Some of the estimates have been dire, though. More than 1,500 square miles of farmland in Arkansas, which produces about half of the nation's rice, have been swamped over the past few weeks. In Missouri, where a levee was intentionally blown open to ease the flood threat in the town of Cairo, Illinois, more than 200 square miles of croplands were submerged, damage that will probably exceed $100 million. More than 2,100 square miles could flood in Mississippi.

When the water level goes down - and that could take many weeks in some places - farmers can expect to find the soil washed away or their fields covered with sand. Some will probably replant on the soggy soil, but they will be behind their normal growing schedule, which could hurt yields. Many farmers have crop insurance, but it won't be enough to cover their losses. And it won't even come close to what they could have expected with a bumper crop.

They were the usual words of reassurance and conciliation. "Content is more important than timing," EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said on Thursday, addressing a disagreement in Brussels over "stress tests" for 143 European nuclear reactors. "The public expects credible tests that will cover all foreseeable risks and security concerns."

Like so much else in recent weeks, the safety tests for European nuclear plants have been a point of contention in Brussels. The meeting between Oettinger and representatives of the 27 member states ended without tangible results. In the wake of the Fukushima disaster the EU agrees that stress tests are important, but no one can agree on criteria. France and Great Britain, above all, have stonewalled detailed EU examinations - they see no reason to test their reactors with regard to anything besides natural catastrophes.

Nuclear stress tests are just one example, though, of an atmosphere at the EU in which communal feeling is crumbling. The financial crisis has split the continent, and "me first" has become the new credo in Brussels.

Denmark just this week shut its borders unexpectedly - stepping back from the Schengen Agreement on visa-free travel throughout the EU on account of a sudden wave of immigrants fleeing chaos from the Arab Spring. Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a prominent Green member of the EU parliament, suggested that Copenhagen should feel swift consequences. "The Danes have to decide: If they want to be serious about closing their borders then they need to resign from the Schengen Agreement," he said to Spiegel Online. "Then they'll need visas of their own to travel through Europe - one for each country."

You won't hear any of this from those in the political establishment who cravenly backed Tony Blair when he was madly trying to abolish the pound. Lord Mandelson, Nick Clegg, Lord Heseltine, Paddy Ashdown and Ken Clarke have all gone incredibly quiet on the subject of the single currency. And no wonder, considering the terrifying scale of the calamity unfolding in the eurozone.

The crisis is now very dangerously poised. Weaker countries on the periphery of the zone - Greece, Ireland and now Portugal - cooked their books, ran up vast debts and have had to be bailed out by the rest, as well as by the International Monetary Fund. The markets so distrust these countries - understandably given their reckless behaviour - that they are prepared to lend to them only at exorbitant interest rates. And this, in turn, worsens their debts. This week it became clear that last year's bailout of Greece has simply not worked. So out of control are the country's borrowings and spending - even after various austerity programmes - that it is in serious danger of defaulting on its loans.

To head off this possibility, some are suggesting a so-called 'restructuring' in which those institutions in the financial markets which loaned money to the Greeks are forced to accept that they will not get all of it back. Yet even this might not be enough to put an end to the problem. After crisis talks earlier this week, German sources suggested that it may be time for everyone to cut their losses and that Greece should leave the euro. Privately, the Greeks have also floated the idea. The countries that have been bailed out are in a terrible situation. They are contemplating years of recession or slow growth as they struggle to cope with the vast new debts they have taken on to keep the euro afloat.

Of the 27 members of the EU, 17 are in the eurozone. After the latest stage of the crisis, those in the euro will move much closer together. Led by France and Germany, they will have to integrate their economies even more to try to make the euro endure. The Germans will demand that countries agree to tight budget discipline so that debts don't get out of hand again, and will impose strict policies that suit German industry. Those countries outside the euro but in the EU will then be put in an interesting position. There will be a 'two-speed Europe' - with the more closely integrated eurozone members in one category and those outside the eurozone in another group.

The poll, published today to mark the first anniversary of the coalition, quizzed three different categories of people - those who voted Conservative in last year's election, those who considered doing so, but did not, and Tory party members. Mr Cameron, who has faced some criticism from within his party for failing to win last year's election outright, is warned that the Conservatives are still seen by many as the party of "the rich" and that some voters believe that government spending cuts are going too far, too fast.

On immigration, Tories and potential Tories were uncertain what had been achieved since the party came to power, and on the NHS voters were found to be "very sceptical of controversial proposed reforms". However, some clear policy successes are identified - particularly welfare reform. Asked what single thing their party could do which would be most likely to attract new voters in 2015, the most popular option was improving the economy, cutting the deficit and helping create jobs, backed by 19 per cent.

This was followed by taking a tougher stance on Europe, which could even include leaving the European Union, which had the support of 17 per cent of members, followed by dealing better with immigration (13 per cent).

According to the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, a slight increase in Etna's volcanic tremors had been recorded in recent months. It is thought of as a 'safe' volcano - paradoxically because it is so active. But last January's eruption was one of the biggest seen since massive outpourings of lava in the 1880s destroyed several villages. But they assure locals that it is highly unlikely to blow as Vesuvius did in AD79, wiping out the now extinct Roman town of Pompei. Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe at 3,295 metres (10,810 feet) above sea level.

Geologists have been warning since the late 1990s that Etna seems to be becoming more active. Ominously, the cone of the south-east crater has grown by 300ft since late 1998, showing that the forces underground are stretching the mountain to breaking point.

European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny appeared to give the first public confirmation that an EU/IMF inspection team visiting Athens has found shortcomings in Greece's implementation of the bailout plan. "Greece has apparently not fulfilled the conditions sufficiently of late. The issue of privatisations will be the most sensitive point here," Austria's Kronen Zeitung quoted Nowotny as saying.

Without a shift of course, Greek debt would rise to 157.7 percent of gross domestic product this year and to 166.1 percent in 2012, rather than be 145.2 and 148.8 percent as envisaged by the EU/IMF plan, the EU executive said. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, hit back at criticism, saying euro zone countries must work together to shore up the common currency and tackle economic problems.

The yield on the 5-year Greek bonds dropped on Friday but was still near 21 percent, a level which makes borrowing from the markets completely prohibitive.

Prominent journalists like ABC's Christiane Amanpour and former Washington Post editor and now Vice President Len Downie serve on boards of operations that take Soros' cash. This despite the Society of Professional Journalists' ethical code stating: "avoid all conflicts real or perceived." This information is part of an upcoming report by the Media Research Centers Business & Media Institute which has been looking into George Soros and his influence on the media.

The investigative reporting start-up ProPublica is a prime example. ProPublica, which recently won its second Pulitzer Prize, initially was given millions of dollars from the Sandler Foundation to "strengthen the progressive infrastructure" - "progressive" being the code word for very liberal. In 2010, it also received a two-year contribution of $125,000 each year from the Open Society Foundations. In case you wonder where that money comes from, the OSF website is www.soros.org. It is a network of more than 30 international foundations, mostly funded by Soros, who has contributed more than $8 billion to those efforts.

One more thing: a 14-person Journalism Advisory Board, stacked with CNN's David Gergen and representatives from top newspapers, a former publisher of The Wall Street Journal and the editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster. Several are working journalists, including:

* Jill Abramson, a managing editor of The New York Times;

* Kerry Smith, the senior vice president for editorial quality of ABC News;

* Cynthia A Tucker, the editor of the editorial page of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

ProPublica is far from the only Soros-funded organization that is stacked with members of the supposedly neutral press. If journalists were more up front, they would have to admit NUMEROUS UNCOMFORTABLE CONNECTIONS WITH GROUPS THAT PUSH A LIBERAL AGENDA, MANY OF THEM FUNDED BY THE STRIDENTLY LIBERAL GEORGE SOROS. So don't expect that transparency any time soon.

The Forsa Institute just conducted a new poll for the newspaper Der Freitag in which a representative number of German residents were confronted with bare remarks by four European right-wing populists. The results are unexpectedly clear: Right-wing ideas appeal to an unexpectedly broad portion of the populace.

The voters most prone to express them are members of the conservative CDU/CSU (Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party), the FDP (the business-friendly Free Democrats) - and the Left Party, consisting of many former East German communists. Perhaps most alarming is that 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, attitudes nationwide have shifted closer to East German right-wing populism than to analogous ideas from the former West.

For example:

- 70 percent of those surveyed say Germany gives too much money to the EU

- Almost half want Germany to drastically reduce immigration

- 38 percent believe Islam doesn't fit into a German lifestyle and represents a threat to German values

- 30 percent want an "independent Germany, without the euro, where the EU holds no legal sway"

There are also sharp differences between eastern and western Germany: Euro-skepticism and anti-Muslim feeling are far more common, by at least a third, in the former East. Besides the Greens, in other words, all German parties are infected with some form of the right-wing virus.

About 27 percent of homes with mortgages were "underwater" in the fourth quarter, according to Zillow, which runs a website with property-value estimates and real-estate listings. Home prices fell 3 percent in the first quarter and will drop as much as 9 percent this year as foreclosures spread and unemployment remains high, Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries said. Prices won't find a floor until 2012, he said.

"We get tired of telling such a grim story, but unfortunately this is the story that needs to be told," Humphries said in a telephone interview. "Demand is still quite anemic due to unemployment and the fact that home values are still falling. And that tends to make people more cautious about buying."

The US unemployment rate rose to 9 percent in April, up from 8.8 percent in March, the Department of Labor reported May 6. Home prices have fallen almost 30 percent from their June 2006 peak, wiping out more than $10 trillion in equity, including $667.5 billion in the first quarter, Humphries said.