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".

The storms have affected over 3,200 people so far, forcing 380 of them to evacuate their homes, he said. At least 45 houses collapsed in the storms, he added. Most of the victims were killed when the strong winds brought down walls and other structures. Falling debris also claimed several lives. As of Monday morning, the storms have swept over 1,087 hectares of farmland and caused about nearly 96 million yuan (14.7 million US dollars) in direct economic losses, according to the provincial civil affairs department.

The department said it has dispatched a team to disaster-affected areas to direct relief work. Local governments in Guangdong have initiated emergency plans to move injured victims to hospitals, provide aid to elderly residents and examine damaged buildings to evaluate their condition. The southwestern province of Guizhou was doubly affected, as hailstones pounded 10 counties on Friday and Saturday, causing 75 million yuan in direct economic losses, local authorities said.

Meanwhile, G20 finance chiefs, who also met in Washington, pledged financial support to help new governments in the Middle East and North Africa.

Mr Zoellick said such support was vital. "The crisis in the Middle East and North Africa underscores how we need to put the conclusions from our latest world development report into practice. The report highlighted the importance of citizen security, justice and jobs," he said.

He also called for the World Bank to act quickly to support reforms in the region. "Waiting for the situation to stabilise will mean lost opportunities. In revolutionary moments the status quo is not a winning hand." At the Washington meetings, turmoil in the Middle East, volatile oil prices and high unemployment were also discussed.

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn raised particular concerns about high levels of unemployment among young people. "It's probably too much to say that it's a jobless recovery, but it's certainly a recovery with not enough jobs," he said. "Especially because of youth unemployment... there is now a risk that this will be turned into a life sentence, and that there is a possibility of a lost generation," he said.

Nine out of ten couples now live together before - or instead of - tying the knot. Before the Second World War, it was fewer than one in 30. From a situation 30 years ago where it was often considered shameful to have a child outside of wedlock, it has now become the norm.

Some 46 per cent of children are born to unmarried mothers, according to research by the Centre for Social Justice.

The think-tank said a child growing up in a one-parent family is 75 per cent more likely to fail at school, 70 per cent more likely to become a drug addict, 50 per cent more likely to have an alcohol problem and 35 per cent more likely to be unemployed as an adult. Some 48 per cent of children are likely to see their family break up before they are 16. Ten years ago, it was 40 per cent. Gavin Poole, executive director of the CSJ, which was set up by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, said: 'Current high levels of cohabitation are a key factor in the rise in family breakdown in our country and this paper shows that we have not been here before.'

Marriage and commitment tend to stabilise and strengthen families and cannot be ignored. The peculiarly high levels of family breakdown found in Britain are at the heart of the social breakdown which is devastating our most deprived communities. 'Strengthening families is vital, both to the health of Britain and in ensuring a more socially just society.'

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) doubts that current measures to rescue cash-strapped Greece will be successful and is now privately pushing the country to swiftly restructure its debts, Spiegel has learned. High-level representatives from the IMF pushed for a restructuring during recent discussions with delegates from European governments, according to information obtained by the magazine.

The demands represent a change of course for the IMF, which had previously opposed the idea of debt restructuring for Greece. The organization clearly no longer believes that the current measures will be enough to sort out the debt-stricken country's finances. IMF representatives told the European delegates that it was necessary to reduce Athens' debt burden, which is currently equivalent to around 150 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Among the options that the IMF suggested are that holders of Greek debt could take a so-called haircut, maturities could be extended or interest rates on Greek sovereign debt could be reduced. All three alternatives would involve owners of Greek sovereign bonds giving up a portion of their returns. Under the IMF plan, the Greek government is supposed to begin discussions with its creditors within the near future and inform them about the proposed debt restructuring.

"What we hope to see is the European Spring of 1989," he said, referring to the year which marked a turning point for the wave of revolutions sweeping through the Eastern Bloc which led to the break-up of the Soviet Union two years later. But Tehran, he warned, was trying to cash in on the tide of mass uprising sweeping the region to turn it to its advantage in a bid to repeat the events of 1979 and the Islamic Revolution. "We could find that the Arab Spring turns into an Iranian winter," he warned.

Since the start of the unprecedented popular protests in January, which first saw millions take to the streets of Tunisia and Egypt in a movement which has then swept through the region, Israel has been raising the spectre of an Iranian-style theocracy moving in to take over. "In a time of chaos, an organised Islamic group can take over the state. It happened in Iran and it also happened in other places," the Israeli premier said in February.

In Iran, mass protests against the Western-backed Shah erupted in January 1978 and he was forced out a year later, leaving a power vacuum that was grasped by the exiled Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who returned to set up the Islamic Republic. Since then, the Iranian regime has become Israel's most virulent enemy, with its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeatedly predicting the demise of the Jewish state.

The pope, who turned 84 on Saturday, wove his sermon around the theme of man's relationship with God and how it can sometimes be threatened by technology. "From the beginning men and women have been filled - and this is as true today as ever - with a desire to 'be like God', to attain the heights of God by their own powers," he said, wearing resplendent red and gold vestments.

"Mankind has managed to accomplish so many things: we can fly! We can see, hear and speak to one another from the farthest ends of the earth. And yet the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful," he said. While the great advances of technology have improved life for man, the pope said, they have also increased possibilities for evil, and recent natural disasters were a reminder, if any were needed, that mankind is not all-powerful.

If man wanted a relationship with God he had to first "abandon the pride of wanting to become God," said the pope, celebrating his sixth Easter season as the leader of the world's some 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

The utility said it also plans to cover the reactor building, which was hit by a huge quake and tsunami on 11 March. Nearly 14,000 people died and another 14,000 are still unaccounted for. Tepco unveiled its roadmap as Hillary Clinton briefly visited Tokyo to pledge America's "steadfast support" for Japan's reconstruction.

Radiation levels in the sea near reactor 2 rose to 6,500 times the legal limit on Friday, up from 1,100 times a day earlier, Tepco has said, raising fears of fresh radiation leaks. Tsunehisa Katsumata, the chairman of Tepco, Asia's largest utility, told a news conference in Tokyo on Sunday they would need up to nine months to bring the power plant to ''cold shutdown''. He said the plan would allow the tens of thousands of families evacuated from the area around the facility to return home as soon as possible. But the BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo says it is still not certain that the nine-month deadline can be achieved.

Our correspondent says Japan's recovery bill has been estimated at $300 billion (184 billion pounds) - already the most expensive disaster in history. But the government said last week that figure might be an underestimate.