Human rights monitors named Mourad Hejjo, a conscript from Madaya village, as one of those shot by security snipers. "His family and town are saying he refused to shoot at his people," said Wassim Tarif, a local human rights monitor.

Footage on YouTube shows an injured soldier saying he was shot in the back by security forces, while another video shows the funeral of Muhammad Awad Qunbar, who sources said was killed for refusing to fire on protesters. Signs of defections will be worrying to Syria's regime. State media reported a different version of events, claiming nine soldiers had been killed in an ambush by an armed group in Banias.

Activists said not all soldiers reported dead or injured were shot after refusing to fire. "We are investigating reports that some people have personal weapons and used them in self-defence," said Tarif. On Tuesday Human Rights Watch condemned security forces for barring access to medical care. UK citizens were warned against "all but essential" travel to Syria and all travel to Banias, where residents are now holding a three-day strike.

The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia's Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January. That document speaks of the country's natural resources as "blessings," and grants the Earth a series of specific rights that include rights to life, water and clean air; the right to repair livelihoods affected by human activities; and the right to be free from pollution.

It also establishes a Ministry of Mother Earth, and provides the planet with an ombudsman whose job is to hear nature's complaints as voiced by activist and other groups, including the state. "If you want to have balance, and you think that the only (entities) who have rights are humans or companies, then how can you reach balance?" Pablo Salon, Bolivia's ambassador to the UN, told Postmedia News. "But if you recognize that nature too has rights, and (if you provide) legal forms to protect and preserve those rights, then you can achieve balance."

The application of the law appears destined to pose new challenges for companies operating in the country, which is rich in natural resources, including natural gas and lithium, but remains one of the poorest in Latin America. Bolivia is a country with a large indigenous population, whose traditional belief systems took on greater resonance following the election of Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president. In a 2008 pamphlet his entourage distributed at the UN as he attended a summit there, 10 "commandments" are set out as Bolivia's plan to "save the planet" - beginning with the need "to end capitalism."

The latest warning on the deficit was delivered as Barack Obama, the US president, is becoming increasingly engaged in the debate over ways to curb America's mounting debt. To meet the 2010 pledge by the Group of 20 countries for all advanced economies - except Japan - to halve their deficits by 2013, the US would need to implement tougher austerity measures than in any two-year period since records began in 1960, the IMF said.

In its twice-yearly Fiscal Monitor, the IMF added that on its current plans the US would join Japan as the only country with rising public debt in 2016, creating a risk for the global economy. Carlo Cottarelli, head of fiscal affairs at the Fund, said: "It is a risk that if it materialises would have very important consequences for the rest of the world. So it is important that the US undertakes fiscal adjustment in a way sooner rather than later."

The debate over US fiscal policy is expected to intensify in the coming weeks and months as the US hits its congressionally mandated debt limit of $14,300 billion. Without approval by lawmakers to increase it, the US could face potential default as early as July, and so far Republicans and Democrats remain some distance from reaching a deal.

China is India's largest trading partner. However, the two countries still share a very unbalanced trade relationship. "India's import dependence on China has gone up significantly on critical items," said Samiran Chakraborty, regional head of research for India at Standard Chartered Bank. "Whereas if you look at exports, India's primary export to China is only iron ore."

Mr Chakraborty says this issue could come up during the visit. "One of the demands is to open up the Chinese markets to India. Otherwise the trade balance is very much in favour of China and working against India," he adds. The two countries also agreed to expand co-operation in infrastructure, environment, information technology, telecommunications, and investment and finance. Mr Chakraborty says it is in each sides interest to continue to deepen ties.

King Mohammed VI responded three weeks later, promising changes that would dilute his absolute hold on power. The prime minister calls it a "peaceful revolution". But the protest leaders insist the proposals fall far short of their demands. "Our first demand is a constitution for the people and by the people - a complete reform," says Montasser Drissi, one of the original group of young protesters. The February 20th movement grew quickly via Facebook and is now calling for further rallies this Sunday and the following week.

The king has ordered a committee to draft constitutional reforms which include making the prime minister elected, not appointed. The proposals will then be put to a referendum. But the committee members were chosen by the king himself, convincing protesters that any changes will be superficial. So the demonstrations continue. "It's good to keep the commission under pressure," explains Mr Drissi. "If the people want change and the king does not - he will be alone. He must listen to the people."

Many of those people are now trumpeting their demands all over the Moroccan capital. You can barely walk a block in central Rabat these days without passing a protest. Unemployed graduates are staging a sit-in outside parliament; hundreds of teachers have set up camp in front of the education ministry. Other groups march along Mohammed V Avenue proclaiming their frustration through loud hailers. There is no Tahrir Square here, no daily focal point to the protests. But the democratic wave that swept Egypt and Tunisia has emboldened many Moroccans to make unprecedented calls for reform.

The decision was made after Japan's nuclear safety body determined that at one point after the March 11 earthquake, the plant was releasing 10,000 terabecquerels of iodine-131 for several hours; level 7 accidents are defined as releasing tens of thousands of terabecquerels. "The INES rating itself is not an indicator of a daily phenomena, but the assessment after careful consideration and calculation on the event that happened in the past," Ken Morita of NISA told TIME on Tuesday morning.

NISA has also noted, however, that the amount of radioactive material being released at Fukushima today is less than 1 terabecquerel. The agency says that, to date, Fukushima has only released about 10% of total radiation released 25 years ago in Chernobyl, or about 1.8 million terabecquerels. About 30 people, mostly workers, died in the immediate aftermath of Chernobyl, though the UN has estimated that the long-term death toll due to exposure could eventually be as high as 4000.

"That is something on our agenda," Munter told a gathering of top Pakistani military brass, analysts and academics Monday at an event that was billed by the local US Embassy as a major policy announcement. The US military and the State Department rarely comment on drones. Munter's comment did not come from his prepared speech, but during a question-and-answer session in response to a question from a member of the audience demanding to know when drone strikes would cease permanently. Fearing a hostile reception that would embarrass the State Department and stoke further local anti-US sentiment, television cameras were ordered to leave the room for the question-and-answer session.

"We have habits and tendencies that don't work for us and get in the way [of our relationship with Pakistan]," Munter said, a reference to drones and undercover CIA operations on Pakistani soil that have enraged Pakistan's powerful spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence. The ambassador gave no timeline on when a review of drone policy would be conducted, but Washington will likely want to make it a priority as it attempts to rebuild frayed relations with Pakistan, its most important ally in the war on terror.

Dealings between the US and Islamabad hit rock bottom after Pakistan lost patience with relentless pressure from America to eradicate militants who use Pakistan's tribal border regions as sanctuaries and training bases from which to launch attacks on NATO troops. January's killing of two Pakistanis by a CIA contractor in Lahore invoked the wrath of all sections of Pakistani society, including the ISI, politicians, the religious establishment and an increasingly anti-American public.

The collapse of Portugal's government and the success of a hitherto unknown populist in Sunday's Finnish elections may seem unrelated. But Timo Soini, head of the anti-EU True Finns party, was quick to the make the connection in an interview with the Financial Times earlier this year. "If the Portuguese thing comes before the Finnish elections, that will mean quite a fierce discussion and protest," said Mr Soini. True Finns were last week only narrowly behind the centre-right National Coalition party, according to most polls, and that was before Lisbon appealed for a rescue. "People just don't get it, don't want it."

It is a sentiment that appears to be spreading. Popular anger at bail-outs, austerity and general economic uncertainty has already toppled leaders on the eurozone's periphery: first in Ireland, then Portugal and arguably Spain, where Jose Luis Zapatero has said he will not seek a third term as prime minister. Now, anger is beginning to infect Europe's prosperous core, where mainstream parties are losing ground to populist outsiders PLAYING ON RESENTMENT AND FRUSTRATION TRIGGERED BY AUSTERITY AND FALLING LIVING STANDARDS.

In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party took a drubbing in regional elections last month amid a strong showing by the far-right National Front. In Belgium, Flemish nationalists have prevented the formation of a government for a year and, observers say, are likely to emerge even stronger if forced into another election. The minority Dutch government has relied on the anti-EU party of nationalist Geert Wilders to keep it in power for six months.

Even in Germany - where the idea of a right-wing populist party feeding on economic discontent is the subject of whispered concerns - anger over mainstream handling of the economy led the traditional parties to lose ground in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg last month. Resentment, fuelled by the tabloid press, grew so intense that one mainstream party, the liberal Free Democrats, appeared to toy with an openly anti-EU platform ahead of the vote.

We are witnessing Europe's own Tea Party moment. Like Barack Obama, US president, leaders of European nations with the might to rescue a continent from crisis are hamstrung by voters who have had enough bailing out others.

The rebels' interim ruling council met an AU delegation from five countries - led by three presidents and two foreign ministers - the day after Gaddafi endorsed the African "roadmap to peace", which included an immediate ceasefire, the suspension of Nato air strikes and talks towards a political settlement. But Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the revolutionary council chairman, said the rebels had told the AU its proposal had been outdated by events, including the UN security council resolution authorising air strikes, and was in any case unacceptable because it left Gaddafi in power while both sides negotiated.

"From the very beginning we have been asking that the exit of Gaddafi and his sons take place immediately. We cannot consider this or any future proposal that does not include this peoples' requirement," said Jalil. "He leaves on his own or the march of the people will be at his doorstep." That view was strongly backed by thousands of demonstrators outside the Benghazi hotel where the talks were held. They waved revolutionary flags and carried signs saying: "No solution with Gaddafi staying".

In an interview with the Financial Times, Kishor Chaukar, executive director of Tata Sons, the holding group of the Tata Group, said civil society's growing frustration with widespread corruption threatened to lead to nationwide protests inspired by the recent popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

Mr Chaukar's comments come days after Ratan Tata, the chairman of the Tata Group, appeared before parliament to face questions about his group's participation in the controversial award of 2G telecoms licences three years ago. The mishandling of the auction was estimated by an official audit to have cost the national exchequer $39 billion in lost revenues. Mr Tata denies wrongdoing. "The dimensions of this [corruption scandal] are so large. The wrongdoing is being brought into focus in such a large manner," Mr Chaukar said. "A large number of youth are saying: 'This is enough'. To crony capitalism, they are saying: 'Let's get rid of it.'"

"It will lead to something that is big for India's economic and political system... What's happened in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt is giving people encouragement. [They are saying] if we can demonstrate and network and we are unified then things can change." Others too have drawn parallels between the activist mood in the world's largest democracy and the Middle East. Justice Santosh Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge, warned of an Egypt-like revolt if a public campaign against graft went unheeded

Protesters chanted slogans against Saudi and Bahraini leaders, both followers of Sunni Islam. Iran, predominantly Shiite Muslim, has denounced the deployment of a Saudi-led force to help prop up Bahrain's monarchy. A government crackdown against Bahrain's Shiite-led protests has killed at least 27 people. Authorities say they see Iran's influence among the opposition, though there are no visible links.

The AU says Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has accepted the plan, but on Monday his forces attacked the city of Misrata. After eight weeks of fighting, pro-Gaddafi forces have recently pushed rebels back towards the east along Libya's northern coast, but Nato has thwarted their advance. Mr Koussa was Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's foreign minister until 12 days ago, when he fled to London.

BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera said he was told Mr Koussa was not ready to be interviewed, but would give a prepared statement. "I ask everybody to avoid taking Libya into civil war," Mr Koussa said. "This would lead to so much blood and Libya would be a new Somalia. More than that, we refuse to divide Libya. The unity of Libya is essential to any solution and settlement for Libya."

Libya's Minister for Social Affairs, Ibrahim Zarouk al-Sharif, said he could not comment on Mr Koussa's statement while the former foreign minister was "captured" in a hostile country.

Most parents said music videos and celebrity were encouraging children to act older than they were. Mr Bailey is due to publish a full report in May. Of the 1,025 parents of five- to 16-year-olds surveyed, 40% said they had seen things in public places, such as shop window displays and advertising hoardings, that they felt were inappropriate for children to see because of their sexual content. And 41% of parents said they had seen programmes or adverts on television before 9pm that they felt were unsuitable for similar reasons.

The review is also conducting focus groups, and Mr Bailey said emerging areas of concern included adult-style clothing aimed at young children, as well as toys and games they felt were inappropriate. Parents were "struggling against the slow creep of an increasingly commercial and sexualised culture and behaviour, which they say prevents them from parenting the way they want", he said.

He said parents "had little faith in regulators or businesses taking their concerns seriously", but also were put off complaining by fears they would be seen as "prudish or out of touch". The review is exploring whether there should be restrictions on retailers selling sexualised products aimed at children - such as "Porn star" T-shirts or padded bras. A code of conduct on "age appropriate" marketing and a new watchdog are among plans being considered by the review. Items that have been criticised include pencil cases and other products with the Playboy logo.

It came as Japan said it was extending the evacuation zone around the nuclear plant because of radiation concerns. The cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were damaged in last month's disaster. Workers have been struggling to prevent several reactors from overheating, and avert a large-scale release of radiation.

The plant's operator, Tepco, said power used to pump water to cool three damaged reactors had been cut briefly but early indications suggested the plant had not sustained any further damage. The zone around it will be widened to encompass five communities beyond the existing 20-km (12-mile) radius, following new data about accumulated radiation levels, officials said.

The latest tremor struck shortly after the country stopped to observe a minute's silence to remember the nearly 28,000 dead or missing in the 11 March disaster. Survivors in shelters marked the moment the quake and tsunami hit at 1446 (0546 GMT) with bowed heads. Prime Minister Naoto Kan thanked people around the world for their support.

The official death toll from the disaster is 13,130, while 13,718 remain unaccounted for. More than 150,000 people have been made homeless. Many have lost their jobs.

The media consider Jones easy to ignore. The pastor of a small Florida congregation, Jones has been regarded by the elite as a right-wing, red-necked, raving, evangelical kook ever since last year when he announced he planned to burn a Quran on the anniversary of 9/11. He was acknowledging that the people who flew those four planes into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania were believers in the rules of that book - and because of those rules, 3,000 people were murdered.

Jones (and he isn't alone) sees there's been no justice for those dead innocents and that despite what we euphemistically called the "war on terror," what has resulted is that too many politicians, from the president on down, as well as the media and much of society, ARE SO AFRAID OF MUSLIMS THAT THEY CAPITULATE AT EVERY TURN.

When Jones announced the intended 9/11 burning, he was denounced and ridiculed, and frightened politicians tried to talk him out of it. The secretary of defense called; the secretary of state spoke out and so did the president. No doubt they were stimulated by the fact that when word of what Jones planned to do got to the Middle East, rioting broke out almost instantaneously. At least 19 were killed and scores injured, with much property damage. But we expect that. There were injuries and deaths everywhere, but the worst was the massacre in Mazar-i-Sharif where rioters stormed a UN aid compound. The victims were there to help Afghans.

Four Gurkha guards were killed; they were under orders not to use their weapons offensively. Other victims included Norwegian women aid workers and Swedish and Romanian administrators. Some of these people weren't just killed, they were beheaded. It's the signature killing of insulted Muslims. Others were shot or had their throats slit. Islam doesn't have a "short fuse" when it comes to the Quran or Muhammad; it has no fuse at all. It's instant ignition and grisly deaths and mayhem.

Pastor Jones, he isn't giving up. He plans a demonstration April 22 in Dearborn, Michigan, in front of the country's largest mosque, to protest Shariah, jihad and Islam's oppression and violence. The West is playing Islam's game. They deal with a stacked deck, and we expect the result will be peace. Perhaps, but only if you consider a world ruled by Islam, peace.