At least 750 billion euros! This weekend, Europe's politicians came up with an unprecedented rescue package in their bid to gain the upper hand on the financial markets. In the language of the capital markets: The politicians are once again ahead of the curve. The partly euphoric reaction on the markets also speaks in favor of a turnaround. The euro even rose strongly against the dollar.

Was this massive rescue action necessary? That question is difficult to answer. There is no way of assessing the value of any alternatives - or to let the rescue package for Greece have an effect first. However, we know from previous crises that simply running after the markets brings little success. One has to succeed in surprising them and in rapping the protagonists on the knuckles. That is exactly what the European Union can finally do now. If the euro climbs in value in the coming days, then many speculators will have to react and end their bets on it to ensure that they don't end up losers themselves.

Under the postulate that politicians had to act now, the finance ministers of the 27 EU states gave out the right signal late into Sunday night: They erected one of the biggest stop signs for speculation ever built. The European Commission and the member states are making 500 billion euros ($641 billion) available in loan guarantees to struggling countries, augmented by at least 250 billion euros ($320 billion) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This sum is designed to calm the markets and end the speculation against the euro.

Whether the rescue package will protect the euro from collapsing in the long term depends on how seriously the deficit countries are about consolidating their budgets. If discipline is lacking, despite the IMF oversight, then the currency union could still break apart. Countries like Germany that had a strong currency before the euro could then feel forced to leave the euro zone and push forward with a smaller and stronger currency union. That, however, looks far less likely after this weekend's events. Greece, Spain and Portugal have now agreed to make even more of an effort to clean up their public finances.

The European Commission's injection was supported by a powerless Chancellor Alistair Darling, in a deal that could be Labour's final legacy to the British people. Britain pays 10 per cent of the Commission's bill and if the loan fund had to take the strain, Britain's share of the liability would be 43 billion pounds.

Mr Darling said he had spoken to Shadow Chancellor George Osborne and his Liberal Democrat counterpart Vince Cable during the negotiations. He refused to disclose details of his discussions with Mr Osborne and Mr Cable but the bailout could become a major stumbling block in reaching any deal between the euro-sceptic Tories and the pro-European Lib Dems. Although Mr Darling was powerless to stop the rescue package as the decision was taken by majority voting, Tory sources said that Mr Osborne is highly sceptical about the plan that he would inherit if he became Chancellor.

As he arrived in Brussels, Mr Darling made clear that the UK would not sanction such a move - which required unanimous support - but said the eurozone countries could take that step on their own if they wanted. He said Britain would 'play our part' in helping to 'stabilise the situation', but added: 'When it comes to supporting the euro, obviously that is for the eurozone countries.' But he was effectively forced to support the separate balance of payments loan fund after other EU leaders made clear that under the Lisbon treaty Mr Darling was powerless to stop it being passed.

Critics warned that EU leaders were taking advantage of the confusion over the status of the British government. Mats Persson, director of Open Europe, a Brussels reform think tank, said: 'What we're were told would never happen has now occurred. British taxpayers have become directly liable for the mess created by the failed euro experiment. While it's in everyone's interest for Europe's economy to stabilise, this deal could easily spiral out of control.'

Treasury officials stressed that the fund Britain is signed up for will not involve putting in any money up front. The UK would only be landed with a multi-billion pound bill if there were defaults.

Under the three-year aid plan the EU Commission will make 60 billion euros available while countries from the 16-nation eurozone would promise backing for 440 billion euros. The IMF would contribute an additional sum of at least half of the EU's total contribution, or 250 billion euros. Britain's involvement in the bailout could cost taxpayers 15 billion pounds. The country was already exposed to a potential 7 billion pounds cost under the original scheme and its ultimate liability under the enhanced plan will be a further 8 billion pounds, Treasury officials say

The Chancellor told the BBC's Today programme that there was "no way that non-eurozone countries should be asked to underwrite the currency". He said: "It is a good deal for Europe and we have minimised our exposure and that is a very, very important feature of what I managed to agree last night."

In a further sign of the cash squeeze facing Europe's banks, the US Federal Reserve agreed today to re-open its emergency provision of dollars to central banks around the world, including the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. The emergency measure seems to have been triggered by a sudden jump on Friday in the rate banks were charging each other to borrow dollars. The cost of interbank three month dollar loans jumped at its fastest in 16 months. It was a similar jump in the rate banks lent to each other that heralded the start of the global financial crisis at the end of 2007.

Senator Benigno Aquino III - whose father was assassinated while opposing a dictatorship and whose late mother led the "people power" revolt that restored freedoms and swept her into power - had a large lead in the last pre-election polls.

The election has been marred by violence, with at least 30 killed in political attacks while reports of gunfire and voter intimidation caused tensions in at least two provinces. And a software glitch in optical scanning machines that for the first time will count and transmit votes in 17,600 precincts was discovered just days ago, almost derailing the vote in the world's second-biggest archipelago.

In the past, manual counts delayed results for weeks and were prone to fraud. Officials are now expecting early tallies just hours after the polling stations close. About 50 million registered voters in this country of 90 million will elect politicians for posts from the presidency to municipal councils.

A restive and politicized military, weak central government, private armies and political dynasties have stymied democratic institutions for generations. Just as violence and fraud threaten the vote, they will also pose substantial challenges to the next leader in the form of rampant corruption and multiple insurgencies.

The size of the package surprised financial analysts and the euro rose close to 2 percent while stocks in Asia firmed. The US Federal Reserve reopened currency swap lines with several central banks and Group of Seven and Group of 20 finance ministers weighed in with their backing for the measures. EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn told a news conference the package of measures "proves we shall defend the euro whatever it takes."

The emergency measures are worth much more than any previous attempts by the 27-country EU or the 16-state single-currency group to calm markets. They come after the Greek crisis drove sovereign debt yields and insurance on this debt to record levels. Financial markets had started to punish other euro zone debt members with bloated budgets such as Portugal, Spain and Ireland, in what Sweden's finance minister described as "wolfpack behaviours."

Policymakers around the globe are worried the crisis in Greece could spread to other countries, fears compounded by the unexplained shock plunge in US stocks on Thursday. In Europe, officials said they would fight speculative investors they blame for aggravating the public debt crisis.

"We now see ... wolfpack behaviours, and if we will not stop these packs, even if it is self-inflicted weakness, they will tear the weaker countries apart," Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg told reporters in Brussels before the EU meeting. Economists estimate that if Portugal, Ireland and Spain eventually come to require bailouts similar to Greece's, the total cost could be some 500 billion euros.

One in five men could suffer from fertility problems. And scientists have warned that it's just going to get worse. Professor Niels Skakkebaek, of the University of Copenhagen, describes the issue 'as important as global warming'. Last week, one science writer even suggested, in starkly terrifying terms, that if scientists from Mars were to study the male reproductive system, they would possibly conclude that man was destined for rapid extinction.

And if it continues, this trend could indicate men are on a path to becoming completely infertile within a few generations.

Reports claim that as many as one in five healthy young men between the ages of 18 and 25 produce abnormal sperm counts. Only 5 to 15 per cent of their sperm is good enough to be classed as 'normal' under World Health organisation rules - proving that infertility is not just a female problem. Indeed, among those experiencing difficulty with conception, a male fertility problem is considered important in about 40 per cent of couples.

But women trying to get pregnant are facing another astonishing claim: that the core problems of male fertility - while they may be exacerbated by environmental issues - start in the womb. 'Sperm counts are declining and there is mounting evidence that the problem starts even before birth,' says Dr Gillian Lockwood, medical director of Midland Fertility Services. She cites growing evidence that although the process of sperm production - known as spermatogenesis - starts in adolescence, the crucial preparations are made in the few months before and after birth.

Factors such as women eating a lot of beef during pregnancy - which means they have consumed a diet rich in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are potentially damaging chemicals - to the issue of obesity during pregnancy and a woman's exposure to smoke, pesticides, traffic fumes, plastics and even soya beans are all thought to have a bearing on a male foetus's future fertility.

Experts talk of a 'window' of testicular development that begins in the growing foetus and ends in the first six months of life. Problems in this period mean that the baby boy may never be able to produce babies of his own.

The British energy giant, which owns the lion's share of the leaking oil and has accepted responsibility for the clean-up, has tried to banish the notion that the dome is a "silver bullet" to end the crisis. But should efforts fail to make the giant funnel system effective, there is no solid plan B to prevent potentially tens of millions of gallons of crude from causing one of the worst ever environmental catastrophes.

Untold damage is already being done by the 3.5 million gallons estimated to be in the sea so far, but the extent of that harm will rise exponentially if the only solution is a relief well that takes months to drill. There are also fears the slick, which covers an area of about 2,000 square miles (5,200 square kilometers), could be carried around the Florida peninsula if it spreads far enough south to be picked up by a special current.

"If this gusher continues for several months, it's going to cover up the Gulf coast and it's going to get down into the loop current and that's going to take it down the Florida Keys and up the east coast of Florida," warned Florida senator Bill Nelson. "You are talking about massive economic loss to our tourism, our beaches, to our fisheries, very possibly disruption of our military testing and training, which is in the Gulf of Mexico," he told CNN's "State of the Union" program.

Sealife is being affected in a region that contains vital spawning grounds for fish, shrimp and crabs and is a major migratory stop for many species of rare birds. The 2.4 billion dollar Louisiana fishing industry has been slapped with a temporary ban in certain areas due to health concerns from theoretically polluted fish.

BP began drilling a first relief well one week ago, but that will take up to three months to drill - by which time some 20 million gallons of crude could have streamed into the sea and ruined the fragile ecology of the Gulf. Rough seas last week hampered efforts to skim the oil from the sea with boats and controlled burns.

Plainly the party has had to pay for some of the popular discontent about Chancellor Merkel's aid package for Greece. The main rival to the Christian Democrats, the Social Democrats seemed to have the edge last night with 35 per cent of the vote. If those early polls translate into seats, North Rhine Westphalia could be led by a coalition of Social Democrats and Greens(who recorded their best ever result, some 12 per cent).

The region, which takes in the old industrial area of the Ruhr, is currently led by Juergen Ruettgers - once seen as a possible challenger to Angela Merkel within the Christian Democratic party - in harness with the Free Democrats (likely to win around 6.5 per cent of the vote). This alliance between the Christian Democrats and Free Democrats mirrors the government line-up of Chancellor Merkel in Berlin.

The exit poll figures were too close to make a definitive call this evening. But most commentators agreed that the Christian Democrats, even if they edged ahead of the Social Democrats, would be unable to form a working government. If that turns out to be the case, the immediate effect will be to remove the Christian Democrat-Free Democrat majority in the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat. That will derail many of the Government's cherished projects, from an overhaul of the tax system to extending the life cycle of nuclear power stations. In order to shift any significant legislation through Parliament, the Chancellor will have to strike deals with the opposition, the Social Democrats.

The provisional agenda of the IAEA's June 7 board meeting lists "Israeli nuclear capabilities" as the eighth item - the first time that that the agency's decision-making body is being asked to deal with the issue in its 52 years of existence. The agenda can still undergo changes in the month before the start of the meeting and a senior diplomat from a board member nation said the item, included on Arab request, could be struck if the US and other Israeli allies mount strong opposition. He asked for anonymity for discussing a confidential matter.

Even if dropped from the final agenda, however, its inclusion in the May 7 draft made available to The AP is significant, reflecting the success of Islamic nations in giving concerns about Israel's unacknowledged nuclear arsenal increased prominence. The 35-nation IAEA board is the agency's decision making body and can refer proliferation concerns to the UN Security Council - as it did with Iran in 2006 after Tehran resumed uranium enrichment, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons.

A decision to keep the item would be a slap in the face not only for Israel but also for Washington and its Western allies, which support the Jewish state and view Iran as the greatest nuclear threat to the Middle East.

President Hugo Chavez's government has been struggling against the highest inflation rate in Latin America and a weakening economy in general. Prices increased 11.3 percent from January to April, up from 6.7 percent inflation in the same 2009 period. Venezuela's economy shrank by 3.3 percent last year amid a downturn in its all-important oil industry. It's the nation's first recession since 2003.

The country imports most of its food, and Chavez on Friday announced the government will create an import-export corporation aiming to break with the private sector's "hegemony." It wasn't immediately clear how the new state entity would operate. Chavez said wealthy Venezuelans involved in the import business "buy abroad, come here and ask for more than it really costs."

The Shaheen-1 missile has a range of about 400 miles (650 kilometers), while the second Ghaznavi missile could hit targets at a distance of 180 miles (290 kilometers), an army statement said. Both can carry conventional and nuclear warheads. Pakistan's missiles are mostly intended for any confrontation with archrival India, and the range of the Shaheen-1 would include the Indian capital of New Delhi.

The latest Pakistani missile test came more than a week after the leaders of two sides met in Bhutan on the sidelines of a regional conference, hoping to improve relations that have been strained since the deadly 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other senior army and civil officials witnessed the launches at an undisclosed location, and the missiles "successfully hit the target areas," the statement said.

Gilani also urged world powers "to recognize Pakistan as a dejure nuclear power with equal rights and responsibilities," the army statement said. The prime minister called for cooperation on civilian nuclear power, which would help relieve Pakistan's chronic energy shortages. Pakistan has refused to sign nonproliferation accords and faces a nuclear trade ban. "Energy is a vital economic security need of Pakistan and nuclear energy is a clean way forward," the statement said.

Pakistan became a declared nuclear power in 1998 by conducting nuclear tests in response to those carried out by India. Islamabad test-fired its first missile that same year.

THE DELAYS ARE INEVITABLE, MOST EXPERTS SAY, STEMMING FROM THE NATURE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND ITS OWN INSTITUTIONAL VOIDS: NO SINGLE GOVERNMENT, NO SINGLE TREASURY, NO EFFECTIVE FISCAL COORDINATION, NO MECHANISM FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT.

Every major decision on the euro must be negotiated among member states and European institutions, a torturous process that also plays up political fissures both within and among member countries. That breeds uncertainty and even panic among investors, who already doubt that the Greek deal that the European leaders finally sealed on Friday night will forestall an eventual restructuring of Athens' crippling debt.

"The European Union is running behind events," said Anne-Marie Le Gloannec, a political scientist at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. While, for example, the United States could "shock and awe" the markets early in the global financial crisis with the TARP bailout money and a huge stimulus program to restart the economy, there is no single European institution that can do the same. By contrast, every decision about Greece has been a painful, time-consuming bargain among the different national governments, with their own political requirements and concerns, and their own views of economic virtue.

"There are no more bullets in the gun right now," said a senior French official who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the Brussels summit meeting on Friday that confirmed the $140 billion relief package for Greece. The deal was reached over a period of months with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. "Markets are reacting now because they think it's too little, too late," Ms Le Gloannec said. "And because it's too late, it's too little."

These are not empty threats. Earlier this month the Maoists gunned down Congress leader Govardhan Mahli in the East Singhbhum district of the state. The Indian government recently launched a major offensive against the rebels. In Jharkand, government and state security forces want to flush the Maoists out of the remote swathes of forest they occupy. But Jharkand is at the centre of the Maoists' "red corridor" - they have a heavy presence in 18 of the state's 24 districts and call strikes, blow up train tracks and lay landmines. More than 1,000 people have been killed in the insurgency in Jharkhand.

But the Maoist influence in Jharkand extends beyond the remote jungles of the state. Their presence is so strong that in the latest elections to the state assembly, their representatives - in different political parties - won nine seats. The Maoists contend they are fighting for the rights of poor, marginal farmers and the oppressed classes. But the authorities are sceptical about their dedication to the cause.

Police say that since they have stepped up operations, many top Maoist leaders have fled into neighbouring Bihar state. Some Congress leaders may do likewise. As the Indian government forges ahead with the biggest anti-Maoist offensive on record, the ramifications in individual states across India are far-reaching and potentially deadly.

The campaign has been overshadowed by the government's decision to contribute to a huge rescue package for Greece. Meanwhile many cities in NRW are on the brink of bankruptcy. Angela Merkel is not standing in this regional election, but she has campaigned here until the last minute. It is the first political test for her centre-right coalition since it came to power six months ago. North Rhine-Westphalia matters: home to 18 million people, it is Germany's industrial heartland and a weathervane for national politics.

The regional coalition between Chancellor Merkel's conservatives and the pro-business Liberal-Democrats, which mirrors the one at the federal level, is struggling. With the economic crisis dominating the campaign, Mrs Merkel tried to delay a decision on the hugely unpopular rescue package for Greece until after the poll, but failed. Meanwhile, local councils are sinking into debt. Kindergarten fees have gone up, libraries and swimming-pools are closing. In Wuppertal, even the theatre is under threat.

Scandals about party financing may also prompt voters to punish the centre-right in NRW and revive the fortunes of the Social-Democrats, the Greens and the former communist Left Party. A new coalition here would also spell the end for Chancellor Merkel's majority in the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, jeopardising long-promised tax cuts and health system reforms. EUROPE'S BIGGEST ECONOMY COULD ENTER A PHASE OF POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY IT CAN ILL AFFORD.

The Tories won the most election votes and MPs, but are short of a majority. BBC political correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti said a "final resolution" was not expected from Sunday's meeting. However, a statement of some sort is expected - partly because the markets open on Monday, and "they want to be able to calm any fears," she said. In an email message to supporters, the Conservative leader said he would not be "rushed into any agreement" but may be able to give "ground" in some areas.

He said he would stand firm on his pledges not "to give more powers to Brussels, be weak on immigration or put the country's defences at risk". But he added that, in the "national interest", the Conservative Party may be able to give ground in areas such as the Lib Dem manifesto plan to reduce taxes on the lowest paid and hoped for a "similarly constructive approach from the Liberal Democrats". There was no direct reference to the Lib Dem desire for a referendum on voting reform, although on Friday Mr Cameron offered an "all-party committee of inquiry on political and electoral reform".

It is worth remembering that all the precedents - 1910, 1923, 1929 and 1974 - point towards a minority government and not a coalition