The focus of the tremor was 25 miles below sea level off the east coast of Fukushima prefecture, on Japan's main island of Honshu, about 150 miles northeast of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No tsunami warning was issued and there were no early reports of damage. Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

South Korea's preparation for psychological warfare, is a "direct declaration of a war" against the North, the general staff of the communist state's military said today in a statement on KCNA. The North's military retaliation may turn Seoul into "a sea of flame," the statement said. The South has already installed loudspeakers in 11 places along the border and is attempting to set up electronic displays, according to the statement.

Tensions have risen on the Korean peninsula since an international panel concluded on May 20 that the North was behind a torpedo attack that sank the Cheonan warship, killing 46 of the South's sailors. South Korea's president Lee Myung Bak has taken the case to the United Nations Security Council, backed by the US and Japan, to seek a resolution condemning North Korea.

The North says the allegations are fabricated and has threatened to retaliate over any punitive action taken against it.

Multiple teams went into the Albert Pike Recreation Area at daylight Saturday and additional crews were expected to boat up and down the Little Missouri River from entry points at the campground itself, Highway 70 and Highway 84. The campers were swept away when heavy rains caused a 20-foot surge in the Little Missouri river over just four hours early Friday morning.

The strong currents destroyed cabins, overturned trailers, ripped pavement from the ground and even lifted and washed a full-size gravel truck into a wooded ditch. At least two dozen people were hospitalized. Authorities had rescued dozens more before suspending their search at nightfall Friday.

To ensure the Israeli bombers pass unmolested, Riyadh has carried out tests to make certain its own jets are not scrambled and missile defence systems not activated. Once the Israelis are through, the kingdom's air defences will return to full alert.

"The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way," said a US defence source in the area. "They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren't scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the [US] State Department."

Sources in Saudi Arabia say it is common knowledge within defence circles in the kingdom that an arrangement is in place if Israel decides to launch the raid. Despite the tension between the two governments, they share a mutual loathing of the regime in Tehran and a common fear of Iran's nuclear ambitions. "We all know this. We will let them [the Israelis] through and see nothing," said one.

The four main targets for any raid on Iran would be the uranium enrichment facilities at Natanz and Qom, the gas storage development at Isfahan and the heavy-water reactor at Arak. Secondary targets include the lightwater reactor at Bushehr, which could produce weapons-grade plutonium when complete.

The targets lie as far as 1,400 miles (2,250km) from Israel; the outer limits of their bombers' range, even with aerial refuelling. An open corridor across northern Saudi Arabia would significantly shorten the distance. An airstrike would involve multiple waves of bombers, possibly crossing Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Aircraft attacking Bushehr, on the Gulf coast, could swing beneath Kuwait to strike from the southwest.

Thousands of ethnic Uzbeks have been fleeing what they say are ethnic Kyrgyz gangs in the southern city of Osh. Almost 1,000 people were also hurt in the worst unrest since President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's overthrow in April. Russia says it does not plan to intervene despite a Kyrgyz request.

And without international assistance there are fears the interim authorities in Kyrgyzstan may struggle to contain the conflict, the BBC's Rayhan Demytrie reports. The south of Kyrgyzstan, an ex-Soviet Central Asian state of 5.5 million people, is home to an ethnic Uzbek minority of almost one million. The latest violence has become the biggest challenge for the new government so far.

A decree from the interim government authorised security forces to shoot to kill in the Osh and Jalalabad regions. Lethal force was permitted in areas placed under a state of emergency in order to defend civilians, in self-defence, and in the event of mass or armed attacks, the decree said.

The report's author spoke to nine Taliban field commanders in Afghanistan earlier this year. He concludes that Pakistan's relationship with the insurgents runs far deeper than previously realised. Some of those interviewed suggested that the ISI even attends meetings of the Taliban's supreme council. They claim that by backing the insurgents Pakistan's security service is trying to undermine Indian influence in Afghanistan.

The report concludes that without a significant change in approach by Pakistan, both the Afghan government and international community will find it impossible to end the insurgency in Afghanistan.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially issued a warning for the entire Indian Ocean region. The agency later downgraded the warning to India only, before cancelling the alert altogether. "Sea level readings indicate that a significant tsunami was not generated," the Hawaii-based centre said.

No damage was reported in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, although a total blackout sparked panic in the capital, Port Blair, witnesses said. More than 350,000 people live on nearly 600 islands in the remote archipelago. In 2004, a powerful earthquake off Sumatra's coast triggered a tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people around the rim of the Indian Ocean.

Details of the spending - which saw public expenditure rise by 15 per cent over two years - are contained in a vast Treasury database which the Coalition has made public. The first comprehensive analysis, by software firm Rosslyn Analytics for the Daily Mail, shows that even as the economy was spiralling into recession, Labour kept the spending taps on - sanctioning expenditure that ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous.

They show that the department run by former Children's Secretary and Labour leadership hopeful Ed Balls lavished nearly 50 million pounds on programmes for ballet, dance and music in schools. The National Measurements Office, which orders retailers to weigh their goods in kilograms rather than pounds, in line with EU diktats, cost 150 million pounds. Another quango, Natural England, cost 442 million pounds.

The Department for Environment also spent 95 million pounds on an obscure 'National Environment Enjoyment programme'. Initially staff could not say what the money was spent on.

The Electoral Commission, which has been widely criticised for its handling of the election and its failure to prevent postal voting fraud, cost 48 million pounds to run over two years. And while Britain is struggling with a recession, the Labour Government continued to send money abroad.

Around 1.6 billion pounds was given to the European Union to distribute to poor countries, despite the UK already having its own Department for International Development (DfID). A further 1.3 billion pounds was spent on 'reducing poverty in Asia', the continent that has seen the largest surge in economic growth in the past decade.

Mr Napier circulated a letter last night criticising Mr Obama. "Your comments towards BP and its CEO as reported here are coming across as somewhat prejudicial and personal. There is no doubt that BP, as a UK plc, is totally committed to do everything possible to contain the oil leak and meet all its obligations in the USA."

"The existing CEO is the best person to deliver that effort and has made that personal commitment and made himself available in the USA. In your words, 'he has taken the heat' and not hidden in his office. The real response has been total. You could argue a poor PR performance, but BP are not alone in that. There is a sense here that these attacks are being made because BP is British."

"If you compare the damage inflicted on the economies of the Western world by polluted securities from the irresponsible, unchecked greed and avarice of leading USA international banks, there has not been the same personalised response in or from countries beyond the US. Perhaps a case of double standards?"

He said the current 'division' between man and nature had been caused not just by industrialisation, but also by our attitude to the environment - which goes against the grain of 'sacred traditions'. Charles, who is a practising Christian and will become the head of the Church of England when he succeeds to the throne, spoke in depth about his own study of the Koran which, he said, tells its followers that there is 'no separation between man and nature' and says we must always live within our environment's limits.

The prince was speaking to an audience of scholars at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies - which attempts to encourage a better understanding of the culture and civilisation of the religion. His speech, merging religion with his other favourite subject, the environment, marked the 25th anniversary of the organisation, of which he is patron.

He added: 'The inconvenient truth is that we share this planet with the rest of creation for a very good reason - and that is, we cannot exist on our own without the intricately balanced web of life around us. Islam has always taught this and to ignore that lesson is to default on our contract with creation.'

"The BP Deepwater Horizon spill is the largest environmental disaster in our nation's history," said the letter to Svanberg from Thad Allen, a Coast Guard admiral who is leading the US government's response to the crisis. "The potential devastation to the Gulf Coast, its economy, and its people require relentless efforts to stop the leak and contain the damage," it said.

Allen pointed out that BP was financially responsible for all costs associated with the response to the disaster, including efforts to plug a ruptured undersea well and protecting the coastline from a massive oil slick. "As part of our ongoing communication, I request that you and any appropriate officials from BP, meet with senior administration officials on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 to discuss these timely issues," the letter said.

"Our administration is not going to rest or be satisfied until the leak is stopped at the source, the oil in the Gulf is contained and cleaned up, and the people of the Gulf are able to go back to their lives and their livelihoods."

"No one knows the full ramifications of a government shutdown," said Paterson. "It would create unimaginable chaos around the state and the greater metropolitan areas." Such chaos includes closing all state parks, motor vehicles offices, courts, and even the lottery. Public assistance payments would not be made and unemployment payments might also be held up.

The governor is in this pickle, in part, because wild cards like Senator Ruben Diaz Senior (Democrat for Bronx) and possibly scandal-scarred Senator Pedro Espada (Democrat for Bronx) might not go along. Sources said the next emergency bill from Paterson will have up to $350 million in cuts to human services and mental health. But Republicans, who could become Paterson's new allies in the budget battle, aren't satisfied with that. They want $750 million in new cuts like:

Delaying the 10 percent welfare grant increases

Withholding welfare from those who don't comply with employment requirements

Reducing the personal needs allowance of people in drug and alcohol programs

Diaz will not go along with that. "I am not voting for any more cuts. I understand that it is painful," said Diaz. "But the governor is leaving me no choice." The other renegade, Espada, thinks there might be a budget deal in the offing, but, he said, "I would vote no if such a massive cut were included because the state needs a fiscal plan."

Paterson called both men "thugs."

"The collapse of the financial system as we know it is real, and the crisis is far from over," Soros said today at a conference in Vienna. "Indeed, we have just entered Act II of the drama." Soros, 79, said the current situation in the world economy is "eerily" reminiscent of the 1930s with governments under pressure to narrow their budget deficits at a time when the economic recovery is weak.

Concern that Europe's sovereign-debt crisis may spread sent the euro to a four-year low against the dollar on June 7 and has wiped out more than $4 trillion from global stock markets this year. Europe's debt-ridden nations have to raise almost 2 trillion euros ($2.4 trillion) within the next three years to refinance, according to Bank of America Corp.

"When the financial markets started losing confidence in the credibility of sovereign debt, Greece and the euro have taken center stage, but the effects are liable to be felt worldwide," Soros said.

Scraping to afford the next meal is still a grim daily reality in the developing world even though the global food crisis that dominated headlines in 2008 quickly faded in the US and other rich countries.

With food costing up to 70 percent of family income in the poorest countries, rising prices are squeezing household budgets and threatening to worsen malnutrition, while inflation stays moderate in the United States and Europe. Compounding the problem in many countries: prices hardly fell from their peaks in 2008, when global food prices jumped in part due to a smaller US wheat harvest and demand for crops to use in biofuels.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's food price index - which includes grains, meat, dairy and other items in 90 countries - was up 22 percent in March from a year earlier though still below 2008 levels. In some Asian markets, rice and wheat prices are 20 to 70 percent above 2008 levels, it says. Many governments blame dry weather and high fuel costs but critics in countries such as India, Argentina and Egypt say misguided policies are making shortages worse and collusion by suppliers might be pushing up prices.

The election saw the centre-right Liberal Party (VVD) emerging as the largest party, one seat ahead of the centre-left Labour Party.

The Christian Democrat party of outgoing Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende suffered a big defeat. Weeks of coalition negotiations are expected to follow the election.

With more than 99% of votes counted, the VVD had 31 of 150 seats, while Labour had 30. As the party with the most seats, VVD leader Mark Rutte could now become the first prime minister from his political camp since World War I. The unexpected big winner was the anti-Islam Freedom Party, the PVV, which took its number of seats from nine in the last parliament to 24 - its best-ever finish. The campaign had been dominated by a debate over the economy, which was thought to have eclipsed immigration as an election issue.

Mr Wilders has campaigned to stop the "Islamisation of the Netherlands". He wants the Koran banned, and has suggested a tax on headscarves worn by Muslim women. "Nobody in The Hague can bypass the PVV anymore," he said on Thursday, AFP news agency reported. "We want to be part of the new government."