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.

A BBC correspondent says there is a sense of relief and jubilation that the vote and count have been relatively calm, unlike in past years. However, some results in individual states have been suspiciously high. Mr Jonathan had staked his reputation on the election, repeatedly promising it would be free and fair.

Unless the national electoral commission declares a large chunk of the votes to be invalid, he is now on track to become Nigeria's first elected president from the oil-producing Niger Delta region. The Christian politician was appointed to the presidency last year, upon the death of incumbent Umaru Yar'Adua, whom he had served as vice-president.

In Akwa Ibom state, he was credited with winning 95% percent and in Anambra it was 99%. In his home state, Bayelsa, he took 99.63%. "Figures of 95% and above for one party suggest that these are fabricated figures and, personally, they worry me because they pose serious questions on the credibility of the election," Jibrin Ibrahim of the Centre for Democracy and Development told AFP news agency.

The governor declared a state of emergency after deaths were reported in four counties. Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Virginia have also been hit. Officials say the number of victims will increase further as rescue teams search damaged areas. Hailstones the size of grapefruit were reported as the storms swept through the region, creating flash floods as well as tornadoes. The storms first struck Oklahoma on Thursday before sweeping eastward through other states.

An estimated 200,000 homes in North Carolina were without power on Sunday, Reuters reported. Fatalities have also been reported in Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi. Trees and power lines have been felled by the storms, which have torn roofs off houses and overturned cars. The governor of Alabama visited several of the devastated areas on Saturday, and declared the entire state a disaster area.

The storms have now moved out over the Atlantic.

As in previous years, a group of Jews who wish to fulfill the commandment of offering the sacrifice on Passover eve, this coming Monday, have asked for police protection. If the results of previous years' requests are any guide, the police are expected not only to refuse to provide such protection, but to ban the event from taking place at all. Last year, Rabbi Yehuda Glick and Noam Federman were arrested while on their way to the Temple Mount with sheep for the sacrifice. About ten others who awaited their arrival so that they could participate in the event were left without sheep to offer.

In letters to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Jerusalem Police Chief Aharon Franco, Attorney Aviad Visuly of the Land of Israel Task Force explained, "The commandment to offer a Paschal sacrifice on the 14th day of Nisan is a particularly serious one, leading to the punishment of karet (divine punishment by untimely death or eternal excommunication - ed.) for those in Jerusalem who refrain from fulfilling it. As a religious rite, it need not receive a police permit; we therefore request that you simply provide protection."

Netanyahu's office responded that the matter is something for the security bodies to decide.

However, after the Portuguese and Irish bail-outs, the 60 billion euros EFSM facility will be virtually used up. A larger scheme backed only by the eurozone nations expires in 2013, as does the EFSM. Brussels has been pressing the UK to be part of the replacement, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), on the grounds that it is a member of the European Union.

France and Germany are particularly keen for the UK to sign up because, as the largest member states, they will bear the lion's share of the burden. The topic has arisen on the fringes of the International Monetary Fund's spring conference in Washington but reliable sources say the requests have had short shrift. "It is a eurozone problem," said one source.

George Osborne, the Chancellor, has already stressed that Britain is not in the business of bailing out eurozone nations, but must honour its existing agreements. He decided to back Ireland with a 3.25 billion pounds bilateral loan because of the struggling country's strategic importance to the UK.

In the east, fighting has continued on the coastal road to Benghazi. Fierce battles on the road between Ajdabiya and the strategic oil town of Brega - which has changed hands half a dozen times since February - killed a number of rebels and wounded many more, reports said. Meanwhile, anti-aircraft fire was heard in Tripoli, suggesting the Libyan capital was coming under attack from the air, although there were no immediate reports of damage.

Frustration is growing among the city's residents, who have come under intensified attacks by pro-Gaddafi forces in recent days, and are critical of NATO for failing to halt the deadly assault. Rebels said dozens of Soviet-designed Grad rockets had been fired at an industrial district of Misrata by government forces, although this has not been confirmed. The Grad, which launches multiple rockets from mobile launchers, has been blamed for a number of civilian deaths in recent days, including eight people in a bread queue.

On Friday, US-based Human Rights Watch accused the Gaddafi regime of using cluster bombs - which scatter multiple bomblets, causing indiscriminate casualties, and have been banned by most countries - although the Libyan government vehemently denies the charge.

The entire Washington DC metropolitan area has been put under tornado watch. While tornadoes formed in the south, much of the damage there was attributed to high winds. The warning by the US National Weather Service for the Washington area also applies to counties in both Virginia and Maryland. Trees and power lines have been felled by the storms which have torn roofs off houses and scattered tractor-trailers across roads.