The incident is the latest mass animal death to hit the headlines in the last two weeks.

These include:

• 450 red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, grackles and starlings found littering a highway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

• 3,000 blackbirds on roofs and roads in the small town of Beebe, Arkansas

• Thousands of 'devil crabs' washed up along the Kent coast near Thanet

• Thousands of drum fish washed along a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River

• Two million small fish in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

• Thousands of dead fish found floating in warm Florida creek

• Hundreds of snapper fish found dead in New Zealand

• Scores of American Coots found dead on Texas highway bridge

Experts have speculated that New Year fireworks, thunderstorms, cold weather, parasites and even poisoning may be behind the deaths.

But conspiracy theorists have also speculated on the internet that secret government experiments could be behind them, with some even claiming it was a sign of a looming Armageddon at the end of the Mayan calendar next year.

"With the euro zone's three weakest issuers coming to market next week in the space of two days it ramps up the tension," said Orlando Green, strategist at Credit Agricole in London. "There has to be some repricing to get (the auctions) done, but will it be enough? That depends on investor appetite."

Greece and then Ireland were frozen out of debt markets and forced to seek bailouts from the European Union/IMF in 2010 as a result of large budget deficits and banking sector weakness. Consequently, debt supply from other struggling euro zone states is set to be a key driver of sentiment in the coming months, with Portugal seen as the next most likely to seek aid. "It's pretty concerning the way the periphery is trading at the moment, and we haven't even started supply yet... with Spain and Italy also selling (next week) it's going to be pretty difficult times," a trader said.

But the domino effect of the dispute - led by union firebrand 'Red' Len McCluskey - also threatens fuel supplies to industry, hospitals, schools and the homes of old and vulnerable people who use oil central heating. The strike action planned by Mr McCluskey's union Unite, Britain's biggest, is confirmed in internal documents seen by The Mail on Sunday.

Mr McCluskey, who likes quoting Communist guerilla leader Che Guevara, called out 'rubbish' when new Labour leader Ed Miliband condemned irresponsible industrial action in his speech to the party's conference last autumn. Soon after, Britain's most powerful union baron declared: 'There is no such thing as an irresponsible strike. Workers take strike action because they genuinely feel there is nothing else they can do.'

A ballot will take up to a month to conduct. The union must give seven days' notice of action. Unite's National Oil Trades Conference sub-group, which meets on Tuesday, is expected to agree to ballot for a strike. The union's larger National Oil Trades Conference is expected to rubber stamp the decision the next day.

Those named include Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and an Icelandic MP. The US is examining possible charges against Mr Assange over the leaking of 250,000 classified diplomatic cables. Reports indicate the Department of Justice may seek to indict him on charges of conspiring to steal documents with Private First Class Bradley Manning, a US Army intelligence analyst.

The subpoena requested the details of Mr Assange, Pfc Manning and Icelandic MP Birgitta Jonsdottir, as well as Dutch hacker Rop Gonggrijp and US programmer Jacob Appelbaum, both of whom have previously worked with Wikileaks. The information sought includes mailing addresses and billing information, connection records and session times, IP addresses used to access Twitter, email accounts, as well as the "means and source of payment".

Rory Cellan-Jones, Technology correspondent, BBC News, comments: "As the Wikileaks saga has unfolded, Twitter has been one of the main forums where supporters and opponents of the whistle-blowing site have debated the issues. Now the social network has been dragged into the affair, as the US authorities pursue a case against Wikileaks."

"This leaves Twitter executives in a very difficult position. Like all social networks, they have been keen to stress that they comply with local laws, especially when it comes to tracking down criminals. But they have also been eager to promote Twitter's role as a forum for free expression in countries like Iran. If confidential details of overseas Twitter users are disclosed to the US authorities, how keen will an international audience be to trust this or other American social networks in future?"

Transport police were ordered to cancel their leave so extra officers could be deployed across the Tube and busy airports, including Luton and Heathrow. Security is likely to be ramped up, with potential extra restrictions for travellers. There has not been a successful attack on the London transport system since 52 were killed on July 7, 2005.

It also emerged the emergency services have been briefed about how to respond to a copy of the 2008 Mumbai machine gun attacks. Terrorists spread out across the Indian city - slaughtering more than 160 people at a string of busy locations, including a train station. The increased terror alert, confirmed in a memo sent to staff at airports and Transport for London yesterday, follows a string of warnings that Britain could face a new Al Qaeda-inspired attack.

Last month, the police and security services disrupted an alleged plot for a Christmas bomb blitz in London. Potential targets included the London Eye tourist attraction, the Stock Exchange and Mayor Boris Johnson, it was claimed.

Nine suspects appeared in court over Christmas in connection with the allegations. In October, an attempt was made to bring down at least two cargo jets with devices packed with the powerful explosive hidden inside printer cartridges. One of the cartridges, which was timed to explode in a Lockerbie-style atrocity, was discovered after the plane landed at East Midlands Airport.

The Old Bailey heard that they chased Nicholas Pearton and plunged a knife five inches through his back and into his heart.

As they made off on a bus, the killers were apparently seen bragging and laughing about the attack, with one holding a knife high above his head as he chanted the name of their gang.

In a sickening gesture of congratulations, two of the alleged killers are captured on CCTV shaking hands as they sat on the bus. Others shouted foul-mouthed abuse about their victim, yelling: 'I wish the ****er would die.' As the gang fled, Nicholas's parents rushed from their nearby home to cradle their dying son who lay slumped on the ground.

His death was the result of rivalry between two gangs, the Black Mafia and the Shanks and Guns, prosecutor Edward Brown QC told the court. Nicholas went to help his friends in the Black Mafia gang in nearby Home Park after hearing they were embroiled in a fight with the rival gang. But when he arrived his gang 'evaporated'. Nicholas, the only white boy involved, was left alone in the park, making him an easy target, Mr Brown said.

The 52 men and women meeting in a conference room at the Hotel Maritim in Berlin's Tiergarten district were determined to remain undisturbed. No one else was privy to the location and time of the meeting, in a deliberate attempt to prevent protestors and journalists from showing up at the scene. The only outsider present was Daniel Pipes, an American author, critic of Islam and advisor to former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who happened to be in the city.

The Hotel Maritim is on Stauffenbergstrasse, near the Memorial to the German Resistance. It is an historic point of reference that the 52 attendees would likely have drawn encouragement from. Like would-be Hitler assassin Claus von Stauffenberg, after whom the street is named, they too hope to protect Germany against what they perceive to be pending disaster. The group drafted a set of bylaws and discussed a 77-page party platform, which includes such statements as: "We will do everything in our power to oppose the Islamization of our country."

They gave their party a grand name, a name worth fighting for: "Die Freiheit" (Freedom). "If we don't get things right demographically, we'll have Algeria in Berlin before long. Islam has always been a religion of conquest," Stadtkewitz says.

In a letter the Senate's top legislator, Geithner asked for permission to increase the national debt from the 14.29 trillion dollar limit set last year. Geithner warned that ceiling would be reached as early as this March, and called on Congress to act to avoid the threat of default.

Birthers accuse Obama of not having been born in the US, despite the release of his birth certificate showing that he was born in Hawaii. Capitol Police arrested Theresa Cao, 48, and charged her with unlawful conduct and disrupting Congress. Cao has been released from police custody, according to a department spokeswoman.

Update, 3:51 pm: In an interview to air this evening on NBC Nightly News, House Speaker John Boehner (Republican for Ohio) reacted to the outburst and said he believed Obama is a US citizen. "The state of Hawaii has said that President Obama was born there," Boehner said. "That's good enough for me."

When Pelosi was sworn in on January 4, 2007, the national debt stood at $8,670,596,242,973.04. At the close of business on January 4, 2011, her last full day in the speakership, it stood at $14,014,049,043,294.41 -- an increase of $5,343,452,800,321.37. Pelosi served as speaker for four full years, including one leap year, making her time in that office 1,461 days. On average, the federal government added $3.66 billion ($3,657,394,113.84) in new debt for each of those days.

Pelosi not only outstripped her predecessors in the total volume of debt added to the national debt during her tenure as speaker, but also in the rate at which new debt was added. In fact, Pelosi added debt at a rate more than three times faster than her nearest competitor.

When Pelosi became speaker in January 2007 she was emphatic that there would be no new deficit spending. "After years of historic deficits, this 110th Congress will commit itself to a higher standard: Pay as you go, no new deficit spending," she said in her inaugural address from the speaker's podium. "Our new America will provide unlimited opportunity for future generations, not burden them with mountains of debt."

"Contemplating it (the universe) we are invited to read something profound into it: the wisdom of the creator, the inexhaustible creativity of God," he said in a sermon to some 10,000 people in St Peter's Basilica on the feast day. While the pope has spoken before about evolution, he has rarely delved back in time to discuss specific concepts such as the Big Bang, which scientists believe led to the formation of the universe some 13.7 billion years ago.

Researchers at CERN, the nuclear research center in Geneva, have been smashing protons together at near the speed of light to simulate conditions that they believe brought into existence the primordial universe from which stars, planets and life on earth -- and perhaps elsewhere -- eventually emerged.

Some atheists say science can prove that God does not exist, but Benedict said that some scientific theories were "mind limiting" because "they only arrive at a certain point... and do not manage to explain the ultimate sense of reality..." He said scientific theories on the origin and development of the universe and humans, while not in conflict with faith, left many questions unanswered.

"In the beauty of the world, in its mystery, in its greatness and in its rationality... we can only let ourselves be guided toward God, creator of heaven and earth," he said. Benedict and his predecessor John Paul have been trying to shed the Church's image of being anti-science, a label that stuck when it condemned Galileo for teaching that the earth revolves around the sun, challenging the words of the Bible.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has been vocal in his opposition to big bonuses. He told the BBC last month that the coalition government was "fully signed up" to "robust action" in curbing bonuses. There are also questions about any declaration by the banks that they will make at least some concessions.

One senior banker told our correspondent there "could be more spin than substance" in any commitments the banks make to reduce bonuses. Royal Bank of Scotland may pay nearer 1 billion pounds in bonuses than last year's 1.3 billion pounds, while Barclays may pay less than the 5-6 billion pounds in total remuneration that its results from the first nine months of last year suggest are due to its investment bankers, our correspondent said.

But even if bonuses are cut, salaries have risen significantly to compensate, by up to 40% in some cases, he added. Banks have already begun re-balancing pay packages following new Europe-wide rules on bonuses agreed last summer and confirmed last month. These include introducing independent remuneration committees and setting maximum levels of bonus payments as a percentage of basic salary.

El Pais quotes Spanish governmental sources revealing that, during his visit to Madrid, Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Li Keqiang committed China to buying 6 billion euros of Spain 's sovereign bonds. However, fears of contagion still hang over the eurozone. Il Sole 24 Ore reports that yesterday's auction of 500 million euros in Portuguese six-month bonds saw the yield rise to a record 3.686%, up from 2.045% at the last such sale in September 2010.

Meanwhile, EUobserver notes that yesterday's 5 billion euros five-year bond issuance from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism sold out in one hour. As a result, the first 5 billion euros of Ireland 's EU-IMF bailout loan will be delivered to the Irish government next Wednesday, according to the Irish Times.

An article in the Telegraph notes that EU plans to spread the burden of EU bank failures to senior bond-holders fuelled instability on eurozone debt markets yesterday, pushing yields on 10-year Greek bonds to a record 12.59%. In an interview with Reuters, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou has denied claims that Greece is discussing debt restructuring with creditors, as was previously reported. FT Deutschland notes that financial institutions are now competing with governments in order to obtain credit, with FAZ reporting that eurozone countries are seeking to raise 23 billion euros in private and public funds in the next few days.

Rolf Krause, the Brussels bureau chief of German public broadcaster ARD has said that the euro is "a terrible experiment which we've begun", voicing his support for slimming down the currency union to countries with the same working and savings culture.

He is critical of last year's banking stress tests arguing, "It is revealing that the tests conducted last July identified a capital shortfall of just 3.5 billion euros. Yet less than six months later, Irish banks required 10 times that amount... Europe cannot repeat the same mistake again. It is now clear the new stress tests must be much tougher."

He calls for a "comprehensive package" to resolve the eurozone debt crisis to be agreed early this year, adding, "The eurozone must follow the logic of the single currency and stand more convincingly behind the euro." Osborne argues that the EU should not allow "badly thought through regulation needlessly to undermine European competitiveness in financial services," adding, "No one should doubt that Britain is determined to remain a global financial centre serving Europe and the world."

A feature in FAZ suggests London may lose ground as a top financial centre, arguing that, "the City of London has lost support from the British Government. Banks must fear overregulation from Brussels, particularly political decisions and a lack of skilled regulators in the EU's new financial supervisors. That more than 1000 hedge fund managers have left the UK for Switzerland, is bearable, but that big institutions such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and Barclays are threatening to leave the City if future regulations harm them, is a big hit."

Meanwhile, European Voice reports that the people who will lead the three new European financial supervisory authorities could be selected as early as next week.

Among them is Dahlia Lithwick of Slate.com, who penned a column titled, "Read It and Weep: How the tea party's fetish for the Constitution as written may get it in trouble." Dictionaries define "fetish" as an object of irrational reverence or obsessive devotion, often associated with sexual gratification. During an appearance on MSNBC last night, Lithwick said she believed there was historical precedent for a constitutional fetish among those on the political right.

Lithwick's remarks came under heavy fire from Rush Limbaugh, the top-rated radio host, who ripped Lithwick and others on the left for holding such a sentiment. "They're perverts themselves," Limbaugh said. "These are perverts perverting the founding documents. If the Constitution's not that big a deal, how come the same people had such a cow when they thought Christine O'Donnell didn't know what she was talking about regarding the Constitution? If it's so unimportant, how come Obama's so proud to have been a constitutional lawyer or professor or lecturer, whatever he was?"

"Abraham Lincoln. They hate him? Abraham Lincoln had a fetish for the US Constitution? Here's what Lincoln said among many other things: 'We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.' That's Lincoln. Is he a pervert? Lincoln have a fetish? Lincoln also said, 'Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.'"

Syndicated columnist and commentator Charles Krauthammer said the objection to reading the Constitution aloud by many on the left "is truly astonishing." He said on Fox News that in the 1960s, "Liberals got in trouble for being on the wrong side of the flag," and are now in danger of being on the wrong side of the Constitution, which he called "the essence of America." He noted for liberals to think there's an advantage in dismissing the public reading of the document "is real bad politics."

The reading of the Constitution on the House floor was originally promoted by Representative Robert Goodlatte, Republican for Virginia, who will be the first reader tomorrow at 10:30 am Eastern. "The Constitution has never been read aloud on the floor of the House of Representatives. This historic and symbolic reading is long overdue and shows that the new majority in the House truly is dedicated to our Constitution and the principles for which it stands," said Goodlatte. "One of the resounding themes I have heard from my constituents is that Congress should adhere to the Constitution and the finite list of powers it granted to the federal government."