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

In March 1974 Edward Heath and the Conservatives won the popular vote but ended up with fewer MPs than Labour. Edward Heath tried and failed to do a deal with the Liberal Party led by Jeremy Thorpe. Archive documents reveal that the then prime minister was willing to consult Jeremy Thorpe on the contents of the government's legislative programme, the Queen's Speech.

The Liberals could either support Conservative measures without "formal participation in government" or join a coalition with seats in the Cabinet for Jeremy Thorpe and one or two of his colleagues. The Liberals rejected the deal and Labour went on to form a minority government. Similar choices now face David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

If the Liberal Democrats walk away from a deal with the Conservatives we know that Gordon Brown and Labour are waiting. Even with Liberal Democrat support Gordon Brown would not have enough votes to command a parliamentary majority. He would still have to get agreements from other political parties. If the politicians cannot agree then the most likely outcome is a minority government and another general election.

Six Scottish airports will be closed until at least 1300 BST. Flights to Spain, France and Portugal were grounded on Saturday. According to the European air traffic agency Eurocontrol, Pisa and Florence airports in Italy will be closed between 0600 and 1200 UTC (0700 and 1300 BST) while Santiago, La Coruna and Vigo in Spain will be shut until 0900 UTC (1000 BST).

The ash closed 16 Spanish airports on Saturday, including international hub Barcelona. A no-fly zone also affected Stornoway on Lewis and Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides, as well as some Loganair services to Orkney and Shetland. The disruption could continue into next week if northerly winds bring ash over western Scotland and Ireland. Passengers are urged to check details of their flights before travelling to the airport.

Many flights between Europe and North America are being diverted because of the ash cloud's location, officials at European air traffic agency Eurocontrol said. The volcano has become more active in recent days and flights are being re-routed north and south of the 1,200 mile (2,000km) long cloud. Recent images have shown activity in the Eyjafjallajokull volcano intensifying. Experts at the Met Office said it was sending ash up to heights of 30,000 ft (9,100m).

The site is very near that of 2004's 9.2 magnitude earthquake. About 220,000 people were killed in the Indian Ocean tsunami the quake triggered. The epicentre of the latest quake was about 66km (41 miles) south-west of Meulaboh district, Indonesia's earthquake agency said. The district, and other parts of Aceh, were devastated in the 26 December 2004 earthquake.

About 170,000 people were killed in Aceh from the 2004 earthquake and the tsunami it launched. The waves spread across the Indian Ocean to cause death and destruction as far away as Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "The key factor going forward is how quickly a new government can be formed and how well equipped it is perceived to be to have a very real chance of taking, and getting through, the necessary strong action to rein in the public finances."

"The longer that any horse trading goes on between the parties after the final result is known, and the more fragile any agreement is perceived to be, the more that sterling, gilts and equities are likely to suffer." In Greece, borrowing costs hit a record high today, as the financial rescue package for Greece being put together by Europe and the IMF failed to rally investor support.

"The eruption has changed back to an explosive eruption, lava has stopped flowing and most of the magma gets scattered due to explosions in the crater," said the statement in English. "The ash plume rises high above the crater (4-7 km) and considerable ash fall can be expected in wind direction. No signs of the eruption ending soon."

Fisher, an expert in high-speed, electronic trading, made a rare appearance on the business news channel to sound the alarm. "Humans can't keep up," he said. "There is no way this is not going to happen again if we don't slow this down. This is a warning to everybody."

CNBC, citing multiple sources, reported that a single trader at banking giant Citigroup made a human error, possibly by erroneously entering the value of a single trade. Such errors are known on Wall Street as "fat finger" trades, because the error can be as simple as a trader pressing the wrong button.

CNBC's David Faber reported that the trader entered an order for a so-called E-mini - an S&P futures contract - at 16 billion units when it should have been 16 million. Citigroup said it was investigating but had not immediately found evidence of such an error. If a fat finger trade did contribute to Thursday's free-fall, it recalls a similar incident - on a much smaller scale, of course - that occurred on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2005, when a trader's typing error cost one of Japan's biggest brokerage firms $225 million and disrupted markets there.

The problem is that in this era of high-frequency, automated trading, such a single human error could have catastrophic consequences. Add fears over Europe, and you have a recipe for disaster. Gerard Cassidy, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, told The Wall Street Journal that a drop of nearly 1,000 points is "people jumping out of windows" territory.

As the The Journal's Evan Newmark noted: "It's a safe bet that after the trader's initial error, high-frequency trading computers remorselessly running their algorithms took over." He added: "I'd be amazed if 'high-frequency trades' don't account for the vast majority of the executions that took place between 2:15 and 3:00 pm at the New York Stock Exchange.

The slide, which in one 10-minute stretch knocked the index down nearly 700 points, may have been triggered by a trading error. Major stock indexes eventually recovered from their 9 percent drops to close down a little more than 3 percent. But the follow-through selling that pushed stocks of some highly regarded companies into tailspins exacerbated concerns that regulators can quickly lose control of the markets in a world of algorithmic trading.

"The potential for giant high-speed computers to generate false trades and create market chaos reared its head again today," Senator Edward Kaufman said in a statement. "The battle of the algorithms - not understood by nor even remotely transparent to the Securities and Exchange Commission - simply must be carefully reviewed and placed within a meaningful regulatory framework soon."

Kaufman and Senator Mark Warner - both Democrats - said Congress needs to investigate the causes of the market plunge, which at its deepest point wiped nearly $1 trillion off equity values. Investors had already been on edge throughout the trading day after the European Central Bank did not discuss the outright purchase of European sovereign debt as some hoped they would to calm markets.

But she admitted that the Commission had no power to punish returning officers responsible for the chaos, and attempted to dodge any personal blame by suggesting the "Victorian" electoral system was at fault. Miss Watson, who worked at a series of quangos before joining the independent electoral regulator in 2009, said: "Electoral law is very clear. The doors must be shut at 10 o'clock and anyone issued with a ballot paper before 10 o'clock must be allowed to vote. No-one can be issued with a ballot paper after 10 o'clock even if they are inside the polling station.

"The returning officers should have done what the law says. If they haven't done that they may well be subject to election petitions." Asked why there had been so many problems, Miss Watson blamed everyone but herself. She said: "This is a significant concern. They will have to answer to us and they will have to answer to the local voters. They should have put extra staff on and got extra ballot papers if they were running out. It's largely a legacy of the Victorian era. It's not sensible to have a system that was designed when five million people were eligible to vote."

David Dimbleby, the BBC's election night anchor, described the election as a "third world" ballot. In a statement, the Electoral Commission said: "It is a cause for serious concern that many people who wanted to vote today were unable to do so by 10pm when polls closed. The Commission has repeatedly faced criticism over its record. It previously failed to crack down on postal voting fraud. It is also responsible for overseeing party finance but failed to notice that the Labour Party had funded its 2005 election campaign with secret loans."

Merkel, whose Christian Democrats face a tough re-election battle in Germany's most populous state on Sunday, railed against gamblers on the financial markets who she said were exacerbating an already volatile situation.

"First the banks failed, forcing states to carry out rescue operations. They plunged the global economy over the precipice and we had to initiate recovery packages. Because of these packages, we have become indebted and now, they are speculating against these debts - that is really very treacherous," she said.

"Governments must regain their supremacy over the markets, which they no longer have, and for that we need much stricter global rules," she added, at a debate on Europe organised by a public broadcaster. Merkel said it was now up to the European Union member states to reassert their authority and shore up the financial rules governing the bloc.

"We must clearly demonstrate that in Europe we have the political power, each in his own country, of getting back on the track of the Stability and Growth Pact," she said.