Rogue policeman shoots dead two US soldiers as Koran riots rage across Afghanistan

Two American soldiers have been shot dead by a rogue Afghan police officer, even as thousands of demonstrators turned out for a fourth day of protests against the burning of a Koran by a fundamentalist cleric in Florida.

Abdul Sattar Bariz, the deputy governor of the northern province of Faryab, said the two soldiers were killed at border check post where they were instructing newly recruited Afghan police personnel.

There were, however, conflicting accounts of who the perpetrator might have been.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said it was investigating the shooting, which it said was carried out by "an individual in an Afghan Border Police uniform."

But General Habib Sayedkhel, a senior border police official, said the shots that killed the soldiers were fired from a nearby house.

"After the shooting the soldier jumped down and ran away to save his life," he said. "There was no evidence that he killed the Americans." (read more)

Fears for global recovery as oil hits $120 mark

Oil has hit $120 per barrel for the first time since before the financial crisis – threatening global growth and putting the world at risk of an inflationary shock.

Brent crude, the London benchmark, had been trading around $115 per barrel for a fortnight, but the price has crept up over the past couple of days as the military action in Libya shows no sign of easy resolution. It closed at $121.06 – a two-and-a-half year high – on Monday.

A strike by oil workers in Gabon has also disrupted supply.

A number of analysts claim that $120 is the specific "danger point" at which the cost of oil starts to move above 5.5pc of total global economic output.

Deutsche Bank says this "has historically been an environment where global growth has come under pressure".

On top of this, estimates from the International Monetary Fund suggest that every extra $10 on the price of oil shaves 0.2pc off world growth. (read more)

Sign of the times: McDonald's plans to hire 50,000 workers in a single day

McDonalds plans to hire 50,000 workers in a single day in what may be the biggest corporate recruitment drive over a 24-hour period in history.

The fast-food chain intends to take on the workers on April 19 at many of its 14,000 outlets across the US, as it seeks to fill jobs ranging from restaurant managers to those serving burgers.

The company admits that hiring 50,000 people on a single day is a publicity stunt, but one that will also help it fill the vacancies as more people hear about it.

The jobs, says McDonalds, are a mix of of full-time and part-time and are partly to cope with a seasonal increase in demand over the summer as well as a response to an improving economy.

McDonalds has long battled against the depiction that all its jobs are relatively low-skilled ones, popularly known as 'McJobs'.

Some economists have warned that some of the jobs the US recovery is creating don't match the wages of those positions, particularly in a booming construction and housebuilding trade, that were lost to the recession. (read more)

Ivory Coast: United Nations launch air strikes on Laurent Gbagbo

The United Nations has launched air attacks against Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivory Coast strongman who has refused to relinquish power, in retaliation for “reckless and mindless” attacks on its personnel and civilians.

According to witnesses, at least four missiles were fired from UN helicopters in Abidjan, the economic capital.

Hamadou Toure, the UN’s chief spokesman in Ivory Coast, told The Daily Telegraph the UN had struck two military camps controlled by Mr Gbagbo along with the presidential palace and his residence.

He declined to say what weapons were being used, but stressed that care was being taken to ensure civilians were not being harmed. “We are engaged in neutralising the heavy weapons that Mr Gbagbo’s special forces have been using for the last few months against civilians and our forces,” he said.

“Despite all our warnings and alerts, they kept using these heavy weapons against us. What we are doing is in line with our mandate and in line with resolution 1975 adopted last week. Our mandate is protect innocent lives and that is what we are doing.”

The strikes were carried out by helicopters from the French force Licorne. (read more)

Obama begins 2012 relection campaign: $1 billion worth of change you can believe in

The step was widely expected and planned to coincide with the second fundraising quarter of the year.

Obama, a Democrat who won a sweeping victory over Republican Senator John McCain in 2008 with a message of change, said in a low-key email to supporters that he was filing papers to start his re-election bid in a formal way.

'So even though I'm focused on the job you elected me to do, and the race may not reach full speed for a year or more, the work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today,' he said in the email.

'We've always known that lasting change wouldn't come quickly or easily. ... But as my administration and folks across the country fight to protect the progress we've made - and make more - we also need to begin mobilising for 2012, long before the time comes for me to begin campaigning in earnest.' (read more)

US: Inflation pressures grow on Main Street Small Businesses

Prices are going up all over Main Street.

Still reeling from the recession, most mom-and-pop shops have held off on raising prices for fear of losing more customers. But business is finally starting to pick up, and after years of being squeezed by cost increases, a growing number of small businesses are hiking their prices.

"They've been squeezed so badly for the last two years, any uptick in demand means they're going to try to raise prices a bit," said William Dennis, senior research fellow with the National Federation of Independent Business. (read more)

Ex-CIA agent "educates" pro-Obama CNN news anchors

UFO sighting in Chicago mystery solved? -- Or simply explained away?

Nicole Dragozetich was driving down 35th Street and Western at approximately 8 p.m. Saturday when she noticed at least a dozen people stopped in their tracks, staring at the sky.

She used her cell phone to shoot video of what everyone was watching.

Renee Hutchinson, who started the Baby James Foundation, explained the lights were actually sky lanterns released in memory of abuse victims.

"You light the bottom of them and they heat up, and as they heat up, they fill up like hot air balloons and they go into the sky," Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson said police officers even stopped by to see what was going on. (read more)

Psyche! U.S. Agrees to Continue Combat Missions; Lack of U.S. Strikes Blamed for Rebel Losses

NATO has asked the United States to continue participating in airstrikes over Libya through late Monday, ABC News has learned.

This was done to make up for the bad weather earlier in the week that had hampered targeting of Gadhafi forces and allowed them to push the rebels back to Ajdabiyah.

The United States was supposed to have significantly begun dropping its participation in airstrikes over Libya.

"Due to poor weather conditions over the last few days in Libya, the United States has approved a request by NATO to extend the use of some U.S. strike aircraft," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told ABC News. "These aircraft will continue to conduct and support Alliance air-to-ground missions throughout this weekend."

A U.S. Defense Department official said the aircraft Lungescu was referring to are the A-10 Thunderbolt jets, Marine AV-8 Harrier jets and AC-130 gunships, which are the best suited for striking ground force targets. (read more)

U.S. to stop using strike aircraft as fighting in Libya rages on

The use of U.S. strike aircraft in Libya is set to expire Monday as uncertainty lingers about whether Western allies will arm opposition members trying to oust Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

A barrage of artillery rounds fell east of the oil town of al-Brega on Monday. The town appeared firmly in the control of forces loyal to Gadhafi.

Over the weekend, destruction permeated the city of Misrata, which has been choked off by pro-Gadhafi forces surrounding the city.

"We need a lot of help in Misrata. There's so much death there," said Mustafa Abdul Hamali, a 46-year-old taxi driver who lost half of a leg. "I was driving in my car with my wife, and my car just blew up. I don't know what happened."

Khalid Moteridi, a 32-year-old businessman-turned-rebel fighter, said the situation in Libya's third-largest city has turned dire.

"It's a tragedy by all means," he said. "No electricity, no food, no water. We're trapped from all sides by the Gadhafi forces." (read more)

Oil Rises to 30-Month High on Libya Conflct; Kuwait Says Price Is Too High

Oil climbed to the highest level in 30 months in New York on speculation that U.S. economic growth may support demand and a protracted conflict in Libya will curtail supply.

Futures advanced a third day after an April 1 report showed the U.S., the world’s largest crude consumer, added more jobs than economists forecast last month. Prices are too high and “worrying,” the chief executive officer of Kuwait Petroleum Corp. said today. Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi bombed an oil field south of the city of Ajdabiya, Al Jazeera television reported, heightening concern output losses from Africa’s third-largest producer may continue.

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that the situation in Libya may be prolonged,” said Christopher Bellew, senior broker at Bache Commodities Ltd. in London. “The more one looks at uprisings in the Middle East, the more one realizes they will not be easy to resolve. At the same time, oil demand is relatively inelastic to higher prices.” (read more)

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Maelstrom - Most Amazing Natural Phenomenon In The World - 4th Apr 2011

A maelstrom /ˈmeɪlstrɒm/ is a very powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. A free vortex, it has considerable downdraft. Their power tends to be exaggerated by laymen. There are virtually no stories of large ships ever being sucked into a maelstrom.



Most of you may also remember the Huge whirlpool which appeared after the Tsunami which hit Japan this year

Are Nuclear Plants as safe as they would like us to believe?

You will only hear of a nuclear event in the News if something drastic takes place, for example the Chernobyl Disaster of 1986 or the most recent Disaster at Fukushima in Japan.

These are not the only incidents to happen at Nuclear power plants around the world. On average, at least 1 nuclear plant is manually or automatically closed down per month due to a malfunction or issue. We have had 17 reported nuclear incidents already this year and we are only 3 months in -- should we be worried?

Here is a short report of the incidents that have taken place between January 2011 and March 29th 2011:

15th Jan 2011
Dounreay Nuclear Power - Scotland - Lighting Strike, Damaged Electrical Equipment

18th Jan 2011
Kola Nuclear Power Plant - Russia - Short Circuit in Reactor 4 - Closure of Reactor 4

24th Jan 2011
Palisades Nuclear Generation Station - USA - Problem Electrical Equipment - FULL Automatic Shutdown

25th Jan 2011
Susquehanna Nuclear Plant - USA - Steam Leak - Manually Shut Down of Reactor

3rd Feb 2011
Surry Nuclear Power Plant - USA - Coolant Problem, Loss of Coolant Flow - 1 of 2 Reactors Automatic Shut Down

12th Feb 2011
Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant - Finland - Steam Leak - Controlled Shut Down

20th Feb 2011
Korea Atomic Energy Research - South Korea - Warning of Radiation Leak - Shut Down (report that radiation leak was contained inside the building)

25th Feb 2011
Limerick Nuclear Power Plant - USA - Problem with Recirculation Pumps used for Cooling and creating Steam - Manual Shut Down of Reactor 2

27th Feb 2011
Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant - Iran - Unloading Fuel Rods - Shut Down
** U.N. Nuclear Watchdog commented that the reason Rods would be removed from a Nuclear Plant is a sign of a Major Problem.
*** Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salemi denied this to be the case "decision to halt Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Tehran was a routine test because safety is it's priority"

4th Mar 2011 - 2n Report for this Nuclear Power Plant in less than 2 weeks
Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant - USA - Steam Leak - Shut Down Reactor 1

11th Mar 2011
Onagawa Nuclear Plant - Japan - Cooling System Failure / Fire in Reactor / Excessive Levels of Radiation - Full Shut Down

11th Mar 2011
Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant - Japan - Cooling System Failure / Partial Meltdown / Explosions and Fires / Severe Radiation Leaks (see reports and articles on our main news site) - Complete Shut Down of ALL Reactors

16th Mar 2011
Pickering Nuclear Generating Station - Canada - Leaked 19000 Gallons of water into Lake Ontario - Report didn't appear until a full 2 days after this incident took place.

23rd Mar 2011
Krsko Nuclear Power Plant - Slovenia - 380v Transmission Line was suddenly Disconnected - Automatic Shut Down
Update 26th Mar 2011: Plant Officials reported the Failure of Restarting Reactor due to Technical Problems, will try to restart 1st week in April 2011

29th Mar 2011
Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant - USA - Declared "Unusual Event" after transformer Overheated - Update: Later same day Fire Broke out in Same Building

2010 = 54 Nuclear Incident Reports
2009 = 75 Nuclear Incident Reports
2008 = 71 Nuclear Incident Reports
2007 = 74 Nuclear Incident Reports
2006 = 55 Nuclear Incident Reports

The Abduction of Kelly Cahill on 8th August 1993

The Kelly Cahill Alien Abduction Case is one of the most intriguing of all times.

On the Night of the 8th Aug 1993, she left with her husband to make the trip to a friends house by car. The drive was uneventful until they passed trough the Dandenongs Foothills, when out of nowhere, Kelly Cahill noticed the appearance of Bright Orange lights in the sky. She didn't think more about it until the drive home later that night, when she again noticed a bright Object just above the treetops in the Sky. As they Drove closer, she could see the object clearly being a row of bright Orange Lights. In the Orange Lights she could make out shapes of what she described as "people".

It wasn't till several weeks later that parts of her memory returned of what happened that night; she retells how her husband actually stopped the car and they both got out.

See the video where she recounts the events of this night:

Japan nuclear crisis: workers using newspaper and sawdust to block pipes

Japanese workers battling to stop a radioactive water leak into the Pacific from the beleaguered nuclear power plant have resorted to using newspaper and sawdust to try and block the pipes.

TEPCO workers were using a polymer mixed with shredded paper and sawdust to try to close off pipes through which the water has flowed into a cracked concrete pit at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, from where it has run into the sea. An earlier attempt to seal the crack with cement failed to stop the leak.

"From the afternoon, the workers began pouring polymeric powder, sawdust, newspaper - things we could think of to clog up the holes," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the nuclear safety agency.

"So far, there has not been any clear indication that the volume of leaking water has been reduced."

Officials attempted attempting to seal the recently discovered crack located in a concrete pit near Reactor Two. It followed failed attempts to use concrete to close the crack, which is believed to have led to radiation leakage into run-off water that then flows into the sea. The latest samples of contaminated seawater show radiation levels at 4,000 times the legal level.

There was no difference in the amount of water running out after they poured cement into the pit," said a nuclear safety agency official. "Tepco needs to take steps to stop the leak once and for all." (read more)

Despite Gulf of Mexico oil spill, rig owner executives get big bonuses

Declaring 2010 "the best year in safety performance in our company's history," Transocean Ltd., owner of the Gulf of Mexico oil rig that exploded, killing 11 workers, has awarded its top executives hefty bonuses and raises, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

That includes a $200,000 salary increase for Transocean president and chief executive officer Steven L. Newman, whose base salary will increase from $900,000 to $1.1 million, according to the SEC report. Newman's bonus was $374,062, the report states.

Newman also has a $5.4 million long-term compensation package the company awarded him upon his appointment as CEO in March 2010, according to the SEC filing.

The latest cash awards are based in part on the company's "performance under safety," the Transocean filing states.

"Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life in the Gulf of Mexico, we achieved an exemplary statistical safety record as measured by our total recordable incident rate and total potential severity rate," the SEC statement reads. "As measured by these standards, we recorded the best year in safety performance in our Company's history." (read more)

Iranian Video Says Mahdi -- the Islamic Messiah -- is 'Near'

New evidence has emerged that the Iranian government sees the current unrest in the Middle East as a signal that the Mahdi--or Islamic messiah--is about to appear.

CBN News has obtained a never-before-seen video produced by the Iranian regime that says all the signs are moving into place -- and that Iran will soon help usher in the end times.

While the revolutionary movements gripping the Middle East have created uncertainty throughout the region, the video shows that the Iranian regime believes the chaos is divine proof that their ultimate victory is at hand.

'The Coming is Near'

The propaganda footage has reportedly been approved at the highest levels of the Iranian government.

It's called The Coming is Near and it describes current events in the Middle East as a prelude to the arrival of the mythical tweflth Imam or Mahdi -- the messiah figure who Islamic scriptures say will lead the armies of Islam to victory over all non-Muslims in the last days. (read more)

Frightening US Inflation (expanding monetary supply) Chart -- is dollar crisis imminent?

Warren Buffett, the billionaire who urged Congress in 2009 to guard against inflation, said investors should avoid long-term fixed-income bets in U.S. dollars because the currency’s purchasing power will decline. “I would recommend against buying long-term fixed-dollar investments,” Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said today in New Delhi. “If you ask me if the U.S. dollar is going to hold its purchasing power fully at the level of 2011, 5 years, 10 years or 20 years from now, I would tell you it will not.” (read more)

UN report: Cities ignore climate change at their peril

Urban areas are set to become the battleground in the global effort to curb climate change, the UN has warned.

The assessment by UN-Habitat said that the world's cities were responsible for about 70% of emissions, yet only occupied 2% of the planet's land cover.

While cities were energy intensive, the study also said that effective urban planning could deliver huge savings.

The authors warned of a "deadly collision between climate change and urbanisation" if no action was taken.

The Global Report on Human Settlements 2011, Cities and Climate Change: Policy Directions, said its goal was to improve knowledge of how cities contribute to climate change, and what adaptation measures are available.

Worrying trend

Joan Clos, executive director of UN-Habitat, said the global urbanisation trend was worrying as far as looking to curb emissions were concerned.

"We are seeing how urbanisation is growing - we have passed the threshold of 50% (of the world's population living in urban areas)," he told BBC News.

"There are no signs that we are going to diminish this path of growth, and we know that with urbanisation, energy consumption is higher. (read more)

America as Janus: U.S. Products Help Block Mideast Web

As Middle East regimes try to stifle dissent by censoring the Internet, the U.S. faces an uncomfortable reality: American companies provide much of the technology used to block websites.

McAfee Inc., acquired last month by Intel Corp., has provided content-filtering software used by Internet-service providers in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, according to interviews with buyers and a regional reseller. Blue Coat Systems Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., has sold hardware and technology in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar that has been used in conjunction with McAfee's Web-filtering software and sometimes to block websites on its own, according to interviews with people working at or with ISPs in the region.

A regulator in Bahrain, which uses McAfee's SmartFilter product, says the government is planning to switch soon to technology from U.S.-based Palo Alto Networks Inc. It promises to give Bahrain more blocking options and make it harder for people to circumvent censoring.

Netsweeper Inc. of Canada has landed deals in the UAE, Qatar and Yemen, according to a company document. (read more)

Doctors Warn About ‘Facebook Depression’ In Teens

Add “Facebook depression” to potential harms linked with social media, an influential doctors’ group warns, referring to a condition it says may affect troubled teens who obsess over the online site.

A NEW CONDITION?

Researchers disagree on whether it’s simply an extension of depression some kids feel in other circumstances, or a distinct condition linked with using the online site.

But there are unique aspects of Facebook that can make it a particularly tough social landscape to navigate for kids already dealing with poor self-esteem, said Dr. Gwenn O’Keeffe, a Boston-area pediatrician and lead author of new American Academy of Pediatrics social media guidelines.

With in-your-face friends’ tallies, status updates and photos of happy-looking people having great times, Facebook pages can make some kids feel even worse if they think they don’t measure up. (read more)

BREAKING NEWS: 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake INDIA/NEPAL BORDER - 4th Apr 2011

New Delhi: An earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale and with an epicentre in Nepal shook parts of north India, including capital Delhi and its suburbs on Monday evening. There are no reports yet of damage or loss of life.

Reports from Noida and Gurgaon and parts of Delhi said strong tremors were felt, with furniture shaking in buildings. Tremors were also felt in Lucknow and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and mild tremors were reported in Shimla in Himachal Pradesh too.

India's earthquake monitoring network said the quake took place at 5.01 pm and the depth of the quake was 10 km.

USGS: Has the measurement of the Earthquake at 5.4 Magnitude While the India's Earthquake Monitoring Network has it at 6.0 Magnitude as mentioned in the Video below. Source

Fighter Jets where Scramble to Escort a British plane following a Bomb Threat - 4th Mar 2011

Greek authorities say fighter jets were scrambled to escort a British passenger plane to Athens airport following a bomb threat while the aircraft was in its way from Britain to Egypt.

Greek authorities say fighter jets were scrambled to escort a British passenger plane to Athens airport following a bomb threat while the aircraft was in its way from Britain to Egypt.

Greece's Air Force said two F-16 jets and a Super Puma helicopter escorted the plane to Athens International Airport, where it landed without incident.

Greek state TV said the plane was carrying 213 people and that the bomb threat was made in a telephone call to a holiday company in Britain.

The plane was chartered by Thomson Airways.

A Greek defence ministry spokesman said all passengers and crew were safe and well. Source

Victims of Air France flight 447 found at the bottom of the Atlantic after two-year mystery - 4th Apr 2011

The bodies of some of the 228 victims of the worst air crash in Air France’s history have been found some two-and-a-half miles below the Atlantic Ocean.

Macabre images of the underwater tomb, which includes British and Irish victims, have been grabbed by submarines equipped with robot-controlled cameras.

As investigators released some of the images in Paris, they said they also showed the ‘vast majority’ of the Airbus A330-203 had also been discovered, including its engines.

This raises renewed hope that the black box flight recorders can be retrieved, so helping to explain why Flight AF 447 crashed en route from Rio de Janerio to Paris on June 1st 2009.

However, after being immersed under intense pressure and in sea water for almost two years, their data may be unreadable.

Confirming the discovery of ‘one large piece’ of the plane, France’s Transport Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said it contained 'identifiable bodies' .

Jean-Paul Troadec, director of the Bureau of Investigations and Analysis (BEAR) said:

‘The positive news is that the debris field is relatively concentrated. Thus, we hope to find the black boxes.’

And Air France-KLM’s chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon added: ‘This is very good news because it brings with it the hope that at last we will get some information on what caused this accident, which to this day remains unexplained.’ Read More

Carpenter 'John Sweeney' Killed Girlfriends And Dumped Bodies - FOUND GUILTY - 4th Apr 2011

Carpenter John Sweeney has been found guilty of murdering two of his girlfriends and throwing their chopped up bodies into a canal.

Police believe he may have butchered another five victims, making him one of Britain's worst serial killers.

Woman-hater Sweeney, 54, drew macabre sketches and wrote lurid poems in which he described what he had done to his victims.

In some he depicted himself holding sharp knives dripping with blood. Another showed a female trussed up and in a state of dismemberment.

Sweeney is already serving a life sentence for the attempted murder of another former lover Delia Balmer, who survived after he attacked her with an axe and knife.

She said she had warned police Sweeney would try to kill her.

"I'm so angry at the law, never mind him, because I told them what he would do and they let him do it," she said.

"He was like a madman, he was possessed. He had a gun and my kitchen knife, kneeling on the bed while I was tied to the bed."

Sweeney has been convicted of murdering American ex-model Miss Halstead, 33, and Miss Fields, 31, both of whom disappeared during a relationship with him. Read More

Attempt to use sawdust and paper to stop Fukushima radiation leak fails as workers are forced to build 'silt fence' around crack - 4th Apr 2011

A second attempt to stop radioactive water leaking into the Pacific ocean at the Fukushima nuclear plant by using paper and sawdust plant failed today.

Workers had tried to use a chemical compound mixed with newspaper and sawdust to fill a 20-centimetre crack in a concrete shaft in reactor building number two.

But they were today resorting to a third plan, building mounds of silt around the reactor to stop radioactive particles in the leaking water reaching the sea.

White dye is also being used to trace the path of the highly radioactive water gushing from the plant and seeping into the ocean.

And around 11,500 tonnes of radioactive water that has collected around reactors two and three will be dumped into the ocean, as officials say they have no other way to dispose of it.

Radioactive water has pooled up throughout the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant because the operator has been forced to rely on makeshift ways of pumping water into plant - and allowing it to gush out wherever it can - to bring down temperatures and pressure in the reactor cores. Read More

Ivory Coast: Fears For 250,000 Refugees - 4th Apr 2011

Aid agencies are preparing for an influx of a quarter of an million refugees from Ivory Coast to neighbouring Liberia as the security situation deteriorates.

Workers for the charity Oxfam have warned of shortages of food and a crisis of sanitation as border towns struggle to feed those fleeing the fighting.

There are also fears that monsoon rains will make roads impassable for relief lorries.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has told relief workers to expect up to 250,000 people to arrive by the end of June, with many walking for up to five days to cross the border.

Oxfam's Olivier Germain, in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, said a widening of the fighting had seen more refugees crossing into Grand Gedeh county in the south in recent days.

So far, 80,000 people have fled the fighting, with 25,000 moving into Grand Gedeh in the past ten days as fighting moves south and another 40,000 have fled to camps set up in Nimba county in the north.

"There's a strong belief that a lot of people are still on their way or hiding in the forest over the border and haven't crossed yet," said Mr Germain. Read More

Cheshire is centre of search for aliens - 4th Apr 2011

BRITAIN is set to lead the search for alien life after being chosen as the base for the world's biggest collection of radio telescopes.

Jodrell Bank Observatory has been placed at the heart of a new £1.3billion project to investigate the mysteries of space.

The site, near Macclesfield, Cheshire, will be the HQ for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. It is a network of 3,000 radio telescopes run by what will be the largest supercomputer on Earth.

The telescopes - which can "hear" far into space - are likely to be in either South Africa or Australia.

Scientists hope SKA could reveal the birth of galaxies, the mysteries of dark energy and search for signals from alien civilisations.

The project got its name because the telescopes will get their data from "collecting areas" of one square kilometre.

Scientist Joseph Lazio said: "Only with enough metal on the ground, as SKA will provide, do you get to the point where you can hope to detect an Earth-like planet."

UFO expert Nick Pope said: "It's great that the UK might be the country that makes the greatest discovery of all time." Source

Live human heart grown in lab using stem cells in potential transplant breakthrough - 4th Apr 2011

Scientists are growing human hearts in laboratories, offering hope for millions of cardiac patients.

American researchers believe the artificial organs could start beating within weeks.

The experiment is a major step towards the first ‘grow-your-own’ heart, and could pave the way for livers, lungs or kidneys to be made to order.

The organs were created by removing muscle cells from donor organs to leave behind tough hearts of connective tissue.

Researchers then injected stem cells which multiplied and grew around the structure, eventually turning into healthy heart cells.

Dr Doris Taylor, an expert in regenerative medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, said: ‘The hearts are growing, and we hope they will show signs of beating within the next weeks. Read More

Girl, 15, who shoved seven-month-old baby into path of bus is sent on anger management course - 4th Apr 2011

A girl tearaway has been sent on an anger management course after she shoved a seven-month-old baby into a bus lane.

The 15-year-old was convicted of causing actual bodily harm to the baby, after magistrates decided her reckless and racially motivated assault caused him to be flung from his sister's grasp in the attack near West Croydon bus station, in south London.

The girl, whose identity is protected by law, was ordered to attend a year of anger management and 'victim empathy' sessions to help her understand the consequences of her actions.

The traumatised family of the baby relocated to Mauritius to escape the devastation the attack had caused on their lives, Croydon Youth Court heard.

The girl and a friend, also 15, had already subjected a 13-year-old girl in the family to shouts of 'Paki' in Primark, North End before assaulting her and her mother in the street last July.

Read More

Glaciers ‘melting 100 times faster than at any time in 350 years’ - 4th Apr 2011

The world's glaciers are melting up to 100 times faster than any time during the last 350 years, according to new research.

Scientists say the findings, based on a study of Patagonia, South America, have worrying implications for millions of people who rely on the slow moving bodies of ice for fresh water.

The amount of ice lost from the 270 Patagonian glaciers is equivalent to filling Windermere in the Lake District more than 1,700 times.

The researchers, led by Prof Neil Glasser of Aberystwyth University, analysed the rocky debris left by glaciers on the sides of mountains to work out how big they once were - and how much ice has vanished.

Since the Little Ice Age ended in Patagonia in the middle of the 17th century, the 270 glaciers that now cover an area of at least 0.4 square miles have lost 145 cubic miles of ice.

Because water is denser than ice that is equivalent to about 130 cubic miles of water.

Over the same period temperatures have gone up by around 1.4 C in the region, the scientists report in the journal Nature Geoscience. Read More

U.S. pastor says he will put Mohammed 'on trial' next as NATO chief condemns Koran burning for starting riots - 4th Apr 2011

Despite clear evidence that his actions have led to multiple murders and widespread violence in the Middle East, controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones has vowed to step up his provocative campaign against Islam.

The radical pastor said that he was considering putting Islamic prophet Mohammed 'on trial' for his next 'day of judgement' publicity stunt.

His last, in which he oversaw the burning of a copy of the Koran after a six-hour mock trial, has been directly responsible for a wave of violence that began last night and has left 30 people dead and more than 150 injured.

The defiant stance has led General Petraeus, the head of NATO forces in Afghanistan, to join international condemnation of pastor Jones.

The General urged Afghans to understand only a small number of people had been disrespectful to the Koran and Islam.

He said: 'We condemn, in particular, the action of an individual in the United States who recently burned the Holy Koran.

'We also offer condolences to the families of all those injured and killed in violence which occurred in the wake of the burning of the Holy Koran.'

The call comes after a third day of violence in Afghanistan saw at least ten deaths, 78 injured and at least 17 arrests as protesters clash with security forces in Kandahar. Read More

(Wasting Money) Wave goodbye! Britain's £3.2million artificial surf reef closed after only two years as it's unsafe - 4th Apr 2011

How its supposed to look: The reef consists of 55 giant submerged sand-filled bags, which are believed to have been displaced and require repositioning

How it really looks: It is thought the concern is that surfers could risk drowning by being sucked down into gaps that have appeared in the structure as a result of the change Read Article

U.S. now seeks removal of Yemeni president: report - 4th Apr 2011

The United States has concluded Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh will not likely enact reforms demanded by opposition protesters and must be eased out of office, The New York Times reported Sunday, citing U.S. and Yemeni officials.

The United States has talked openly of its concern about who might succeed Saleh, whom it views as an ally who has helped to contain al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemen-based wing of the militant group.

Saleh, in power for 32 years, has said he was prepared to leave eventually but that an abrupt exit would cause chaos.

About 82 people have been killed in anti-government rallies in the Arabian Peninsula state.

President Barack Obama's administration had supported Saleh but began to shift position on the Yemeni leader in the past week, the New York Times said.

American officials have told allies and some reporters that they now view Saleh's hold on office as untenable and they believe he should leave, the newspaper reported.

A Yemeni official was cited as saying negotiations with Saleh on the terms of his possible departure began a little over a week ago, after gunmen linked to the government killed more than 50 protesters at an rally on March 18. Read More