Fish carried up a mountain on backs of llamas to escape global warming

Thousands of rare fish have been given a lift up a mountain on the back of llamas in an extraordinary move, led by the Environment Agency, to help the species survive climate change.

The endangered vendace, that has been in Britain since the Ice Age, is in danger of dying out as lakes and rivers warm up because of man made global warming.

To ensure the species survival, the UK's environmental watchdog took eggs from Derwentwater in Cumbria, thought to be the only remaining site where the fish are found in England and Wales.

They then took 25,000 young fish from the hatchery to a cooler lake higher up the mountains of the Lake District, Sprinkler Tarn, to establish a new 'refuge' population that is more likely to survive warming temperatures.

Because the route to the lake is so rocky and uneven, it was impossible to use conventional transport like a 4x4 motorbike or landrover. So, the fish were given a ride during part of the two-hour trek by sure-footed llamas from a local charity. The journey was finished by fisheries officers on foot to ensure none of the smarts were spilt.

Lord Chris Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency, said British species have to be protected from climate change.

"In addition to the anticipated warming of lakes and rivers, we may also see an increase in the occurrence of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves.

"All of these could have an impact on much of the native wildlife in England, especially aquatic species such as the rare and specialised vendace, so we are taking action now to conserve the existing populations." (read more)

Graves of Diseased Animals Spur Shift to Evian Bottled Water in S. Korea

More than 1,000 kilometers from Tokyo, Seoul is having its very own crisis of faith in tap water, and radiation isn’t to blame.

In South Korea, the carcasses of 9.7 million cattle, pigs and poultry were buried in mass graves across the frozen countryside after outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and bird- flu last winter. That’s raised concerns that pollutants may enter groundwater now that the soil has thawed, said Jun Kwan Soo, a professor of environmental engineering at Yeungnam University.

“Health has to come before everything else regardless of the expense,” said Lyu Soon Ha, a 63-year-old grandmother who is buying bottled water from remote Jeju Island because she fears supplies from the mainland could be contaminated. “I want to give my grandchildren good water when they come to visit.” (read more)

Auroras from March Solar Storm Dazzle Northern Observers

View the entire gallery here.

Jesse Ventura's Letter to the Ruling Class: Something we can all sign on to

You control our world. You’ve poisoned the air we breathe, contaminated the water we drink, and copyrighted the food we eat. We fight in your wars, die for your causes, and sacrifice our freedoms to protect you. You’ve liquidated our savings, destroyed our middle class, and used our tax dollars to bailout your unending greed. We are slaves to your corporations, zombies to your airwaves, servants to your decadence. You’ve stolen our elections, assassinated our leaders, and abolished our basic rights as human beings. You own our property, shipped away our jobs, and shredded our unions. You’ve profited off of disaster, destabilized our currencies, and raised our cost of living. You’ve monopolized our freedom, stripped away our education, and have almost extinguished our flame. We are hit… we are bleeding… but we ain’t got time to bleed. We will bring the giants to their knees and you will witness our revolution!

Sincerely,

The Serfs.
(Source)

Asia's Clamor to Buy Silver "Unheard of...Dysfunctional"

The price of gold fell against a rising US Dollar in London on Thursday, dropping back to $1454 per ounce but rising for Euro and Sterling buyers as world stock markets fell alongside commodities.

Major-economy government bond price rose, nudging 10-year US Treasury yields down to 3.44%.

The price to Buy Silver also fell back Thursday morning, dropping 2.0% after coming within 50c of Monday's new 31-year highs.

"The interbank silver market [in Asia] is dysfunctional" says one Hong Kong dealer's note. "Liquidity is getting worse while the price action is getting more exaggerated as a result."

With ever-more money looking to Buy Silver, "The furiousness of such moves has been increasing in the past two weeks...[and] the flow in/out of silver is excessive with respect to the capacity of the market." (read more)

U.S. Says Iran Helps Crackdown in Syria

The U.S. has accused Iran of funneling to support to Syria to put down pro-democracy demonstrators. Iran is also accused of supporting Shiite hardline groups in Bahrain and Yemen. Also, looking ahead to upcoming Washington budget battles.

Iran is secretly helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad put down pro-democracy demonstrations, according to U.S. officials, who say Tehran is providing gear to suppress crowds and assistance blocking and monitoring protesters' use of the Internet, cellphones and text-messaging.

At the same time, communications intercepted by U.S. spy agencies show Tehran is actively exploring ways to aid some Shiite hardliners in Bahrain and Yemen and destabilize longstanding U.S. allies there, say U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence. Such moves could challenge interests of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and inflame sectarian tensions across the Middle East, they say.

"We believe that Iran is materially assisting the Syrian government in its efforts to suppress their own people," said an Obama administration official. (read more)

Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rise; Inflation Pressure Grows: US

New claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, bouncing back above the key 400,000 level, while core producer prices climbed faster than expected in March, government reports showed on Thursday.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 412,000, the Labor Department said.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims slipping to 380,000.

The prior weeks figure was revised up to 385,000 from the previously reported 382,000.

The four-week moving average of unemployment claims—a better measure of underlying trends—climbed 5,500 to 395,750.

The rise in claims interrupted a downward trend that had kept them below the 400,000 threshold for four weeks. That level is normally associated with steady job growth. Despite last weeks rise, the four-week average held below the 400,000 mark for a seventh straight week. (read more)

In Financial Crisis, No Prosecutions of Top Figures

It is a question asked repeatedly across America: why, in the aftermath of a financial mess that generated hundreds of billions in losses, have no high-profile participants in the disaster been prosecuted?

Answering such a question — the equivalent of determining why a dog did not bark — is anything but simple. But a private meeting in mid-October 2008 between Timothy F. Geithner, then-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Andrew M. Cuomo, New York’s attorney general at the time, illustrates the complexities of pursuing legal cases in a time of panic.

At the Fed, which oversees the nation’s largest banks, Mr. Geithner worked with the Treasury Department on a large bailout fund for the banks and led efforts to shore up the American International Group, the giant insurer. His focus: stabilizing world financial markets. (read more)

Cuba faces its worst drought for 50 years

Cuba is facing its worst drought in half a century, with tens of thousands of families almost entirely reliant on water trucks for essential supplies.

The drought started two years ago, and reservoirs are now down to a fifth of their normal levels.

The government is providing road deliveries of water to more than 100,000 people in the worst affected areas of the capital, Havana.

The situation in Havana is compounded by a pipe network in poor condition.

The state-run newspaper Granma says up to 70% of water pipes supplying the capital are leaking and in urgent need of repair, the BBC's Michael Voss in Havana says.

Residents are having to use buckets and bottles to fill up with water from the road deliveries.

"It's completely out of control," one resident, Ana Gomez, said. "Just imagine that you can't wash when you want to, you have to wash when you are able to." (read more)

Goldman Sachs accused of misleading investors, knew mortgage-backed investments would fail

A US Senate probe says Goldman Sachs misled investors selling mortgage-backed investments it knew would fail.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has spent two years looking at the behaviour of Wall Street banks at the time of the credit crisis.

It said Goldman had also misled Congress in a testimony given in 2010.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman said the testimony given by its executives had been "truthful and accurate", and the bank took the issues raised seriously. (read more)

Inflation headwinds batter rising India: Same story, different part of the world

Rewind to 1991 and you see India buried under an acute debt crisis that forces the nation to mortgage its gold reserves to pay for imports.

Twenty years later, the South Asian nation has risen as an economic powerhouse.

India's turnaround came on the back of reforms it unleashed in 1991 that dismantled a plethora of controls blamed for holding the country back.

"In these past two decades, we have seen an acceleration of India's economic growth. We have seen the unshackling and unleashing of the animal spirits of Indian enterprise," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at an award ceremony last month.

"We have seen the emergence of new businesses. We have seen the empowerment of a new middle class in our country," said Singh as he spoke about the 20th anniversary of liberalization that he had authored himself as the nation's finance minister. (read more)

Hezbollah, Iran planning attacks in coming days?

Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard operatives are planning attacks on western targets in the coming days, a Lebanese report said.

The report was based on information gathered by western intelligence agencies monitoring the "recent abnormal movements of cadres suspected of belonging to Hezbollah or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard," the Beirut Observer Web site said Tuesday.

The report said the attacks are meant to divert global attention from indictments the international United Nations tribunal is expected to serve in the investigation of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The indictments will most likely name "leadership cadres in the party [Hezbollah]," the site said. (read more)

Most Powerful Reason To Own Gold and Silver?

The reasons to own gold and silver today are many and growing. The obvious and perhaps most discussed are skyrocketing debt, a weakening dollar and the rising threat of inflation.

Validating these reasons are rising worldwide demand for both gold and silver. The World Gold Council reports that Gold demand in 2010 reached a 10-year high. Much of the growing demand for both gold and silver is coming from China as their desire to replace the dollar as the world's reserve currency, with the Yuan, is growing more evident.

While gold prices and demand rise steadily, silver has begun to steal a few headlines. Rising 77% in just the last 6 months, growing industrial demand is said to be the main driver. However, history well settles the fact that silver is also a monetary metal. Now, in the case of both Gold and Silver, investor demand could be the real driver of prices to stratospheric levels. Here's why. (read more)

BREAKING NEWS: Unreported 7.2 Fukushima quake blacked out by USGS on April 13, 2011; is also hiding other Japanese / world quake activity -14 Apr 2011

If it's not bad enough that most quakes do not reach mainstream news, or even small local news these days, we've now found out that larger quakes of 7+ magnitude are being blacked out from the public.

And now we have solid proof.

We have known for years that earthquakes have gone missing after being registered on USGS. We have accepted in good faith (and with a little skepticism) what they told us, until we witnessed 50 or more Earthquakes disappear in northern California from the USGS register, a greatly suspicious act that continues to this day with various quakes in various locations.

Years on and a few goose chases wiser, we taught ourselves to go straight for the source, and this is what we've discovered.

On the 13^th of April, 2011 -- yes, just yesterday -- a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Fukushima, but most will never know of this.

We waited with abated breath for Sky News, CNN or maybe even USGS to report on this quake, but nothing came. Others also waited, and they too were disappointed.

So, we're going to bring you straight to the source of information while asking a very pertinent question: WHY was a 7.2 earthquake under a Nuclear power station (one currently in melt down, by the way) not being screamed across every news channel around the world?

Is this just part of a huge coverup regarding Japan? Are there other quakes there going unreported?

Many know that Japan is on the butt end of many quakes, something we also acknowledge, to the average tune of 30 earthquakes a month. However, a slight increase is an understatement when you look at factual archives of Japans earthquake data:

-- in 2010 they recorded 487 earthquakes, which is an average of 40 per month

-- during 2009 they recorded 472 earthquakes which is an average of 39 per month

-- during 2008 (only have the archives for 6 months) they averaged 30 a month

These figures by themselves show an increase in activity, all of which has gone unreported.

It gets better. Now, let's take a look at the figures for 2011:

-- January starts of normal; with 49 quakes, which is slightly higher than normal but nothing to panic about

-- in February there is a significant increase compared to any month in the past 3 years with 79 quakes! (Hopefully this gets some people to sit up straight and take note!)

-- In March, 1176 earthquakes -- yes, you read that correctly: One thousand, one hundred and seventy six earthquakes -- hit that month in addition to the Mega Quake, and many reached 7 and 6 magnitude!

-- So far in April, the frequency of quakes are slowing, but they have already recorded 472 for this month as of April 14th, 2011.

Something is going on here folks, and we need to be informed about it, especially those in Japan currently living beneath an umbrella of fear, confusion and corruption.

We're going to include data and links to information pertinent to this revelation, including that which pertains to the April 13th Fukushima 7.2 magnitude quake.

Japanese Version Seismic Report - (click on British flag on top for English)

Original reader-contributed video breaking this story

Gamekeeper Calum Murray, 'accidentally shoots girlfriend Sophie Taylor dead while cleaning shotgun then turns weapon on himself out of grief'

A teenage gamekeeper accidentally shot dead his young sweetheart and then apparently turned the gun on himself in grief.

Trainee gamekeeper Calum Murray, 18, had been cleaning the weapon, believed to be a shotgun, at a remote cottage in the Scottish Highlands when it went off and fatally injured schoolgirl Sophie Taylor, a heartbroken local told yesterday.

The 16-year-old girl was understood to have been preparing dinner for her boyfriend at his three-bedroom cottage when the horror scene unfolded.

The father of one of Sophie's lifelong friends said Calum had been overcome with grief at what he had done and took his own life moments after he shot his girlfriend at the house near Tomintoul, Moray.

Dru McPherson, 50, who employs Sophie's grief-stricken mum Katie at his village restaurant, said the grim sequence of events had played out like a 'Greek tragedy'.

He said: 'The story around the village is that there were two couples there and the two males were cleaning their guns and the gun went off in the house and killed Sophie, at which point Calum got up and went out to the front porch and shot himself.

'It's like a Greek tragedy up here. Sophie was a very, very well-known girl and everyone was fond of her. It's just horrendous.' Read More

Ryan Quinn, 14 Final call 'Help me daddy, I’m trapped': schoolboy with his hand caught in cattle grid moments before train killed him -14th Apr 2011

A teenager made a frantic last phone call to his father as he lay trapped in front of an oncoming train, an inquest heard.

Ryan Quinn, 14, whose hand was trapped in a cattle grid, said in the tragic cry for help: 'Daddy, you are going to have to come quickly. I cannot get out, my knuckle is stuck.'

But as his father Ivan rushed to the scene the schoolboy was run over by the oncoming train.

Moments before he died, he claimed he had been attacked in a nearby bar and was being chased in Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Police launched a murder investigation following the tragedy in January 2009, but no one has ever been charged due to a lack of evidence.

Ryan was hit by the late-night train travelling from from Coleraine to Portrush and suffered massive injuries.

His father Ivan said in a statement read to Coleraine Coroner's Court said: 'He was starting to get hysterical and the more he got hysterical he was begging me, he was screaming down the phone.'

Although his family are convinced he was murdered, police have been unable to prove how the St Joseph's College, Coleraine, pupil came to be lying on the line when the train hit him.

There are apparently two suspects but the Public Prosecution Service has insufficient evidence to bring a case.

Mr Quinn, speaking from Maghaberry Prison via video link, added: 'My son was not just my son, he was my best friend and I knew him probably better than anybody.'

Train driver Ian Cairns said he believed he had seen somebody running away from the line a split second before the collision. Read More

'Stand-off' at Tibetan monastery in Sichuan, China

There are reports of a stand-off between Chinese security forces and residents outside a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Sichuan province.

Local residents were reportedly trying to prevent police from detaining monks inside the Kirti monastery.

The area has been tense since last month, when a monk died after setting fire to himself.

Chinese officials have declined to comment so far. The area has previously seen other anti-government protests.

Pro-Tibetan groups report a deteriorating security situation in Aba County, known as Ngaba in Tibetan, where the monastery is based and where there are many ethnic Tibetans.

They report an increased military build-up, although it is difficult to independently verify these accounts. (read more)

Anti-aircraft fire reported in Libyan capital Tripoli

here are reports of four blasts, followed by anti-aircraft fire, in the Libyan capital.

A witness told Reuters of hearing heavy weapons and seeing smoke rising in the city on Thursday.

Coalition jets could be heard flying overhead throughout the morning and early afternoon in Tripoli, but they carried out no airstrikes, the agency said.

About 200 kilometres to the east in Libya's third-largest city, a rebel spokesman said government forces fired dozens of rockets at the coastal city of Misrata on Thursday.

The spokesman, identified by Reuters only as Abdelsalam, warned in a phone call with the agency of an impending "massacre" if NATO did not intensify strikes on troops loyal to Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

Abdelsalam said at least eight rebels have been killed and another 20 wounded in the rocket attacks. (read more)

Fukushima: Cattle on Abandoned Ranch Starve to Death, No Sign of Owner’s Return

Earlier this April we made our way to Fukushima to do some investigative reporting of the current conditions in the five- to ten-kilometer area around the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. This is the first in a series of articles where we will report our findings from our time on the ground in Fukushima.

The location for our first story is a ranch in Namie, a town located 10 kilometers from the nuclear plant. Here, instead of the lively sounds of farmers going about their daily work, the air is filled with the desperate cries of abandoned cattle. Going to the barn to investigate, we found that over half the cattle in every pen were dead, and the rest were letting out heartbreaking cries for help as they stood among the corpses.

As of April 11th this ranch falls within the 20 kilometer evacuation zone enacted by the Japanese government, and is considered to be at risk of reaching radioactive levels significantly higher than those of other areas. As a result, the owner and staff of the ranch have all taken refuge elsewhere, leaving no one to provide the cattle food and water.

We can therefore presume that the cattle are dying of thirst and starvation, though the precise cause of the deaths has yet to be determined.

Normally, the cattle are able to use their nose to push a pedal that releases water at a drinking hole in the barn. However, no water came out when we tried for ourselves, suggesting that the water supply has been stopped. (read more)

Fairwinds Fukushima Update: Fukushima Severity Level Raised to '7' -- Lack of U.S. Radiation Monitoring Data

They earn, you starve: Highest Paid CEOs in 2010

CEO pay of the biggest US companies saw a sharp rebound in 2010, according to compensation consulting firm Equilar, in a study commission by New York Times.

The median compensation was $9.6 million, up 12 percent from 2009. This 2010 increase marks a turning point as pay fell in the two previous years.

Defenders of this increase say corporate profits are growing at a blistering pace. Moreover, the CEO pay increase was coming off of a two year decline.

However, critics counter that the increase in CEO compensation far outstrips the rise in worker wages, which rose just 2.1 percent in 2010, while millions of Americans remain unemployed. In addition, some of the highly-paid CEOs preside over companies that received substantial government help during the financial crisis.

The highest paid CEO in 2010 received $84.6 million. The highest paid CEO of a bank, Robert P. Kelly of BNY Mellon, received $19.4 million. (read more)

Is Japan beginning to "fall apart"? New quake video shows increased violent activity close to Tokyo

What If Colonel Gaddafi Loses the Battle for Tripoli? -- Will Africa Actually Suffer?

In January this year, an organisation calling itself the House of Traditional Elders of Kenya held court with Libyan strongman Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Led by its chairman, Mr Kamlesh Pattni of the Goldenberg infamy, they presented a Sh100-million proposal to the now embattled president.

It is, therefore, not surprising that the organisation's vice-chairman, Mr Riaga Ogallo, has condemned the ongoing bombardment of Gaddafi's forces by Western powers.

According to www.allafrica.com, when the organisation was formed in 2009, its other officials were Phares Ruteere (secretary general), Vincent Mwachiro (treasurer), former Ol Kejuado County Council chairman Daniel ole Muyaa (organising secretary), Haji Ahmed (deputy secretary), Peter Mumia (national coordinator), Julius Nyarotso (deputy treasurer), Mwangi Thuita (deputy organising secretary), and Sam Muumbi (deputy coordinator).

With rebels pushing towards Tripoli, thanks to an unrelenting bombardment of the loyalist troops by a coalition of European powers, arrangements such as the one Gaddafi has with the Kenya elders could go up in smoke. And that would be the case across the continent. (read more)

FAA evidence and admission of UFO activity over Pennsylvania, plus video documentation - 3 part video

Magnet Therapy May Ease Hard-to-Treat Depression -- you mean deadly drugs aren't the answer for everything?

Using magnets to stimulate the brain may ease depression in people who have not found relief from antidepressants, new research has found.

“We have settled a fundamental question about [transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS] therapy, which is: ‘Does it work?’” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Mark George, a professor of psychiatry, radiology and neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina. “The answer is ‘yes.’”

The researchers administered the magnet therapy to half of a group of 190 adults who had been depressed for at least three months, but not longer than five years, and who had taken medication for depression but were not helped. The others were given a sham treatment — simulated magnet therapy that was mostly indistinguishable from the real thing, the researchers said.

After three weeks, about 14 percent of those receiving magnet therapy were no longer depressed, compared with 5 percent who were getting the fake treatment.

The researchers continued the magnet treatment for three more weeks for those who were still depressed and also offered the real treatment to participants who’d gotten the sham treatment.

After that period, about 30 percent were no longer depressed, the researchers said. (read more)

India: Mental illness tackled by faith healers -- and studies show it's working

At a small Hindu temple on the eastern outskirts of Rajasthan, India's largest state, the spiritually possessed come to have their demons expelled.

For people suffering mental health problems in this part of the country, this is the closest many will ever come to psychiatric care, says Hungarian iReporter Pataki Balazs.

"Exorcism is a way of life" in this northwestern region, he explained in an iReport that documents the daily purification rituals conducted by local faith healers at the Balaji temple.

"There is very little understanding of mental health disorders, especially in the rural north of India," said Balazs, who has been traveling to document the region almost every year since 1994.

According to the 41-year-old amateur photographer, exorcism is performed in a number of ways, ranging from a strict diet over chanting Tantric hymns to, he alleges, keeping the "possessed" in shackles. (read more)

"US dollar has cancer"

OECD: UK's economic growth to be one third of major world economies

Britain’s growth over the next three months will be roughly one third the pace of other major world economies, according to forecasts from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development.

n an update that will dent the Chancellor’s claim to be driving Britain back to competitive prosperity, the leading think-tank expects annualised quarterly growth of just 1pc for the three months to the end of June, compared with an average for the G7 leading economies excluding Japan of 2.9pc.

Growth for the first three months of the year is also expected to have been below average, at 3pc compared with the 3.2pc for the G7 excluding Japan. The OECD is still in the process of evaluating the impact of the devastating earthquake and tsunami on the Japanese economy.

Last month, the OECD downgraded its growth forecasts for the UK this year from 1.7pc to 1.5pc as a result of the bad December weather, which feeds through to this year’s figures, and the tax rises and spending cuts.

Philip Shaw, economist at Investec, said the latest OECD comparison with other leading economies did not flatter the UK “largely because of the size of the austerity measures and the downside risk to growth they cause in the short to medium term”.

The OECD has been highly supportive of the Chancellor’s austerity programme, urging him just last month to “stay the course” as he grapples with the country’s record budget deficit and attempts to wean the economy off state spending and a dependence on the City of London. (read more)

Meditation stronger than drugs for pain relief -- but you'll probably never hear this again

Meditation can have pain relieving effects greater than morphine, claims new study.

Researchers have found that just one hour of meditation training can reduce immediate pain by nearly half and have a long lasting effect.

The technique appears to work as it calms down pain experiencing areas of the brain while at the same time boosting coping areas.

"This is the first study to show that only a little over an hour of meditation training can dramatically reduce both the experience of pain and pain-related brain activation," said Dr Fadel Zeidan, lead author at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina. (read more)

Lightning strikes THRICE: Empire State Building hit by three bolts in one night - 14th Apr 2011

Last night's storm in New York City brought a dramatic display, as the iconic Empire State Building was hit by lighting three times in rapid succession.

Manhattan's tallest building was brilliantly lit up, and caught on video.

The 1,454-foot tall structure is struck by an average of 100 bolts a year.

Luckily, the landmark was designed to channel the high voltage harmlessly to the ground.

The secret is so-called 'lightning rods', which were invented by Ben Franklin in the 1750s. The rods direct the flow of electricity to the ground, where it dissipates.

Before completing his design for lightning rods, Franklin tried his legendary (and exceedingly dangerous) kite experiment, in which he lofted a metal key into the air, tethered with an insulating silk line.

When Franklin saw that the key was getting charged from the electricity in the air, he knew for certain that lighting was made up of electricity. Read More

102-year-old man in Japan's nuclear fall-out zone kills himself rather than leave home - 14th Apr 2011

A 102-year-old Japanese man killed himself because he did not want to leave his home in the extended radiation zone.

The centenarian lived in the village of Iitate, which until earlier this week was declared safe from radiation leaking from the crippled nuclear plant at Fukushima.

Government officials earlier insisted that anyone living within a 19-mile radius of the plant must move and either stay with relatives or take shelter in an evacuation centre outside the zone.

The elderly man was happy to learn that no one in his village, 25 miles from the plant, would have to move.

But then the government widened the exclusion zone to include Iitate - and he was devastated.

The old man's name and details of his self-inflicted death have not been revealed.

Municipal officials said the man was upset as he discussed evacuation plans with his family and told them that he saw little point in leaving his home at this stage of his long life.

Under the new orders, the government insisted that residents should move out because of concerns over the effect of long-term exposure to radiation from the leaking nuclear plant.

The health of people living near the plant when it began spilling radiation into the atmosphere will have to be monitored for at least 20 years, medical officials said. Read More

Shag Harbour UFO Incident - Most Famous Unexplained UFO Cases

The Shag Harbour UFO Incident was the reported impact of an unknown large object into waters near Shag Harbour, a tiny fishing village in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia on October 4, 1967.

The impact was investigated by various civilian (Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canadian Coast Guard) and military (Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force) agencies of the Government of Canada. The RCN conducted at least one underwater search to attempt to locate the remains of any associated objects. The Government of Canada declared that no known aircraft was involved and the source of the impact remains unknown to this day.

It is one of very few cases where government agency documents have formally declared an unidentified flying object was involved. Several military witnesses that were interviewed, including a RCN diver involved in the search, have claimed an alien spacecraft was responsible.

It was also claimed by several of the witnesses that units of the United States armed forces UFO study, which offered no explanation. were involved in the search. The case was also briefly investigated by the U.S. Condon Committee. Source

The end of dialling? Mobile phones powered by the mind take hands-free to a new level - 14th Apr 2011

It seems even dialling a mobile number is becoming too time consuming for our fast-paced time precious society.

But researchers in America have come up with a solution - a mobile phone which uses the power of thought to make a call - and you do not have to lift a finger.

Users wear a specially designed headband which is hooked up to a Blue tooth device that wirelessly sends commands to a Nokia N73 mobile phone.

The technology works by responding to cues from the brain and experts believe anyone with training will be able to master the technique.

It is hoped the break-through will be able to create safer hands free mobile phones to help the disabled and elderly and help out professionals in high pressured working environments. Read More

Check out ye olde Google mappe: Now you can get a bird's eye view of major cities from the 16th Century - 14th Apr 2011

For the 16th century man trying to get around town it was as useful as Google Earth or a sat-nav.

And if you prefer a map to technology you can now follow your ancestors' footsteps, thanks to a reprint of a four centuries old guide to the world's major cities.

The reprinted book contains bird's eye view maps of every major European city at the time, as well as maps from cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The maps are part of a complete reprint of the 363 colour plates designed by Franz Hogenberg and annotated by Geog Braun - both renowned geographers and cartographers. Read More & More Maps

Mystery of missing mother-of-five Wazineh Suleiman, 30, who never returned after going to rent a video - 13th Apr 2011

A mother-of-five has gone missing after telling her children that she was going to rent a video from.

Wazineh Suleiman, 30, went missing after leaving her house in Bartow County, Georgia, on Friday and her car was found 30 miles away in Acworth on the other side of Cartersville where she said she was going to get a movie from Red Box at Walmart.

Police said that the vehicle showed no sign of a struggle and they could not find her near the car, a 2004 Nissan Armada.

It has also been revealed that after she left her home she continued to send text messages to her husband, Abed.

The last one said 'I'll just throw my phone out the window' and after receiving it Mr Suleiman tried to call her but she failed to answer her phone.

He said: 'Just right now I want to hear from you, I want to just know, firstly, that you are safe. 'I've been having a hard time sleeping and it's been very difficult for all of us, especially my kids.

'The kids know she is missing. They are very scared, very worried.'

He said he left the family home at 5pm on Friday to go on a hunting trip but then he realised he had got the wrong weekend.

When he got home his wife's car was not there. 'My jaw just dropped,' he said according to my ajc.com. 'She doesn't leave at night.'

The couple's five children, aged 12 to six, were on their own and the eldest told their father that Mrs Suleiman had only been gone for about 10 minutes when he returned.

Mr Suleiman added that not only did she never go out at night it was also unlike her to rent a film. Read More

Fact or Fiction - Footsteps when no one is there, the ghostly laughter of children… Is America’s oldest house haunted? - 14th Apr 2011

It's the oldest timber frame house in America, lived in for generations by the same family and lovingly kept just as it was in its early Colonial days.

But what the Fairbanks House lacks in modern facilities it seems to make for with ... strange spirits.

The house in Dedham, Massachusetts, was built between 1637 and 1641 by English settlers Jonathan and Grace Fairbanks.

Today the house is a museum, but it could very well one of the most haunted houses in America.

Justin Schlesinger, one of the museum directors whose ancestors built the property, said: 'There’s always been weird things happening in the house, from the doorbell going off a million times to flashlights never working.'

He added that there are sometimes footsteps heard on the stairs when no one is there. Also, a newly-installed alarm system went off every night for several weeks with the alarm company unable to offer an explanation.

If there are such things as ghosts, he said, 'this would be the logical place for them to be.'

For decades now, throngs of visitors from all over the world, from school children to distinguished architects, have toured the house, entranced by its authenticity. Read More

Update: Have THREE serial killers dumped remains in Long Island? New 'Craigs list ripper' police theory as body count reaches 10 - 14th Apr 2011

Up to three serial killers could have used the same Long Island beach front to dump the remains of their victims, it emerged today.

The new theory comes after police revealed the bodies of a man and a toddler are among the 10 sets of remains discovered so far, leading investigators to question whether a second serial killer may have also recently used the same remote spot.

Police in the 'Craigslist ripper' enquiry are also looking in to the possibility the remains of a skull and torso found on Monday may belong to undiscovered victims of notorious serial killer Joel Rifkin.

Rifkin, 52, admitted to Police in 1993 he had killed 17 New York prostitutes before dumping their strangled and dismembered remains up state and on Long Island. Three of the bodies were never located.

Speaking to the New York Post about the bones found on Monday, a source close to the investigation said: 'These [bones] are so old that roots were growing around the vertebrae and the skull.'

'These could be one or two of Joel Rifkin's victims who were never found, or the work of another killer.'

The original investigation in December last year was prompted by the disappearance of 24-year-old prostitute Shannan Gilbert.

Investigators uncovered the bodies of Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Megan Waterman, 22, and Maureen Brainer-Barnes, 25, near Oak and Gilgo Beachs on the eastern end of the island. Read More

Chinese man arrested for creating a fake U.S. Army unit and convincing immigrants that joining was a path to citizenship - 14th Apr 2011

They thought they were part of an elite U.S. Special Forces unit recruited to help protect their adopted country.

The 100-strong ‘army’ recruited from California’s Chinese community were provided with military uniforms, flags and ID badges and marched in local parades.

And they were told that their service to America would help with everything from getting off traffic tickets to paving a smoother path to U.S. citizenship.

The only problem was that the mini-army was a scam.

Prosecutors revealed on Tuesday that David Deng, the ‘supreme commander’ of the ‘US Army/Military Special Forces Reserve’ was a conman preying on immigrants’ dreams of becoming citizens.

He allegedly charged members of his ‘army’ a joining fee of between $300 and $400 plus an annual $120 renewal fee.

The more they paid him, the better he said their chances were of getting a U.S. passport, according to court documents.

Most of the ‘soldiers’ who turned up at a store front in Temple City, California, that was decorated to look like an official military recruiting centre were poorly-paid Chinese restaurant workers from the Los Angeles area, but some came from as far afield as Georgia.

Some Chinese leaders said they were shocked that the unit that was often featured in local newspapers was bogus.

When they appeared in public, the recruits wore green uniforms and held up various flags. They also carried out drills using mock weapons. Read More

Not again! Another air traffic controller falls asleep on the job as medical plane lands unaided - 13th Apr 2011

A plane was forced to land without ground assistance after an air traffic controller fell asleep - the fourth such incident this year.

The controller at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada fell asleep and out of communication for about 16 minutes while a medical plane was landing.

The controller has been suspended while the FAA investigates his lack of response to repeated contacts from the plane and airport staff around 2 am this morning.

Reno airport chief Krys Bart said: 'The flying public needs an assurance from the FAA that this situation will be addressed at all airports.

'We must have adequate staffing.'

Last month, two jet liners landed at Washington's Reagan National Airport without tower assistance after the lone air traffic supervisor fell asleep.

A follow-up investigation by the FAA then uncovered a second incident of an air traffic controller sleeping on the job in February during the midnight shift at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee.

And on Monday a controller at Boeing Field/King County International Airport in Seattle was suspended for falling asleep during his morning shift.

The same controller was already facing disciplinary action for falling asleep on another shift this year. Read More

Parents' horror as they are told to test their infants for HIV after flu vaccine mix-up - 14th Apr 2011

The parents of children vaccinated at a Colorado clinic have been told to test their infants for HIV after a mix-up by a medical assistant.

Vaccine syringes were shared between children receiving their paediatric flu shot, the Med Peds Clinic of Fort Collins has revealed.

Now terrified parents are being told to test their children for blood-borne diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.

The mix-up came after the medical assistant halved the amount of vaccine given to each child, assuming it was an adult dosage.

In fact it was a pre-measured amount suitable for children.

Because children are supposed to receive two doses of the vaccine, the assistant then removed the used needle from each syringe and replaced it with a sterile needle - but did not replace the syringe, still half full of vaccine.

Instead, the assistant stored the used syringes in a box marked 'second doses'. that box also contained unused, fully-filled paediatric vaccines.

When the children, aged six to 35 months, returned to the clinic, some of the half-used vaccines were inadvertently used on them. Read More

Sorry, A&E is heaving: What paramedics 'told dying woman after refusing to take her to hospital' - 14th Apr 2011

An ambulance crew allegedly refused to take a dying woman to hospital because they felt local accident and emergency departments were too busy, a coroner heard today.

Janet Kent's family GP told how she had sent the paramedics to her address but they did not take her to hospital - she died hours later.

Dr Anita Briden told an inquest a senior paramedic told her 66-year-old Mrs Kent did not need to be admitted and that local A&E units were 'heaving'.

However, Robert Myall, an ambulance service clinical manager, denied the accusations, claiming instead that the GP had never asked or told him to transport Mrs Kent to hospital.

He also said he would never have used the term 'heaving'.

The inquest in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire heard how Mrs Kent, herself a former hospital surgical sister, had visited the doctor's surgery on June 21 last year, complaining of a sore throat and nausea. Read More

Lack of oxygen, not radiation, kills fish in south China: authorities - 14th Apr 2011

Oxygen deficiency killed thousands of fish earlier this month in the sea off Qinzhou City in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, not radioactive contamination as previously rumored, a spokesman with the city government said Thursday.

Local fishery authorities on April 7 issued a notice advising citizens not to buy or eat dead fish found in the sea.

Tests of the water and the fish showed that oxygen deficiency due to thriving algae in the sea there killed the fish.

The water conditions were very suitable for algae growth, and the photosynthetic organisms had absorbed much of the oxygen out of the water, the spokesman said.

The situation is improving, the spokesman added. Source

At least five dead, dozens injured in Paris apartment fire - 14th Apr 2011

A massive overnight fire in the 20th district of Paris has left at least five people dead and dozens more injured, rescue services said on Thursday.

A massive fire in a Paris apartment block killed five people overnight and left dozens injured, six seriously, rescue officials said Thursday.

Four of the victims died after jumping out of windows to escape the blaze, while the fifth was found burned alive in the building in the 20th district of northeastern Paris, firefighters told AFP.

Two firefighters and six children were among the injured.

The cause of the fire, which broke out in a stairwell shortly after 3:00 am, is under investigation.

Some 300 firefighters brought the fire under control by around 5:30 am, officials said. Source

Flood Warnings : Rain Leaves Parts Of Cape Flooded Massachusetts - 14th Apr 2011

Falmouth police and fire officials said there is heavy flooding due to extreme weather on Cape Cod. Several calls have been made about cars stuck in huge puddles unable to get out and some cars were reported to be floating, police said.Eight Massachusetts counties were under flood advisories, watches or warnings and the National Weather Service cautioned there could be flooding problems for urban areas and small streams in Barnstable County in southeast Massachusetts, including the towns of Falmouth and Barnstable, and southeastern Bristol County in southeast Massachusetts, as well as parts of Rhode Island.

New Bedford, Dukes County in southeast Massachusetts and the town of Vineyard Haven and west central Nantucket County in southeast Massachusetts are affected, as well as Plymouth County in southeast Massachusetts and the city of Plymouth.

AAA and fire crews were called to tow cars out, officials said. Flooding was reported on Route 28 Main Street in downtown Falmouth.The fire chief said the area has received inches of rain and that he's received eight to 10 calls that people were trapped in their cars. He said they have also been dealing with lightening, leaks and electrical outages. Read More

More Floods - Threat of dam breaking eases in Medicine Hat , Alberta Canada - 13th Apr 2011

The threat of a dam breaking in Medicine Hat subsided Wednesday but a state of emergency remained in effect for the southern Alberta city and surrounding county, as communities across the Prairies continued to deal with the flooding risk accompanying the spring thaw.

Medicine Hat's state of emergency was declared Tuesday night amid predications that Seven Persons Creek was expected to rise as much as 60 centimetres.

However, officials said Wednesday that meltwater flows were being managed, relieving the pressure.

High stream flows were expected to continue through the day and streams have increased.

Some 500 homes could be affected if water levels continue to rise in streams in the region. Officials began issuing voluntary evacuation alerts to residents on Tuesday night, but the notice was lifted Wednesday.

The annual flood season has already proved deadly on the Prairies. Source

Unseasonable rains pound the Caribbean Island Grenada, causing landslides as floods wreck homes, fishing boats - 12th Apr 2011

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada — Unseasonable heavy rains have caused landslides on the Caribbean island of Grenada, where officials on Tuesday relocated families away from swollen rivers that flooded homes and destroyed small fishing boats.

“We should be in the dry season, but we are experiencing so much rain,” Grenada Prime Minister Tillman Thomas said while he toured the island’s northwest region.

Flooding turned the small coastal town of Gouyave into a jumble of mud, trees, sand and stones. More than 20 families were left without shelter.

Deputy Disaster Coordinator Terrence Walters said no one died or had been reported missing, but residents in the western parishes of St. Mark and St. John lost their belongings. Some 15 fishing boats also were wrecked, he said.

Up to six inches of rain fell during the 24 hours through Tuesday morning and more rain was expected, said John Peters at the state meteorological office. Source

Libyan rebels refuse to talk to Kusa after accusing him of having blood on his hands - 14th Apr 2011

Libyan rebels refused to meet defector Musa Kusa yesterday, accusing Colonel Gaddafi’s former foreign minister of having blood on his hands.

In a rebuke for Britain’s policy of cosseting the former intelligence chief, they said he had no role to play in the movement to replace Gaddafi.

Musa Kusa, who is accused of being involved in the Lockerbie bombing and the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, was allowed by ministers to fly to Qatar yesterday for an international summit on Libya.

Diplomatic officials let him go because they wanted him to talk to Arab leaders about how to oust Gaddafi – even though victims of Lockerbie want to see him put on trial.

But Kusa was snubbed by the Libyan Interim National Council which has emerged as the government in waiting.

Spokesmen for rebels attending the Qatar meeting and those back in Libya made clear they want nothing to do with the former intelligence chief, who was an integral part of Gaddafi’s inner circle until he fled to Britain earlier this month.

Rebel spokesman Mahmoud Shamman said: ‘We did not invite him here. He is not part of our delegation.’ Read More

Lee Bradley Brown, 39 'beaten to death' in a Dubai police cell after being arrested for swearing - 14th Apr 2011

A British tourist was beaten to death by officers in a Dubai police station after being arrested for swearing, it was claimed yesterday.

Lee Bradley Brown, 39, was on holiday at a £1,000-a-night hotel in the Arab state when he was thrown into a filthy cell.

Police sources say he was ‘badly beaten up’ by a group of police officers, leaving him unconscious on the floor.

Inmates told how they watched officers bundle him into a body-bag and drag him out of the building.

During Mr Brown’s six days in Bur Dubai police station, guards refused to give him enough food and water and did not let him see a lawyer, it is alleged.

His sister learned about the attack when she received a phone call from an inmate on Sunday, claiming her brother had been beaten.

The prisoner found her phone number on a photocopy of her brother’s passport which had been left behind in the cell.

She contacted the British Embassy in Dubai, and on Monday an official was sent to visit Mr Brown at the police station.

But the official was turned away by an officer who claimed Mr Brown did not want to see him and had ‘declined consular assistance’.

His sister, who did not want to be named, received another phone call from the inmate saying he had seen her brother’s body being taken out in a body-bag.

A source told the Daily Mail last night: ‘He suffered a really bad beating which must have caused some terrible internal injuries.

‘The poor bloke stood no chance at all. At one stage he was thrown against the concrete wall of a cell and landed badly.

‘Then the guards tried to hush it up and pretend nothing had happened.’Read More

Call young criminals customers: Probation chief says being considerate stops re-offending - 14th Apr 2011

Criminals must be treated as customers – not offenders, a probation service boss has insisted.

They should be invited to speak about their needs and asked how they feel about the treatment they receive, London probation chief Heather Munro added.

And these people should not have to spend time in shabby waiting rooms or be sent to dingy offices to be interviewed.

Giving criminals the same consideration a company gives its customers will steer them away from committing future crimes, according to Mrs Munro.

‘It’s a bit like running a business,’ she said.

‘Any business would ask its customers how it can improve its service. It just doesn’t make sense not to.’

The call for probation officers to make life more comfortable for offenders comes at a time of growing concern over the way their service deals with criminals under its supervision.

Last week judges criticised the Government’s plan to keep more offenders out of jail, citing worries ‘relating to occasional poor and ineffective monitoring and management’ of community sentences.

Around half of those given community punishments never finish them, and in London – where Mrs Munro’s service supervises 70,000 criminals a year – probation officers have a particularly poor record. Read More

Note: What Mrs Munro seems to forget is that these people have commited a crime, half the time they don't even get jail time because of the weak system and now they want to call criminals customers?

"cus-tom-er noun /ˈkəstəmər/
customers, plural

A Person or Organization that buys goods or services from a Store or Business

BREAKING NEWS: 6.1 Magnitude Earthquake of the EAST COAST OF HONSHU, Japan - 13th Apr 2011

A 6.1 -magnitude earthquake struck of the East Coast of Honshu, Japan
The quake struck at 19:57 a.m. UTC - 537 km (333 miles) from Tokyo. Its epicenter was located with a depth of 11.2 km (7 miles).

No damage or casualties were reported and no tsunami alert followed.